Lawmakers Consider Bill To Legalize Cultivation Of Marijuana, Registration For Its Traders

A bill to legalize the cultivation and trading of cannabis for medical and cosmetic use, research purposes as well as revenue generation for Nigeria has been proposed by a House of Representatives member.

The bill titled ‘A Bill for an Act to Regulate the Cultivation, Possession, Availability, and Trade of Cannabis for Medical and Research Use, and Related Purposes’ and proposed in the Cannabis Control Bill 2020, is sponsored by Miriam Onuoha and awaiting second reading.

The bill which sets conditions for the cultivation, buying, selling, and consumption of the drug, allows hospitals and doctors to prescribe doses of cannabis for the treatment of patients, while pharmacies and stores will be allowed to sell the drug.

The bill states that a licensed seller who sells more than the prescribed dose to a buyer would risk imprisonment or pay a fine.

It reads in part;

“A person who grows, produces or sells cannabis, not for medical purpose and does not present the particulars required for registration under Section 12(1) commits an offense and shall be liable upon conviction to imprisonment for two years or a fine not exceeding N1,000,000 or both.”

“A licensed seller who sells more than the prescribed dose to a buyer would risk imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or a fine not less than N500,000 or both, while a buyer who smokes or ingests cannabis, on the contrary, might be jailed for two years or fined not less than N500,000 or both.”