Govt., Opposition clash over move to promote ganga cultivation

By Saman Indrajith

The government and Opposition debated in Parliament on Tuesday whether the terms, thriloka vijayapatra and ganja were the same and meant cannabis.

SJB Moneragala District MP Ranjith Madduma Bandara participating in the third reading debate on the 2023 Budget said that the government’s solution in the budget proposals to save agriculture was to suggest that ganja be cultivated to earn money.

“Farmers are facing unprecedented difficulties owing to high cost of production. The agri sector is in crisis and the cultivation of ganja is the way the government is proposing to help them. When we criticise this, the Indigenous Medicine Minister claims that cultivating ganja and that of thriloka vijayapatra are two different things. Just because you termed ganja as thriloka vijayapathra, that does not mean something else and uplift your project. Thankfully, the Minister of Indigenous Medicine does not practise ayurveda or traditional medicine.

“It is against what is preached in our religion to produce and sell toxicants,” Madduma Bandara said.

State Minister of Indigenous Medicine Promotion Sisira Jayakody insisted that the government was not planning to legalise ganja. Jayakody said that a Cabinet paper had not been presented to that effect. The Budget proposes to cultivate thriloka vijayapatra for medicinal purposes and to export them, the minister.

Madduma Bandara said that the Minister was contradicting a statement made by President Ranil Wickremesinghe on legalising cannabis for export. “The President, in his 2023 budget presentation, said that a committee will be appointed to study the matter.”

MP Ven Athuraliye Rathana Thera said that legalising cannabis would lead to serious health issues.

He questioned if the government had carried out a proper study before deciding to consider legalising cannabis.