Medicinal Cannabis Legalization- South-Eastern Asia

Hello fellow WA members! I recently posted a Happy National CBD day blog to express my personal appreciation for it. As I was already aware,some countries have strict laws regarding Cannabis and its substances. Some people from my network onWA are from these areas and had commented on the fact which made me much more intrested in certain areas that are restricted but may be making progress.

So, I have written this page for my website and i wanted to post it to my profile as an article but unfortunately i didnt create it in sitecontent so it wont let me add it.

This will be a long Blog but if youre intrested, ive done alot of research on the progress in south-eastern asian countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Philipenes and Singapore!

P.S I have done my best to fix format since it was copied and pasted from my site i apologize if any pictures overlap and content. Im hoping to add this as an article when i figure out how.

CBD Legalization- South- East Asia.

For most countries around the world growing and selling hemp is legal besides a few strays. South eastern Asia is known for having some of the harshest drug-laws in the world. However, recently Thailand decided it was time to legalize the plant! Why not? The plant has been used in Asia since before we know it, it originated in China and has been used across Asia for mostly textiles for hundreds of years.

Malaysia

Malaysia is a country in south-eastern Asia with definitely some of the harshest drug-laws in effect. A single cannabis plant could land you in prison for life. 200 grams of cannabis could lead you to the death penalty. They have a strict No- drug policy to obtain a safe environment for their citizens.

It all came to attention in 2017; A woman (Malaysian citizen) was suffering from Cancer. She wanted cannabis as a supplement but simply had no access to it and she later passed away. After her death, her husband was sentenced to the death sentence for simply pursuing the plant for his ill wife.

In 2018; A Malaysian man was arrested and sentenced to death in2018 for selling cannabis oil to ill patients that could not afford treatment.

As a result, tens of thousands of Malaysian citizens signed a petition in support of releasing both of them, this had gained so much attention that the prime minister requested the cases be reviewed.

Malaysia has recently had a dramatic change in government which is aiming to ensure the end of the use of capital punishment to deter crimes entirely. the Malaysian Government has abolished the death penalty for 32 offences-including drug-related charges. They began drafting legalization to decriminalize medicinal marijuana.

As of February 2019 the Malaysian government has made little progress in the process of legalization. It was stated that only a single company had registered to use cannabis based products in the entire country.

The Entire South Asian Government has partnered with THC Global Ltd. which is a leading investing cannabis market worldwide. This means Singapore is slowly on its way to producing and providing.

The country is growing with activist and organizations that are demanding change to the Marijuana Policies. The Malaysian Consumers Association of Malaysia shows complete support with moving forward and believes there needs to be more studies conducted on how it can be used and controlled and its efficiency compared to drugs already on the legal market.

Malaysia lacks history in the war on drugs and its strongly believed they will be the second South-Eastern Asian country to completely legalize medicinal cannabis.

Indonesia

The traditional use of cannabis was commonly found in the northern parts of Indonesia and was referred to as Ganja. The use was as an intoxicant or opium substitute. It was frequently smoked with tobacco. A German-Dutch Botanist wrote a book on the medicinal application cannabis indica and sativa this was published in 1974 by G.E Rumphius. He observed and wrote in his book;

Cannabis roots were sometimes consumed to treat gonorrhea, while its leaves were sometimes combined with nutmeg and brewed as tea for the purpose of alleviating asthma, chest pain and bile secretion.

Among Muslims, cannabis leaves, which were smoked with tobacco, produced effects varying from
aggression to sadness and melancholy.

As of 2009 -2012 just under 38,000 citizens were arrested and imprisoned for using cannabis. That is about 26

people on a daily basis. Cannabis account for 66% of all drug consumption in the country.

A study in 2014 showed there was approximately 2 million cannabis consumers in Indonesia. Although, the country has just as harsh of drug laws as anywhere else is south Asia. Most believe that the Government of Indonesia simply does not have the "heart" or "compassion" to accept the benefits it can have on citizens.

However, the country may be progressing. Although Cannabis is classed with meth and heroin(category one drugs), many citizens believe it will be classed as a Category 2 or 3 substance before it is legalized for medicinal use. Which is better than nothing right?

Singapore

The Home Affairs and Health Ministries of Singapore believe that their drug-control policies are underpinned by evidence and research. They believe they must continue to remain drug-free to prevent harm to it population and society.

"Cannabis is clearly addictive and harmful. No scientific evidence of safety of raw cannabis use exists."

Although, they will still provide safe and controlled access to evidence-based medical treatment.

Recently, as of May 2018, Singapore has hosted a global headquarters for CannAcubed, an industrial Cannabis Grower. CannAcubed is based in China and specializes in hemp-derived CBD, They export to Europe and northern countries. They are currently developing their own seed bank. They are considered a Bio-Tech firm or a "Diversified cannabis company". They are completely legal as long as they operate outside of city state.

The CannAcubed goal is to develop a cannabis strain which contains absolutely 0% THC.

The CannAcubed founder has over 15 years experience in the hemp field and has a mission to solve world issues with

hemp such as, poverty, waste, energy and disease through environmental innovation.

He says that since he has set up the headquarters in Singapore he has noticed how interested citizens are. They get very excited and curious. They have lots and lost of questions for him, they want to know what it is, learn about it, understand what it is and what it does and where they can get it.

Since then CannAcubed has joined forces in playing a role with Singapore's National Research Foundation on the subject of synthetic cannabinoids, their economical potential and therapeutic benefits and properties.

So far, Singapore does seem to be on the straight and narrow towards legalization although there is along ways to go.

Philippines

The Department of Health (DOH) Administrative Order of 1992 and the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 , which stipulates that “people with legitimate medical needs are not prevented from being treated with adequate amounts of appropriate medications, which includes the use of dangerous drugs.

This means in reality, It is completely legal in the Philippines to consume Cannabis. Unfortunately, because there is no legal supply or producers in the Philippines it makes it practically impossible to find access to it.

As recent as January 2019 a bill to pass the legalization and regulate medicinal cannabis was approved on a second reading. This is huge step for the Philippines!

Many more steps remain until the final legalization stage but their not far behind Malaysia and Singapore. The process of legalization in the Philippines would first mean the creation of a Medical Cannabis Compassionate Center which would be responsible to lay out the legal foundation for a functional Cannabis industry in the country.

The Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte has expressed his full support as well. Good sign.

The entire Asian region is known as the ancient host for the hemp plant. Commonly used as textiles and fabrics. In

some regions an intoxicant drug and other a medicinal aide. For a region with such strict drug-laws they are on their way to improving them. One step at a time, slowly but surely.

If you have any questions concerning the content on this page please leave a comment or contact The Quality CBD Chain. There will be more pages and posts including CannAcubed.