Rajitha appreciates budget proposal to cultivate Cannabis

The budget proposal to cultivate Cannabis for exportation as a medicine was an appreciative move, former health minister Rajitha Senaratne said today.

He told Parliament that he, as the health minister, proposed to cultivate Cannabis under security forces, and that he could not do it due to various objections.

Speaking during the second reading debate of the budget, he said Sri Lanka could earn around Rs. 5 billion US dollars through Cannabis export.

Mr. Senaratne said Cannabis was connected to Sri Lankan culuture and that it was banned during the British Colonisation after introduction of the tobacco. (Ajith Siriwardana)