After Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh Set To Legalize Cultivation Of Cannabis For Medical Purposes

Even as the Central Government is yet to decide on legalizing the cultivation of cannabis, Madhya Pradesh government has decided to allow the farming of hemp in the state.?

Madhya Pradesh Law Minister PC Sharma, however, made it clear that the cultivation will be only for medical and industrial purposes.?

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Sharma said that Chief Minister Kamal Nath-led government will allow the farming of hemp - a type of marijuana - which will be used for medical purposes like in the treatment of cancer.

He added that the cultivated hemp will not be used for consumption or trading, and said the agricultural project will need international help.

"Hemp is already being cultivated in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. It is bringing a new industry in Madhya Pradesh. This is not meant to be eaten. It is being cultivated to manufacture cancer medicines," he said.

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In 2017, Uttarakhand had become the first Indian state to allow farmers to cultivate hemp plants. Like Madhya Pradesh in Uttarakhand, the permission is only for industrial purposes. Farmers will have to get a licence by the excise department to grow cannabis.?

Hemp with a tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content of 0.3 to 1.5 percent can be used for industrial purposes like in the manufacturing of fiber.

The government also made it clear that the farmers can only sell their produce to the government and not to private buyers.

Legalizing marijuana has been for long a contested subject in India. Those in support of legalization argue that the plant can be used in several medicines, including for the treatment of cancer. They also say that legalizing the cultivation will bring some much needed financial support to the farmers.

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In 2017, the then Union Minister for Women and Child Development, Maneka Gandhi had suggested that marijuana should be legalized in India.

She suggested that such a move will help in curb drug abuse, something that countries, where medical marijuana is legal, has experienced.

In December 2015,?Lok Sabha MP from Odisha Tathagata Satpathy?had suggested that weed should be legalized in the county as it could help fight alcohol addiction.

Last year, Acharya Balkrishna, the CEO of Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev's Patanjali had called for the legalization of marijuana in India.

''In Ayurveda, since ancient times, parts of cannabis [hemp], for instance, have been used for medicinal purposes. So, we are looking at various formulations. We should ponder over the benefits and positive uses of the cannabis plant," Balkrishna had said in an interview.