Jakarta (ANTARA) - The National Narcotics Agency (BNN) will conduct research on the medical use of cannabis in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN).
Head of the BNN, Commissioner General of Police Marthinus Hukom, said that the research is a Constitutional obligation of the BNN in the wake of the Constitutional Court's recent ruling asking the government to review the use of cannabis for medical purposes.
"We need time to conduct research because the legalization of cannabis for medical purposes remains an issue (that needs to be discussed), so we will need more accurate results from research," he said at a meeting with Commission III of the House of Representatives (DPR) here on Monday.
The research, according to him, will be conducted at the BNN's forensic laboratory, which is one of the best forensic laboratories in Southeast Asia.
Hukom made the statements in response to a question from a member of Commission III, Hinca Panjaitan, regarding whether the BNN will conduct the medical cannabis research.
According to Panjaitan, the request for the legalization of cannabis for medical purposes has often been raised by the public, especially parents of children with cerebral palsy, as cannabis is considered to be beneficial for their treatment.
Recently, a child who suffered from cerebral palsy for 10 years breathed his last, he noted.
The child's parents were among the applicants seeking a judicial review of the Narcotics Law regarding medical cannabis.
"The State has been discussing research for too long that has not yet begun. In fact, the Constitutional Court has decided twice on the judicial review of the Narcotics Law, ordering the State to conduct research tests, and that was three years ago," Panjaitan said.
Currently, the use of cannabis, including for medical purposes, is strictly prohibited under Indonesian law.
Indonesia classifies cannabis as a Schedule 1 substance, based on the UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961, which means that it is classified as a drug with high potential for abuse, no accepted medical use, and no safe level of use under medical supervision.
However, there has been growing advocacy for the legalization of medical cannabis due to its potential therapeutic benefits for certain medical conditions, including cerebral palsy.
