Wikipedia

Cannabis in Tanzania

Cannabis, known locally as bhang (Swahili: bangi), is prohibited for medicinal and recreational use in Tanzania. As of 2026, possession or use of large amounts of cannabis is punishable with one to five years of imprisonment. Tanzania is one among multiple countries in Africa that produce cannabis in large quantities.[1]

Cannabis in Tanzania
Location of Tanzania (dark green)
MedicinalIllegal
RecreationalIllegal

History

edit

Cannabis may have been introduced to the Swahili coast by about 1000 AD, presumably by Hindi, Farsi, or Arabic-speaking traders.[2]: 7  By the 19th century, cannabis was part of the folk medicine of many cultures in East Africa and long-distance trade arose. Cannabis grown by the Ngoni people was taken to Kilwa. During the German colonial period, small-scale Nyamwezi traders transported cannabis from Unyamwezi to the coast and Zanzibar.[3]: 146  Sparse accounts during this period suggest that in East Africa the plant was primarily a smoked drug.[2]: 7  As cannabis trade in Africa developed, European colonial administrations increasingly suppressed it, viewing its use as a hindrance to their colonial objectives.[2]: 10 

Modern use

edit
A group of three people sitting on the ground. The person in the front left is inhaling a wooden cannabis pipe.
A Hadza person smoking cannabis in Tanzania

Cannabis in Tanzania is cultivated in coastal zone of Tanga, northern zone of Arusha, Manyara and Kilimanjaro, southern highland of Iringa and Lake Zone of Shinyanga and Mara[4] Cannabis is mainly produced in rural areas. It takes four to five months for cannabis to mature. Cannabis is also imported from outside the country, and the main entry is in the airport of Dar es salaam[citation needed]Template:Citation needed, Kilimanjaro International airport (KIA) and the seaport of Dar es salaam and Zanzibar and small airports like Tanga and Mwanza. A 2023 chemical profiling study reported that over 10,219 kilograms of cannabis were seized in Tanzania between 2011 and 2016, confirming its role as a major producer in East Africa.[5]

In rural areas, cannabis is used to treat ailments like earaches, fevers and malaria. The leaves are used to make and prepare food.[6]

Recent analysis has noted the continued role of cannabis in Tanzania's rural economy and traditional practices, despite legal prohibition. A 2023 study identified regional variations in the chemical composition of seized cannabis, with the Pwani region exhibiting the highest Δ9-THC concentration at 13.45%.[7] Reports also describe informal use of cannabis in traditional medicine and rural food preparation, particularly in areas where access to formal healthcare remains limited.[8]

edit

Under the Drug Control and Enforcement Act (CAP. 95) and the Tanzanian Food, Drugs and Cosmetics Act (CAP. 219), the medicinal and recreational use of cannabis in Tanzania is banned. Possession or use of small quantities of the drug (< 50 g of the plant; < 5 g of resin) is punishable with a large fine. Possession or use of large quantities is punishable with one to five years of imprisonment. The responsible regulatory authority is the Drug Control and Enforcement Authority.[9]: 251 

Legalisation

edit

Kahama Urban MP Jumanne Kishimba advocated in parliament for the legalisation of cannabis for medicinal use in 2019.[10]

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ↑ CANNABIS IN AFRICA (PDF) (Report). United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 Spear, T., ed. (2017). "Cannabis and Tobacco in Precolonial and Colonial Africa". Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History (1 ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.013.44.
  3. ↑ Rockel, Stephen (2006). Carriers of Culture: Labor on the Road in Nineteenth-Century East Africa (1 ed.). Praeger. doi:10.5040/9798400623561. ISBN 978-0-325-07116-9.
  4. ↑ "cannabis in Tanzania". Sensi Seeds Blog. 25 July 2013.
  5. ↑ Mhando, Husna B.; Sahini, Mtabazi G.; Makangara, John J. (May 2023). "Chemical profiling of Cannabis sativa from eleven Tanzanian regions". Heliyon. 9 (5) e15892. Bibcode:2023Heliy...915892M. doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e15892. PMC 10192767. PMID 37215917.
  6. ↑ "Section 3, UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA" (PDF). World Health Organisation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 December 2006. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
  7. ↑ Mhando, Husna B.; Sahini, Mtabazi G.; Makangara, John J. (May 2023). "Chemical profiling of Cannabis sativa from eleven Tanzanian regions". Heliyon. 9 (5) e15892. Bibcode:2023Heliy...915892M. doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e15892. PMC 10192767. PMID 37215917.
  8. ↑ Reece Mitchell, Cannabis in Tanzania: Policy, Tradition and Enforcement Analysis,[dead link][self-published source?] HerbVape.co.uk, 2025
  9. ↑ Kitchen, Chenai; Kabba, John Alimamy; Fang, Yu (June 2022). "Status and Impacts of Recreational and Medicinal Cannabis Policies in Africa: A Systematic Review and Thematic Analysis of Published and "Gray" Literature". Cannabis & Cannabinoid Research. 7 (3): 239–261. doi:10.1089/can.2021.0110. ISSN 2578-5125. PMC 9225416. PMID 34986005.
  10. ↑ "Tanzania legislator wants government to legalise use of marijuana". The Citizen. 20 May 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2026.


Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cannabis_in_Tanzania&oldid=1361068120"