United Nations Removes Marijuana From The Most Dangerous Class, Legalization Of Medical Cannabis In Indonesia Is Encouraged Again

Ilustrasi (Ilham Amin / VOI)

JAKARTA - The UN Narcotics Commission has agreed to remove the cannabis plant and cannabis sap from Group IV of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotics, which are considered the most dangerous. This brings hope for activists who are activists of the use of medical marijuana to encourage changes in narcotics regulations in Indonesia.

Previously, marijuana and its derivatives were placed in group I and group IV. As is well known, class IV narcotics are considered the most dangerous. Therefore, narcotics in this group, including marijuana, are the most tightly controlled when compared to narcotics groups I to III.

Then based on a proposal from the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Narcotics Commission agreed to remove marijuana from the list of the most dangerous drugs and has no medical benefit. However, the United Nations still prohibits the recreational use of marijuana.

With the removal of cannabis and its sap from Group IV, as described in the WHO recommendation description, marijuana is no longer confused with heroin or opioids which have the highest risk of causing death.

On the contrary, the health benefits that can be obtained from the cannabis plant are increasingly being recognized. This has been widely proven by the results of research and medical marijuana treatment practices in various countries, both in the form of therapy, treatment of epilepsy symptoms, and other diseases.

Encourage medical marijuana

This historic UN decision, according to the Narcotics Advocacy Coalition for Health, has a major impact on the position of marijuana in international narcotics policy. So that it is no longer a barrier to the development of science and to its use in the medical world. For this reason, they are calling on the Indonesian government to start to open up to the potential use of domestic medical marijuana.

"The Narcotics Advocacy Coalition for Health calls on the Indonesian Government to also start to open up the potential use of medical marijuana in the country. As a concrete step, the Government needs to follow up by issuing regulations that allow marijuana to be used for medical purposes," said the statement from the Narcotics Advocacy Coalition for Health. VOI.

The coalition consisting of Rumah Cemara, ICJR, LBH Masyarakat, IJRS, Yakeba, EJA, and LGN has long been voicing the potential for medicinal use of marijuana. Most recently, they also accompanied three mothers of children with cerebral palsy who submitted a petition for a judicial review of the Narcotics Law to the Constitutional Court, which prohibits the use of Narcotics Category I for health purposes.

This opportunity, according to activists, should be used as a momentum for the Indonesian government to overhaul its narcotics policy. "The results of the UN voting can be used as medical legitimacy which must be followed by member countries including Indonesia which always refers to the provisions of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotics," he concluded.