Kathmandu, March 11: The government is planning to endorse a private bill that seeks for commercial cultivation of marijuana for medicinal purposes and for export.
The bill was registered at the House of Representatives by Sher Bahadur Tamang, a Nepal Communist Party lawmaker and former minister for law and justice, on March 2.
According to media reports, the government is being positive towards legally allowing interested farmers to cultivate cannabis in specific areas with specific purposes.
The concerned authorities have come up with such posture after the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) asked Nepal to clarify its stance on the legality of marijuana cultivation.
Joint-secretary of the Home Ministry, Narayan Duwadi said in the 63rd session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) held by the UNODC from March 2- 6 in Vienna, Austria that Nepal was in favor of decriminalizing such cultivation in a regulated fashion.
During the session, he said,” The Nepal government is mulling over the formulation of a new act that permits the production, collection, and sales of hashis. Such hash will be obtained from the wild cannabis plants that grow naturally in the western hilly region of the country.” Duwadi added that any person involved in the production of hash as per the proposed new act will not be liable to any legal prosecution.
The Narcotics Drug Control Act-1976 criminalizes the sale, cultivation, and consumption of cannabis. Those involved in marijuana cultivation now can face a jail term of three years and up to Rs 25,000 in fines. Similarly, marijuana trafficking can lead to 2 to 10 years in jail and a fine of up to Rs 1,000.
According to the bill, any farmer with a desire to cultivate marijuana will be able to acquire a license from the local government or the respective district after specifying the area of cultivation, the people involved in the cultivation, and assurance against unauthorized use.
The bill proposes the formation of a 14-member Marijuana Board led by the health secretary to regulate and manage the cultivation and sale of marijuana. Similarly, it also envisions a regulatory body at the district level, led by the chair of the District Coordination Committee. Producers will be able to sell their products to medical companies as prescribed by the board, to people authorized to consume marijuana for medicinal purposes, and to authorized agents for export to other countries.
Sources at the ministry said all necessary official processes will be gradually carried out to decriminalize marijuana cultivation in the country on the basis of the American model.
In the US, the state-level laws permit marijuana cultivation even though the federal ones prohibit the same. Here in the country too, preparations are on the way to register a bill on the cultivation and management of marijuana in the assemblies of all seven provinces across the country.
Notably, the very bill has already been registered at the assembly of Bagmati Province by former minister Keshav Sthapit.
Experts opine that the legalization of marijuana cultivation could well be a game-changer of the Nepali economy. “Our country possesses immense potentials to produce marijuana with high tetrahydrocannabinol ( THC) level. Since such marijuana is in high demand in the international market, Nepal can earn billions of dollars annually from such sales,” they argue.
