Mulling over marijuana

Dr. Wasantha Weliange was arrested this week on charges of cannabis cultivation. Weliange, who has long been a proponent of legalising cannabis cultivation in the country, and has even written two books on the subject supported by his own research, says he was growing the cannabis for his own research.

Be that as it may, the arrest does once more bring into focus the topic of cannabis legalisation and its potential benefits – especially in the face of Sri Lanka’s current economic crisis.

The idea first cropped up a few years ago when then Health Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne said that Sri Lanka was looking at possibly growing cannabis to export for medicinal purposes and manufacturing, as there was a growing demand for it. 

That was in 2016, and in the years since the topic has periodically cropped up, with Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa as recently as 2020 saying the Government was considering requests to legalise cannabis. But could such a policy ever be passed and what would that mean for the current strict laws imposed within the country?

More and more research is showing that cannabis is a safer option to treat pain than many of the prescription pill options currently available. Canada, which has legalised the use of medical marijuana nationwide, allows its export and import for limited purposes. 

This could, for instance, include shipping unique strains to a research lab abroad or bringing in starter plants for new grows. Some US states along with a few countries such as Austria, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland and Israel too allow the use of medical marijuana.

The surge of interest in medical marijuana was spurred by nearly half of the states in the US passing legislation to legalise medicinal marijuana – in spite of the fact that marijuana is still considered a schedule 1 drug alongside cocaine and heroin at the federal level. However, mainstream, family-friendly businesses like Walgreens is promoting use of medical pot and it is fast becoming clear that the stigma from the “Reefer Madness” days has all but subsided in popular American culture.

This change of heart is not lost on the rest of the world. Israel’s fast-growing cannabis industry has high hopes for exports of medical marijuana to America. The country is already a leading supplier of pharmaceuticals to the US and its Government, scientists and companies are working together to turn the once-illicit drug into a booming new medical business.

Cannabis is a banned substance in Sri Lanka with over 50,000 kilos nabbed annually by anti-narcotics officials each year. It is also responsible for the most number of arrests, usually about 25,000 people, and drug convictions make up more than 30% of Sri Lanka’s entire prison population. Sri Lanka also has thousands of people suffering from chronic pain and diseases such as cancer where the use of medical marijuana can be used as treatment.

In fact, cannabis is already an essential ingredient of many Ayurvedic medicines and Sri Lankan Ayurveda experts have called on the Government to legalise cannabis because of the significant health benefits. Further to this, recent studies into the use of CBD oil extracted from the cannabis plant have shown that the benefits of marijuana can be attained without the accompanying ‘high’. 

As the world re-examines drug policies, Sri Lanka will have to do its own soul searching to decide what its laws towards drugs should be and their severity. And in the process, there is a very real chance to jump ahead of the queue in what is likely to becoming a booming global industry in the decades, if not years, ahead.