Candidate seeks support to legalise cannabis

• United Socialist Party’s candidate says time to change archaic laws on cannabis planting
• Says legalising will help farmers and bring in foreign revenue
• Health Ministry last year announced it plans to export cannabis   
  
   

United Socialist Party (USP) presidential candidate Siritunga Jayasuriya has called on voters to support his Party’s campaign to legalise the planting of cannabis, which he says is a lot less harmful than tobacco and alcohol.

In a promotional video, Jayasuriya said that developed countries like the USA have legalised cannabis, but in Sri Lanka, police arrest those who engage in growing this plant. “For farmers, particularly in the dry zone, growing the plant is a way to get an additional income.  If the planting of cannabis is legalised, it will not only help local farmers but will also help bring foreign revenue into the country,” the candidate said.

He added that it is time to do away with archaic laws and legalise the planting of cannabis. Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne said last year that the Government plans to cultivate cannabis for medical purposes, and had earmarked around 100 acres in the north-central Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa districts for this purpose.

The produce was for both the use of Ayurveda medical preparations as well as export, he said.