South Africa’s $ 1.9 billion cannabis plan could spur international marijuana trade

South Africa has unveiled a $ 1.9 billion plan to build its cannabis industry that will undoubtedly boost international trade in the years to come. The idea is to create 25,000 new jobs and attract foreign investment.

After two years, the Ministry of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development was working on a strategy to implement a national strategy to industrialize trade. After studying in places like the United States, Mexico, Canada, and China, they finally unveiled their master plan.

“Building the cannabis industry will diversify the economy, increasing economic growth, creating jobs and alleviating poverty,” the ministry said.

They believe one of the biggest threats to the industry is corporate takeovers – which has been a major concern for activists for a while. California and New York, for example, essentially laid the foundation for giant mega-corporations to dominate the industry.

Their master plan includes both hemp and marijuana and should begin implementing them over the next several years.

Of course, some people in the West are not too interested in what is happening in the Southern Hemisphere – but what we are beginning to see are the first forms of international cannabis trafficking.

South Africa has always been a trading center …

South Africa was originally the port between the British Empire and India, where ships frequently docked to deliver supplies before heading to either destination. This is one of the reasons the British were so interested in this strategic geographic location.

Even if it is no longer necessary to travel to the southern tip of Africa today, it still plays an important role in Africa policy. If South Africa seeks full industrialization of cannabis and hemp, it is only a matter of time before other African nations follow suit.

More importantly, South Africa already has some trade agreements with countries like Mexico – meaning that there is a chance that once Mexico gets its system up and running, international trade could be next.

How South Africa could affect world trade …

If the world has to understand one thing about South Africans – they are a very innovative bunch. This could be due to their forced isolation as they have been excommunicated from the international community because of their apartheid policies.

Nonetheless, in cannabis development, South Africans will push the boundaries in both technology and phenomena and bring African genetics to the world market.

There are still largely unexplored areas on the African continent – varieties like Durban Poison and Swazi Gold are internationally recognized as “good varieties” – but what happens when Africans start discovering other varieties?

What happens when these genetics start to merge with western strains?

We can expect an explosion of new combinations of cannabis and hemp strains to hit the international market in the next five to ten years.

South Africa already has a strong cannabis presence

South Africa has legalized home growing and cannabis use since 2018. In those three years we have seen a significant increase in pro-cannabis attitudes.

While there are still some reservations among older generations, the newer generations of South Africans have fully embraced cannabis.

If the South African master plan succeeds in giving smaller farms enough leeway to participate in the cannabis market, it could serve as an example for other countries.

What is currently stopping international trade?

While there is certainly international trade, such as Canada buying cannabis from Jamaica, it is still not as “global” as you might think.

There are only a handful of countries that currently have legal cannabis on the books, and although they would like to act – international treaties make it difficult.

Right now, the United States is the biggest stumbling block to international trade as it is arguably the biggest supporter of these international restrictions – at least in a historical sense.

There is a lot of pressure from activists and certain politicians to remove the state barriers to cannabis by completely removing the plant from the CSA.

Once that happens, the United States will begin opening its borders to the cannabis trade, and considering that Mexico and Canada already have legal cannabis on the books – we can expect the North American Cannabis Treaty to be signed.

This would open the floodgates for international legalization as the main opposition – the United States – would now be part of the trade.

We move slowly, but we move!

It was a lot slower than most cannabis activists expected, but that is mainly due to resistance from within the political ranks.

US activists believed the Biden administration was a surefire way to accelerate legalization, but the current administration’s stance has echoed the old “drug warrior sentiment”. After all, one of their first acts was to fire employees for using cannabis.

Kamala Harris, the Trojan Horse – went from being a “hardened attorney general” who sent thousands of people to jail for cannabis into one of the sponsors of the MORE Act. A bill that would have made significant progress in legalization at the federal level.

After her election, she quickly switched from “professional” to “wait and see”.

This could suggest that the move to support cannabis was purely political – since she is now vice president and has withdrawn her support for cannabis reform.

Regardless of the government’s desire to slow down legalization, lobbyists are getting money from billionaires, support from companies like Apple and Amazon.

It is only a matter of time now before the United States comes up with its “master plan” for federal legalization that would lead the world community to follow suit.

We’re not far from it – but who knows when this will actually happen? The Biden administration has been hiding behind Covid to avoid dealing with cannabis – yet there is really nothing left they can do to stop legalization completely.

With South Africa, Mexico, Canada, Uruguay, Colombia and many European nations going “online” for cannabis – the international cannabis trade is just around the corner.

SOUTH AFRICAN CANNABIS, READ MORE …

CANNABIS LEGALIZATION IN SOUTH AFRICA? WAIT WHAT?

OR..

SWIM WITH THE SHARKS IN SOUTH AFRICA’S LEGAL WEED MARKET!