Last updated on May 6th, 2021 at 06:43 am
Rejection firmly came from The National Anti-Narcotics Agency (BNN) to a suggestion raised by a lawmaker of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) to export cannabis. Currently cannabis is categorized as type 1 narcotics.
“Based on the law no. 35/2009 on narcotics, cannabis is categorized as type 1 narcotics which means that it is banned to take its seeds, fruits, straw, or any other parts of the plant or processed products for any purpose,” BNN’s Deputy of Eradication Inspector General (Pol.) Arman Depari said in a statement on Sunday (2/2/2020).
Earlier on Thursday (30/1), in a meeting with Trade Minister Agus Suparmanto, a lawmaker of the House of Representatives Commission VI overseeing trade and industry, Rafli, raised the idea to make marijuana become an export commodity. Looking at several countris that legalize cannabis, it’s seen as opportunity that this plant can grow easily in Aceh and has the export opportunity.
“Marijuana (can be exported) for maybe pharmaceutical purposes or other uses but we shouldn’t be too strict about this. We should be flexible. It can grow easily in Aceh,” Rafli said.
Meanwhile Arman said, misapplication of marijuana could be harmful to health permanently and caused addiction. Also, he said there has been no medical research that can prove marijuana as a medicine for certain illness, such as asthma. Because, he told if various medicines for asthma are already available to date.
Furhermore, Arman said that none of countries has excluded marijuana as type 1 narcotics from their laws. Hence, He firmly said, any party that wants to use marijuana for purposes apart from the legal provision, it can be considered as a crime. He then questioned what is the motivation and whether it is for the interest of the people or the syndicate. For information, Indonesia is the country which has one of the strictest drug laws in the world. The country currently bans the use and possession of marijuana.
