Dr Shiksha Gallow: Wild and Unregulated Cannabis Retail ‘Grey Zone’ is a Public Health Risk
South African medical cannabis expert Dr Shiksha Gallow has warned that the unbridled explosion of the cannabis retail ‘Grey Zone’ is a public health risk. She said in the absence of regulations, consumers were faced with increasing harm from unscrupulous drug dealers.
Ricky Stone: Put Outdoor Cultivation at the Centre of a New Regulatory System
South Africa should consider regulations that make outdoor growing the default growing regime, not indoor. That’s the radical view of veteran Eastern Cape cannabis lawyer, Ricky Stone, who told ICS 2026 that it was a myth that medical cannabis could only be cultivated under controlled conditions.
Beau Whitney: Press the Cannabis Regulatory Reset Button at the UN Level
Worldwide, one of the deepest problems in trying to regulate cannabis is that it is being defined in pharmaceutical terms and not recognized as a plant medicine. This will only be fixed at a United Nations level says leading cannabis economist Beau Whitney, in order to create a meaningful framework for regulation.
Global South Needs to Set Up its Own Cannabis Trade Networks to Avoid the Trap of Canna-Colonialism
Africa and other developing cannabis economies need to collaborate and create their own markets. They need to do this to avoid falling into the trap of canna-colonialism, whereby their regulatory systems are designed to serve European medical cannabis interests instead of their own.
UN Failing in its Mandate as War Against Drugs Turns into War Against Human Rights
The release of the World Drug Report has highlighted how the war on drugs has become a war on human rights and how the United Nations has failed to live up to its mandate. Punitive responses to drug taking are creating more harms and not providing any solutions.
Bath University Study: Legalizing Cannabis Doesn’t Drive Up Usage, But Commercialization Does
Decriminalising the possession of cannabis or strictly regulating access to the drug do not appear to drive up usage, but when the drug is sold commercially the number of users increases and more mental health problems are seen, a UK academic review has found.
Mainstreaming Mimmie: Free State’s Success Story in Backing Cannabis Entrepreneur’s Business Ambitions
A Free State cannabis entrepreneur Molihobeng Semela, has been voted Free State Agriculture Department’s Woman Entrepreneur of the Year, for ‘mainstreaming’ her start-up company, Mimmie Trading and Projects which produces cannabis-derived health and cosmetics products.
Ghana: Policy Expert’s 5 Step Plan Charting a Course from Prohibiting Adult-Use to Regulating It
Ghana has opened the door to developing an industrial hemp sector, but there are now calls for authorities to go further and embrance regulated adult use. A five point plan towards decriminalization has been put on the table by a leading advocate for cannabis reform.
Workplace Cannabis Testing: Saliva Better Than Urine as a Marker of Functionality
The issue of testing employees for cannabis at work has long been a controversial one because of the length of time THC can remain in the human system. UKZN legal expert Thato Lentsoe argues that saliva testing should now replace urine to determine if a worker is ‘under the influence’ of THC.
Ivory Medical Emerges as a Front Runner in Zimbabwe’s Cannabis Development Programme
Zimbabwe’s policy to legalise the production of medicinal cannabis is bearing fruit, with a multi-million-dollar value-addition facility in Headlands now transforming the “green gold” into high-end CBD pharmaceutical products.