SRI LANKA TO LEGALISE CANNABIS

SRI Lanka plans to lift a ban on growing cannabis and begin government
cultivation of the plant, which is a key ingredient in traditional
medicine, a minister was quoted saying today.

Indigenous Medicine Minister Tissa Karaliyadde said he hoped to
introduce a bill in parliament to allow practitioners of herbal
medicine known as ayurveda to grow at least five plants each.

The state itself hopes to start cultivation and land has already been
earmarked for the pilot project, The Island newspaper quoted
Karaliyadde saying.

Despite an official ban on cannabis in Sri Lanka, it is easily
available on the clandestine market both for traditional healers and
smokers.