In a bid to tackle racial disparities in the prosecution of marijuana-related crimes, the state accelerated to July 1 its timetable to pass the legislation, rather than waiting until 2024.*

“Seventy-one days from now, Virginia will no longer police adults possessing small amounts of marijuana,” Northam said at Wednesday’s ceremonial signing of the bill.*

Northam cited a report by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission that showed Black residents were more than three times as likely to be arrested for possessing small amounts of the drug.*

“We are moving forward in a way that promotes equity, provides a clean slate to those with prior convictions, and reinvests in the communities harmed by over-criminalization,” he said on Twitter.*

The legislation, signed a day after the informal April 20 pot holiday, also known as 4/20, allows anyone aged 21 or more to possess up to one ounce (28.4 grams) of marijuana.*

People in the state can cultivate up to four cannabis plants per home for personal use.*

NORML, a pro-marijuana group, celebrated the decision as an “extraordinary victory for cannabis justice” in the state.*

The timeline for the state to adopt provisions licensing commercial cannabis production and sales is July 1, 2024.*

On Monday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation that lets banks provide services to cannabis companies in states where it is legal, a step towards levelling what analysts call a barrier to the development of a national industry.*

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Lesotho has helped pioneer the nascent legal cannabis sector in Africa which could be worth more than $7.1 billion annually by 2023 if new laws are introduced, the African Cannabis Report said two years ago.

Launched in 2017, MG Health has its cultivation and modern processing facilities at a secluded location some 2,000 metres above sea-level in mountainous Lesotho, which is completely surrounded by South Africa.

MG Health chief executive Andre Bothma said the firm had received certification to export cannabis flower as an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) under the EU’s Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) protocol.

“What this means is that we have authorisation to export our products as an API into Germany and the wider European market. We expect to start in June,” he said on the sidelines of a media event with his Munich-based import partner, Drapalin Pharmaceuticals.

Besides the EU and Germany, Bothma said they also planned to enter the UK and Australian markets.

A growing number of countries around the world are either legalising or relaxing laws on cannabis as attitudes towards the drug change. They include several in Africa, such as South Africa, Rwanda, Morocco and Malawi. read more

MG Health currently produces around 250kg of packed cannabis flower a month on a pilot-scale production footprint of 5000 square meters. As soon as exports start, another 10,000 m2 of greenhouse space will be added, officials said.

“Our contract is for a minimum of two tonnes for the first year,” Bothma said.

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