Indonesia's Ministry of Health to Regulate Cannabis Research

TheIndonesia.id - The Indonesian Ministry of Health will immediately issue regulations governing the implementation of cannabis research for medical needs. Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin said the regulation purpose is to control all functions of the research process that lead to the development of science in the medical world.

"We have conducted a study, the regulations will soon be issued for medical needs," said Indonesian Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin in the media discussion agenda at the Indonesian Ministry of Health Building, South Jakarta, Wednesday, June 29, 2022.

The basis of the decision of the Ministry of Health to issue a regulation on cannabis research is Law Number 35 of 2009 concerning Narcotics. Article 12 paragraph 3 and Article 13 of the Law have stated that further provisions regarding procedures for the implementation of production and/or use in production in very limited quantities for the benefit of the development of science and technology are regulated by ministerial regulation.

Sadikin believes that all plants and animals created by God must have benefits for life. One of them is morphine, as a very strong analgesic alkaloid and is the main active agent found in opium.

"Morphine is stronger than marijuana but is used for medical purposes. Cannabis is actually the same as morphine. Morphine is harder than marijuana but it's used for something beneficial," he said.

Sadikin said the benefits of the cannabis plant depend on the user. If misused, it can trigger a negative impact, not only on yourself but also on society. Just like morphine in the medical world, which functions to reduce pain in wounds in the human body, the cannabis plant will also be studied to see its benefits through research, data, and scientific facts, Sadikin added.

"The research on morphine is good, it doesn't hurt when something happens like we've been shot," he said.

Sadikin said that cannabis research activities would involve universities to produce scientific studies for medical needs. "If we have passed the production research, we should maintain it according to its medical function," he said.