THE country’s parliamentarians have agreed to having a medical cannabis caucus chaired by Muar member of Parliament, Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman to look into regulating the use of medical cannabis and ketum as a recognised form of treatment in Malaysia.

In a joint statement by nine MPs today, they said the caucus would be represented by parliamentarians across the party divide as a noble bipartisan effort in drawing up policies and strategies related to medical cannabis and ketum.

This caucus will draft a proposal for the government’s attention to ensure that patients who depend on medical cannabis and ketum treatments can be cared for under the national health system, according to the statement.

The joint statement was issued by Syed Saddiq and the other caucus members, namely, Azalina Othman Said (Pengerang), Khalid Abd Samad (Shah Alam), Xavier Jayakumar (Kuala Langat), Ignatius Darell Leiking (Penampang), Kelvin Yii Lee Wuen (Bandar Kuching), Azman Ismail (Kuala Kedah), Lukanisman Awang Sauni (Sibuti) and Ahmad Fadhli Shaari (Pasir Mas).

As part of the preliminary framework, the caucus group will be meeting the groups of health experts, researchers, industry players, related non-governmental organisations and the ministries involved to obtain their views in drawing up the policy. – Bernama, October 14, 2021.