The Ministry Of Health Will Arrange Regulations For Medical Marijuana Research Permits

Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin (ANTARA/Zubi Mahrofi)

JAKARTA - Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said his ministry would make regulations related to research permits on marijuana for medical purposes.

"What we want is a permit to conduct research, not a usage permit", said Minister of Health Budi, on the sidelines of a visit to several schools in the Bogor Regency area, West Java, as reported by ANTARA, Thursday, July 21.

The Minister of Health said that the permit for cannabis research was to provide medical evidence as to whether marijuana could be used for medical reasons or not.

"We want to use marijuana at the Ministry of Health for research, in health, it is scientifically based", he said.

The Minister of Health said that currently there is one narcotic that can be used for medical needs, namely morphine.

"Many narcotics for medical purposes, such as morphine, are used when people are sick, people are injured, there is a disaster, there is war, people are injected with morphine, but it has been measured and is not sold freely", he said.

Previously, the Constitutional Court rejected the application for judicial review of Law Number 35 of 2009 concerning Narcotics Law submitted by several mothers from patients with brain function disorders (cerebral palsy) and non-governmental organizations.

"Reject the petitioners in their entirety", said Constitutional Justice Anwar Usman, when he read out the verdict on Case 106/PUU-XVIII/2020.

Meanwhile, Constitutional Justice Daniel Yusmic P Foekh conveyed the need for the readiness of the legal structure and culture of the community, as well as facilities and infrastructure for the use of class I narcotics for health services or treatment in Indonesia.

Daniel said this readiness was needed to anticipate the consequences of using class I narcotics for health services or treatment in Indonesia, considering that class I narcotics can cause very high dependence and are detrimental if misused without control and supervision.

Constitutional Justice Suhartoyo said the Court asked the government to immediately conduct scientific studies and research on Category I narcotics for the benefit of health services or treatment, the results of which can be used to determine policies, including changes to laws.

Suhartoyo said that studies and research on the use of narcotics Category I for health services or therapy can be carried out by the government or the private sector, after obtaining permission from the Minister of Health.