Nigeria may become drug baron country if allowed-Wase

By Levinus Nwabughiogu-Abuja

A bill seeking to amend the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act, 2004 and grant more power to revoke licenses for the cultivation of cannabis plant in Nigeria for medicinal purposes failed to fly at the House of Representatives yesterday.

It will be recalled that the bill co-sponsored by Hon. Benjamin Kalu and Hon. Olumide Osoba was stepped down at the plenary on Wednesday to enable the House to consolidate it with another sponsored by Hon. Miriam Onuoha.

At Thursday plenary, the bill was represented with the tilted, “Bill for an Act to Decriminalize the Growth and Use of Cannabis, to Establish a System for the Registration and licensing of Cannabis Growers.”

The co-sponsor, Hon. Benjamin Kalu who led the debate on the general principles of the bill outlined the benefits of the cannabis to include pain control, weight loss, cancer treatment.

He said that the bill sought to establish and regulate the safe use of cannabis as a source of medicinal treatment in medical centers, adding that the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) can effectively regulate its use for treatment.

Speaking against the bill, Hon. Nicholas Ossai noted that Nigeria was a signatory to the international treaty of nations on the ban on cannabis.