21 Mar 2005

Fiji Senate Select Committee does not support marijuana planting

4:20 pm on 21 March 2005

The Fiji Senate Select-Committee on Drugs says it will not support farmers' proposals to be allowed to plant marijuana.

Farmers in the isolated Navosa Hills region had approached the Committee asking it to push for law changes to allow them to plant the drug.

They say there are no other viable crops available to them and it is too hard to reach the main markets.

However Committee chairman, Viliame Navoka, says they will not support the farmers because of the detrimental effect marijuana has on users.

Mr Navoka says instead the Committee will ask the government to help rural communities introduce a list of new agricultural products.

"The vanilla, some spicy items, capsicum, celery. Those are some of the items that I can remember at this stage. It was quite a list, it's about a list of a dozen items."

The Chairman of the Senate Select-Committee on Drugs, Viliame Navoka.