The Sri Lanka Sunday Times reports
Legalising ‘Triloka pattra’ (cannabis) cultivation for export as medicinal and allied products would not only violate international conventions but also be a first step to legalising its recreational use, warned the chairman of the National Dangerous Drugs Control Board (NDDCB).
The NDDCB was not formally notified of the appointment of a committee to look into the cultivation of ‘Triloka pattra’ for export as medicinal and allied products, and it was passed in Parliament within a short period of time, said the Chairman, Attorney-at-Law, Shakya Nanayakkara.
The committee that included the IGP as a member was headed by the Ayurvedic Commissioner General, he said.
The NDDCB, as the legal authority, is bound by international conventions and is obliged to inform the International Narcotic Control Board (INCB) when such consignments are exported.
Mr. Nanayakkara, objecting to the move, said that, like in other countries, it will soon become available in the local market as recreational cannabis.
“This is happening in other countries where cannabis is grown, and it has come to the street,” he said.
“How many BOI products that were only meant for export are now available in the local market,” argued Mr. Nanayakkara.
“Whatever is said in the documents, in practice, cannabis will be available on the black market,” he warned.
“Cannabis is a falling market, as there is an oversupply, as many African countries that used to export tobacco are now exporting cannabis,” the NDDCB chairman said.
Although initially cultivation is intended only for export as a medicinal product, the next step would be legalising of cannabis for recreation, such as smoking, he said.
“Countries like Thailand and Canada now want to reverse the process of legalising cannabis, especially in Thailand,” he said, pointing out the difficulty of reversing the process.
“Thailand is now faced with the challenge of reversing the process, which is much more difficult than legalising, after much harm has been done,” he cautioned.
“Tobacco was touted as a medicinal product until it was conclusively linked to causing cancer and heart diseases as far back as in the 1960s, but after prolonged denials and suppression of research, only as late as 1997 did the companies acknowledge that tobacco caused cancer and heart diseases,” he said. The use of tobacco was banned in public places across the globe following this, he added.
Mr. Nanayakkara said a similar pattern would unfold with cannabis just as tobacco was introduced into the market, and it should be stopped.
Read the full report. https://www.sundaytimes.lk/240714/news/growing-cannabis-for-export-as-medicinal-products-first-step-to-legalising-its-recreational-use-warn-experts-564065.html
