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South Africa’s hopes of a playing a meaningful role in the global medical cannabis value chain are unwarranted. New research warns that an ‘export-only’ model is actually a ‘race to the bottom’, tying up capital in non-inclusive growth that does not make money for locals, create jobs or alleviate rural poverty. The paper, Value capture in the emerging medical cannabis global value chain: insights from South Africa by Andrew Bowman, published in the September 2026 Journal of Drug Policy, kicks flat the notion that medical cannabis exports will contribute meaningfully to government policies to reduce unemployment, generate rural income or open up new economic pathways for the poor.
