It’s documented that cannabis consumption erodes mental well-being. It has adverse effects on school, work, and social life. The consumption of cannabis has also been linked to increases in domestic violence. The 2019 Africa Regional Hemp and Cannabis report indicates that Africa contributed US$37 billion to the cannabis global market. This figure demonstrates the potential in targeting the cannabis sector for special excise taxes to fund African mental health prevention programmes. Some developing countries have opted to legalise the use of cannabis. These include Jamaica, Colombia, Malawi, Morocco, Pakistan, Rwanda, South Africa, Lesotho, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. All of these governments could benefit from implementing special excise taxes. In the East African region, Tanzanians are the largest consumers of cannabis. Up to 3.6 million Tanzanians used the drug in 2018, according to New Frontier Data. Based on this reality, there appears to be room to legalise and allocate excise taxes on cannabis corporations for investments in mental health programmes in Tanzania. Taxing cannabis aggressively may reduce consumption. Tanzania collected about US$9 billion in tax in 2020, according to government statistics. This amount covers only about half of the government’s expenses. Hence, it would be impossible for Tanzania to fund mental health programmes sustainably. The growing population needs other essential services too. So Tanzania would have to collect more taxes to fund mental health programmes.
SOURCE: THE CONVERSATION
