How Beneficial Can Cannabis Legalization Be?
Member of the House of Representatives (DPR) from the Prosperous Justice Party faction, Rafli, proposed legalizing cannabis cultivation as an export commodity. In a proposal submitted at a meeting with the government at the DPR on January 30, Rafli was of the opinion that cannabis has many proven benefits, has the potential to generate income and asked the public not to be too strict about cannabis.
Quoted from elevationsdispensary marijuana is legal in several countries. Britain and Thailand, for example, have legalized medical cannabis. The State of California, United States of America (USA), has even legalized the recreational use of cannabis for adults. As of 2018, California earned US$345 million (approximately Rp. 4.7 trillion) in taxes on cannabis sales. This figure is even below the prediction of the local government which is targeting $643 million.
The cannabis industry also succeeded in saving the city of Pueblo, in Colorado, USA, which was experiencing economic difficulties after the collapse of the iron industry there. The Netherlands has also benefited from the legalization of medical cannabis by monopolizing the supply of cannabis to pharmaceutical companies as well as cannabis exports to other countries in Europe.
But the current legal status of cannabis in Indonesia does not allow the government to capitalize on the plant’s economic potential.
Legal status of cannabis in Indonesia
Currently, the government still prohibits the cultivation, use, and distribution of cannabis. Marijuana is included in class I narcotics, meaning that cannabis cannot be used for health and is considered to have a very high potential to cause dependence for its users.
For some Indonesian people, marijuana is believed to have bad effects such as addiction and other negative behaviors. The position of cannabis as a class I narcotic means that the use of cannabis is threatened with the most severe penalties compared to the use of other narcotics. Marijuana users can be punished with up to 4 years in prison – the same as methamphetamine users, while users of other types of narcotics such as morphine carry a lower sentence, namely a maximum of 2 years in prison.
Meanwhile, studies have shown the benefits of cannabis as an alternative medicine that has high economic potential. Thailand, for example, allows the use of cannabis as an alternative treatment for side effects of chemotherapy, epilepsy and multiple sclerosis. The legalization of medical cannabis is expected to add $46-312 million to Thailand’s revenues by 2024.
But Indonesia has not been able to take advantage of the economic potential of cannabis because of its legal status, even though the use of cannabis in Indonesian culture has been going on for a long time. The Sativa Nusantara Foundation research team reports that the use of cannabis is listed in the manuscripts of the ancient book Tajul Muluk in Aceh. Indonesian people have used cannabis for hundreds of years for ritual, medicinal, food, and agricultural purposes.
Economic potential
In the health sector, drugs from processed cannabis are allegedly much cheaper and more natural than drugs made from synthetic chemicals from the pharmaceutical industry. This is relevant at a time when as many as 90% of medicines in Indonesia are made from imported raw materials which are expensive. Optimizing cannabis for medicine is not only used to cure diseases, but can also be an alternative source of state revenue.
As a comparison, the results of a study conducted by Nagan Raya, Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, in 2017 showed that cannabis from Aceh is valued at IDR 100,000 per kilogram (kg) in illegal circulation. One hectare of cannabis field can produce 1,500 kg of dry cannabis within 6 months.
During that time, farmers were able to earn Rp. 150 million. The capital expended to clear the land and plant it is around IDR 4-5 million for the six months until harvest. With the same capital, farmers can only produce 100 kg of tobacco which is sold at IDR 60,000 per kg.
The selling price of cannabis as a legal product can be different. In Colorado, cannabis prices have fallen by more than a third post-legalization in 2018. However, in 2019, it was reported that cannabis sales there totaled $1.29 billion, with the state collecting $270 million in taxes.