Kibera MP Ken Okoth has launched an attempt that may lead to the legalisation of the growing and consumption of bhang also known as Marijuana in the country.

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Although his proposal is facing stiff resistance from some quarters, the lawmaker is optimistic that the 2018 Marijuana Control Bill will pass.

But who outrightly stands to benefit if this leafy drug is legalised?

Marijuana is presently grown in Western and Nyanza regions in small scale because it is, by Kenyan laws, still illegal.

Legalizing the plant would give residents of these two electoral zones the opportunity to rake in money from the sale of the plant whose consumption is said to be high in Central Kenya, Nairobi, parts of Rift Valley and Coast regions.

At a time the sugar industry is facing hurdles accruing from the importation of substandard sugar into the country which is threatening the sugar sector, Marijuana would stand to substitute sugarcane growing in both Western and Nyanza, two regions where most sugar millers are located.

Marijuana's legalisation also could attract industries that would package the product before it is sold locally or internationally. 

These industries (small or large) would provide direct employment to residents in the two regions, and this would uplift individual and household livelihoods.

Of course, retailers along the chain would also benefit as they would be the main conveyors of the product from the farmers to the principle consumers in both the domestic or foreign markets.

And obviously, farmers, packaging companies and retailers would be expected to pay taxes to the government as they trade. 

This would be a lucrative arena for the government to widen its tax base and enable the National Treasury to earn money that would, in turn, be spent in implementing the government agenda.

It now MP Okoth's task to convince Parliamentarians to rally behind his Bill and have it passed. 

If its passage succeeds, Western and Nyanza farmers may have another reason to laugh all the way to the bank following the crumbling of the sugar industry.