Four ministries split duties in hemp production

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ASTANA. KAZINFORM - Minister of Internal Affairs of Kazakhstan Kalmukhanbet Kassymov told about the opportunities of growing industrial hemp, Kazinform informs. 

"For the last 5-7 years there has been pending the question of growing industrial and medical hemp. There are foreign investors and there is world experience. However there is also one problem. We ratified a UN Convention stating that hemp is a drug. To get over the existing obstacles and use it in medicine, our Healthcare Ministry must study and prove that hemp can be a cure", the Minister said at the enlarged meeting of the Human Rights Commission.

According to the Minister, to make this happen we need changes in our legislation.

"Different countries treat this issue differently. For example in Europe, Canada and Australia the legislation allows industrial use of hemp if the content of Tetrahydrocannabinol is below 0.3%. In Russia, the limit is 0.1%. In Kazakhstan - 0%," Kalmukhanbet Kassymov said.

He also reminded that each state according to the UN regulation should have a special institution which studies this issue.

"We also need to request permission from the UN. On February 13 I sent a request to permit us to prepare 2 tons of hemp and carry out the necessary study. We told  Vice PM Umirzak Shukeyev about this. He gathered us on February 20 at a meeting and ordered that we are not going to set up any institution for this purpose. It will be the Healthcare Ministry, Agriculture Ministry and Ministry of Internal Affairs which will deal with this issue", the Minister said.

According to Minister Kassymov, the Ministry for Investments and Development will do the processing of hemp. The Healthcare Ministry will provide expert opinion. The Ministry of Agriculture will define the location and the Ministry of Internal Affairs will control this activity.

"Once everything is ready, we will make the necessary changes in our legislation about the permissible narcotic content in hemp. If we come to his decision in a legal way through Parliament, our entrepreneurs will have a chance to make industrial products from hemp," he concluded.

 

 

 

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