Senate body approves ‘Cannabis Control and Regulatory Authority Bill, 2024’ with amendments

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Committee on Science and Technology unanimously passed the bill titled ‘The Cannabis Control and Regulatory Authority Bill, 2024’ with amendments.

The committee had detailed deliberations and passed the bill with amendments, including the inclusion of two members of the Senate, one of whom is a woman, as members of the Board of Governors of the authority, along with amendments to other clauses of the bill.

The meeting of the Senate committee held its meeting with the chair of its Chairman Senator Kamil Ali Agha here at Parliament House on Monday. Pakistan Council of Scientific Research (PCSR) Chairman Dr. Syed Hussain Abidi stated that the bill aimed to ensure public health by regulating the cultivation and manufacturing of cannabis and to generate revenue by utilizing the economic potential of the cannabis industry. He highlighted that cannabis can be used for industrial and medicinal purposes and has an economic potential of 4 to 6 billion dollars.

Minister for Water Resources Senator Musadik Masood Malik asserted that cannabis use could be limited to medicinal use and that necessary safeguards should be in place to curb the abusive use of cannabis.

In attendance were Senators Dr. Afnan Ullah Khan, Jan Muhammad, Husna Bano, Musadik Masood Malik, Nasir Mehmood, Syed Shibli Faraz, Secretary for the Ministry of Science and Technology Sajid Baloch, Acting Secretary for the Ministry of Defence Ashfaq Kiyani, Chairman Pakistan Council of Scientific Research Dr. Syed Hussain Abidi and other senior officials from the relevant departments.