"I invite all parties to think clearly. We still have a lot of problems to face and lest we create the new ones by legalizing marijuana," Linda said.
The women`s empowerment and children protection minister was on a one-day working visit to Yogyakarta to open a technical meeting on gender mainstream 2011.
"I oppose the idea because consumption of marijuana can lead to addiction as it is harmful for human health," Linda said, adding that marijuana had high addictive substance that could destroy the health of its users.
The mister said she was afraid that the legalization of marijuana would have disastrous consequences on children.
"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.
According to the minister, every stakeholder must prioritize the interest to protect Indonesian women and children with regard to the idea of legalizing marijuana.
She added that if marijuana was legalized, it would arouse the curiosity of children to try it and to abuse it in the long run.
People grouped in the Lingkaran Ganja Nusantara (LGN) a week ago held a Global Marijuana March (GMM) 2011 in Jakarta to demand the legalization of marijuana in Indonesia.
Marijuana which was 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. (*)
Editor: Aditia Maruli Radja
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
