Lesotho's Medicinal Cannabis Industry Faces Regulatory and Equity Challenges

Since licensing cannabis companies in 2017, Lesotho has faced challenges including long timeframes for finalizing regulatory frameworks, inconsistent application of laws, and failure to provide opportunities for small, medium, and micro enterprises (SMMEs). The sector that was intended to benefit from legalization has been largely excluded.

Qualitative descriptive study using semi-structured interviews with three cannabis company managers in Lesotho, selected via snowball sampling. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using thematic analysis.

Lesotho was the first African country to license medicinal cannabis (2017), and its experience provides lessons for other African nations considering legalization. The finding that small enterprises were excluded mirrors equity concerns seen in North American legalization.

The African cannabis industry is at a crossroads. Lesotho's experience shows that legalization without equity provisions can replicate the same patterns of exclusion seen in the US and Canada, where large companies benefit while communities historically involved in cannabis are shut out.

Very small sample (3 managers) limits the breadth of perspectives captured. Only company managers were interviewed, not small farmers, regulators, or community members. Single-country case study.