ANN/THE JAKARTA POST – Food containing marijuana will be seized during upcoming raids in Aceh, Indonesia, authorities announced as the conservative Muslim region is set to host the country’s largest sports event, the National Games (PON), in September.
The plan was announced recently by the Aceh office of the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) and the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM).
“We need to make sure that people visiting the province during PON are comfortable eating our traditional food,” Aceh BNN head Brigadier General Marzuki Ali Basyah said on Tuesday, as reported by kompas.com.
“We want to erase the stigma that Aceh’s food is seasoned using marijuana,” he continued.
Marzuki said restaurants using marijuana as spices for their dishes would harm their customers who did not know that they were consuming an illegal substance.
He cited an example of a recent arrest made of a man after he tested positive for marijuana during a drug raid.
Investigators later found that he had unknowingly consumed marijuana-laced food when dining in a traditional Aceh restaurant.
“We don’t want this to happen again. We also don’t want athletes participating in the upcoming PON to be tested positive for marijuana during their doping tests simply because they ate Aceh food,” Marzuki said.
The 2009 Narcotics Law, deemed one of the strictest drug laws in the world, lists cannabis as a type-1 narcotic alongside 65 other drugs, including opium, cocaine and methamphetamine.
The usage and production of type-1 narcotics, including for medicinal purposes, are forbidden, except for certain research purposes.
Unauthorised marijuana possession, production and trading can result in up to 20 years in prison.
Indonesia’s westernmost province is set to jointly host its first PON with neighbouring North Sumatra, slated for September 8 to 20.
