Police burn 11 hectares of cannabis fields in Aceh
Police set fire to an 11-hectare cannabis field in Aceh, Wednesday (8/3), after the field was discovered by local authorities last month.
“Combined with other lands in West Aceh, the total area is 43 hectares, which produces 190,000 cannabis stems ready for harvest,” Aceh Police Chief Ahmad Haydar told reporters, when the cannabis trees were uprooted and piled up for burning.
Indonesia has some of the strictest drug laws in the world. In 2017 President Joko Widodo told law enforcement officials to shoot drug dealers to tackle a “drug emergency”.
Riot police stand in an illegal cannabis field in Seulimeum, Aceh Province, March 8, 2023. (REUTERS/Riska Munawarah)
Last year, Indonesia’s Constitutional Court rejected a judicial review of a drug law that would have paved the way for legalizing cannabis for medicinal use.
Nasir Jamil, a DPR member, said, “There are pros and cons regarding the legalization of cannabis for medical purposes. I am a member of the legal commission in the DPR and we hope that all regions will wait for an official decision from the government and the DPR. regarding the legality of cannabis for medical purposes.” [ab/uh]
