Tag: indonesia

The Asian country appears to be on the fast track to follow Thailand into the medical cannabis reform column. Unfortunately, the Constitutional Court has rejected the plea to review the Narcotics Act – leaving reform in the hands of the legislators

A major lawsuit launched in Indonesia has now failed in its bid to convince the country’s highest court to amend the national Narcotics Act to exclude cannabis. For all the good news, it is important to remember that cannabis reform is still not a given in too many countries in the world. Many of those nations are now located in Asia.

Beyond Australia and New Zealand, Thailand remains the only other Asian country to have begun the process, although it was widely hoped that the court would accept the judicial review.

However, all is not lost. The impact of the case that got to the court in the first place is having a huge impact on the discussion far beyond the courtroom. Indeed, the story of Santi Warastuti along with the two other plaintiffs and their children is one that has ignited a storm of political support.

The Vice President of the country, moved by the plight of the suffering children in the case recently told the top religious body in the country to issue a fatwa – a religious decree – allowing Muslims to use cannabis.

Beyond this, the Parliament is currently considering a medical cannabis law.

The court may have failed to act, but the fight is very far from being over.

The Thai Tipping Point?

Thailand is clearly creating waves throughout Asia in its fast movement towards not only medical cannabis for domestic use, but also for export. The country has quickly established not only a wide domestic medical cultivation base but is now actively seeking to sell its medical crops abroad (starting with Germany).

This rapid conversion, along with the establishment of export markets in both New Zealand and Australia, is clearly making regional news.

Asia could easily become one of if not the centres of cannabis production and consumption globally. Many believe the plant originated from this part of the world. It has certainly shown up in almost every Asian country’s history – mostly used as a medicine or religious herb – or both.

The impact of the Asian region finally swinging, en masse, to even “just” medical reform cannot be understated.

That is why it is important that Indonesia continue down its current path of reform.

No matter the setback, in other words, in the judicial arena, it is also clear that forward progress is coming here. Just not via the courts – but rather the legislature.

Indonesia is home to some of the harshest cannabis penalties on earth. In fact, people can still receive the death penalty as a punishment for certain cannabis offenses in Indonesia.

Thailand, which shares a maritime border with Indonesia, recently implemented a new cannabis policy that significantly boosted access to cannabis, and people had to be reminded that if they brought cannabis into Indonesia from Thailand that they could be put to death.

Given that background and context, it was significant earlier this week when officials in Indonesia expressed a willingness to explore medical cannabis reform. Per Bloomberg:

Indonesian lawmakers will discuss a plan to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes, after a mother’s plea for the treatment for her child spread widely online.

Legislators will study the plan with the health ministry, parliament’s Deputy Speaker Sufmi Dasco Ahmad said in a statement on Tuesday. Any changes would be done by revising the narcotics law, which bans the use of cannabis except for certain research purposes, he added.

Santi Warastuti went viral for joining Jakarta’s crowded car-free day on Sunday while bringing a placard that said, “Help, my child needs medical marijuana.” Her child has cerebral palsy. Dasco met Warastuti in Jakarta on Tuesday, and vowed to raise the issue with legislators who are deliberating the law.

Medical cannabis reform has swept the globe in recent decades, particularly in the Western Hemisphere and Europe. Asia has been much slower to reform its laws, although that is changing.

It’s likely a safe bet that if Indonesia does legalize cannabis for medical use, which is a huge ‘if’ to be sure, the policy that they implement will be extremely strict.

One thing working in every country’s favor in the region is Thailand’s new cannabis policy, which is demonstrating in real-time that reform is better than prohibition. Hopefully that is a fact that is not lost on lawmakers in Indonesia (and elsewhere).