Cannabis policy in Kenya: A call for an informed and inclusive national debate

African countries have seen major shifts in cannabis policy and debate in recent years. Countries, such as Ghana and Zimbabwe, have lifted some criminal sanctions and created legal markets for medicinal and industrial uses, while South Africa has also legalised the private production for personal use. Elsewhere, including Kenya and Nigeria, cannabis prohibition remains in place, though debate about such policy has grown strong. These shifts are in line with reforms in other parts of the world, yet cannabis policy in Africa has important and understudied local dynamics.

The Cannabis Africana: Drugs and Development in Africa research project, based at the Universities of Bristol and Cape Town, studies the impact of changing policies and what they mean for the rights and lives of people in the cannabis trade.As part of the project, and in partnership with VOCAL-Kenya, a health and human rights NGO focused on drug use and drug policy, a policy workshop was held in Nairobi, Kenya on July 5th 2023. It engaged key policy makers and practitioners relating to drug control in Kenya, as well as members of civil society, legal practitioners and community groups. The workshop discussions as well as the project findings are the basis of this policy brief.