Pakistan approves industrial, medical use of hemp

ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet on Tuesday approved the first licence for industrial and medical use of hemp, Federal Minister for Science and technology Fawad Chaudhry said.

The science minister termed the approval as a “landmark decision”, which will place Pakistan in the multibillion-dollar cannabidiol (CBD) market.

The cabinet okayed the first licence for Minister of Science and Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR) in its meeting held today with Prime Minister Imran Khan in the chair.

Hemp is a variety of Cannabis sativa plant species that is used in multiple things.

CBD, which is derived directly from the hemp plant, has several medical benefits and according to Harvard Health, it has been scientifically proven to be effective in treating some of the cruellest childhood epilepsy syndromes, such as Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS), which typically don’t respond to antiseizure medications.

In several other studies, according to the journal, CBD was able to reduce the number of seizures, and in some cases it was able to stop them altogether.