TOP INDONESIAN MP SAYS DOPE IN FOOD 'OKAY'

INDONESIAN Vice President Jusuf Kalla, who opposes legalising
marijuana, doesn't mind the drug being used in cooking, a newspaper
reported today. "It's alright to use it as a food seasoning, but it
should not be fully legalised," Mr Kalla was quoted as saying by the
Jakarta Post.

Mr Kalla was commenting on a recent study by two Indonesian agencies
dealing with drug abuse that recommended the Government review its
policy to outlaw the use of marijuana for recreational purposes, the
Post said.

Many of dishes in Aceh province, where hemp plants are grown, such as
mutton and beef curry are said to be laced with marijuana seeds to
give them a distinctive local flavour.

A drug expert from the National Narcotics Agency reportedly said
Indonesia should follow the example of countries like the
Netherlands, where marijuana is legal, because it is not as harmful
as people thought.

Ratna Dwikora, the owner of an Acehnese food restaurant in Jakarta,
told the Kompas newspaper "marijuana is available in any Acehnese
kitchen just like coriander".

"Marijuana is a widely-accepted cooking spice there," she told the
newspaper.

Indonesia imposes harsh penalties, including death, for narcotic
offences as the country faces a growing drug menace.

Australian Schapelle Corby is serving a 20-year sentence in Bali's
Kerobokan Prison for smuggling 4.1kg of cannabis into Indonesia
inside a bodyboard bag in October 2004.

Six young Australians were sentenced to death last year for heroin
smuggling on Bali.

And five Chinese nationals, a Dutchman and a Frenchman who appealed
against the length of their convictions on drug charges were instead
sentenced to death last month.