The Pharmaceutical Society of Kenya has urged the National Assembly to enhance access to medical marijuana by amending the Narcotics and Psychotropic Control Act (1994).
PSK Executive Director Dr Daniella Munene noted that the lack of a legal framework guiding the supply of the drug denies many patients the medical benefits provided by it.
“The law currently provides for four categories of people to possess medical marijuana. However, the law does not give a framework for the supply. So, a patient who needs this product is denied because of lack of the drug within the medical supply chain,” Dr Munene said.
She further said that it is ironical that recreational use of marijuana is widespread in Kenya yet those who require it the most cannot access it.
“We find it odd that the drug is widely abused, widely available although illegally. We are trying to persuade the government to create these frameworks to allow the medical cannabis to be used and the centre of that control should be the Pharmacy and Poisons Board,” Dr Munene said.
Under section 3 subsection 2 (a) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Act of 1994, cannabis is listed as one of the narcotic drugs, which subsequently criminalises its possession, cultivation, production and use.
Despite these stringent controls, it is one of the most used narcotics countrywide as per a 2015 study by the National Campaign Against Drug Abuse.
One per cent of Kenyans – aged 15-65 years – are regular users of marijuana – also known in street lingo as ngwai, ganja, vela, herb or yath, among others.
The Marijuana Control Bill 2018 recommends the removal of the drug from the list of narcotics and subsequent release of all persons arrested and charged with possession of the drug just before the enactment of the bill into law.
It also proposes the establishment of a Marijuana Control Council that will register and license growers, producers, manufacturers and users in addition to spearheading research on marijuana properties.
Prof Lukoye Atwoli, an associate professor of psychiatry at Moi University School of Medicine, believes that marijuana use should be decriminalised.
“My view is that we are agitating for the decriminalisation of substance use. This means removing offences related to substance use from statute books. Those with problematic use need help, not jail,” Prof Atwoli said.
Other famous supporters of marijuana legalisation include Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko, former Nyamira senator Kennedy Mong'are and the late Kibra legislator Kenneth Okoth.
