Kazakhstan’s cannabis export industry in the works

According to publicly available data, the World Health Organization is ready to recognize the cannabis plant as a medicine. It intends to exclude it from the list of narcotics and illegal substances. The topic under discussion at the XVI Eurasian Media Forum in Almaty. This is great news for the economy of Kazakhstan, who has the natural landscape to grow cannabis for export.

The recognition that cannabis is safe, and its legalization, will be a reality in only a matter of time. The issue of legalization in Kazakhstan did not appear by chance.

A few years ago, Speaker of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Dariga Nazarbayeva, was the first to raise this issue. A new round of discussion took place with the participation of Kazakhstani and international experts.

Taking the power away from the criminals

Communication partner Will Jones, of the Smart Approaches to Marijuana Alliance (SAMA) believes that regulated cannabis sales will make it possible to monitor access. This is to ensure its quality and to prevent criminals from selling cannabis.

“The worst scenario is if billions of dollars go into the hands of illegal industries, which is then used for criminal purposes,” he said.

The president of the public foundation also spoke out

“Counter-narcotics policies throughout human history have yielded nothing. When Columbus discovered America, he brought tobacco to Europe. In the 16th-17th centuries, Russia introduced the death penalty for tobacco use, but as we can see, it did not lead to anything. My attitude as a human rights defender is that the right to choose remains with the individual.” said Bakhyt Tumenova, the president of the public foundation Amansaulyk.

She suggests not to prohibit, but to speak honestly about the harms of drugs and alcohol. The world must treat drug addicts and alcoholics as patients and not as criminals.

“There are more than 120,000 injecting users in Kazakhstan. Methadone therapy is the way for those who want to get rid of it. Those who smoke cigarettes switch to electronic cigarettes, which are less harmful. There has to be a scientific approach, and real solutions to consider.”

Researches find alcohol to be worse than cannabis

However, world governments continue fighting cannabis, yet access to alcohol is almost free.

“I’ve come to the conclusion that marijuana is the only drug on the list of that has a medical purpose. Forget about legalization, we are talking about regulation. There are a lot of plants with a medical purpose, pharmacology uses them. Let us use marijuana too! Kazakhstan is a great place because there are natural growing grounds here,” says Borut Strukel, Professor of Pharmaceutical Biology at the University of Ljubljana.

It is time for each country to come to its own decision on the policies that will be appropriate for its people.

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First published in zakon, a third-party contributor translated and adapted the article from the original. In case of discrepancy, the original will prevail.

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