Officials call for ban on Bandak cultivation

KABUL and interior ministries on Wednesday called for banning cultivation of a herbal plant Bandak in Dari language because of its use in making drugs such as Shesha and K-tablets.

Health Minister Ferozuddin Feroz and Anti-Narcotics Department head Mohammad Hashim appeared before the Wolesi Jirga today.

According to Hashim, drug smugglers have invented a herbal which is used in the making of drugs such as Shesha and K tablets instead of chemical.

He said the herbal called Bandak was cultivated in some parts of the country as well and it needed to be stopped.

Health Minister Ferozuddin said the cultivation of this herbal should be banned through legislation and its cultivation dubbed as crime like poppy cultivation.

Hashim Khan said the amended anti-narcotics bill which also bans cultivation of Bandak, has been sent to the Ministry of Justice and would be referred to the parliament for approval.

Deputy Speaker Amir Khan Yar said the house would decide about the law once landed in the Wolesi Jirga.

According to reports, currently over three million people in Afghanistan are addicted to drugs while last year poppy was cultivated on 263 hectares of land nation-wide.

nh/ma

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