Ondo State Governor and Chairman of the South-West
Governors’ Forum, Rotimi Akeredolu, says it is important for the country to
legalise the cultivation of cannabis for medicinal purposes.
He spoke on Thursday on a live interview programme tagged
‘Governor Speaks’, which is part of activities lined up in commemoration of his
100 days of his second term in office. Akeredolu was sworn in for a second term
on February 24, 2021 after he won the October 10, 2020 governorship election on
the platform of the All Progressives Congress.
Speaking during the live interview, the governor said
cannabis could be a strong foreign exchange earner for Nigeria if its
cultivation was legalised.
Akeredolu said, “We must find a way to legalise cultivation
of cannabis for medicinal purposes. There is nothing wrong about it. We are
only shooting ourselves in the foot. It is a foreign exchange earner for people
outside the country. People want this. We ourselves, even our pharmacies want
to develop…
“I travelled out of here and I was in Thailand trying to
study the cultivation of cannabis for pharmaceutical use. We did all these, we
even went there with NDLEA (National Drug Law Enforcement Agency), the chairman
at that time went with us, maybe he came and said what he went for was for a
different thing but that was why we went and all I felt that let us look at the
way they did it over there.
“Everybody has drug problem, most country has drug problem.
We are having it here, it is not as pronounced here as in other places but
there are ways they went about these things that those who are involved in
drugs, those who are selling, those who are exporting had other ways of doing
things that they had to leave it. So, when we talk about cultivation, we are
saying in which it is a monitored one, in which NDLEA will have an office (near
farms).”
Recall that on January 7, 2021, that the
House of Representatives was proposing legalisation of cultivation and trading
in cannabis for medical and cosmetic use, research purposes as well as revenue
generation for Nigeria.
This is being proposed in the Cannabis Control Bill 2020,
sponsored by Miriam Onuoha, which is awaiting second reading but the bill has
been met with stiff criticisms and opposition.
The legislation is titled, ‘A Bill for an Act to Regulate
the Cultivation, Possession, Availability and Trade of Cannabis for Medical and
Research Use, and Related Purposes.’
Cannabis cultivation and sale are presently outlawed in the
country.
If the bill becomes law, hospitals and doctors will be
allowed to prescribe doses of cannabis for treatment of patients, while
pharmacies and stores will be allowed to sell the drug.
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