Pubdate: Wed, 27 Jun 2007
Source: Sunday Times (Australia)
Copyright: 2007 Times Newspapers Ltd
Contact:  http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/438

TOP INDONESIAN MP SAYS DOPE IN FOOD 'OKAY'

INDONESIAN Vice President Jusuf Kalla, who opposes  legalising
marijuana, doesn't mind the drug being used  in cooking, a newspaper
reported today. "It's alright  to use it as a food seasoning, but it
should not be  fully legalised," Mr Kalla was quoted as saying by the
  Jakarta Post.

Mr Kalla was commenting on a recent study by two  Indonesian agencies
dealing with drug abuse that  recommended the Government review its
policy to outlaw  the use of marijuana for recreational purposes, the
Post said.

Many of dishes in Aceh province, where hemp plants are  grown, such as
mutton and beef curry are said to be  laced with marijuana seeds to
give them a distinctive  local flavour.

A drug expert from the National Narcotics Agency  reportedly said
Indonesia should follow the example of  countries like the
Netherlands, where marijuana is  legal, because it is not as harmful
as people thought.

Ratna Dwikora, the owner of an Acehnese food restaurant  in Jakarta,
told the Kompas newspaper "marijuana is  available in any Acehnese
kitchen just like  coriander".

"Marijuana is a widely-accepted cooking spice there,"  she told the
newspaper.

Indonesia imposes harsh penalties, including death, for  narcotic
offences as the country faces a growing drug  menace.

Australian Schapelle Corby is serving a 20-year  sentence in Bali's
Kerobokan Prison for smuggling 4.1kg  of cannabis into Indonesia
inside a bodyboard bag in  October 2004.

Six young Australians were sentenced to death last year  for heroin
smuggling on Bali.

And five Chinese nationals, a Dutchman and a Frenchman  who appealed
against the length of their convictions on  drug charges were instead
sentenced to death last  month.
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MAP posted-by: Derek