A South African company based in the good ol' Somerset West in the Western Cape has become the first company in Africa to get a license to cultivate marijuana for medical and sciencey purposes!
Nope, not to grow it in South Africa but in our beloved neighbours (more like housemates), Lesotho.
Yup, Lesotho's Ministry of Health gave the South African company (well technically Verve Dynamics sister company: Verve Dynamic Incorporated in Lesotho) a license to grow the Herb!
That's the first ever license granted in Africa to cultivate marijuana! A great progressive step forward, I think most people would agree?
So Verve Dynamic is basically a vegan friendly company that specializes in manufacturing nutritional health products. I think that is an extreme over simplification. Lets get more specific:
From their Facebook page:
VERVE DYNAMICS specializes in innovative and proprietary technologies for the nutraceutical and phyto-extraction markets, integrating our expertise in the development and manufacturing of high quality extractions, compounds and isolates.
Yup. Go google half those words.
I could try go into details, but I am not a scientist and would not do the above any justice.
Check out their website at http://www.vervedynamics.co.za
I think what Lesotho has done is great, the Cannabis market is ginormous. At the moment Cannabis is already Lesotho's primary cash-crop, so why not do it properly? Could Lesotho become a major player in this industry? I would think so, and would hope that the industry benefits the citizens of Lesotho. South Africa is already on the verge of legalizing medical marijuana, when the first domino falls, the rest usually tend to follow in quick fashion.
Personally I have massive interest and hope in the medicinal market and not so much in the recreational vibe, but each to their own. Less regulation, the better!
What do you guys think? Massive cash crop for Africa in the future?