In September 2020, Federal Government approved and granted permission for the cultivation of Industrial Hemp for medicinal, scientific, and industrial purposes to the Ministry of Science & Technology. The said permission shall be regulated in terms of Rule 2(ix), 8, 9, and 10 of the Control of Narcotics Substances Rules 2001.
Against this backdrop, an “Expression of Interest” (EOI) in the shape of a Joint Venture (JV) for Hemp Production for Medicinal, Scientific, and Industrial Purposes was made by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST).
In furtherance of which the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, while exercising his powers under Article 89 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan 1973, was pleased to issue an Ordinance No XIII of 2020 titled “The Special Technology Zones Authority Ordinance 2020”.
The detailed policy was also drafted for PCSIR by me which shall play an integral part in regulating and licensing hemp for medicinal use in Pakistan.
Officials in Pakistan’s government, Chaudhry Fawad Hussain in particular, encouraged hemp legalization and production in efforts to relieve fiscal deficits and Pakistan’s struggling economy alongside its medicinal benefits.
Considering the industrial hemp market is worth about $25 billion globally, Pakistan’s science and technology minister, Fawad Chaudhry, says Pakistan is aiming for a profit of $1 billion over the next three years by joining the global hemp market. Exports in hemp can target CBD oils and cannabis-based products and can be a sustainable cotton replacement during slowdowns within the cotton industry.
Vast economic potential
Cannabis in Pakistan is illegal for recreational use, although since September 2020, extracts of cannabis can be used for industrial and medical use. Cannabis is widely consumed in Pakistan as charas and bhang.
Before influence from the British and American governments, cannabis was widely used within Central Asia medicinally, as a staple, for textile, and for psychotropic effects. It was revered, as stated within the Atharvaveda, as one of five sacred plants and it was believed that a guardian angel exists within it.
A 1983 report by the Pakistan Narcotics Control Board states that drug usage was largely stable in the 1950s-1970s with opium and cannabis being common, but there was an upsurge in cannabis usage by middle-class youths in the late 1960s and early 1970s due to the influence of Western pop culture. However, by the 1980s the habit fell from fashion in the middle class.
Cannabis is widely used in Pakistan, and smoked as charas (hashish) or consumed as a drink as bhang. According to a 2013 report, 6.4 million people in Pakistan consume cannabis. With the legalization of Cannabidiol, the country is looking ahead to export non-psychoactive hemp and other derivatives to the international market.
Now after getting legal status and coming under government check, hemp will now use to make products like CBD oil, hemp seeds, medical…
Credit:Source link