The cabinet has called for observations on a paper it has received for the legalization of cannabis for export and as a medicine.
Once the legal draftsman prepares the related bill, it will be approved by the ministers and presented to parliament.
The cabinet paper proposes annual licentiates chosen by the Ayurvedic Drugs Corporation by calling applications to start the cultivation of cannabis on a large-scale.
After calls by state minister Diana Gamage to legalize cannabis, the president proposed through his budget to appoint an experts committee to look into its cultivation for export purposes only.
In medicine, cannabis is recommended for use as a painkiller and in the treatment of arthritis, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy and other neurological disorders.
