Kathmandu, August 3: The bill on cannabis cultivation in Gandaki Province has been certified. “State Chief Minister Dilliraj Bhatt on Monday certified the “Bill made to regulate and use cannabis cultivation for medicinal and industrial purposes.”
After the bill was sent back for reconsideration by the provincial assembly for the second time, the province chief Bhatta certified it on Monday in accordance with sub-section (4) of Article 201 of the Constitution of Nepal. With this, the way has been paved for legal cannabis cultivation for medicinal and industrial purposes in Gandaki Province.
Although the head of the province sent back citing the jurisdiction of the federal law, coordination with the local level and the Drug Control Act, the provincial assembly did not accept it. In the provincial assembly meeting held on Friday, the House unanimously re-passed the bill without any amendment while briefly discussing the reconsideration proposal submitted by Industry, Commerce and Tourism Minister Hasoda Rimal.
In the House, the ruling and opposition lawmakers, including Minister Rimal, argued that according to Article 304 of the Constitution, even if a federal law is violated in a matter within the sole jurisdiction of the province, such a law will be automatically invalid after one year of the first session of the federal parliament.
Sub-section (4) of Article 201 of the Constitution makes it mandatory for the provincial assembly to review the bill sent back by the head of the province with a message and certify it within 15 days if such bill is sent back in the form presented or passed again with amendments. According to the constitutional provisions, the bill that was received in 15 towns was certified by State Chief Bhatta on Monday after three days, said Pravin Poudel, spokesperson of the Office of the State Chief in a statement.
With the certification of the bill, the basis has now been prepared to regulate the use of cannabis, increase the income of farmers and how to use it legally in the industrial and pharmaceutical sectors.
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