Cannabis in Kenya
Use of cannabis in Kenya
Cannabis, locally referred to as bhang, is illegal in Kenya under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Act, 1994. Despite its prohibition, cannabis is cultivated and consumed in various regions of the country. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has identified Kenya as one of the main producers of cannabis in East Africa, with cultivation reported in areas such as Mount Kenya and around Lake Victoria. In recent years, the subject of cannabis legalization has become part of national debate, particularly in relation to its potential medical and industrial uses.
History
Locally referred to as bhang, banghi, or bangi, cannabis was banned in Kenya during the British colonial East Africa Protectorate under the Opium Ordinance, effective 1 January 1914. However, there have been recent campaigns that have called for its legalization. For instance, a former member of parliament for Kibra Constituency Ken Okoth advocated for its legalization on the basis of its medicinal values. In March 2019, the New York–based company GoIP Global Inc announced that it had obtained a license to grow cannabis, although their claim was denied by the Kenyan government.
Cultivation
Cannabis hotbeds in Kenya include Mount Kenya and Lake Victoria, with cultivation also being observed in the coastal regions of the country. Notable amounts of cannabis are smuggled out of the country by foreign visitors.
“Cannabis in Kenya” enters the record as use of cannabis in Kenya. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Cannabis, Kenya and cannabis can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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This entry incorporates text from “Cannabis in Kenya” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.