Canada Samples African Cannabis

The world keeps getting smaller and cannabis keeps bringing people together.

Yes, this is very cliche of me to say. But both of these things are very true!

This week hit another first for the emerging international industry of legal cannabis. The tiny African country of Lesotho just shipped its first load of medical cannabis INTO Canada (Vancouver, BC, to be exact). Although Canada is producing a large volume of cannabis in its own right, if the companies invested there want to be world leaders in the cannabis industry (they do), then they need to start thinking of the global cannabis import/export market. That means sourcing product from places such as Lesotho, a small African kingdom with a population of around 2 million.

Lesotho is landlocked and completely surrounded by the country of South Africa, and is a bit smaller than the state of Maryland. It is currently the only country in Africa to have legalized any form of cannabis, though other countries have begun down that path, including Ghana, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Marijuana Business Daily reports:

“Seattle-based Rhizo Sciences, the U.S. company that has secured an exclusive off-take agreement with Lesotho-based producer Medi Kingdom, said the MMJ will likely be used for research and development in Canada after it receives a Certificate of Analysis from Anandia Laboratories.

“…Dallas McMillan, Rhizo’s president and co-founder, said his company is in talks to supply vertically integrated cannabis companies in Canada with medical cannabis.

“…McMillan said one of the reasons Lesotho is getting so much international attention is because ‘we have strains they don’t have, which may have special interest.'”

Okay, you got me. I am now curious to know more about the unique cannabis strains from Lesotho! Vancouver isn’t far for me to visit (and I will definitely be there in June for the International Cannabis Business Conference!) but it may be a little while yet before Lesotho’s product makes its way into the hands of consumers; the first shipment was a mere 850 grams.

Hopefully, the testing goes quickly. But I guess if cannabis consumers have waited this long to sample the international buffet of cannabis strains that have developed over the decades, they can wait just a little bit longer. Change is coming!

Come be part of the change at the International Cannabis Business Conference! Events are happening in Berlin, Germany on April 11-13; Vancouver, BC, Canada on June 24-25; and Portland, OR, USA on September 27-28. Get tickets now for all three events!