Mozambique’s government has just banned an energy drink because the label says Weed Leaf

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An energy drink with a weed leaf on the label – which supposedly doesn’t even contain cannabis – prompted Mozambican tax authorities to pull it off all retail shelves.

“Although the drink does not contain marijuana or hallucinogenic properties, some officials fear that it would encourage the use of illegal narcotics in the country,” reported the community news network Global Voices. The advisory came out on July 1st and proposed, according to the article by Global Voices, that it be “withdrawn from Mozambican markets”.

All forms of cannabis, including medicinal uses and CBD products, are illegal in Mozambique, a region that has long been home to the cannabis trade. Although the ban is upheld, there are proponents of creating a legal cannabis market in the country, such as the murdered journalist Carlos Cardoso. The author campaigned for social change, including exporting cannabis products to boost the local economy and fighting corruption in the banking system, before he was killed in 2000.

Africa is experiencing a modest wave of government expansion of access to cannabis. In many cases, this has taken the form of legalizing licensed commercial production for export to foreign markets. Although we admire the progress, it is still illegal for citizens to use cannabis. Ghana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Uganda, South Africa (Mozambique’s neighbor), Zimbabwe, and Zambia have all seen versions of such regulatory and legislative changes.

After the end of the civil war in 1992, Mozambique became a major center for the trade in cannabis, cocaine and heroin. In 2011, the country’s authorities seized 31.6 tons of cannabis. Mozambique troops receive regular aid and combat training from the United States.

The product that was recently censored by the tax authorities, Cannabis Energy Drink, can be linked to an unverified Facebook page that has not been posted since 2013 and that describes the drink as “fresh, tangy energy drink with quality ingredients plus” describes the additional benefits that result from a drink made with hemp extract. ”

Which would suggest that there is indeed cannabis in the drink. However, hemp does not contain the same amounts of THC, the compound in weed that makes us feel “stoned” as the marijuana we roll up and smoke. So it is extremely unlikely that the drink would have any psychoactive properties.

However, further down the page it says, “There’s nothing crazy here, it’s just a great tasting energy drink that contains vitamin B5 (among other things).”

The setback on social media to the decision to ban the drink was quick. Zenaida Machado, a senior researcher with the nonprofit Human Rights Watch, shared other ways on Twitter if we were to believe that a soft drink can stimulate marijuana use; “Following this logic, perhaps you should consider a ban [the] Country flag as [the] AK47 image could incite people to kill? ”(The Mozambique flag actually features one of these automatic weapons.)

What wasn’t so readily available – based on the Great Canna Bumps scandal of 2021 – was user reviews of this product. Where was it actually sold? What does his audience have to say? Is someone out there mourning this enigmatic elixir, maybe-weeds-maybe-not? The jury is still pending – and we will get back to you with all the results.