The Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the land of the pure, a country renowned for shunning intoxicants and alcohol as well as punishing those who indulge in their use has taken an unexpected u-turn.

The Federal Minister for Science and Technology tweets about the use of hemp and related products in Pakistan’s industries and how Pakistan could benefit from the uptake of cannabis endeavors.

The Federal Cabinet has approved licenses for the first medical and industrial use of cannabis. Following the federal cabinet’s approval, seized drugs will now be used to manufacture medicines instead of burning them.

In an official tweet, The Federal Minister for Science and Technology, Fawad Chaudhry, confirmed the approval of the cannabis medical and industrial use.

He tweeted, “The Federal Cabinet has approved the first License for Hemp’s industrial and medical use. The landmark decision will help Pakistan to generate billions of dollars from the CBD market.”

The tweet comes as a shock to the Pakistani populace but the development was welcomed by many at the same time who rejoiced at Pakistan’s new-found practical approach towards dealing with such issues. Pakistan has opted to take a rather open-minded path and has not negated the possibility of using cannabis for medicinal purposes being beneficial to patients of all sorts.

It should be recalled that earlier this year, a video message of the Minister of State for Narcotics Control, Shehryar Afridi, went viral in which he said that Prime Minister Imran Khan wanted to set up a factory in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where opium and other drugs would be used to make medicines.

Afridi further said on the Prime Minister’s instructions; Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been planning to build a factory in the province where thousands of tonnes of drugs seized every year would be used to make medicines.