Walk up to tuk-tuk drivers, says he, not one of them, but the group of them. During the day, not at night – across the street from [Place name withheld]. It’s alongside the rail tracks, near the beach. When you walk up, ask: Do you have ganja? “If you ask them in a group, surely one of them will be able to take you to “the place” in Colombo’s backstreets. This, a generous tip from a European tourist, who counts many previous successfual attempts. He says Colombo is a little dirty, only slightly better than Indian cities he visited. Yet, he is content, having been able to find easy access to his wants: cannabis, or as its better known locally,’ ganja’.

Poisons, Opium and Dangerous Drugs Ordinance of 1935 criminalised the use and production of cannabis in Sri Lanka, including cultivation of the flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae: Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis, locally known as ‘Kansa’.

In the 1950s, a mass destruction of Kansa cultivations was carried out. However, growing and smoking cannabis is still prevalent. Apart from its recreational use, cannabis is used in many parts of the island (especially in dry zone where is it illegally grown) as an appetizer mixed with either food or drinks like tea.

Perhaps you might wonder, why images of Bob Marley, with his signature colours red, green and yellow appear on so many tuk-tuks. It is certainly not in appreciation of his music. Cannabis is in the limelight again. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, responding to a question posed at Thanamalvila area, said the government may reconsider its position on the ban – making it possible for farmers in the area to legally grow Kansa. It’s not a new proposal but this is the first time any positive response to it came from such a high level. It was interesting that on the backdrop of a section of Buddhist clergy making the same request, for a different purpose – to supply indigenous medics, who use several parts of the plant as ingredients in a gamut of their medicines.

A disclaimer. In popular culture, there are two categories of cannabis. The first is – cannabis or weed – the locally produced variety directly from different parts of the said plant. The second, another completely different substance called ‘Kerala Ganja’(KG). This is smuggled into the country, ostensibly from the nearby Indian state with the same name.

Is KG cannabis? Nobody is sure, but the evidence against that notion is significant. KG is supposed to give a ‘quick high’ for a relatively long period with a little consumed. It leaves a long and nasty hangover. That isn’t consistent with the experience with cannabis. Some users, perhaps naively, suggest KG is a different species of the same genus, cannabis, or a chemically treated version of the natural substance. It may not be either because the differences in character are significant. KG is more abundant than cannabis in Sri Lanka.

Indian media question how Sri Lanka has seized large quantities of KG in the Indian Ocean if they originated in Kerala which is not well known for cannabis farms as its a small and densely populated state. Kerala’s population density is 2.5 times that of Sri Lanka. Kerala’s excise officials maintain there are no mass cannabis farms there. Some argue that KG could be an unidentified narcotic in the guise of cannabis, and originating not in Kerala but elsewhere and smuggled from India’s east coast, the same well-known route for heroin smuggling. Were Sri Lanka to restrict our discussion only to local herbal variety, leaving KG aside, there will be less to worry about. Yes, if abused cannabis can be harmful. Some of its effects are felt right away. It also damages a person’s health over time.

Its effect of degrading short-term memory is well known, and the ability to manage tasks deteriorate for cannabis smokers. Under its influence, a person’s comprehension is impaired and their reaction time falls. It will be dangerous to drive under its influence. There is also a strong link between drug use, unsafe sex, and the spread of sexually transmitted infections. Cannabis, to some extent, is also addictive, but not as much as narcotics (hard drugs) are. These cannot combe dismissed. Cannabis is a soft drug. The effects of consuming alcohol are much the same as cannabis, but somehow one is legal and the other isn’t.

Alcohol too is harmful and addictive. Probably more harmful and more addictive than is cannabis. Alcohol and tobacco kill thousands annually. The ill-effects of Cannabis are nowhere near. Alcohol leads to risky sexual behaviour too. Even more significantly alcohol induces violent behaviour in some people. It is also the single largest reason for motor accidents in Sri Lanka. Despite the ill effects we don’t demand the banning of alcohol.

We, as a society, recognize, despite its potentially harmful effects, that people should be free to choose. There is no valid reason to consider cannabis any differently. Perhaps it is less harmful and less addictive than either alcohol or tobacco. At least one school of scientists thinks so.

Then, there are other reasons for which a policy change is sought. Cannabis demand for medicinal purposes is high. The current global market size of medicinal cannabis is estimated between 25 – 30 billion dollars (multiple sources). Legal marijuana (cannabis) industry in the USA itself was estimated at 10-13 billion dollars in 2019 with nearly 350,000 people working in handling plants, according to New Frontier Data. These are large numbers. There is little doubt that demand exists. With some countries maintaining restrictions on growing Sri Lanka may have an edge on the supply side. It’s a question of making a decision first before others do and before the supply catches up with demand. It will be downstream rowing from there.

So what prevents Sri Lanka from allowing cannabis farms in the island’s dry zone where land is plentiful and high yielding crops will be welcome. Is it a question of Victorian morals that are preventing such decisionmaking? Is it fear of widespread cannabis use for recreation? Or is it a cultural barrier?

For a start, the economic transformation that cannabis plantations can bring about is substantial. The population density in nine administrative districts, namely Ampara, Anuradhapura, Kilinochchi, Mannar, Moneragala, Mullaitivu, Polonnaruwa, Trincomalee and Vavunia is below 200 per square kilometre. All these districts have the dry climate the suits cannabis cultivation. The contribution to GDP of these districts is low. So high yielding crops will contribute to an economic transformation. We just need a policy decision. A challenging one no doubt.

One important constraint to overcome for this to work is to differentiate the substance called KG from cannabis. As we’ve seen KG is neither from “Kerala” nor is it “Ganja”. It is a hard drug and behaves like one – powerful and addictive. All possible measures should be taken to eliminate it, with other dangerous drugs such as heroin and cocaine.

However, putting cannabis in the same basket is an issue. It is as unfair as treating beer or wine as hard liquor. First, cannabis should be placed in the right place: in the basket of alcohol and tobacco. Even if that were to not happen, in a parallel line. Cannabis cultivation can commence for medicinal purposes. This is the time to legalize planting of cannabis, even though we may be slow to recognize its potential.

Chanuka Wattegama [email protected] is a policy researcher. All opinions expressed are personal.

Some users, perhaps naively, suggest KG is a different species of the same genus, cannabis, or a chemically treated version of the natural substance. It may not be either because the differences in character are significant