Council seeks poppy ban

PEKANBARU, Riau: The Ulema Council plans to issue a fatwa (religious instruction) calling on farmers in the northern Sumatra province of Aceh to stop planting poppy, from which marijuana is extracted.

Chief of the Islam information section at the Aceh office of the Ministry of Religious Affairs Zainuddin Saman said most Aceh farmers cultivate the plant out of tradition, not knowing that their crops are being widely abused.

The local people use the marijuana leaf for medicine and as a meat tenderizer, he said. (par)