The Bhutanese Leading the way.
Responding to a question of National Assembly Members from Chhumig Ura constituency and Dramedtse Ngatshang constituency, the Foreign Minister, on behalf of the Prime Minister, said that substance abusers and traffickers must be dealt with separately, with the traffickers receiving harsh punishment. However, the substance abuser and the traffickers are mostly the youth and school students, so when they are caught, they must go to jail for 3 to 7 years, which jeopardizes their future. As a result, the government has discussed amending the Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances and Substance Abuse Act on several occasions.
Lyonpo said that the government has discussed the matter with BNCA, which carries the mandate, and BNCA reviewed it with their technical advisory group before submitting a report to the board, and is currently under discussion.
Lyonpo also said that the oil derived from marijuana is used as medicine all over the world, and it has developed as a business and grown popular. Even in terms of health, it is thought to be highly beneficial, therefore, it will also benefit the economy in the country, and so the government needed to have a dialogue.
“Because we had a restricted number of experts, we had to work with international experts. We invited experts from Singapore before the breakout of COVID-19, and we’ve been discussing what to do and how to proceed with them. However, due to the outbreak of COVID-19, we were unable to continue the discussion. So, if the Act needs to be amended, we’ll have to look at it,” Lyonpo said.
Lyonpo added, “People will believe that it is acceptable to consume marijuana, but it is not. If it is to be made into medicine, the procedure is different. The one we have will not work, it must be researched first, and then placed in a glass house, and then the experiment must be carried out. As a result, we must complete the work efficiently, which is why we are taking our time.”
Lyonpo said that they will not be able to submit the Act to the House this year; however, after the COVID-19 has been resolved, they will invite the experts.
“We hope to submit (the Act) before our term ends,” Lyonpo said.
