Kyrgyzstan Might Bring Legalized Cannabis to Central Asia

September 21,2017 Kyrgyzstan

The republics of Central Asia are major smuggling routes for cannabis from Afghanistan to European countries. Simultaneously, the central Asian countries are also hosting the local production of cannabis and opium. This illegal economy has been inflicting the entire region with violence, and authoritarian governments of these post-Soviet countries haven’t paid any heed to the legalization of marijuana until now. But lately, a glimmer of hope has come from Kyrgyzstan.

Kyrgyzstan is one of the least stable countries in the Central Asian region. The country has experienced a series of revolution and counter-revolution since its independence from the Soviet Union. In the preceding month, the Kyrgyz Cabinet was reshuffled when the prime minister stepped down to run as a candidate in the approaching presidential elections.

The former chief of the National Bank, Tolkunbek Abdygulov, is one of the beneficiaries of the recent rearrangement of the cabinet. He has now risen to the post of deputy prime minister.

The man sent ripples across the country earlier this year by proposing on national TV that legalizing marijuana would be a good way to increase tourism revenues of the country.

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Addressing a televised conference in May this year, Tolkunbek Abdygulov termed Kyrgyzstan as potential Netherlands among all the post-soviet countries of Central Asia. He stunned the audience with his vision of the tourist industry of the country, “How to create a tourist heaven in Kyrgyzstan? If you’re, for instance, neoliberals, then think about creation of effective trademark. I know how to bring all the tourists here — legalize marijuana. That’s it. That’ll do. The entire CIS will travel [to] Kyrgyzstan, no empty rooms in hotels will be left. That’s a trademark.”

A government official later on tried to term Abdygulov’ suggestion as a joke, and he might have to empty the post following the results of October elections. Nevertheless, having even a soft advocate of cannabis legalization in top echelons of the government provides the idea of legislation with a certain degree of authenticity.

Tolkunbek Abdygulov wasn’t the first one to advocate the legalization of cannabis. A former presidential candidate, Jenishbek Nazaraliev, who has also administered a health center for opiate addicts in the Kyrgyz capital, is a vocal advocate of cannabis legalization in the country. According to him, this is a way to tackle the drug crisis of the country. He also called for a pilot project for the legal production of cannabis in Kyrgyzstan. He put forward this proposal in 2014 by condemning that the illegal drug market in the country is “fully controlled by the black economy” and asked why progressive European countries and some US states couldn’t find a better approach other than legalizing cannabis.

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By legalizing cannabis, Kyrgyzstan might get the economic independence it has been yearning for a long time. An independent economy can also handle the external pressures well. With cannabis legalization, violence can also be reduced in the country by draining all the black money out from those illegal narco networks causing the disturbance.

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