Nepal, Aug. 22 -- Last week, Gandaki Province Chief Dilliraj Bhatt pushed a law to allow regulated cultivation of cannabis for medicinal and industrial purposes.

This provincial legislation is the first major attempt to create a legal pathway for a crop that has long grown wild and free across Nepal but has been restricted under federal narcotics law since 1973.

The law is intended to support pharmaceutical production, provide raw material for manufacturing (see adjoining article), supplement farmers' incomes, while notably still outlawing the recreational use of cannabis.

The measure includes a three-step licensing process, mandates cultivation only in approved areas, and sets monitoring conditions for the production, storage, process...