ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Science and Technology on Monday approved the country’s first-ever Cannabis Authority Bill after a delay of over four years due to disputes between ministries over its jurisdiction.

The discord over the bill was even witnessed during a meeting of the committee as its chairman Senator Kamil Ali Agha stressed the need for a thorough examination of each clause before proceeding, while Senators Dr Afnan Ullah Khan, Musadik Masood Malik, and Nasir Mehmood demanded it be passed without further review.

PTI Senator Shibli Faraz, a former minister for science and technology, said he had supervised the initial drafting of the bill and was aware of its intricacies, and warned that he would submit a dissenting note if the bill was passed without due consideration.

Law aims to regulate cultivation, manufacturing of cannabis to protect public health

Eventually, the committee agreed to deliberate on each clause, and identified and removed several shortcomings in the draft.

Throughout the meeting, the PML-N members continued to consult each other on how to secure the bill’s approval in this first sitting.

Senator Afnan Ullah informed the chairman that following party’s directives, the PML-N senators would vote in favour of the bill.

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Both Shibli Faraz and the committee chairman questioned why the Ministry of Defence was supervising the Cannabis Development Authority.

The meeting was informed that since cannabis is primarily cultivated in the erstwhile Fata, the involvement of the defence ministry and other agencies was necessary to ensure control over the sensitive matter in accordance with the UN protocols.

The Senate committee later unanimously passed “The Cannabis Control and Regulatory Authority Bill 2024” with amendments that seek inclusion of two senators — one of whom must be a woman — in the board of governors of the authority, along with other revisions to the bill’s clauses.

Chairman of the Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR) Dr Syed Hussain Abidi said the bill aims to regulate the cultivation and manufacturing of cannabis to protect public health and tap the economic potential of the cannabis industry. He noted that cannabis can be used for industrial and medicinal purposes, with an estimated economic potential of $4-6 billion.

The Cannabis Control and Regulatory Authority will be under administrative control of the cabinet division, and its 13-member board will be chaired by the defence secretary, with representatives from various government departments, the private sector, and intelligence agencies.

The board will be responsible for making policy decisions and advising the federal government on all matters related to cannabis policy, including licensing activities governed by the ordinance.

The idea of legalising the production of medicinal hemp in Pakistan was floated in September 2020 by Fawad Chaudhry, then minister for science and technology, but Ministry of Narcotics Control had raised objections, claiming that the matter fell under its jurisdiction.

Later, the Ministry of Food Security expressed concerns about approving res­earch and pilot cultivation of medicinal hemp, citing potential negative impacts on food cultivation in the country.

Published in Dawn, September 10th, 2024