Indonesia wants to ban medical cannabis again

Indonesia caused a stir when a decree earlier this year declaring cannabis a "medicinal plant" in the eyes of the government officially hit the public's radar. Now the Ministry of Agriculture in Indonesia is revising this decree, as cannabis is still illegal in Indonesia and legalization is not in sight. The proclamation was originally distributed via an Instagram post from the Nusantara Marihuana Network (LGN), a group campaigning for the legalization and advocacy of cannabis in Indonesia. Accordingly, cannabis has been regarded as a medicinal plant by the federal government since 2006; this is not necessarily public knowledge. "The decree will be revised soon after we consult with the National Drug Administration \[BNN\], the Ministry of Health and the Indonesian Institute of Science \[LIPI\]," the ministry's director of vegetables and medicinal plants, Tommy Nugraha, said in a statement on Saturday. "The inclusion of marijuana on the Medicinal Plant List means that it can only be used for research purposes as set out in Article 67 of Law No. 13/2020 on Horticulture. We currently have no legal marijuana growers in Indonesia." So the term "medicinal plant" is very ironic when you consider that Indonesia is still sticking to the strict laws against cannabis and showing no signs of giving up. As recently as 2015, a court in Bali sentenced both an Indonesian and an Australian man who shared a joint to one year in prison. Together, the two together had less than a gram in the booth. And in 2017, a man was sentenced to eight months in prison and fined $ 69,000 for growing 39 crops for oil to treat his sick wife. The status of cannabis in Indonesia At present, cannabis is still considered a type 1 anesthetic in Indonesia. it is on a par with cocaine and opium under national drug laws. Possession of cannabis can result in up to 12 years in prison or a heavy fine. Those who manufacture or trade cannabis can serve up to 15 years in prison and pay an even harsher sentence. Despite the current status of cannabis in Indonesia, this term "medicinal plant" should help farmers convert to growing cannabis and give them the opportunity to do research in preparation for cultivation. At the time of this writing, however, there were still no cannabis growers as the term was not well known outside government circles. All of this begs the question: Why the reverse? If Indonesia is really looking to move to a slightly less stringent policy, then why reverse something that simply says the plant could have medicinal properties? The answer seems to be Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo. He claims that this reversal is part of his plan to "eradicate substance abuse". Last year, police in Indonesia seized a total of 11.2 tons of cannabis, and it is still a functioning black market in the illegal country. Only when Indonesia fully embraces the fact that cannabis can have medicinal properties will a search for a viable legal or medicinal industry begin. It seems they are not ready to take this step yet.