Following Up On The Constitutional Court's Decision, Commission III Of The DPR To Invite BNN And Experts To Discuss Medical Marijuana Relaxation

Illustration/Photo: Antara

JAKARTA - Commission III of the DPR will discuss the relaxation of medical marijuana by cooperating with the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) and experts to follow up on the decision of the Constitutional Court (MK).

It is known that the Constitutional Court has rejected a material review of Law (UU) No. 35 of 2009 on Narcotics against the 1945 Constitution (UUD) related to the use of medical marijuana for health.

"We invited several related parties, such as BNN, experts, and others," said member of Commission III of the House of Representatives (DPR) of the Republic of Indonesia (RI) Johan Budi Sapto Prabowo in his statement, Friday, July 22.

According to him, there is a lot that needs to be discussed in as much detail as possible, especially regarding the terms and benefits of medical marijuana. Therefore, Johan said, his party will examine in depth efforts to relax medical marijuana in the revision of the Narcotics Law.

"The discussion will cover the class of marijuana, its use, law enforcement duties, classification of narcotics, and others," Johan explained. Johan also asked the public to wait calmly for the government's decision regarding the use of medical marijuana. Because the process of revising the Narcotics Law will take a long time.

"DPR will prioritize the interests of the community. However, back to making the law, later it can be useful or not in its use," said Johan.

Previously, the Constitutional Court (MK) ruled that medical marijuana should not be used for health reasons. This was stated by the Constitutional Court in the case decision number 106/PUU-XVIII/2020.

The Constitutional Court rejected the formal review of the Narcotics Law regarding articles prohibiting the use of class I narcotics. Thus, the provisions of Article 6 paragraph (1) and Article 8 paragraph (1) of the Narcotics Law have not changed. Narcotics class-including medical marijuana-is not allowed to be consumed even for medical reasons.

"Based on an assessment of the facts and the law, the trial court, one, stated that the applications of Petitioners V and VI were unacceptable. Two, rejected the applications of the applicants in their entirety," said Chief Justice Anwar Usman at a virtual hearing, Wednesday, July 20.