inp.polri.go.id – Jakarta. Lately there has been a lot of talk about the discourse of legalizing marijuana for medical purposes. Regarding this issue, the National Police (Polri) stated that there are steps that must be taken to realize it. Director of Narcotics Crime (Dirtipidnarkoba) of Polri, Brigadier General Krisno Halomoan Siregar said the discourse on legalizing medical marijuana requires the approval of the Minister of Health and has the recommendations from BPOM. "The proposal to legalize marijuana for medical purposes must go through the approval process of the Minister of Health on the recommendation of BPOM as stated in Article 8 paragraph (2) of Law Number 35 of 2009," explained the Dirtipidnarkoba Polri, Wednesday (29/6/22). Brigadier General Krisno Halomoan Siregar explained that Polri, as investigators of narcotics crimes, are still guided by the provisions of Article 8 paragraph (1) of Law Number 35 of 2009 concerning Narcotics, which stated that marijuana as the prohibited drugs from being used for the benefit of health services. "I don't want to get ahead in making predictions about whether the drug abuse will increase when marijuana is finally legalized for medical purposes. Although this could happen, we as the state law enforcement will of course enforce the applicable laws in Indonesia," explained Dirtipidnarkoba. Dirtipidnarkoba confirmed that marijuana is still prohibited, even for health purposes. He also spoke about the possibility of the increasing marijuana abuse if it was allowed for medical purposes. "So far, Indonesia is still one of the countries in the United Nations that rejects the legalization of marijuana," he explained.