Commission III Of The House Of Representatives First See The Benefits And Disadvantages Of Marijuana Legalization On Health And The Economy

Deputy Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Gerindra Party, Desmon J Mahesa (Screenshot of the Indonesian House of Representatives Youtube)

JAKARTA - Commission III of the DPR does not want to discuss the use of medical marijuana to be regulated in the revision of the Narcotics Law.

Commission III of the DPR has just scheduled a hearing (RDP) to listen to the aspirations and input from the public regarding the legalization of the use of marijuana for medical or medicinal purposes.

Deputy Chairman of Commission III of the House of Representatives Desmond J Mahesa said his party would first look at the aspects of the benefits obtained from the legalization of medical marijuana if it is used for treatment in Indonesia.

"We will first see the value of the benefits and the disadvantages, while currently there is a study, it turns out that the value of the benefits for health and the economy is extraordinary, the harm is very small according to information from health," Desmond said when met by VOI, at the Parliament Complex, Senayan, Jakarta, Tuesday, June 28.

Desmond said that the DPR must know in detail the reasons for foreign countries to free the use of marijuana, especially for medical purposes. After that, he said, Commission III of the DPR will only consider and review the issues in the revision of the Narcotics Law.

"Why in the Netherlands, in Thailand it was released, we are reviewing it. What is the economic and health potential, now we will discuss these notes during the discussion of the Narcotics Law," explained the Gerindra politician.

Regarding how marijuana is used for treatment, Desmond emphasized that Commission III of the House of Representatives will seek input from health experts. Is the use of marijuana harmful to health or are there other benefits?

"We ask for input first, there are health experts from Aceh, there are experts from everywhere about it. Later we will formulate whether this is indeed dangerous or not harmful to health," said Desmond.

Including the economic impact. Desmond assesses that if there are benefits from the economic aspect in addition to health, the use of medical marijuana needs to be studied further.

"What's the economic impact? Don't let us hold back something that turns out to be of greater benefit than harm. Now this needs to be studied," he said.

But personally, Desmond admitted that he did not understand the benefits and drawbacks in detail. Therefore, he said, his party needed to receive inputs related to these two aspects.

"The plan is to have a report on the possibility that if it is empty Thursday, I will call (the public) to listen. After that, we will first listen to input from the community, then we will invite doctors and various experts to ask for input on changes to the substance," said Desmond.