The demand to legalize marijuana came from a group of people in the Lingkaran Ganja Nusantara (LGN) who held a Global Marijuana March (GMM) 2011 in Jakarta last May 7 to voice their aspiration.
"I personally reject the idea. My concern is that the marijuana will be used for negative purposes," said the minister here on Saturday.
According to the minister, narcotics such as marijuana could have negative impacts on the people, especially if it was consumed on a large scale.
Earlier, Women`s Empowerment and Children`s Protection Minister Linda Amalia Gumelar also expressed opposition to the idea of legalizing marijuana in Indonesia.
"I oppose the idea because consumption of marijuana can lead to addiction and is harmful for human health," Minister Linda Gumelar said.
Linda said if marijuana was legalized, it would have disastrous consequences : Indonesian youths would be tempted to consume it en masse.
"I would not encourage Indonesian youths` curiosity to try consuming marijuana by legalizing it because doing so will lead to massive abuse of the narcotic substance," Linda said.
The use of marijuana was only allowed for medical purposes. Its use for any other purpose was illegal, the minister said.
Marijuana or also known as Cannabis Sativa is forbidden in Indonesia because it is considered as a class one narcotic substance according to the Law No.35 of 2009 on Narcotics.
Up till now, consumption of marijuana is only legal in the Netherlands.
(Uu.A051/HAJM/F001)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
