Malaysian Death Sentence Prompts Medical Cannabis Reform

[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]A[/dropcap] 29-year-old man was sentenced to death for trafficking medical cannabis oil—but the appalling death sentence is fueling a new debate to reform medical cannabis laws in Malaysia.

Muhammad Lukman Mohamad was sentenced to death by hanging on Aug. 30 for trafficking medical-grade cannabis oil. In 2015, Lukman was arrested for possession of 3.1 liters of cannabis oil, 279 grams of compressed cannabis and 1.4 kilograms of a substance containing THC. All of the cannabis compounds were intended for medical use, and not to be sold on the street. Over 67,000 people signed a change.org petition to free Lukman, as protests erupted. American and Canadian cannabis activists also expressed their disdain on social media. Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad defended Lukman on Sept. 18. “No, I think we should review that,” Mahathir said, referring to Lukman’s case.

What a difference a few weeks can make—Malaysia is now poised to become the first country in Asia to allow medical cannabis, partially due to the worldwide attention spurred by the ongoing Lukman case. South Asian countries such as Indonesia, Singapore and The Philippines all impose corporal or capital punishments for drug crimes, regardless of whether the drug is cannabis or heroin. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, for instance, executed at least 4,000 of his citizens on alleged drug crimes.

But Malaysian authorities are turning a new leaf. “From the reports, it looks to be a miscarriage of justice,” said Nurul Izzah Anwar, a member of parliament from Mahathir’s coalition.

Malaysia’s cabinet is now considering the medicinal benefits of cannabis, and how the law could be reformed. “It’s already been done in certain countries,” Minister of Water, Land and Natural Resources Xavier Jayakumar told Bloomberg. “If it’s going to be used for medicinal purposes, it can be used. Not for social purposes, for medicinal purposes — yes, it should be allowed to be used.”

From Death Sentence for Cannabis to legalization?! Never under-estimate the power of a few dedicated idealists using civil disobediance! Malaysia enters race to become first in Asia to legalise medical marijuana https://t.co/DfE77JWdyt @AsCorrespondent

— Marc Emery (@MarcScottEmery) September 28, 2018

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