The Senate’s Standing Committee on Science and Technology has given a nod of approval to the country’s first-ever Cannabis Authority Bill.
The bill will regulate the cultivation and manufacturing of cannabis to protect public health and explore the economic potential of the cannabis industry.
Notably, cannabis can be used for industrial and medicinal purposes, with an economic potential of four to six billion dollars.
The Cannabis Control and Regulatory Authority will be under administrative control of the cabinet division. Defence secretary will chair the 13-member board overlooking the authority. The board will have representatives from various government departments, private sector, and intelligence agencies.
The board will be responsible for making policy decisions and advising the federal government on all matters related to cannabis licensing.
Disagreement of the members
The approval has come after a delay of over four years due to disagreements between different ministries over its jurisdiction.
The dispute over the bill was even witnessed during the meeting of the committee as Chairman Senator Kamil Ali Agha stressed the need for a thorough examination of each clause before proceeding, while Senators Dr Afnan Ullah Khan, Musadik Masood Malik, and Nasir Mehmood demanded it to be passed without further review.
However, PTI Senator Shibli Faraz commented he would submit a dissenting note if the bill was passed without due consideration because he is aware of the initial documentation and knows all the intricacies.
Later, the committee agreed to revisit each clause, and identified and removed several shortcomings in the draft.
Senator Afnan Ullah informed the chairman that following party’s directives, PML-N senators would vote in favour of the bill.
Both Shibli Faraz and the committee chairman questioned why the Ministry of Defence was supervising the Cannabis Development Authority.
However, the committee was informed that cannabis is grown in FATA, so the involvement of the defence ministry and other agencies was necessary to be involved as this measure is in accordance with the UN protocols as well.
The Senate committee later unanimously passed “The Cannabis Control and Regulatory Authority Bill 2024” with amendments that seek inclusion of two senators — one of whom must be a woman — in the board, along with other revisions to the bill’s clauses.
