Minister In Sri Lanka Wants To Legalize Medical Cannabis Exports

Sri Lanka may not be the first place that you think of when it comes to cannabis reform and the emerging cannabis industry, however, the nation is trending in the right direction, albeit slowly. Adult-use cannabis is illegal in Sri Lanka while medical cannabis is legal in certain limited instances.

The cannabis plant has a long history in Sri Lanka, with local populations using it for centuries for religious purposes. A new push is underway in Sri Lanka to legalize medical cannabis exports, with the nation’s Minister of Indigenous Medicine leading the charge. Per Colombo Gazette:

Medical cannabis to be legalised for export, State Minister of Indigenous Medicine Sisira Jayakody said.

The State Minister has instructed the relevant officials to prepare the legal documents for this purpose.

He said that Sri Lanka can earn around USD 3 billion through the export of indigenous medicine.

It is no secret that Sri Lanka’s economy is in ruins right now. Roughly a decade ago Sri Lanka had one of the fastest growing economies in the region, however, in May the country defaulted on its debt for the first time in history, and it has been all down hill from there.

Legalizing medical cannabis exports may not fix every economic problem that Sri Lanka has, yet it could definitely help to some degree. In addition to legalizing exports the government in Sri Lanka also needs to embrace cannabis domestically and ensure that every suffering patient in the country is afforded the same level of safe access as found in many other countries.