Pharmacists’ association backs Akeredolu on marijuana business for $145b gain

Pledges push for legal framework
Despite widespread criticism against the legalisation of marijuana in the country, the Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) has urged government at all levels to explore the medical and economic opportunities therein.

The association noted that there are myriad of opportunities available in the cultivation of marijuana if legalised by the nation, assuring that it would also end the menace of unemployment.

The National President of the association, Mr. Samuel Adekola, disclosed this in Akure during a courtesy visit to Ondo State Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu.

He also led the ACPN national leadership to Ondo State for a two-day familiarisation and visitation to the state government’s project sites.

Adekola said that the association had come to take up the advocacy on the issue of beneficial use of cannabis to the people, declaring unflinching support for the state government on the advocacy for the health and commercial benefits of cannabis.

He explained that it was ignorance or lack of vision that made the people to raise objection when the governor suggested the use of cannabis for its health benefits.

According to the National President, ACPN would sponsor a private member bill at the National Assembly for the legalisation of cannabis plant for pharmaceutical purposes as obtainable in the Western world.

Meanwhile, Akeredolu, who during a visit to Thailand for a programme on Medicinal Cannabis Extract Development last year had declared that marijuana market could make Nigeria gain an estimated value of $145 billion by 2025, re-affirmed that cannabis could be used to boost the economy from its present state.