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Call for legalising cannabis: President stresses need for policy decision

Published

6 years ago

2021/02/1

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has said that a policy decision will have to be made as the request for legalizing cannabis for medical purposes.

The President said so while participating in the Eighth Discussion with the Village Programme (Gama Samaga Piliusandarak) on the banks of the Kukulkatuwa tank in Thanamalwila Aluthwewa Grama Niladhari Division, Monaragala, on Saturday. He was answering a question raised by an academic, who said that cannabis was mostly grown in Moneragala and the cultivators faced legal constraints as the plant was illegal. “The plant is widely used in the Hela and Ayurvedic medicinal systems. The medicine is made from the plants that are cultivated by those farmers. However, the farmers are considered an unwanted lot. This situation could be rectified if the government legalizes the plant. Even the United Nations recently announced that the plant would no longer be considered a narcotic but a medicinal herb with healing powers.”

“A policy decision has to be made in this regard, and a policy will have to be formulated,” the President said.

The academic said that he had conducted studies on the plant for years and written two books. He wanted to present them to the President. One of the books is a draft policy proposal, the academic said.

President Rajapaksa said that he had read one of them and asked the academic to submit the draft policy proposal.

The academic said that the government should pay special attention to removing the legal barriers so that it would become an income generating plant and the farmers in the district could be benefited mostly. The government should introduce a mechanism to prevent the abuse of the plant instead of banning it completely.

The President asked the District Secretary what his opinion was.

The District Secretary said that discussions in this regard so far had been conducted only at the lower level but the decisions to legalise should be made at higher levels.

President Rajapaksa instructed all departments and institutions, including Wildlife, Forestry, Environment and Land, to formulate new laws in the interest of the people, taking into account requests from the public.

President Rajapaksa said that by Friday he has signed 17,000 deeds that have been finalised after resolving the issues.

Uva Provincial Governor A.J.M. Muzammil, State Ministers Shasheendra Rajapaksa, Vijitha Berugoda, MPs Jagath Pushpakumara, Kumarasiri Ratnayake, Dayashan Navanandana, former Member of Parliament Sumedha G. Jayasena, Chief Adviser to the President Lalith Weeratunga and a large number of people’s representatives, Secretaries to Ministries, Heads of Government Institutions and the Security Forces participated in the ‘Discussion with the Village’ programme held at the Kukulkatuwa Lake.

The “Discussion with the Village” programme was launched on September 25, 2020, in the Badulla District. Past programmes were organized covering Matale, Ratnapura, Anuradhapura, Ampara, Polonnaruwa and Kalutara districts.

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Geneva takes up Sallay’s case and govt. ignores opportunity to answer accusations

Published

6 hours ago

2026/10/5

Thilina Walpola

Suresh Sallay

The government has chosen not to respond to questions raised by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) regarding the detention of retired Maj. Gen. Suresh Sallay in connection with the ongoing investigations into the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) arrested the ex-official in late February this year. The Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health and the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers have jointly raised the issue on 20 July, 2026.

Drawing attention of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to what they called alleged arbitrary detention of Sallay, former Director General of the State Intelligence Service (SIS) and former Director of Military Intelligence (DMI), under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), as well as allegations of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment while in custody, resulting in the grave deterioration of his health, and imminent risks of retaliation through further torture and ill-treatment resulting in irreparable harm, should he be released from hospital and returned to custody, the UN sought the government explanation with a 60-day period.

The UN has stated: “This communication, and any response received from your Excellency’s Government, will be made public via the communications reporting website at the 60 days mark. Should your Excellency’s Government respond within 60 days, both the communication and the response, may be published before the 60 days mark. The communications and responses

will also be made available in the subsequent periodic report to be presented to the Human Rights Council.”

In the absence of the government’s response, the UN posted the letter, dated 20 July, 2026, addressed to President Dissanayake. The full letter can be accessed https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=31125

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Section of wartime KKS High Security Zone vacated to facilitate economic development in the area

Published

6 hours ago

2026/10/5

Thilina Walpola

The Army, last week, vacated an area, within the wartime high security zone in the Jaffna peninsula. The Defence Ministry said that an extent of 187.56 acres of land, belonging to the Cement Corporation in Kankesanthurai, Jaffna, has been released by the military. The released land, located in Grama Niladhari Division J/233, Kankesanthurai West, within the Valikamam North (Tellippalai) Divisional Secretariat Division, had been utilised by the Sri Lanka Army since the middle of 1997.

The release of the 187.56-acre extent forms part of the initiative to make State land available for the proposed investment zone in Kankesanthurai, thereby facilitating future investment and economic development in the area.

News

Lawyer lodges complaint against Govt. Printer, Media Ministry Secy.

Published

6 hours ago

2026/10/5

Thilina Walpola

A complaint has been lodged with the Colombo Fraud Investigation Bureau against the Government Printer and the Secretary to the Ministry of Media regarding the online release of falsified documents bearing a forged Speaker’s certificate.

Attorney-at-Law Aruna Laksiri has lodged a complaint with the Colombo Fraud Investigation Bureau requesting legal action against the Government Printer of the Department of Government Printing (No. 118, Dr. Danister de Silva Mawatha, Colombo 08), Prasanna Jayaratne, and the Secretary to the Ministry of Mass Media (Asidisi Medura, 163, Kirulapone Mawatha, Polhengoda, Colombo 05), Dr. Anil Jasinghe.

The complaint alleges the commission of offences by forging and uploading falsified documents online using a forged Speaker’s certification, failure to perform statutory duties, and misappropriation of public property.

The complaint states that a copy of the English translation of the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution was downloaded and printed from the official website of the Government Printing Department (www.documents.gov.lk), which operates under the Ministry of Mass Media. On its outer cover and on page 1, the text “certified on 25th of September, 2026” is inscribed inside brackets.

The complaint pointed out that the Speaker has certified an English translation. Under Articles 23, 79, 83, and 80 of the Constitution, Parliament enacts laws and the Speaker certifies bills strictly in the Sinhala and Tamil languages; under the Constitution, therefore the Speaker cannot apply such certification to an English translation.