Once again, there’s a discussion about cannabis. We usually say “smoking cannabis” colloquially. Cannabis is a prohibited narcotic substance in Sri Lanka.
Many news stories related to cannabis have begun to appear in Sri Lanka recently. Cannabis is the most widely used illegal narcotic substance in Sri Lanka, also known as “kansa” or colloquially called “mal” (flower) in villages.
We’ve seen mentioned in some reports that 1.9% of people over 14 years of age use cannabis. According to 2019 estimates, the National Authority on Dangerous Drugs mentioned that 301,898 people in Sri Lanka use cannabis.
Various things about cannabis have been said at different times. We’ve seen that research on cannabis has been conducted even at university level. We saw a clarification made by a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Sri Jayewardenepura. They say that the risk of developing mental illness increases from 2.5% to 8% due to cannabis use. They mentioned that cannabis users develop symptoms like psychosis and mental illness symptoms like schizophrenia. They also mention patients who have become ill due to cannabis use and are currently receiving treatment. They mentioned that it causes delusional states, depression, and anxiety. They noted that these patients can develop excessive fear. They mention that people who use cannabis excessively for long periods may develop sexual dysfunction. They hint at sexual impotence. They mentioned that brain changes can occur when people over 25 years of age use cannabis.
On the other hand, some say that our ancestors used cannabis. They mentioned that they gained creativity from cannabis. Many people say that cannabis use in Lanka is not something that started today or yesterday. They say cannabis is a tree that grew in our country. We’ve heard that even people aged 80-90 have used cannabis since time immemorial. We’ve heard in these mentions that cannabis was used for heroic and valiant purposes. They talk about heroes who drank cannabis. They say that because of cannabis they became creative, and when painting some pictures or creating some works, they used cannabis to maintain their mental concentration.
However, we know by now that cannabis is an addictive substance. We have evidence that what is known as “abhipena” in Ayurveda in Lanka or India was used as medicine. When taken as medicine, it needs to be used in a certain dosage and in a certain way. Similarly, instead of detoxification or addiction occurring due to the proportions obtained or other factors. That’s why cannabis is something seriously bad if used without proper methodology. That’s why major laws have been made in Lanka.
While talking about this, we learn about the Kerala cannabis variety called ‘KG’ that comes to Lanka. They also talk about another variety of cannabis that exists in Lanka. The cannabis plant is what becomes this cannabis. They say there are several species of cannabis plants. Similarly, when chemical substances are mixed with this cannabis plant, it becomes more toxic. The chemical substance called ‘psychoactive component’ reaches our body through this. We’ve learned that it’s not such a good thing. It becomes clear to us in this matter that cannabis smoking causes lung problems and causes traffic accidents.
Anyway, what we’re trying to say now is that a lot of work is done with cannabis around the world. Selling cannabis, creating a cannabis market. Regarding the global cannabis market, we saw that MP Diana Gamage spoke very enthusiastically about it recently. In 2013, Uruguay became the first country to legalize cannabis for recreational use. Similarly, Canada, Georgia, South Africa, several states in the United States, and Spain can be considered as countries where using cannabis recreationally or medicinally is not criminal or problematic. However, the United States has made its own laws to control the cannabis market.
Some people believe that by 2028, the value of this cannabis market will rise to $91.5 billion worldwide. According to the ‘Grand View’ research institute, several countries in the world have recently taken steps to legalize cannabis use. We can recognize through internet use that cannabis can be successfully used to control pain and treat disease conditions like cancer, arthritis, and epilepsy.
However, although various opinions were mentioned regarding cannabis, when Diana Gamage tried to legalize cannabis, it was opposed mostly by the group that has now gained government power. They seem to have forgotten all that now and have assigned four teams to work on cannabis matters. We can see that they have now succeeded in the unofficial effort to legalize cannabis. That’s what Diana Gamage said too. But what Diana Gamage said is now being implemented differently by these people. They’re opening casinos. Things that the same people said were bad, they’re now starting to feel are good. That’s what villages call “slaves at one time, but rulers at another time.” We don’t know if that’s how it is. Anyway, we can see that certain steps in legalizing cannabis are happening either successfully or unsuccessfully.
So what we have to say is: if it’s good, then it’s good; if it’s bad, then it’s bad. If our government does it, it’s good; if that government did it, it’s bad; if the next government does it, it’s bad – instead of that, let’s properly understand what’s right and what’s wrong and work properly. Otherwise, what happens is that we too end up acting like we’re high on cannabis.
