'The apsaras danced for us, the gandharvas sang and we drank and smoked
ganja from earthern chillums. For two days, we reveled without pause,
when Vishnu declared, "It is time to leave. We must be early for the
celebrations in Aushadipura" - Preparations for a wedding, Siva - The
Siva Purana Retold by Ramesh Menon
India believes that the cannabis plant originated here. The Indian god Shiva is believed to have created the cannabis plant when a drop of his sweat fell to the earth. This plant is said to be his gift so that people who toil will also find rest and relaxation through the plant. Cannabis is called Shiva's beloved plant throughout India and some of his most ardent devotees consume cannabis as a means of connecting with him and invoking him within themselves. Cannabis is the original holy communion. Cannabis use is not restricted to Shiva devotees, but its truly spiritual nature is evidenced by the fact that it is viewed as sacred by most Indian religious communities, including Muslims and Sikhs.
Shiva is also called Vaidyanathan, the lord of medicine, and the cannabis plant is one of the most potent, universal, natural medicines, if not the most. The plant that originated some 28 million years ago, way before humans appeared, has been so widely used by humans and many other animals that they have evolved endocannabinoid systems within their bodies that science is just starting to understand. Varanasi is the one city in India where cannabis is always consumed irrespective of the legal status of the herb elsewhere. The Atharva Veda lists the cannabis plant as a medicinal herb. When the British came to India they found that the herb was widely consumed by people socially as well as used by Indian physicians to treat a variety of illnesses. The Indian Hemp Commission set up in the 19th Century studied the plant and its association with the Indian people and concluded that the plant was versatile medicine. The usage was so widespread that it led the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission in its report of 1893-94 to state that - 'Cannabis indica must be looked upon as one of the most important drugs of Indian Materia Medica.' Victorian doctor O'Shaughnessy took the plant back to England and introduced it to the people there promoting its medicinal values till the plant became an integral part of the British medicine chest.
In spite of all the above, India was the largest place in the world, and one of the earliest, where cannabis was banned. The British tried the ban in parallel in Burma (today's Myanmar), Egypt, Greece and Trinidad. The selection of places indicates that the main motive was to benefit the opium business which thrived in all these places, having originated in Greece and spread to Egypt, China and Myanmar. But none of these places had the scale and extent of cannabis usage that is said to have been in India.
In spite of all the above, India was the largest place in the world, and one of the earliest, where cannabis was banned. The British tried the ban in parallel in Burma (today's Myanmar), Egypt, Greece and Trinidad. The selection of places indicates that the main motive was to benefit the opium business which thrived in all these places, having originated in Greece and spread to Egypt, China and Myanmar. But none of these places had the scale and extent of cannabis usage that is said to have been in India.
Many witnesses of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission of 1893-94, often themselves Britishers with minimal knowledge of the plant and the habits of the people of India, claim that only a few percent of the Indian population consumed cannabis in the 19th century. It was widespread knowledge that the majority of the Indian population consisted of the laboring classes and agrarian communities, as it still does today, who used cannabis for recreation and for relieving fatigue much like the British use beer, tobacco or tea.
All this is relatively unknown and not spoken about that much, possibly because it was done in a subtle manner by the colonial rulers and their Indian accomplices. The unwary Indian population served as the testing ground for early western propaganda strategies against cannabis. The propaganda built up among the Indian public that cannabis was harmful, it caused insanity, addiction and increased crime, that it was used by the dregs of society, etc. was the same template used subsequently world wide. By the time official prohibition of cannabis started in the US and Canada in the 1930s, cannabis was already the untouchable in India. By 1985, there were only a small fraction of users of the plant left, as compared to the past. With the inclusion of cannabis in the banned list of substances through the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act of 1985, despite some feeble protests from some quarters within the nation, the plant's legal fate was completely sealed. Government and law enforcement stepped up action, egged on by cannabis opposition, blindly and ruthlessly cracked down on the plant's cultivation and imprisoned a large number of persons, mainly poor farmers, indigenous tribal communities and minorities associated with the plant in the subsequent years that followed.
Many people in the country are now dependent on prescription medication, heroin and other opioids, methamphetamine, synthetic cannabinoids, novel psychotropic substances, alcohol and tobacco in the absence of cannabis. Yet the messages fueled by cannabis opposition that are spread through media, medical bodies, drug enforcement and law enforcement focus on cannabis. In 2018, India was the largest producer of licit opium and the largest
importer and consumer of codeine according to the International
Narcotics Control Board. The Indian pharmaceutical industry has produced a number of drugs which they call generic and low cost, many of these being opioids
that are being exported to various countries around the world and are
increasingly restricted in Western countries. Some opioid drugs, such as
Tramadol, which India has a near monopoly over, are reported to be ending up in the hands of school children in
Africa and flooding many countries in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. Methamphetamine finds its way into India from East Asia while heroin finds its way from Afghanistan and Pakistan. The most affordable, generic medicine, cannabis, on the other hand, is kept prohibited as it is a threat to pharmaceutical manufacturers. The ignorance of the Indian public to the dangers of synthetic drugs is evident from the fact that the NDPS was actually modified a few years ago to remove fentanyl from its regulations. Fentanyl, said to be 50 times more potent than heroin, is the leading cause of opioid related fatalities in North America and Europe. India finds the second most mentions as the country of origin or departure for novel psychotropic substances (NPS) in the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime World Drug Report 2020. The report also says 'The 2019 drug use survey in India estimated that nearly 1 per cent of
the population aged 10–75 had misused pharmaceutical opioids in the past
year and that an estimated 0.2 per cent of the population (2.5 million
people) were suffering from drug use disorders related to pharmaceutical
opioids. Although the breakdown by type of pharmaceutical opioids
misused in India is not available, buprenorphine, morphine, pentazocine
and tramadol are the most common opioids misused in the country.'
For a country that professes devotion to Shiva, the opposition and damage inflicted on both his beloved plant and those who believe in it, is comparable to the most regressive governments world wide, including the amphetamine loving Middle East nations, the heroin cartels of the fertile crescent, the methamphetamine loving east Asian countries and the arms industry loving nations of the west.
For a country that professes devotion to Shiva, the opposition and damage inflicted on both his beloved plant and those who believe in it, is comparable to the most regressive governments world wide, including the amphetamine loving Middle East nations, the heroin cartels of the fertile crescent, the methamphetamine loving east Asian countries and the arms industry loving nations of the west.
The majority of Indian farmers are small land owners who are deprived of cultivating cannabis due to its legal status. Many of them are the poorest of the poor, indigenous tribal communities and minorities. Multiple industries that could be created in India centered around the cannabis crop and the jobs that they could generate are today denied to the country. Both national and state governments function with huge budget deficits neglecting key sectors like agriculture, health and education where cannabis could provide the necessary revenue boost for the country as it is being proven in many US states where legalization has happened. The huge amounts of money spent on public health that ends up in the pockets of pharmaceutical companies, medical insurance companies, doctors and hospitals could be saved by legalizing cannabis. The resources and money spent on law enforcement, curbing the black market, excise, prisons and judicial processes, all to enforce the absurd cannabis prohibition could be better directed to addressing violent crime, theft, financial fraud, money laundering, etc. India's sick, elderly and youth could hugely benefit from cannabis instead of having to depend on increasingly costly, dangerous and inaccessible synthetic medical and recreational drugs. Cannabis tourism happens illegally on a massive scale all over India with the money flowing into the black market and potentially into the hands of criminal networks that use it for much more dangerous criminal activities and to scale up. Legalization would be a huge boost for cannabis tourism bringing in revenues and taxes to the Indian economy and an increase in international tourists who want to experience famous Indian cannabis. Social consumption areas would greatly enable this. It would bring down crime against tourists, and crime in general, hugely as very often the trigger for crime is the interaction between the foreign tourist and unscrupulous local elements for the procurement of cannabis. US states like Colorado, Nevada and California are witnessing significant revenues from cannabis tourism and they are rapidly emerging as strong rivals to the coffee shops of Amsterdam.
Yet the plant is still popular in India even though its usage has gone underground. The near daily media reports about cannabis seizures shows the thriving black market for cannabis. Nearly every state in India is likely to possess its own distinct varieties of cannabis. The rampant destruction of the plant has possibly caused untold damage with possibly some very valuable varieties now extinct. There is an urgent need for India to remember its past association with the plant and to recognize the findings that are now emerging from the west that validate the plant's medicinal, industrial, environmental, economic and recreational benefits. Unfortunately India seems to be behind the curve in this regard as the crackdown on cannabis continues here while many countries in the world start to wake up such as the US, Canada, Uruguay, France, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Israel, Norway, New Zealand, the Caribbean countries, South Africa, Mexico, South Africa, etc.
One hopes that India will stand up to its spiritual, social and cultural heritage and push rapidly for cannabis legalization but the worry is that this is a nation too caught up with unsustainable economic development, misplaced false pride in incomplete historical knowledge and military chest thumping to realize what it has lost and what it is missing. Even today the country's focus is on amassing military power and growing economically faster than China , mainly through unsustainable and climate damaging paths, without fully understanding that both these steps will only lead to destruction of the planet on a global scale. The country would be much better placed to revoke its cannabis laws and push the UN for re-scheduling the wonderful plant for the sake of its people and all living beings of the land.
In December 2020, the UN voted to remove cannabis from its most
restricted Schedule IV category of the 1961 Single Convention on
Narcotic Drugs. It does however still remain in Schedule I, which is the
least restrictive. This one move by the UN itself should be sufficient
to bring about the recreational legalization of cannabis in every nation
and an overhaul of national drug laws.
Listed below are articles taken from various media related to the above subject. Words in italics are the thoughts of your truly at the time of reading the article.
'It has also been submitted that while enacting the NDPS Act, the government failed to consider the medicinal benefits of the drug, including its effect as an analgesic, its role in fighting cancer, reducing nausea, and increasing appetite in HIV patients.'
https://swarajyamag.com/insta/delhi-high-court-seeks-centres-take-on-use-of-cannabis-after-a-petition-challenges-ndps-act
Fundamental to programming is the avoidance of hard coding values that are likely to change, that need translation and that need to be used in different functions based on varying conditions. This is to avoid duplication, ambiguity and re-programming. These values are kept in configuration files that are accessed and amended as needed. This is even more true for medicines that need to be controlled based on nature of harm and use. The idea of globally agreed lists of medicines with harmful substances requiring tight control is good provided laws regarding these are universal, fair and consistent at regional, country or state levels. A key operational issue is that even these global lists are not updated fast enough considering the latest scientific knowledge and that new harmful synthetic substances are rapidly churned out of pharmacy labs. Worse, natural cannabis, peyote, psilcybin, etc. proven over thousands of years to be much more safer in their natural form than the recently created synthetic drugs, continue to remain in these global lists, significantly hampering their objective and efficiency, diverting precious resources and greatly damaging global public health. The Indian NDPS Act is like one of the worst examples of programming with a list of substances hard coded into it and a bunch of rules copy pasted around it, existing over and above the IPC. 20kgs of hashish or 500g of THC will get you the death sentence. Fentanyls, the leading cause of global drug overdose deaths, synthetic cannabinoids and synthetic cathinones, etc. are not even on the list...
Jul 21, 2020, 4:09 PM
Cannabis legalization in India is to the world what cannabis legalization in California was to the US...India needs to wake up to it's cannabis heritage and destiny...
Jul 20, 2020, 4:56 PM
'After marked increases over the 2009-2012 period, the overall quantities of synthetic NPS seized have shown a downward trend since 2012, most notably when they fell from 44 tons in 2017 to 10 tons in 2018. This may partly reflect the fact that some of the most widely used and most harmful NPS have been put under national and international control in recent years and therefore, according to the current definition, no longer belong to the NPS category. Moreover, a number of countries in North America, Europe and Oceania, where major markets for NPS are located, have introduced various controls on NPS trade in recent years. In parallel, China, which is frequently mentioned as the main country of origin or departure for various synthetic NPS (with 27 per cent of all such mentions over the 2014–2018 period, ahead of India with 10 per cent), has introduced controls in various waves on the manufacture of and trade in such substances. This and other developments appear to have had an impact on the proliferation of NPS at the global level, reducing the quantities of those substances on key markets.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'The bulk of tramadol seized in the period 2014– 2018 was seized in West and Central Africa (notably in Nigeria, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire and the Niger), followed by North Africa (notably Egypt, Morocco and the Sudan) and the Near and Middle East (notably Jordan and the United Arab Emirates). In some instances, countries in Western and Central Europe (notably Malta and Greece) have been used as transit countries for tramadol destined for North Africa (Egypt and Libya), although some of the tramadol seized in Europe (in particular Sweden) was also intended for the local market. For the first time ever, significant seizures of tramadol were reported in South Asia (India) in 2018, accounting for 21 per cent of the global total that year, which reflects the fact tramadol was put under the control of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act of India in April 2018.
As the full-scale scheduling of tramadol in India took place in 2018, and India had been the main source for (illegal) tramadol shipments, the decline in seizures outside India in 2018 may have been the result of a disrupted market. By contrast, and probably as a result of the control in India, seizures of tramadol in that country increased greatly in 2018, and thus in South Asia as a whole (more than 1,000-fold compared with a year earlier).' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'The 2019 drug use survey in India estimated that nearly 1 per cent of the population aged 10–75 had misused pharmaceutical opioids in the past year and that an estimated 0.2 per cent of the population (2.5 million people) were suffering from drug use disorders related to pharmaceutical opioids. Although the breakdown by type of pharmaceutical opioids misused in India is not available, buprenorphine, morphine, pentazocine and tramadol are the most common opioids misused in the country.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'The non-medical use of tramadol among other pharmaceutical drugs is reported by several countries in South Asia: Bhutan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. In 2017, 130,316 capsules containing tramadol and marketed under the trade name “Spasmo Proxyvon Plus (‘SP+’)” were seized in Bhutan. In Sri Lanka, about 0.2 per cent of the population aged 14 and older are estimated to have misused pharmaceutical drugs in the past year. Among them, the non-medical use of tramadol is the most common, although misuse of morphine, diazepam, flunitrazepam and pregabalin have also been reported in the country. The misuse of more than one pharmaceutical drug (including tramadol) is also a common pattern among heroin users who may use them to potentiate the effects of heroin or compensate for its low level of availability. Recent seizures of tramadol suggest the existence of a market for the drug: in April and September 2018, 200,000 and 1.5 million tablets of tramadol were respectively seized by customs in Sri Lanka.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'The non-medical use of tramadol is of particular concern among young people in many countries in that subregion. For example, a cross-sectional study among 300 young people in western Ghana found that while the majority (85 per cent) of respondents knew someone who misused tramadol, more than half of the young people interviewed had used tramadol themselves for non-medical purposes, and one third of the users reported misusing 9–10 doses of tramadol per day. Another qualitative study from Ghana reported curiosity, peer pressure and iatrogenic addiction as the three main factors for initiation and continuing non-medical use of tramadol, while perceived euphoria, attentiveness, relief from pain, physical energy and aphrodisiac effects were mentioned as some of the reasons for continuing non-medical use of tramadol.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'The drug use survey in Nigeria reveals tramadol to be a more accessible opioid than heroin, although it is still relatively costly if used frequently. While use of tramadol appears to cost about one third the price of heroin ($3.60 versus $10 per day of use in the past 30 days), in a country where the minimum wage of a full-time worker is around $57 per month, regular tramadol use still poses a considerable financial burden on users and their families. There is no information on the prevalence of drug use in other West African countries, but treatment data reveal tramadol to be the main drug of concern for people with drug use disorders. Tramadol ranks highly among the substances for which people were treated in West Africa in the period 2014–2017. This was particularly the case in Benin, Mali, the Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Togo.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'The clandestine manufacture of fentanyls within North America is thus not really a new phenomenon and has the potential to increase in importance following the recent control of fentanyls substances in China. Moreover, the clandestine manufacture of fentanyl has already spread beyond North America to neighbouring subregions, as a clandestine fentanyl laboratory was dismantled in the city of Santiago, Dominican Republic, in 2017. At the same time, there is a risk that other countries with a large and thriving pharmaceutical sector may become involved in the clandestine manufacture of fentanyls. In 2018, for example, authorities of India reported two relatively large seizures of fentanyl destined for North America. Furthermore, according to United States authorities, in September 2018, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence of India, in cooperation with DEA of the United States Department of Justice, dismantled the first known illicit fentanyl laboratory in India and seized approximately 11 kg of fentanyl' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'The Manipur Cabinet has decided that any decision on legalising cultivation of marijuana or cannabis for use of medical and industrial purpose would be taken after getting feedback from the public.'
https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/manipur-cabinet-cannabis-cultivation-legislation-1603846-2019-09-27
'Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh told the state assembly Friday that his government was considering legalizing cannabis (ganja) plantation.
The Chief Minister was responding to a question on the legalisation of the cannabis plantation by opposition congress MLA Khumukcham Joykishan who represents Thangmeiband assembly constituency during the question and answer session of the ongoing assembly on Friday'
https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/manipur-government-considering-legalising-cannabis-plantation/story-urfsT0kbSFRel4c4DQRIBL.html
'Even as the Central Government is yet to decide on legalizing the cultivation of cannabis, Madhya Pradesh government has decided to allow the farming of hemp in the state.
Madhya Pradesh Law Minister PC Sharma, however, made it clear that the cultivation will be only for medical and industrial purposes. '
https://www.indiatimes.com/news/india/madhya-pradesh-set-to-legalize-cultivation-of-cannabis-for-medical-purposes-500887.html
'Prasenjit Chakraborty, a Tripura BJP leader and founder of Jagaran Mancha, has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to legalize cannabis (ganja) in the state.
A well known RSS cadre of Tripura, Chakraborty wrote the letter on behalf of Jagaran Mancha.
“Cannabis (ganza) has a great role as a medicinal plant,” Chakraborty wrote in the letter.
“In the ancient days, it was used in Ayurveda. Even though a section of people uses it for addiction purpose, however, its use as medicinal plants cannot be ignored,” he added in the letter.
“The NDPS Act should be updated and cannabis must be legalized for medicinal purpose,” he added.'
https://nenow.in/north-east-news/tripura/legalise-cannabis-writes-tripura-bjp-leader-to-modi.html
'Remembering his brush with death, Knox concluded that he would have died were it not for the anti-nausea effects of a certain South Asian antidote —cannabis. “At length we learned an Antidote and Counter-Poyson against the filthy venemous water, which so operated by the blessing of God, that after the use thereof we had no more Sickness", Knox would recall. “It is only a dry leaf: they call it in Portugueze Banga…and this we eat Morning and Evening upon an empty Stomach. It intoxicates the Brain, and makes one giddy”. After Knox reached London safely in September 1680, he retained a taste for this intoxicating “Counter-Poyson” and found a source able to procure it back home. We know this because, on November 7, 1689,
Robert Hooke met with Knox at a London coffee house to obtain a sample of what Hooke called the “intoxicating leaf and seed, by the Moors called Ganges, in Portug[uese] Banga, in Chingales Consa”. Hooke added in his diary that the drug was reported to him as being “wholesome, though for a time it takes away the memory and understanding”.
https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/how-the-english-found-cannabis
'One potential reason India does not regulate tramadol, or other opioids, is the lack of domestic concern about addiction. However, India does have addiction problems, and India’s Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh specifically acknowledged that tramadol addiction is a growing problem. Yet, the government acknowledgement has not been sufficient; government corruption plays a role with the pharmaceutical corporations, wholesale exporters, and internet companies responsible for the illicit flow of opioids out of India. In their 2017 report on corruption, Transparency International found that India had the highest bribery rates across the Asia Pacific region.'
https://www.csis.org/npfp/dangerous-opioid-india
'Tramadol is not on the international drug schedule, or a controlled substances list that mandates regulation, under the World Health Organization (WHO) and so individual countries’ attempts to regulate it often fail. For example, Egypt first scheduled tramadol in 2002 because of growing tramadol use, but since tramadol was not on the international drug schedule, India was not obligated to notify Egypt of an upcoming tramadol export. Thus, Indian exports to Egypt continued to rise and tramadol is the most abused drug in Egypt today. Egypt’s National Council on Fighting and Treating Addiction reported in 2013 that 30 percent of adults abused drugs.'
https://www.csis.org/npfp/dangerous-opioid-india
'Fentanyl exported from China to the United States comes in several different forms: fentanyl, its precursor chemicals, fentanyl variants, and fentanyl-laced counterfeit prescription opioids. India exports many controlled and prescription drugs to the United States, including fentanyl. Indian fentanyl exports to the United States are a fraction of those from China, but India does export tramadol, which is a growing issue for the United States. However, unlike China, which has now designated over 100 fentanyl variants and precursors on its list of controlled substances, India has not placed fentanyl, or most other opioids, on its controlled substances list, easing production and export. India only regulates 17 of the 24 basic precursor chemicals for fentanyl (as listed by the UN 1988 Convention against Drugs).
In the Middle East and Africa, the less potent opioid tramadol, not fentanyl, is responsible for the opioid crisis. India is the biggest supplier.'
https://www.csis.org/npfp/dangerous-opioid-india
The leading manufacturers of fentanyl in the world are China and India. The leading maufacturer of Tramadol is India.
https://www.csis.org/npfp/dangerous-opioid-india
'According to the data reported for 2018, codeine was consumed mainly in India (46.1 tons, or 20.2 per cent of global consumption), the Islamic Republic of Iran (22.2 tons, or 9.8 per cent), France (20.6 tons, or 9.1 per cent), the United States (20.1 tons, or 8.8 per cent), Germany (15 tons, or 6.6 per cent), the United Kingdom (12.4 tons, or 5.5 per cent) and Canada (11.1 tons, or 4.9 per cent).'
https://www.incb.org/documents/Narcotic-Drugs/Technical-Publications/2019/Narcotic_Drugs_Technical_Publication_2019_web.pdf
'The 10 main countries importing codeine in 2018 were India (35.9 tons), Germany (19.1 tons), Canada (11.7 tons), the United Kingdom (9.5 tons), Brazil (9.2 tons), Italy (8.8 tons), Hungary (7.0 tons), Viet Nam (6.7 tons), Switzerland (4.9 tons) and Oman (4.4 tons).'
https://www.incb.org/documents/Narcotic-Drugs/Technical-Publications/2019/Narcotic_Drugs_Technical_Publication_2019_web.pdf
'In 2018, India was the main producer of raw opium (in addition to being the only country legally exporting raw opium), producing 225.4 tons (24.8 tons in morphine equivalent) and accounting for 97.1 per cent of global production. It was followed by China, which produced 6.6 tons (0.7 ton in morphine equivalent). In China, opium had been the main raw material used in the manufacture of alkaloids until 2000; after that, it was replaced by poppy straw. Japan also produced smaller amounts of opium in 2018, to be used exclusively for scientific purposes. India accounted for 96 per cent of opium exports in 2018. The remaining 4 per cent was accounted for by re-exports of opium by countries that had initially imported the opium from India'
https://www.incb.org/documents/Narcotic-Drugs/Technical-Publications/2019/Narcotic_Drugs_Technical_Publication_2019_web.pdf
'Indian tramadol networks have even been linked to ISIS and Boko Haram, raising security concerns. There have been several instances of seizures of tramadol from India destined for Islamic State territory. In May, $75 million worth of tramadol, about 37 million pills, was seized in Italy en route to Misrata and Tobruk, Libya; ISIS had purchased them for resale to ever-growing markets. The group has been involved in both the trafficking and consumption of tramadol, and the quantity of drugs being purchased by ISIS is so great that it can be assumed the group is selling a significant portion for profit.
The 37 million tramadol tablets purchased by ISIS had taken a familiar route from India through Southeast Asia. Neither India nor many Southeast Asian countries regulate tramadol, and since tramadol is not on the international drug schedule, it is only regulated if individual countries decide to classify it. But, if only one country classifies the drug and places it under regulation, it will not necessarily affect the supply. This was a problem for Egypt, which scheduled tramadol in hope of curbing abuse. Despite this, Indian tramadol exports to Egypt continued to rise and tramadol is the most abused drug in Egypt today.'
https://www.csis.org/npfp/dangerous-opioid-india
The report says that India is exporting Tramadol to Cameroon where it reaches school children. Legalize ganja in Cameroon and India so that people do not get hooked onto pharmaceutical painkillers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlkkfpxmXJk
https://madrascourier.com/opinion/why-cannabis-is-the-stimulus-indias-economy-needs-now/
The Indian fatalities attributed to Covid 19 as of today, 16th May 2020 are as follows - Maharashtra 1068, Gujarat 606, Madhya Pradesh 239, West Bengal 225, Rajasthan 125, Delhi 123. This is an indicator of the extent of the opioid crisis and the rampant use of prescription drugs for abuse and treatment in these states. It is an indicator also of the prevalence of persons who inject drugs (PWID) as well as the licit and illicit market for opioids, analgesics, benzodiazepines, amphetamines and barbiturates. This of course is just the tip of the iceberg with the actual usage running in possibly tens of millions of people and deaths much higher. This is not a recent phenomenon but has been building up for decades. The western states with their opium producing regions as well as access to maritime trade are the hubs of drug abuse and movement of pharmaceutical drugs legally and illegally. These states also produce a major portion of the pharmaceutical drugs in the country. The governments of these states must, on topmost priority, take up the legalization of cannabis to mitigate the drug abuse pandemic. Having said that, other states must not sit back, as the spread of this crisis is nationwide. The sooner states legalize recreational cannabis, the better the chances are of mitigating the spread of this crisis of drug abuse across the country...
May 16, 2020, 4:11 PM
https://www.hindustantimes.com/punjab/aap-mp-gandhi-s-bill-seeking-opium-legalisation-cleared-for-tabling-in-parliament/story-itanKX3vRrhuXJPdgnJD6N.html
https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2015/mar/17/BJD-MP-Tathagata-Satpathy-Tells-How-to-Score-Weed-Legally-729852.html
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Cannabis-ban-is-elitist-It-should-go-Tathagata-Satpathy/articleshow/46732106.cms
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/politics/make-cannabis-consumption-legal-ban-is-turning-people-alcoholic-tathagata-satpathy/
https://www.news18.com/news/india/legal-marijuana-in-india-punjab-mp-to-move-parliament-1307450.html
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Hope-for-dope-Alcoholics-face-a-greater-risk-than-marijuana-users-doctors-insist/articleshow/17165501.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Recreational-use-of-marijuana-Of-highs-and-laws/articleshow/17165524.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Mankind-and-grass-go-back-5000-years/articleshow/17165592.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/The-joint-campaign-Should-we-not-legalize-recreational-use-of-Cannabis/articleshow/17165613.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Recreational-use-of-marijuana-Always-a-way-of-life-in-our-country/articleshow/17165569.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/videos/city/hyderabad/200-kg-cannabis-seized-in-aps-krishna-district-2-arrested/videoshow/71562085.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/indore/directorate-of-revenue-intelligence-nabs-seven-with-ganja-worth-of-rs-1-26-crore-in-madhya-pradesh/articleshow/71476255.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/videos/city/hyderabad/visakhapatnam-40-kg-cannabis-seized-by-police-4-arrested/videoshow/71603314.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/shimla/himachal-pradesh-cops-trek-six-hours-to-raid-charas-makers-31-held/articleshow/71887429.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/surat/ganja-worth-rs-1-crore-seized-from-kamrej/articleshow/71962005.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/cops-arrested-5-persons-a-week-for-drugs-this-yr/articleshow/71999120.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/up-man-nigerian-held-for-possessing-drugs-worth-rs-3l/articleshow/72030061.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/drugs-worth-rs-1081-crore-seized-in-the-last-19-months-rti/articleshow/72075414.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/peddlers-mostly-target-tourists-sp/articleshow/72079064.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/rajkot/ganja-worth-rs-89l-seized-4-held/articleshow/72090316.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/mp-govt-plans-to-promote-hemp-cultivation-bjp-opposes-move/articleshow/72182339.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/vadodara/56-youngsters-detained-in-dcb-raids-on-drug-pockets/articleshow/72191619.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/videos/news/88-packets-of-cannabis-worth-over-rs-70-lakh-seized-in-tripura-1-held/videoshow/72223469.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/700kg-ganja-seized-near-muzaffarpur/articleshow/72265292.cms
Please note the picture of pharmaceutical synthetic drugs while what is being destroyed is a natural medicinal plant...
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/meerut/three-men-caught-with-7kg-drugs-in-anti-drug-drive-that-began-on-nov-1/articleshow/72266374.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/videos/news/police-seize-10kg-cannabis-in-chhattisgarhs-kondagaon/videoshow/72367737.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolhapur/break-the-ganja-nexus-sp-instructs-officials/articleshow/72374351.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/dehradun/2-nepalese-women-held-with-4-kg-cannabis/articleshow/74124471.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/agra/agra-woman-in-rajdhani-held-for-smuggling-20-kg-of-cannabis/articleshow/74328809.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhopal/bhopal-minor-made-drug-addict-and-raped/articleshow/73075813.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/vijayawada/enforcement-wing-keen-on-rooting-out-cannabis-trade-engg-students-addicted/articleshow/74601270.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/rajkot/cannabis-cultivation-busted-in-botad-farm-owner-arrested/articleshow/72986675.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/football/indian-super-league/top-stories/chennaiyin-fc-official-held-for-carrying-cannabis-at-isl-match/articleshow/74654700.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/mandrax-cannabis-cocktail-worries-cops/articleshow/71768388.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/delhi-crime-branch-arrests-notorious-drug-dealer-karan-khanna/articleshow/70244892.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/hc-junks-plea-to-legalise-cannabis/articleshow/70402875.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/nihangs-cut-off-hand-of-policeman-after-scuffle-in-vegetable-market/articleshow/75104243.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/five-held-with-narcotics-in-separate-raids/articleshow/74165677.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nashik/man-in-possession-of-cannabis-worth-8l-held/articleshow/73815916.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/indore/mp-dri-seizes-cannabis-worth-rs-3-1-cr-in-chhattisgarh/articleshow/74212523.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/report-flags-pot-cultivation-its-impact-on-kids/articleshow/74358523.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/ncb-arrests-six-with-over-380kg-ganja-in-delhi/articleshow/74426471.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/in-a-1st-government-oks-cannabis-research-in-up-uttarakhand/articleshow/71040612.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/food-news/delhi-mumbai-among-worlds-biggest-consumers-of-weed-study/photostory/71148455.cms
Please note the picture of a pharmaceutical synthetic drug while what is being destroyed is a natural medicinal plant...
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nashik/1-held-with-cannabis-worth-rs6-10-lakh/articleshow/74583687.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/shimla/cannabis-crop-destroyed-on-6175-bighas-in-kullu/articleshow/71250688.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mysuru/farmer-growing-cannabis-in-krs-backwaters-held/articleshow/74601643.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/food-news/studies-on-cannabis-being-healthy-may-be-more-of-social-media-propaganda/photostory/72936156.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/hc-relief-to-law-student-in-cannabis-on-campus-case/articleshow/75071763.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/chennai-customs-officials-seize-1-7kg-of-cannabis-sent-from-us/articleshow/75377661.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/videos/city/chennai/cannabis-worth-rs-9-lakh-seized-from-sleeping-bags-in-chennai/videoshow/75382831.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/madurai/woman-arrested-for-possession-of-arrack-cannabis-gets-bail/articleshow/75334994.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/21kg-of-cannabis-rs-20-lakh-in-cash-seized-from-vaniyambadi-house/articleshow/75832354.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/noida/up-3-held-in-noida-with-105-kg-cannabis-sourced-from-odisha/articleshow/73089542.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/man-held-at-new-delhi-railway-station-with-over-90-kg-cannabis/articleshow/73215604.cms
This article says that according to the NDPS Act, the leaves and seeds of the cannabis plant are legal, the flowers and nectar/resin is illegal. How absurd is that? One analogy that comes to mind is that a woman as a child is legal, but she becomes illegal once she reaches puberty. Her eggs which she produces once she reaches puberty however are legal while she is not legal anymore...??
'It’s only on January 31 that India’s first medical cannabis clinic opened in Bengaluru. Launched by a Bhubaneswar-based startup, Hempcann Solutions, the clinic has the license to prescribe CBD and THC medication by an ayurvedic doctor. “Patients can then order these medicines online from our website. We are not stocking them in the clinic as of now,” a spokesperson of the company said.'
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/why-this-patient-has-pot-in-his-pav-bhaji/articleshow/74240739.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/rajkot/two-held-for-growing-cannabis/articleshow/72961201.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/russian-held-for-growing-cannabis-in-goa/articleshow/74427647.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/drug-ring-busted-in-faizabad-cantonment-soldiers-buying-cannabis-under-lens/articleshow/73003241.cms
https://www.deccanherald.com/state/mangaluru/ganja-sale-10-held-in-4-separate-incidents-746311.html
https://www.deccanherald.com/state/mangaluru/udupi-mangaluru-high-on-ganja-peddling-775162.html
https://www.deccanherald.com/state/bengaluru-gang-grows-ganja-under-led-light-3-arrested-785378.html
https://www.deccanherald.com/state/karnataka-districts/cops-seize-160-kg-ganja-in-humnabad-805742.html
https://www.deccanherald.com/city/bengaluru-crime/tweet-leads-to-arrest-of-ganja-smoking-cabbie-812219.html
https://www.deccanherald.com/state/mangaluru/police-bust-ganja-racket-15-arrested-840445.html
https://www.deccanherald.com/city/bengaluru-crime/duo-caught-trying-to-sell-ganja-15-kg-marijuana-seized-775158.html
https://www.deccanherald.com/state/mangaluru/mangaluru-4-arrested-for-selling-marijuana-773825.html
https://www.deccanherald.com/city/first-sniffer-dog-raid-on-prison-767317.html
https://www.deccanherald.com/city/bengaluru-crime/drug-dealer-arrested-with-61-kg-of-marijuana-759391.html
https://www.deccanherald.com/city/bengaluru-crime/gang-selling-marijuana-held-749706.html
https://www.deccanherald.com/city/bengaluru-crime/2-drug-dealers-held-large-amount-of-marijuana-seized-747826.html
'His injuries were similar to those observed in people suffering from "popcorn lung," a condition found in workers in a microwave popcorn factory who had accidentally inhaled diacetyl, a product used by the food industry which gives popcorn a buttery buttery flavour.
Diacetyl is safe if ingested, but dangerous if it enters the lungs. Studies have been warning for years that this product is ubiquitous in electronic cigarette liquids, but no case of injury has previously been reported'
https://www.deccanherald.com/science-and-environment/danger-from-popcorn-lung-chemical-while-vaping-study-778317.html
https://www.deccanherald.com/national/south/mysuru-father-son-arrested-for-running-marijuana-business-808390.html
https://www.deccanherald.com/state/mysuru/bilikere-police-arrests-marijuana-peddler-in-mysuru-808867.html
https://www.deccanherald.com/city/25-peddlers-druggies-arrested-across-bengaluru-813558.html
https://www.deccanherald.com/international/world-news-politics/indian-man-arrested-for-smuggling-3346-pounds-of-marijuana-into-us-850500.html
'A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar said there was no substance in the petition and it was not inclined to grant the prayer. "It appears this petition is seeking direction to legalise cannabis for medical use. It can only be done by bringing proper enactment or amendment under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. We are not inclined to grant the prayer," the bench said. The court said the cost of Rs 10,000 is deposited by the petitioner with the Delhi High Court Bar Association Library fund.'
https://www.deccanherald.com/national/north-and-central/hc-dismisses-plea-to-legalise-cannabis-for-medical-use-750562.html
'"The government is working very hard as medicinal marijuana or cannabis will be legalised soon. Scientists are aggressively working to find out the active components of cannabis," Dr Saurabh Saran, CSIR-IIM Technology Business Incubator, Jammu said. The CSIR Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine is the first institute to get government approval for cannabis and they are working on seed varieties from all over the world, he said. "We are trying to develop seeds more of active compound cannabidiol (CBD) and less of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). To make cannabis available for pain management to masses, we need to develop our own varieties as we cannot look at the option of only exporting cannabis. It has to be indigenously developed for medical cultivation and pain management," he added.'
https://www.deccanherald.com/national/north-and-central/ayush-bats-for-medicinal-use-of-cannabis-at-oja-fest-753473.html
https://swarajyamag.com/insta/delhi-high-court-seeks-centres-take-on-use-of-cannabis-after-a-petition-challenges-ndps-act
Fundamental to programming is the avoidance of hard coding values that are likely to change, that need translation and that need to be used in different functions based on varying conditions. This is to avoid duplication, ambiguity and re-programming. These values are kept in configuration files that are accessed and amended as needed. This is even more true for medicines that need to be controlled based on nature of harm and use. The idea of globally agreed lists of medicines with harmful substances requiring tight control is good provided laws regarding these are universal, fair and consistent at regional, country or state levels. A key operational issue is that even these global lists are not updated fast enough considering the latest scientific knowledge and that new harmful synthetic substances are rapidly churned out of pharmacy labs. Worse, natural cannabis, peyote, psilcybin, etc. proven over thousands of years to be much more safer in their natural form than the recently created synthetic drugs, continue to remain in these global lists, significantly hampering their objective and efficiency, diverting precious resources and greatly damaging global public health. The Indian NDPS Act is like one of the worst examples of programming with a list of substances hard coded into it and a bunch of rules copy pasted around it, existing over and above the IPC. 20kgs of hashish or 500g of THC will get you the death sentence. Fentanyls, the leading cause of global drug overdose deaths, synthetic cannabinoids and synthetic cathinones, etc. are not even on the list...
Jul 21, 2020, 4:09 PM
Cannabis legalization in India is to the world what cannabis legalization in California was to the US...India needs to wake up to it's cannabis heritage and destiny...
Jul 20, 2020, 4:56 PM
'After marked increases over the 2009-2012 period, the overall quantities of synthetic NPS seized have shown a downward trend since 2012, most notably when they fell from 44 tons in 2017 to 10 tons in 2018. This may partly reflect the fact that some of the most widely used and most harmful NPS have been put under national and international control in recent years and therefore, according to the current definition, no longer belong to the NPS category. Moreover, a number of countries in North America, Europe and Oceania, where major markets for NPS are located, have introduced various controls on NPS trade in recent years. In parallel, China, which is frequently mentioned as the main country of origin or departure for various synthetic NPS (with 27 per cent of all such mentions over the 2014–2018 period, ahead of India with 10 per cent), has introduced controls in various waves on the manufacture of and trade in such substances. This and other developments appear to have had an impact on the proliferation of NPS at the global level, reducing the quantities of those substances on key markets.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'The bulk of tramadol seized in the period 2014– 2018 was seized in West and Central Africa (notably in Nigeria, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire and the Niger), followed by North Africa (notably Egypt, Morocco and the Sudan) and the Near and Middle East (notably Jordan and the United Arab Emirates). In some instances, countries in Western and Central Europe (notably Malta and Greece) have been used as transit countries for tramadol destined for North Africa (Egypt and Libya), although some of the tramadol seized in Europe (in particular Sweden) was also intended for the local market. For the first time ever, significant seizures of tramadol were reported in South Asia (India) in 2018, accounting for 21 per cent of the global total that year, which reflects the fact tramadol was put under the control of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act of India in April 2018.
As the full-scale scheduling of tramadol in India took place in 2018, and India had been the main source for (illegal) tramadol shipments, the decline in seizures outside India in 2018 may have been the result of a disrupted market. By contrast, and probably as a result of the control in India, seizures of tramadol in that country increased greatly in 2018, and thus in South Asia as a whole (more than 1,000-fold compared with a year earlier).' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'The 2019 drug use survey in India estimated that nearly 1 per cent of the population aged 10–75 had misused pharmaceutical opioids in the past year and that an estimated 0.2 per cent of the population (2.5 million people) were suffering from drug use disorders related to pharmaceutical opioids. Although the breakdown by type of pharmaceutical opioids misused in India is not available, buprenorphine, morphine, pentazocine and tramadol are the most common opioids misused in the country.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'The non-medical use of tramadol among other pharmaceutical drugs is reported by several countries in South Asia: Bhutan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. In 2017, 130,316 capsules containing tramadol and marketed under the trade name “Spasmo Proxyvon Plus (‘SP+’)” were seized in Bhutan. In Sri Lanka, about 0.2 per cent of the population aged 14 and older are estimated to have misused pharmaceutical drugs in the past year. Among them, the non-medical use of tramadol is the most common, although misuse of morphine, diazepam, flunitrazepam and pregabalin have also been reported in the country. The misuse of more than one pharmaceutical drug (including tramadol) is also a common pattern among heroin users who may use them to potentiate the effects of heroin or compensate for its low level of availability. Recent seizures of tramadol suggest the existence of a market for the drug: in April and September 2018, 200,000 and 1.5 million tablets of tramadol were respectively seized by customs in Sri Lanka.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'The non-medical use of tramadol is of particular concern among young people in many countries in that subregion. For example, a cross-sectional study among 300 young people in western Ghana found that while the majority (85 per cent) of respondents knew someone who misused tramadol, more than half of the young people interviewed had used tramadol themselves for non-medical purposes, and one third of the users reported misusing 9–10 doses of tramadol per day. Another qualitative study from Ghana reported curiosity, peer pressure and iatrogenic addiction as the three main factors for initiation and continuing non-medical use of tramadol, while perceived euphoria, attentiveness, relief from pain, physical energy and aphrodisiac effects were mentioned as some of the reasons for continuing non-medical use of tramadol.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'The drug use survey in Nigeria reveals tramadol to be a more accessible opioid than heroin, although it is still relatively costly if used frequently. While use of tramadol appears to cost about one third the price of heroin ($3.60 versus $10 per day of use in the past 30 days), in a country where the minimum wage of a full-time worker is around $57 per month, regular tramadol use still poses a considerable financial burden on users and their families. There is no information on the prevalence of drug use in other West African countries, but treatment data reveal tramadol to be the main drug of concern for people with drug use disorders. Tramadol ranks highly among the substances for which people were treated in West Africa in the period 2014–2017. This was particularly the case in Benin, Mali, the Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Togo.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'The clandestine manufacture of fentanyls within North America is thus not really a new phenomenon and has the potential to increase in importance following the recent control of fentanyls substances in China. Moreover, the clandestine manufacture of fentanyl has already spread beyond North America to neighbouring subregions, as a clandestine fentanyl laboratory was dismantled in the city of Santiago, Dominican Republic, in 2017. At the same time, there is a risk that other countries with a large and thriving pharmaceutical sector may become involved in the clandestine manufacture of fentanyls. In 2018, for example, authorities of India reported two relatively large seizures of fentanyl destined for North America. Furthermore, according to United States authorities, in September 2018, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence of India, in cooperation with DEA of the United States Department of Justice, dismantled the first known illicit fentanyl laboratory in India and seized approximately 11 kg of fentanyl' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'The Manipur Cabinet has decided that any decision on legalising cultivation of marijuana or cannabis for use of medical and industrial purpose would be taken after getting feedback from the public.'
https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/manipur-cabinet-cannabis-cultivation-legislation-1603846-2019-09-27
'Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh told the state assembly Friday that his government was considering legalizing cannabis (ganja) plantation.
The Chief Minister was responding to a question on the legalisation of the cannabis plantation by opposition congress MLA Khumukcham Joykishan who represents Thangmeiband assembly constituency during the question and answer session of the ongoing assembly on Friday'
https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/manipur-government-considering-legalising-cannabis-plantation/story-urfsT0kbSFRel4c4DQRIBL.html
'Even as the Central Government is yet to decide on legalizing the cultivation of cannabis, Madhya Pradesh government has decided to allow the farming of hemp in the state.
Madhya Pradesh Law Minister PC Sharma, however, made it clear that the cultivation will be only for medical and industrial purposes. '
https://www.indiatimes.com/news/india/madhya-pradesh-set-to-legalize-cultivation-of-cannabis-for-medical-purposes-500887.html
'Prasenjit Chakraborty, a Tripura BJP leader and founder of Jagaran Mancha, has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to legalize cannabis (ganja) in the state.
A well known RSS cadre of Tripura, Chakraborty wrote the letter on behalf of Jagaran Mancha.
“Cannabis (ganza) has a great role as a medicinal plant,” Chakraborty wrote in the letter.
“In the ancient days, it was used in Ayurveda. Even though a section of people uses it for addiction purpose, however, its use as medicinal plants cannot be ignored,” he added in the letter.
“The NDPS Act should be updated and cannabis must be legalized for medicinal purpose,” he added.'
https://nenow.in/north-east-news/tripura/legalise-cannabis-writes-tripura-bjp-leader-to-modi.html
'Remembering his brush with death, Knox concluded that he would have died were it not for the anti-nausea effects of a certain South Asian antidote —cannabis. “At length we learned an Antidote and Counter-Poyson against the filthy venemous water, which so operated by the blessing of God, that after the use thereof we had no more Sickness", Knox would recall. “It is only a dry leaf: they call it in Portugueze Banga…and this we eat Morning and Evening upon an empty Stomach. It intoxicates the Brain, and makes one giddy”. After Knox reached London safely in September 1680, he retained a taste for this intoxicating “Counter-Poyson” and found a source able to procure it back home. We know this because, on November 7, 1689,
Robert Hooke met with Knox at a London coffee house to obtain a sample of what Hooke called the “intoxicating leaf and seed, by the Moors called Ganges, in Portug[uese] Banga, in Chingales Consa”. Hooke added in his diary that the drug was reported to him as being “wholesome, though for a time it takes away the memory and understanding”.
https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/how-the-english-found-cannabis
'One potential reason India does not regulate tramadol, or other opioids, is the lack of domestic concern about addiction. However, India does have addiction problems, and India’s Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh specifically acknowledged that tramadol addiction is a growing problem. Yet, the government acknowledgement has not been sufficient; government corruption plays a role with the pharmaceutical corporations, wholesale exporters, and internet companies responsible for the illicit flow of opioids out of India. In their 2017 report on corruption, Transparency International found that India had the highest bribery rates across the Asia Pacific region.'
https://www.csis.org/npfp/dangerous-opioid-india
'Tramadol is not on the international drug schedule, or a controlled substances list that mandates regulation, under the World Health Organization (WHO) and so individual countries’ attempts to regulate it often fail. For example, Egypt first scheduled tramadol in 2002 because of growing tramadol use, but since tramadol was not on the international drug schedule, India was not obligated to notify Egypt of an upcoming tramadol export. Thus, Indian exports to Egypt continued to rise and tramadol is the most abused drug in Egypt today. Egypt’s National Council on Fighting and Treating Addiction reported in 2013 that 30 percent of adults abused drugs.'
https://www.csis.org/npfp/dangerous-opioid-india
'Fentanyl exported from China to the United States comes in several different forms: fentanyl, its precursor chemicals, fentanyl variants, and fentanyl-laced counterfeit prescription opioids. India exports many controlled and prescription drugs to the United States, including fentanyl. Indian fentanyl exports to the United States are a fraction of those from China, but India does export tramadol, which is a growing issue for the United States. However, unlike China, which has now designated over 100 fentanyl variants and precursors on its list of controlled substances, India has not placed fentanyl, or most other opioids, on its controlled substances list, easing production and export. India only regulates 17 of the 24 basic precursor chemicals for fentanyl (as listed by the UN 1988 Convention against Drugs).
In the Middle East and Africa, the less potent opioid tramadol, not fentanyl, is responsible for the opioid crisis. India is the biggest supplier.'
https://www.csis.org/npfp/dangerous-opioid-india
The leading manufacturers of fentanyl in the world are China and India. The leading maufacturer of Tramadol is India.
https://www.csis.org/npfp/dangerous-opioid-india
'According to the data reported for 2018, codeine was consumed mainly in India (46.1 tons, or 20.2 per cent of global consumption), the Islamic Republic of Iran (22.2 tons, or 9.8 per cent), France (20.6 tons, or 9.1 per cent), the United States (20.1 tons, or 8.8 per cent), Germany (15 tons, or 6.6 per cent), the United Kingdom (12.4 tons, or 5.5 per cent) and Canada (11.1 tons, or 4.9 per cent).'
https://www.incb.org/documents/Narcotic-Drugs/Technical-Publications/2019/Narcotic_Drugs_Technical_Publication_2019_web.pdf
'The 10 main countries importing codeine in 2018 were India (35.9 tons), Germany (19.1 tons), Canada (11.7 tons), the United Kingdom (9.5 tons), Brazil (9.2 tons), Italy (8.8 tons), Hungary (7.0 tons), Viet Nam (6.7 tons), Switzerland (4.9 tons) and Oman (4.4 tons).'
https://www.incb.org/documents/Narcotic-Drugs/Technical-Publications/2019/Narcotic_Drugs_Technical_Publication_2019_web.pdf
'In 2018, India was the main producer of raw opium (in addition to being the only country legally exporting raw opium), producing 225.4 tons (24.8 tons in morphine equivalent) and accounting for 97.1 per cent of global production. It was followed by China, which produced 6.6 tons (0.7 ton in morphine equivalent). In China, opium had been the main raw material used in the manufacture of alkaloids until 2000; after that, it was replaced by poppy straw. Japan also produced smaller amounts of opium in 2018, to be used exclusively for scientific purposes. India accounted for 96 per cent of opium exports in 2018. The remaining 4 per cent was accounted for by re-exports of opium by countries that had initially imported the opium from India'
https://www.incb.org/documents/Narcotic-Drugs/Technical-Publications/2019/Narcotic_Drugs_Technical_Publication_2019_web.pdf
'Indian tramadol networks have even been linked to ISIS and Boko Haram, raising security concerns. There have been several instances of seizures of tramadol from India destined for Islamic State territory. In May, $75 million worth of tramadol, about 37 million pills, was seized in Italy en route to Misrata and Tobruk, Libya; ISIS had purchased them for resale to ever-growing markets. The group has been involved in both the trafficking and consumption of tramadol, and the quantity of drugs being purchased by ISIS is so great that it can be assumed the group is selling a significant portion for profit.
The 37 million tramadol tablets purchased by ISIS had taken a familiar route from India through Southeast Asia. Neither India nor many Southeast Asian countries regulate tramadol, and since tramadol is not on the international drug schedule, it is only regulated if individual countries decide to classify it. But, if only one country classifies the drug and places it under regulation, it will not necessarily affect the supply. This was a problem for Egypt, which scheduled tramadol in hope of curbing abuse. Despite this, Indian tramadol exports to Egypt continued to rise and tramadol is the most abused drug in Egypt today.'
https://www.csis.org/npfp/dangerous-opioid-india
The report says that India is exporting Tramadol to Cameroon where it reaches school children. Legalize ganja in Cameroon and India so that people do not get hooked onto pharmaceutical painkillers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlkkfpxmXJk
https://madrascourier.com/opinion/why-cannabis-is-the-stimulus-indias-economy-needs-now/
The Indian fatalities attributed to Covid 19 as of today, 16th May 2020 are as follows - Maharashtra 1068, Gujarat 606, Madhya Pradesh 239, West Bengal 225, Rajasthan 125, Delhi 123. This is an indicator of the extent of the opioid crisis and the rampant use of prescription drugs for abuse and treatment in these states. It is an indicator also of the prevalence of persons who inject drugs (PWID) as well as the licit and illicit market for opioids, analgesics, benzodiazepines, amphetamines and barbiturates. This of course is just the tip of the iceberg with the actual usage running in possibly tens of millions of people and deaths much higher. This is not a recent phenomenon but has been building up for decades. The western states with their opium producing regions as well as access to maritime trade are the hubs of drug abuse and movement of pharmaceutical drugs legally and illegally. These states also produce a major portion of the pharmaceutical drugs in the country. The governments of these states must, on topmost priority, take up the legalization of cannabis to mitigate the drug abuse pandemic. Having said that, other states must not sit back, as the spread of this crisis is nationwide. The sooner states legalize recreational cannabis, the better the chances are of mitigating the spread of this crisis of drug abuse across the country...
May 16, 2020, 4:11 PM
https://www.hindustantimes.com/punjab/aap-mp-gandhi-s-bill-seeking-opium-legalisation-cleared-for-tabling-in-parliament/story-itanKX3vRrhuXJPdgnJD6N.html
https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2015/mar/17/BJD-MP-Tathagata-Satpathy-Tells-How-to-Score-Weed-Legally-729852.html
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Cannabis-ban-is-elitist-It-should-go-Tathagata-Satpathy/articleshow/46732106.cms
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/politics/make-cannabis-consumption-legal-ban-is-turning-people-alcoholic-tathagata-satpathy/
https://www.news18.com/news/india/legal-marijuana-in-india-punjab-mp-to-move-parliament-1307450.html
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Hope-for-dope-Alcoholics-face-a-greater-risk-than-marijuana-users-doctors-insist/articleshow/17165501.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Recreational-use-of-marijuana-Of-highs-and-laws/articleshow/17165524.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Mankind-and-grass-go-back-5000-years/articleshow/17165592.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/The-joint-campaign-Should-we-not-legalize-recreational-use-of-Cannabis/articleshow/17165613.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Recreational-use-of-marijuana-Always-a-way-of-life-in-our-country/articleshow/17165569.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/videos/city/hyderabad/200-kg-cannabis-seized-in-aps-krishna-district-2-arrested/videoshow/71562085.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/indore/directorate-of-revenue-intelligence-nabs-seven-with-ganja-worth-of-rs-1-26-crore-in-madhya-pradesh/articleshow/71476255.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/videos/city/hyderabad/visakhapatnam-40-kg-cannabis-seized-by-police-4-arrested/videoshow/71603314.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/shimla/himachal-pradesh-cops-trek-six-hours-to-raid-charas-makers-31-held/articleshow/71887429.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/surat/ganja-worth-rs-1-crore-seized-from-kamrej/articleshow/71962005.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/cops-arrested-5-persons-a-week-for-drugs-this-yr/articleshow/71999120.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/up-man-nigerian-held-for-possessing-drugs-worth-rs-3l/articleshow/72030061.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/drugs-worth-rs-1081-crore-seized-in-the-last-19-months-rti/articleshow/72075414.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/peddlers-mostly-target-tourists-sp/articleshow/72079064.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/rajkot/ganja-worth-rs-89l-seized-4-held/articleshow/72090316.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/mp-govt-plans-to-promote-hemp-cultivation-bjp-opposes-move/articleshow/72182339.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/vadodara/56-youngsters-detained-in-dcb-raids-on-drug-pockets/articleshow/72191619.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/videos/news/88-packets-of-cannabis-worth-over-rs-70-lakh-seized-in-tripura-1-held/videoshow/72223469.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/700kg-ganja-seized-near-muzaffarpur/articleshow/72265292.cms
Please note the picture of pharmaceutical synthetic drugs while what is being destroyed is a natural medicinal plant...
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/meerut/three-men-caught-with-7kg-drugs-in-anti-drug-drive-that-began-on-nov-1/articleshow/72266374.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/videos/news/police-seize-10kg-cannabis-in-chhattisgarhs-kondagaon/videoshow/72367737.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolhapur/break-the-ganja-nexus-sp-instructs-officials/articleshow/72374351.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/dehradun/2-nepalese-women-held-with-4-kg-cannabis/articleshow/74124471.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/agra/agra-woman-in-rajdhani-held-for-smuggling-20-kg-of-cannabis/articleshow/74328809.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhopal/bhopal-minor-made-drug-addict-and-raped/articleshow/73075813.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/vijayawada/enforcement-wing-keen-on-rooting-out-cannabis-trade-engg-students-addicted/articleshow/74601270.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/rajkot/cannabis-cultivation-busted-in-botad-farm-owner-arrested/articleshow/72986675.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/football/indian-super-league/top-stories/chennaiyin-fc-official-held-for-carrying-cannabis-at-isl-match/articleshow/74654700.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/mandrax-cannabis-cocktail-worries-cops/articleshow/71768388.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/delhi-crime-branch-arrests-notorious-drug-dealer-karan-khanna/articleshow/70244892.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/hc-junks-plea-to-legalise-cannabis/articleshow/70402875.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/nihangs-cut-off-hand-of-policeman-after-scuffle-in-vegetable-market/articleshow/75104243.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/five-held-with-narcotics-in-separate-raids/articleshow/74165677.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nashik/man-in-possession-of-cannabis-worth-8l-held/articleshow/73815916.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/indore/mp-dri-seizes-cannabis-worth-rs-3-1-cr-in-chhattisgarh/articleshow/74212523.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/report-flags-pot-cultivation-its-impact-on-kids/articleshow/74358523.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/ncb-arrests-six-with-over-380kg-ganja-in-delhi/articleshow/74426471.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/in-a-1st-government-oks-cannabis-research-in-up-uttarakhand/articleshow/71040612.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/food-news/delhi-mumbai-among-worlds-biggest-consumers-of-weed-study/photostory/71148455.cms
Please note the picture of a pharmaceutical synthetic drug while what is being destroyed is a natural medicinal plant...
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nashik/1-held-with-cannabis-worth-rs6-10-lakh/articleshow/74583687.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/shimla/cannabis-crop-destroyed-on-6175-bighas-in-kullu/articleshow/71250688.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mysuru/farmer-growing-cannabis-in-krs-backwaters-held/articleshow/74601643.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/food-news/studies-on-cannabis-being-healthy-may-be-more-of-social-media-propaganda/photostory/72936156.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/hc-relief-to-law-student-in-cannabis-on-campus-case/articleshow/75071763.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/chennai-customs-officials-seize-1-7kg-of-cannabis-sent-from-us/articleshow/75377661.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/videos/city/chennai/cannabis-worth-rs-9-lakh-seized-from-sleeping-bags-in-chennai/videoshow/75382831.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/madurai/woman-arrested-for-possession-of-arrack-cannabis-gets-bail/articleshow/75334994.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/21kg-of-cannabis-rs-20-lakh-in-cash-seized-from-vaniyambadi-house/articleshow/75832354.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/noida/up-3-held-in-noida-with-105-kg-cannabis-sourced-from-odisha/articleshow/73089542.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/man-held-at-new-delhi-railway-station-with-over-90-kg-cannabis/articleshow/73215604.cms
This article says that according to the NDPS Act, the leaves and seeds of the cannabis plant are legal, the flowers and nectar/resin is illegal. How absurd is that? One analogy that comes to mind is that a woman as a child is legal, but she becomes illegal once she reaches puberty. Her eggs which she produces once she reaches puberty however are legal while she is not legal anymore...??
'It’s only on January 31 that India’s first medical cannabis clinic opened in Bengaluru. Launched by a Bhubaneswar-based startup, Hempcann Solutions, the clinic has the license to prescribe CBD and THC medication by an ayurvedic doctor. “Patients can then order these medicines online from our website. We are not stocking them in the clinic as of now,” a spokesperson of the company said.'
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/why-this-patient-has-pot-in-his-pav-bhaji/articleshow/74240739.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/rajkot/two-held-for-growing-cannabis/articleshow/72961201.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/russian-held-for-growing-cannabis-in-goa/articleshow/74427647.cms
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/drug-ring-busted-in-faizabad-cantonment-soldiers-buying-cannabis-under-lens/articleshow/73003241.cms
https://www.deccanherald.com/state/mangaluru/ganja-sale-10-held-in-4-separate-incidents-746311.html
https://www.deccanherald.com/state/mangaluru/udupi-mangaluru-high-on-ganja-peddling-775162.html
https://www.deccanherald.com/state/bengaluru-gang-grows-ganja-under-led-light-3-arrested-785378.html
https://www.deccanherald.com/state/karnataka-districts/cops-seize-160-kg-ganja-in-humnabad-805742.html
https://www.deccanherald.com/city/bengaluru-crime/tweet-leads-to-arrest-of-ganja-smoking-cabbie-812219.html
https://www.deccanherald.com/state/mangaluru/police-bust-ganja-racket-15-arrested-840445.html
https://www.deccanherald.com/city/bengaluru-crime/duo-caught-trying-to-sell-ganja-15-kg-marijuana-seized-775158.html
https://www.deccanherald.com/state/mangaluru/mangaluru-4-arrested-for-selling-marijuana-773825.html
https://www.deccanherald.com/city/first-sniffer-dog-raid-on-prison-767317.html
https://www.deccanherald.com/city/bengaluru-crime/drug-dealer-arrested-with-61-kg-of-marijuana-759391.html
https://www.deccanherald.com/city/bengaluru-crime/gang-selling-marijuana-held-749706.html
https://www.deccanherald.com/city/bengaluru-crime/2-drug-dealers-held-large-amount-of-marijuana-seized-747826.html
'His injuries were similar to those observed in people suffering from "popcorn lung," a condition found in workers in a microwave popcorn factory who had accidentally inhaled diacetyl, a product used by the food industry which gives popcorn a buttery buttery flavour.
Diacetyl is safe if ingested, but dangerous if it enters the lungs. Studies have been warning for years that this product is ubiquitous in electronic cigarette liquids, but no case of injury has previously been reported'
https://www.deccanherald.com/science-and-environment/danger-from-popcorn-lung-chemical-while-vaping-study-778317.html
https://www.deccanherald.com/national/south/mysuru-father-son-arrested-for-running-marijuana-business-808390.html
https://www.deccanherald.com/state/mysuru/bilikere-police-arrests-marijuana-peddler-in-mysuru-808867.html
https://www.deccanherald.com/city/25-peddlers-druggies-arrested-across-bengaluru-813558.html
https://www.deccanherald.com/international/world-news-politics/indian-man-arrested-for-smuggling-3346-pounds-of-marijuana-into-us-850500.html
'A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar said there was no substance in the petition and it was not inclined to grant the prayer. "It appears this petition is seeking direction to legalise cannabis for medical use. It can only be done by bringing proper enactment or amendment under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. We are not inclined to grant the prayer," the bench said. The court said the cost of Rs 10,000 is deposited by the petitioner with the Delhi High Court Bar Association Library fund.'
https://www.deccanherald.com/national/north-and-central/hc-dismisses-plea-to-legalise-cannabis-for-medical-use-750562.html
'"The government is working very hard as medicinal marijuana or cannabis will be legalised soon. Scientists are aggressively working to find out the active components of cannabis," Dr Saurabh Saran, CSIR-IIM Technology Business Incubator, Jammu said. The CSIR Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine is the first institute to get government approval for cannabis and they are working on seed varieties from all over the world, he said. "We are trying to develop seeds more of active compound cannabidiol (CBD) and less of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). To make cannabis available for pain management to masses, we need to develop our own varieties as we cannot look at the option of only exporting cannabis. It has to be indigenously developed for medical cultivation and pain management," he added.'
https://www.deccanherald.com/national/north-and-central/ayush-bats-for-medicinal-use-of-cannabis-at-oja-fest-753473.html
https://www.deccanherald.com/international/aussie-accused-of-starting-bushfire-to-save-cannabis-777042.html
https://www.deccanherald.com/national/north-and-central/madhya-pradesh-govt-to-legalise-cannabis-cultivation-778282.html
'Yaba', the Thai word for "crazy medicine," is a tablet form of methamphetamine, a powerful stimulant and caffeine. These synthetically produced pills are available in a variety of flavours including grape, orange and vanilla and colours mostly reddish orange or green. "Now the smugglers are more interested in smuggling 'Yaba' tablets as it brings good money and is easier to smuggle," he said. The BSF seized items worth Rs 32.92 crore, smuggled through Tripura's borders this year, of which 'Yaba' tablets worth Rs 17.57 crore were recovered. The 'Yaba' tablet seizure was almost double than that of the previous year.'
https://www.deccanherald.com/national/east-and-northeast/smugglers-in-tripura-switching-from-cannabis-to-yaba-780883.html
https://www.deccanherald.com/national/fact-check-weed-kills-coronavirus-vivek-agnihotri-shares-scientific-misinformation-via-meme-803236.html
https://www.deccanherald.com/national/north-and-central/police-seize-200-kg-cannabis-in-delhi-ncr-2-arrested-851668.html
'A major drug use survey carried out recently in India found that in 2018, 2.1 per cent of the population aged 10–75, a total of 23 million people, had used opioids in the past year. Among opioids, heroin is the most prevalent substance, with a past-year prevalence of 1.1 per cent among the population aged 10–75; this is followed by the non-medical use of pharmaceutical opioids, with a past-year prevalence of almost 1 per cent, and by opium at almost 0.5 per cent. In general, the past-year use of opioids is much higher among men (4 per cent of the male population) than women (0.2 per cent of the female population). Moreover, 1.8 per cent of adolescents aged 10–17 are estimated to be past-year opioid users. Of the 23 million past-year opioid users, roughly one third, or 7.7 million people, suffer from opioid use disorders. Compared with earlier estimates from a survey carried out in 2004, overall opioid use in India is estimated to have increased fivefold.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_2.pdf
If India was really concerned about self-sustainability and moving away from economic dependency on China, one of the obvious things to do would be to cut down on the imports of Active Pharmaceutical Intermediaries (APIs) and fertilizers from China. India imports 68% of its APIs from China and 57% of its fertilizers, forming the top two imports, according to today's DH. Legalizing cannabis for recreational, medical, agricultural and industrial use would go a long way in reducing these two dependencies. But then the Indian pharmaceutical and petrochemical industries are the ones who need these imports. They are also, most likely, the largest funders of our politicians. So will cannabis be legalized? Not likely. Instead, our politicians will try to build roads through eco-sensitive regions to import pharma drugs and fertilizers. They will set up border brawls, ban social media platforms that enable free speech, and import arms from other petrochemical nations to put on a display. The petrochemical, pharmaceutical and arms industries will fuel the politician's addiction for money and the politician will protect them. Acknowledging that cannabis can reduce dependencies and increase sustainability, without harming the people and nature is something these entities are fearful of...
Jul 9, 2020, 4:30 PM
'The main countries identified in which heroin was trafficked along the southern route to Western and Central Europe over the period 2014– 2018 included India, the Gulf countries (notably Qatar and United Arab Emirates) and a number of Southern and East African countries (notably South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia, Mozambique, the United Republic of Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and Madagascar). The European countries reporting most trafficking along the southern route over the period 2014–2018 were Belgium (mostly via Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, South Africa, Ethiopia and the United Republic of Tanzania) and Italy (mostly via Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Ethiopia, Madagascar and Oman).' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'The region with the next largest number of methamphetamine laboratories dismantled was Asia, accounting for 6 per cent of the global total in the period 2014–2018. Most of these facilities were dismantled in China and the Islamic Republic of Iran, which together accounted for 94 per cent of all reported laboratories dismantled in Asia, while some clandestine methamphetamine laboratories were also dismantled, in descending order of importance, in Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, India, the Republic of Korea, Myanmar and Hong Kong, China. In addition, the clandestine manufacture of methamphetamine has been reported in recent years by Afghanistan and Iraq.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'Countries identified as significant source countries for methamphetamine shipments in Asia in the period 2014–2018 included Myanmar, followed by China, Thailand, India and Iran (Islamic Republic of). Clandestine methamphetamine manufacture in Asia seems to be still largely based on the use of pseudoephedrine or ephedrine as precursors, although reports from Afghanistan suggest that ephedrine is extracted from ephedra plant material and used as a precursor for methamphetamine.80 The authorities in Myanmar and Thailand have reported the seizure of increasing quantities of sodium cyanide and benzyl cyanide in recent years. These substances can be used for synthesizing P-2-P, which is then used to manufacture either amphetamine or methamphetamine.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'Methamphetamine found in Australia and New Zealand is both locally manufactured and, to a larger extent, imported from North America and Asia. In the fiscal year 2017/18, methamphetamine was mainly smuggled into Australia from the United States, followed by Thailand, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, China (including Hong Kong, China), Mexico, Lebanon, Viet Nam and India. The United States was also the main source country of the methamphetamine found in New Zealand in 2018, followed by Canada and, in SouthEast Asia, by Malaysia and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
Afghanistan and Mexico source the heroin and morphine. Mexico, Thailand, Myanmar and China source the methamphetamine. The Middle East and Eastern Europe sources the amphetamine. The US consumes heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine. Europe consumes heroin, morphine, methamphetamine and amphetamine. Asia consumes heroin, morphine and methamphetamine. Australia consumes methamphetamine. The Middle East consumes heroin and amphetamine. West Asia consumes heroin and methamphetamine. All countries grow and consume cannabis. Opioids, methamphetamine and amphetamines kill the most in terms of drug deaths, cannabis kills none. Who are the leading opponents to cannabis legalization and leading enforcers of global anti-cannabis policy? The countries involved the most in heroin, morphine, amphetamines and methamphetamines. They put on a mask of concern about harms from drugs, produce, sell and consume the most dangerous synthetic drugs and vehemently oppose cannabis legalization worldwide while clandestinely feeding their habits and protecting their sources. They use arms and armies to protect and promote their synthetic drug habits, and drug money to fund and wage a war on cannabis everywhere, pushing man and planet ever closer to death on massive scales and away from the safe, healing cannabis herb...
Jul 10, 2020, 1:14 PM
'A study conducted in India in the Chandigarh area, that city being the capital of the two neighbouring States of Punjab and Haryana, also suggested there are higher levels of drug use in urban slum areas than in rural areas. If this information were to be validated across all countries, the rapid urbanization of the past decade could be an element that explains, at least partially, the growth in the global drug market. In this context, urbanization becomes a crucial element when considering future dynamics in drug markets, in particular in developing countries, where growth in urbanization is more pronounced than in other countries.'- United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
https://www.deccanherald.com/national/north-and-central/madhya-pradesh-govt-to-legalise-cannabis-cultivation-778282.html
'Yaba', the Thai word for "crazy medicine," is a tablet form of methamphetamine, a powerful stimulant and caffeine. These synthetically produced pills are available in a variety of flavours including grape, orange and vanilla and colours mostly reddish orange or green. "Now the smugglers are more interested in smuggling 'Yaba' tablets as it brings good money and is easier to smuggle," he said. The BSF seized items worth Rs 32.92 crore, smuggled through Tripura's borders this year, of which 'Yaba' tablets worth Rs 17.57 crore were recovered. The 'Yaba' tablet seizure was almost double than that of the previous year.'
https://www.deccanherald.com/national/east-and-northeast/smugglers-in-tripura-switching-from-cannabis-to-yaba-780883.html
https://www.deccanherald.com/national/fact-check-weed-kills-coronavirus-vivek-agnihotri-shares-scientific-misinformation-via-meme-803236.html
https://www.deccanherald.com/national/north-and-central/police-seize-200-kg-cannabis-in-delhi-ncr-2-arrested-851668.html
'A major drug use survey carried out recently in India found that in 2018, 2.1 per cent of the population aged 10–75, a total of 23 million people, had used opioids in the past year. Among opioids, heroin is the most prevalent substance, with a past-year prevalence of 1.1 per cent among the population aged 10–75; this is followed by the non-medical use of pharmaceutical opioids, with a past-year prevalence of almost 1 per cent, and by opium at almost 0.5 per cent. In general, the past-year use of opioids is much higher among men (4 per cent of the male population) than women (0.2 per cent of the female population). Moreover, 1.8 per cent of adolescents aged 10–17 are estimated to be past-year opioid users. Of the 23 million past-year opioid users, roughly one third, or 7.7 million people, suffer from opioid use disorders. Compared with earlier estimates from a survey carried out in 2004, overall opioid use in India is estimated to have increased fivefold.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_2.pdf
If India was really concerned about self-sustainability and moving away from economic dependency on China, one of the obvious things to do would be to cut down on the imports of Active Pharmaceutical Intermediaries (APIs) and fertilizers from China. India imports 68% of its APIs from China and 57% of its fertilizers, forming the top two imports, according to today's DH. Legalizing cannabis for recreational, medical, agricultural and industrial use would go a long way in reducing these two dependencies. But then the Indian pharmaceutical and petrochemical industries are the ones who need these imports. They are also, most likely, the largest funders of our politicians. So will cannabis be legalized? Not likely. Instead, our politicians will try to build roads through eco-sensitive regions to import pharma drugs and fertilizers. They will set up border brawls, ban social media platforms that enable free speech, and import arms from other petrochemical nations to put on a display. The petrochemical, pharmaceutical and arms industries will fuel the politician's addiction for money and the politician will protect them. Acknowledging that cannabis can reduce dependencies and increase sustainability, without harming the people and nature is something these entities are fearful of...
Jul 9, 2020, 4:30 PM
'The main countries identified in which heroin was trafficked along the southern route to Western and Central Europe over the period 2014– 2018 included India, the Gulf countries (notably Qatar and United Arab Emirates) and a number of Southern and East African countries (notably South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia, Mozambique, the United Republic of Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and Madagascar). The European countries reporting most trafficking along the southern route over the period 2014–2018 were Belgium (mostly via Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, South Africa, Ethiopia and the United Republic of Tanzania) and Italy (mostly via Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Ethiopia, Madagascar and Oman).' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'The region with the next largest number of methamphetamine laboratories dismantled was Asia, accounting for 6 per cent of the global total in the period 2014–2018. Most of these facilities were dismantled in China and the Islamic Republic of Iran, which together accounted for 94 per cent of all reported laboratories dismantled in Asia, while some clandestine methamphetamine laboratories were also dismantled, in descending order of importance, in Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, India, the Republic of Korea, Myanmar and Hong Kong, China. In addition, the clandestine manufacture of methamphetamine has been reported in recent years by Afghanistan and Iraq.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'Countries identified as significant source countries for methamphetamine shipments in Asia in the period 2014–2018 included Myanmar, followed by China, Thailand, India and Iran (Islamic Republic of). Clandestine methamphetamine manufacture in Asia seems to be still largely based on the use of pseudoephedrine or ephedrine as precursors, although reports from Afghanistan suggest that ephedrine is extracted from ephedra plant material and used as a precursor for methamphetamine.80 The authorities in Myanmar and Thailand have reported the seizure of increasing quantities of sodium cyanide and benzyl cyanide in recent years. These substances can be used for synthesizing P-2-P, which is then used to manufacture either amphetamine or methamphetamine.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'Methamphetamine found in Australia and New Zealand is both locally manufactured and, to a larger extent, imported from North America and Asia. In the fiscal year 2017/18, methamphetamine was mainly smuggled into Australia from the United States, followed by Thailand, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, China (including Hong Kong, China), Mexico, Lebanon, Viet Nam and India. The United States was also the main source country of the methamphetamine found in New Zealand in 2018, followed by Canada and, in SouthEast Asia, by Malaysia and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
Afghanistan and Mexico source the heroin and morphine. Mexico, Thailand, Myanmar and China source the methamphetamine. The Middle East and Eastern Europe sources the amphetamine. The US consumes heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine. Europe consumes heroin, morphine, methamphetamine and amphetamine. Asia consumes heroin, morphine and methamphetamine. Australia consumes methamphetamine. The Middle East consumes heroin and amphetamine. West Asia consumes heroin and methamphetamine. All countries grow and consume cannabis. Opioids, methamphetamine and amphetamines kill the most in terms of drug deaths, cannabis kills none. Who are the leading opponents to cannabis legalization and leading enforcers of global anti-cannabis policy? The countries involved the most in heroin, morphine, amphetamines and methamphetamines. They put on a mask of concern about harms from drugs, produce, sell and consume the most dangerous synthetic drugs and vehemently oppose cannabis legalization worldwide while clandestinely feeding their habits and protecting their sources. They use arms and armies to protect and promote their synthetic drug habits, and drug money to fund and wage a war on cannabis everywhere, pushing man and planet ever closer to death on massive scales and away from the safe, healing cannabis herb...
Jul 10, 2020, 1:14 PM
'A study conducted in India in the Chandigarh area, that city being the capital of the two neighbouring States of Punjab and Haryana, also suggested there are higher levels of drug use in urban slum areas than in rural areas. If this information were to be validated across all countries, the rapid urbanization of the past decade could be an element that explains, at least partially, the growth in the global drug market. In this context, urbanization becomes a crucial element when considering future dynamics in drug markets, in particular in developing countries, where growth in urbanization is more pronounced than in other countries.'- United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'In 2018, India was the main producer of raw opium (in addition to being the only country legally exporting raw opium), producing 225.4 tons (24.8 tons in morphine equivalent) and accounting for 97.1 per cent of global production. It was followed by China, which produced 6.6 tons (0.7 ton in morphine equivalent). In China, opium had been the main raw material used in the manufacture of alkaloids until 2000; after that, it was replaced by poppy straw. Japan also produced smaller amounts of opium in 2018, to be used exclusively for scientific purposes. India accounted for 96 per cent of opium exports in 2018. The remaining 4 per cent was accounted for by re-exports of opium by countries that had initially imported the opium from India'
https://www.incb.org/documents/Narcotic-Drugs/Technical-Publications/2019/Narcotic_Drugs_Technical_Publication_2019_web.pdf
'In the 17th century, English travelers, merchants, and physicians were first introduced to cannabis, particularly in the form of bhang, an intoxicating edible which had been getting Indians high for millennia. Benjamin Breen charts the course of the drug from the streets of Machilipatnam to the scientific circles of London.'
https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/how-the-english-found-cannabis/
'Humanity just can’t make up its mind about cannabis. For thousands of years, humans have used the stuff as medicine or to travel on spiritual quests. That, though, didn’t quite suit the British, who banned cannabis in colonial India. Then in the 20th century, the United States government declared war on marijuana, and most of the world followed suit.'
https://www.wired.com/story/wired-guide-cannabis/
Another opportunity this winter session for Indian politicians to step up and make a truly positive change for the nation...
'In October 2016, Dharam Vir Gandhi, a Member of Parliament from Patiala, moved a private member’s bill in Lok Sabha to allow people to use “non-lethal, conventional drugs such as marijuana and opium husk”. Gandhi’s bill, listed as an A-category bill, is set to come up for discussion in the winter session this year.
Gandhi believes that the drug crisis in Punjab is due to “the banning of common man substances [that] has led to an emergency, a humanitarian crisis as people turned to synthesised drugs instead”. The law must allow for “demarcations, common man substances should be kept separate from hard drugs or chemicals,” he said. The bill aims to curb the black market worth “thousands of crores, which is controlled by the mafia that consists politicians, corrupt policemen, and affluent strata of society which wanted to go rich very quickly”.'
https://scroll.in/magazine/887593/a-silent-movement-for-the-legalisation-of-cannabis-is-spreading-across-india
Lovely...
'Areas in Kullu like Sainj and Malana are gaining notoriety for producing world class hash by illegal cultivation of the cannabis. Local politicians in these areas feel that legalization of cannabis cultivation with strict restrictions will help in uplifting the rural economy.'
https://swarajyamag.com/insta/after-uttarakhand-himachal-pradesh-is-considering-legalization-of-cannabis-cultivation
Will any Indian political party include adult ganja legalization in its poll manifesto in time for the 2019 elections? The early bird gets the worm or rather the vote and the seat. It's going to be fun to watch because once ganja legalization appears on the politician's radar, and that's not a question of will it or won't it but when, then parties are going to try and outdo each other and that's going to be great for the ganja lover. You might even see free distribution of ganja or 1kg ganja for Re 1 schemes being launched one of these days...
We talk about prohibition of alcohol and most of us readily agree that prohibition of alcohol never works. It only spurs organized crime and results in deaths from adulterated alcohol. Yet we have been prohibiting ganja, which is much less harmful than alcohol, for decades now while crime networks and vested interests continue to benefit from this prohibition, while thousands languish in jail, or are forced to substitute ganja with deadlier drugs due to its non-availability..the same arguments for non-prohibition of alcohol work for non-prohibition of ganja..it works even better actually given the deadlier nature of alcohol
'Which brings me to an interesting issue which has featured prominently in several State elections in recent times — the question of Prohibition. It has been a talking point in Tamil Nadu, Bihar and Kerala, to name just three States. It didnt work in the United States. It has never really worked in Gujarat, a State which has been officially ‘dry’ for several decades but has a super-efficient underground distribution network. Bootleggers and ‘delivery men’ in Gujarat operate and communicate in a network of supreme efficiency and smoothness. Make no mistake; it is organised crime operating with the sort of efficiency that evolves over decades, enhanced by all the tools of modern communication technology.'
https://www.thehindu.com/thread/politics-and-policy/article9370709.ece
Can Indian politicians please stop looking at election oriented gimmicks like loan waivers for farmers which is essentially another way of using taxpayers money to shore up the politician's vote bank? Long term it is probably more harmful to farmers increasing their dependency on the handouts they get as well as an incentive for poor farming practices. Instead can crops like hemp and ganja please be legalized to provide farmers with more farming options and a more proactive model of reaching sustainability? This could well assist India in reaching it's climate control goals in addition to earning revenue, reducing cost and increasing farmer independence.
Aham brahmasmi...
'There cannot be a restriction on ‘prasad’ being offered to the Gods, Uttar Pradesh Minister for Civil Aviation Nand Gopal Gupta said on Thursday, when asked if the government would continue to allow the use of marijuana during the 2019 Kumbh Mela celebrations.'
https://www.thestatesman.com/india/no-restriction-on-offering-prasad-to-god-up-minister-on-marijuana-use-at-kumbh-mela-1502719819.html
'Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh told the state assembly Friday that his government was considering legalizing cannabis (ganja) plantation.
The Chief Minister was responding to a question on the legalisation of the cannabis plantation by opposition congress MLA Khumukcham Joykishan who represents Thangmeiband assembly constituency during the question and answer session of the ongoing assembly on Friday'
https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/manipur-government-considering-legalising-cannabis-plantation/story-urfsT0kbSFRel4c4DQRIBL.html
'With over 27,000 followers on Facebook and more than 46,000 views on YouTube, GLM’s main focus for now appears to be spreading awareness about the benefits of industrially-grown marijuana. In December 2017, GLM organised the first all-India march to legalise marijuana. A month later, the Delhi chapter organised a protest at the Central Park in Connaught Place. “If the government can allow sale of tobacco and alcohol, why not marijuana…,” said Utsav Thapliyal, GLM’s Delhi ambassador, as he addressed the gathering.'
https://scroll.in/magazine/887593/a-silent-movement-for-the-legalisation-of-cannabis-is-spreading-across-india
'As always in India, once a ban is put in place, it stays in place. There is no rolling back, even as the countries originally responsible for these bans evolve, revoke and move forward. (The war on drugs, meanwhile, after squandering billions of dollars and taking hundreds of thousands of lives, is widely considered a failure.)
This happened with Section 377 and homosexuality. England had moved on, while we clung to it. The same goes for the ban on marijuana. As America (and the world) adapts to changing times and steams ahead with innovations in the cannabis industry, the Indian ostrich still has its head stuck in American sand.'
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/cons-products/tobacco/is-india-losing-out-on-a-ready-to-boom-cannabis-market-by-not-legalising-its-use/articleshow/66101561.cms
Way too few if you ask me. This has to become a mainstream subject for all Indian politicians at all levels till it is legalized.. education of politicians is required and empowerment through knowledge of we the people is required...
'So, let’s take a look at all the politicians who are speaking up for making this vital change in society.'
https://www.mansworldindia.com/whats-new/high-kite-indian-politicians-support-marijuana/
'The private member’s bill suggests some changes to the NDPS Act. One of these is to separate of the clubbing of ‘soft’ intoxicants from artificial ‘hard’ drugs like cocaine, heroin and smack. This petition is also supported by Romesh Bhattacharji, former Commissioner of the Central Bureau of Narcotics. In an interview with News18, he revealed that more than half the people who were put behind bars in Punjab between 2001 and 2011 under the NDPS Act were merely poor people in the possession of soft drugs.'
https://www.gqindia.com/content/marijuana-legalisation-india/
'There should be a proper governing body consisting of highly educated and understanding doctors, lawyers, psychologists, pharmacists, harm reductionists, nurses, etc, who should come together and formulate the laws. Hence, a presidential apology is requested, for the lack of effort to look upon the condition and legislature of our country, in the context of substances.
The cancer victims who couldn't get access to this plant, underwent excruciating pain and passed away; the individuals who couldn't research on this plant; and the drug offenders or traffickers rotting in jail cells and having criminal records because of this plant have suffered unnecessarily.
See, no one's actually going to benefit from a presidential apology. It'll be a caress to people’s egos. What matters is that the plant be legalised, so everyone can benefit.'
https://www.vice.com/en_in/article/neqppg/when-will-weed-marijuana-ganja-be-legalised-in-india
Amarinder and Sidhu seem to have progressive thoughts on drug policy. But the plant that needs to be legalized nationally and internationally is cannabis aka ganja aka marijuana not opium. The worldwide legalization wave of ganja is in one way trying to negate the huge harm done through opium and its derivative drugs such as heroin and pharmaceutical opioids. Opium is not heroin but it is the raw material for heroin. I hope our politicians know the differences between the two plants.
'A day after Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu came out in support of legalising cultivation, sale and consumption of opium, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday said there was need for a national drug policy to fight the drug menace.
“A comprehensive formula was needed at the Central level to effectively check drug abuse,” said Capt. Amarinder, while welcoming the fact that the issue had taken centre stage due to the growing demand for opium cultivation by certain States.'
https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-otherstates/need-for-a-national-drug-policy-to-fight-menace/article25101243.ece
Lawmakers in India seem to be concerned with only gaining power and retaining power. That the power has been given by the people, primarily to safeguard and ensure the well being of the nation, seems lost on them. The inclusion of ganja in the NDPS act as a harmful psychotropic substance has caused havoc to society, health and environment. Farmers cannot cultivate the plant, researchers cannot research the plant, society cannot access, grow or use the plant for medicine and recreation. Thousands are sent to prison, crores of people are forced to take costly, harmful prescription medicine and huge amounts of money is spent on ganja law enforcement. The ganja plant is destroyed on a large scale, farmers face poverty, petrochemical and pharmaceutical industries destroy the environment while many people die due to synthetic drugs, alcohol and tobacco. Lawmakers, who allowed the inclusion of ganja in the NDPS , now seem to be distracted with power games while the very nations who pushed for the ban on the plant, recognizing their error, take rapid strides in reintroducing the plant for their people's benefit . Can our lawmakers take their attention from their childish power games long enough to focus on the nation's suffering due to ganja's illegal status?
'NewsX Published on Nov 24, 2017
A private member’s bill to legalize marijuana in India will be introduced to parliament during the winter session this year, after clearing the legislative branch of government on November 1. MP Dharamvira Gandhi, the politician behind the bill, is a retired cardiologist and long time supporter of both the decriminalization and legalization of cannabis. His bill is intended to eliminate criminal penalties and regulate a legal cannabis market for medical and recreational use. Gandhi’s bill seeks to differentiate between hard and soft drugs to create a legal landscape.'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8XB6NNzLIs
Six years down the line, I suspect that the politician, media person, bureaucrat and law enforcement are still on one side of the issue whereas the farmer, traveller, artist and scientist are on the other side. The conviction with which the media person says to take the farmer cultivating medicinal ganja and put him in the construction of an ecological disaster like the dam is a reflection of the limited knowledge, lack of awareness and selfish motives of the persons opposing ganja legalization in Himachal and the rest of India and how out of step they are with reality.
'A documentary featuring Mr. Naseeruddin Shah that explores the issues revolving around the illegal cultivation of cannabis (the biological name for the derivative plant for charas or marijuana) in the Himachal Pradesh state of India. A large section of people feel that cannabis, the holy weed, should be legalized for a number of reasons. 'Goonj' goes into the depth of the layers involved in the decision of legalization and cultivation of this weed.'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJ5349w1sOA
Now that ganja has been legalized for medical and/or recreational purposes across the majority of the states in the USA, it is just a matter of time before federal reclassification of ganja from Schedule 1 status in the USA and Schedule 4 in the UN Single Convention on Drugs. Will India wait for these two events before it adopts legalization of ganja for recreational use thus continuing to deprive its people in the meantime, of ganja's medicinal and recreational value and pushing them towards unhealthy alternatives? Will any Indian state take the bold step of legalizing ganja since it falls in the States list under Agriculture and the Concurrent list under Drugs (due to the UN Single Convention on Drugs)? Will the Indian Supreme Court rule that the prohibition of ganja consumption is an unconstitutional infringement on personal freedoms like the South African and Mexican courts did? Will the Union government legalize recreational ganja like Canada and Uruguay did and other countries like Israel will soon? Will representatives of the people and law enforcers in this country be able to focus for long enough on this most important issue or will they remain buried under the avalanche of current issues, trivial and non-trivial?
China does not have a monopoly on fentanyl production, she adds. "Even if tomorrow the United States wouldn't get fentanyl from China, others would step in. Most obviously India, a major source of addictive drugs."'
https://www.npr.org/2019/04/01/708801717/china-to-close-loophole-on-fentanyl-after-u-s-calls-for-opioid-action
Here's another way in which India may legalize ganja. After the US has made it legal federally, in a reverse scenario to what happened in the past, the US, so that it can access Indian ganja, will then threaten India with trade sanctions if it does not legalize it. India will probably then agree to legalize ganja under pressure and in addition, concede a whole lot of other trade related concessions to the US. Some of these concessions may include exporting natural Indian ganja at a subsidized rate to the US since the US will be on the lookout worldwide for natural strains of ganja containing all the precious compounds in the right balance which have been almost bred out of existence in the US. American pharma companies may also be granted patents for exclusive rights to various strains of Indian ganja. India, on its part, may bargain for some shiny new weapons of mass destruction, with the mandatory kickbacks on all sides of course. Its politicians will come out trumpeting the wonderful things that they have managed to do in the best interests of the country, its people's security and their well being. As I write this, am thinking that all this is probably already happening, albeit under cover due to the illegal status of ganja. The common man, both now and in this potential future scenario, may never get to see or touch the herb because of his stupor.
India's medical associations remain quiet while there is global acknowledgement of the failure of opioid based pharmaceutical drugs in the treatment of numerous conditions. As the number of medical conditions for which ganja as a line of treatment gains global recognition, as the global number of patients being registered for medical use of ganja grows, as global businesses move in to secure their precious supply and strains of the plant worldwide, as huge numbers of people in society succumb to chemical and synthetic drugs, our medicine men and women continue milking their high cost service and lucrative associations with pharmaceutical industries, diagnostic labs and medical insurance companies. The fact that a plant which can be grown in anybody's house could reduce the cost of treatment from lakhs of rupees to nearly zero within the blink of an eye must surely appear like medical apocalypse to the medical industry. What medical bodies need to remember is that their main objective is the well being of humans (and other animals if you are a veterinarian). If a path presents itself to achieve this, even if it means an upheaval of existing systems, the same should be acknowledged and supported if public health is truly the highest priority.
One of these days Indian politicians are going to start waking up. Instead of behaving like school children calling each other names, they're going to try and outdo each other in promoting marijuana so as to win elections...
'He then said barring one centre in Istanbul, no other place on earth followed the actual hookah tradition and practices and urged the Council to adopt a resolution on banning these centres.'
https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/BBMP-to-ban-hookah-centres/article14967454.ece
Legalize marijuana to uplift the poor and reduce their exploitation by all...
'Police officials alleged that increase in Maoist activityand rise in marijuana trading in areas of Nabarangpur district bordering Chhatisgarh had coincided during past one year.'
https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-otherstates/Nabarangpur-tribal-pockets-emerging-transit-point-for-marijuana-smugglers/article14942661.ece
'Bringing the village into the fold of the mainstream — by issuing electoral cards, through developmental works, and by criminalising marijuana — might sound like a benign thing on paper, but the unthinking way in which it is carried out can have disastrous consequences. The war on drugs becomes a war waged by the state against its own people. A chilling account of how the process can go utterly wrong comes in a scene where Hemraj, in Delhi after the arrest of his wife Ketki, is in one of the stations of the Delhi Metro, unable to step onto the escalator.'
https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-fridayreview/smoke-screen/article4296224.ece
People who don't know what the problem is are creating task forces to provide solutions..legalize the ganja...
'The Ministry is the nodal agency for substance abuse prevention. But with little information on the scale of the problem, its growth pattern and social and economic impacts, the Ministry has been unable to come up with a working plan to combat the problem. This lack of information and the nonexistence of a policy have also had an adverse impact on the rehabilitation of substance abusers.'
https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/task-force-set-up-to-fight-drug-abuse/article5203710.ece
Any candidate with ganja legalization on the list of poll promises???
Ganja legalization, in parts of the world where it is now legal, has largely come about through a grassroots level movement where people have stood firm in their usage and support for the herb. Equally importantly, people have also been vocal in their support and through speaking out about the plant, more and more people have become aware and come out in support of ganja. In India, more voices need to speak in support of the plant and its legalization instead of having a discrete relationship with it like coy secret lovers. This is because we need to correct a wrong, because there are many who will benefit from the plant's legalization including persons languishing in prisons, persons with severe medical conditions, economically backward persons, minorities, the old, etc. Our elected representatives and judiciary need to hear enough voices from the people to understand that the legalization of the plant is something that matters deeply to a significant number of people in this country. Each and every one of us who uses and enjoys the plant has a responsibility to speak out in its support to free the plant.
Based on cultivation and consumption in India, states like Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh in the north, Odisha in the east, AP, Telangana, Karnataka and Kerala in the south besides Goa are starting to look to me like the most promising candidates for state level ganja legalization. The northeast is a dark horse. Will it be one state that starts the ball rolling like the US model, will it be a decision by the central government in office like in Canada and Uruguay or a supreme court ruling like in gay rights in India that brings the new dawn of ganja legalization for India? All three happening simultaneously will be perfect
We have taken away the indigent sections of society's access to ganja and toddy and have left them with the choice of bootlegged alcohol, IMFL, cigarettes, pain killers, solvents, inhalants, prescription drugs..legalize ganja and toddy to reduce the harm to these sections of society and to give them a better choice and a better quality of life instead of stereotyped, ill directed, useless campaigns aimed at gaining publicity...
'Vimukthi will focus on the perils of substance abuse, including tobacco, narcotic drugs, alcohol, pain killers, inhalants, and solvents.
It will target indigent sections of society, especially tribal communities and slum dwellers, who are among those most vulnerable to drug abuse. Schools and college managements will also be roped in.'
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/CM-to-launch-campaignagainst-substance-abuse/article16642674.ece
India is blatantly racist towards the ganja grower, seller and smoker especially if the person is poor or belongs to a minority group. It's an amazing turn around for a country that embraced ganja until just a few decades back and whose original inhabitants may have been some of the earliest users of the herb worldwide. So how did this come about and why does it still continue?
'What of the present, then? We could begin with school education. This crucial realm is one where ideas of the false basis of race and racism are almost never touched upon. While it is more difficult to influence attitudes in the domestic sphere, early education is an important field for providing the basis for independent and critical thought. But our social science school books continue to deal with ‘tribes’ – a category that flows on to blackness in general – in terms of their proximity to ‘civilisation’. The term itself – its bloody history, for example – is hardly ever examined. We are willing to put up with the ‘uncivilised’ as long as they know their place.'
https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/is-india-a-racist-country/article17854153.ece
'In Odisha, where weed is still legal, people can buy marijuana for recreational use. The elderly people in my constituency congregate every Monday evening and do a puja called the Trinath Mela. They sit under a big tree and pray to the three supreme beings and smoke ganja in the open. It is a custom that has been in existence for hundreds of years; I see no reason for making it illegal.
Laws should be made to suit people so that they do not break the law to maintain their lifestyle. Laws should weave around an existing lifestyle, not obstruct it. Or else laws will be broken. If you encourage people in their normal day-to-day life to break certain laws, the sanctity of laws breaks down.'
https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/should-marijuana-be-legalised/article19466725.ece
'Showcased at the gallery are small and large, arresting acrylic on canvas paintings. One of them is a vivid, true-to-reality recreation of a lush landscape in Kottakamboor, which the artist calls “the dead end of Kerala”, away from the touristy Munnar. “I call it a mystic village; marijuana was cultivated here until about 20 years ago after which people shifted to vegetable farming. They set up a barn during the cultivating season and later pull it down,” he explains. The Nilgiri hills and its “magic mushrooms” have inspired his work. '
https://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/urbanisation-fragments-of-royal-past-feminism-and-landscapes-that-have-witnessed-whirlwinds-of-change-artists-present-their-observations/article23882770.ece
'Take a chill pill and take a chillum...'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpVeyycQAjQ
Education In Hindi...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5pewcUXvhE
In the past few years software engineers have been in the news in India for, of all things, their ganja consumption habits. Why is it that software engineers are glorified as role models of Indian society and looked at with great reverence for their intelligence and economic success but their judgements questioned when they consume ganja? An intelligent software engineer using ganja as a recreational and medical aid is smart, natural and healthy not deviant behaviour. It enables the software engineer to handle stress, sleepless nights, crazy work schedules and the temptations of taking up dangerous habits like alcohol, hard drugs, tobacco, pharmaceutical drugs, etc that lead to depression, bad health and death. Harassing software engineers for their healthy recreational and medical choices reflects a high level of intolerance and ignorance in the persons doing it. Every software engineer (and every human being actually) has the right to freedom to choose his or her own means of recreation especially when it comes to using a herb known for its long history of medical and recreational value and high safety profile.
' Dr. Srivastava’s suggestion was not a prescription or endorsement of marijuana — the possession of which is still illegal in India in most forms — but a response to an amplifying chorus among doctors, patient groups and scientists for a more liberal regime in India regarding research into marijuana for medical purposes.
“There is no permanent damage seen on the body… as in the case of alcohol or tobacco… you just laugh or cry a lot at worst,” he said at a recent conference in the capital to explore the challenges around medical marijuana in India. “Tobacco is not a native plant… but cannabis (the formal botanical name of the plant) is native to India and known for thousands of years. Let’s support it.”
Says Prasanna Namboodiri, a senior High Court advocate, “The bar under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, requiring cannabis to be delivered by cultivators to the State government is a major impediment to the cultivation of cannabis for medical and scientific purposes.”'
https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/health/time-to-ease-up-on-marijuana/article25588007.ece
'Standup comedien and homecook Mikhail Almeida goes to Varanasi to get some, “Bhang, bruh!”, and shows us how to make a Benarasi Tart, that requires no baking at all.'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOLjK31z8iU
Yeah, yeah, yeah...our tight ass Indian commercial cinema couldn't say 'Peeke bhang Banaras waala'...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I08ex7M5WTw
'Intoxication recurs like a leitmotif. One of the main ingredients in the mint chutney and the Nimbu saan is roasted and ground marijuana seeds. The villagers say its bitter-tangy kick is a perfect warm-you-up in the chilly mountains. I am warmed up and more than intoxicated, and the food has nothing to do with it. I blame Binsar instead.'
https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-sundaymagazine/intoxicated-at-binsar/article4707729.ece
'The world has to be saved from a zombie invasion. But in the stoned universe of Toke , it is the sober populace which makes up the numbers for the aforementioned invasion. Anuja noted the construction of an interesting moral order, but Jugal laughed off the attempt at reading any deeper meaning into it.'
https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/joint-accounts/article3868249.ece
Bundling local toddy and ganja with alcohol (IMFL), sniff whitener and Corex addiction shows a lack of depth of drug knowledge and levels of harm by drug counselors..this one size fits all approach may be causing more harm than good...
'Debunking the myth of women not being addicts, she said: “In the district, there is a greater chance that a woman ends up being an alcoholic. It is tradition here to give her alcohol for 40 days after delivery of her child, and also, here it is generally the women who prepare local toddy,” Ms. Rayappan said.'
https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/the-highs-and-lows-of-addiction/article3597049.ece
'At the end of the day, the only way to prevent the development of “accidental” dependence on prescription drugs is by taking more personal responsibility for our health and well-being. We can do this by understanding our illnesses, acquiring knowledge about the medication we are prescribed and by taking them only in the dosage and for the period they are prescribed. Another good thing to do would be to stop looking for over-the-counter quick-fix solutions to our health problems.'
https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/columns/Vijay_Nagaswami/over-the-counter/article3613078.ece
'Mr. Saran said: “If the arguments of the respondents [supporters of gay sex] are taken to the logical conclusion then sati, dowry, acceptance of gift by the sovereign, smoking marijuana, polygamy/polyandry among Hindus will have to be decriminalised. The arguments based on archaeological findings and history are totally alien for purposes of deciding the issues at hand.”'
https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/ipc-377-was-imposed-by-british-rulers-ag/article3156946.ece
'India has a long history of opium and cannabis use, especially in medicinal, spiritual and social contexts. Serving opium is an age-old tradition in many parts of the country that marks respect for guests. Yet, this social propriety turned into legal impropriety with the enactment of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) in 1985, in order to comply with international agreements.'
https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/say-no-to-death-for-drugs/article2920551.ece
'The truth is that grass was easily available. For 25 paise, you got enough to fill one joint.'
https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/Stuck-in-the-Seventies/article15914753.ece
The Indian narrative...why i walk the way i do...
'And the habit is also believed to affect the way you walk. A 2017 study found that those who smoke cannabis tend to move their shoulders less and elbows more as they walk, and swing their knees more quickly when walking than non-users.'
https://www.hindustantimes.com/health/weed-smokers-cannabis-is-not-effective-in-reducing-chronic-pain/story-ktKMkO3r4aI7nxgM0egbjJ.html
'“The plant we want to legalise is called the Shiva plant, and it has been spoken about in our mythology as well. When we have something that has been a part of culture for the longest time, what’s the point of banning it,” Vaurora says.'
https://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai-news/mumbaiites-fight-to-legalise-marijuana/story-pgkmg4t6eh9nAssUmQnXeP.html
Now there's an iconic Indian brand to kick start with post legalization...
'Malanis tell the story of Glenu, an Italian who stayed in the village and taught them to make charas using the ‘hand-rubbed’ technique. The high quality cannabis so produced, known internationally as Malana Cream, fetched fabulous prices. In fact, in 1995, Malana Cream was adjudged one of the finest hashish smokes at Cannabis Cup, Amsterdam. As its fame grew, Malana soon became a famed centre for recreational drug tourism, with Israelis flooding the valley, as they continue to do today'
https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-sundaymagazine/in-the-valley-of-cannabis/article24125710.ece
India's attitude to ganja these days is similar to how many parts of the world viewed yoga until recently - an unhealthy evil that needs to be banned as it is against our values and ethics..ironic considering this country's strong association with both since as far back as we can see...
Aggression and violence?
'The plant was first given its taxonomic identification by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 and thoroughly described to Westerners in the 1800s, when the medical doctor William O'Shaughnessy gave a report to the Medical and Physical Society of Calcutta in India in 1839. The doctor described its effects on people and did a few case reports on "gunjah," the Indian name for the drug.
"Almost invariably the inebriation is of the most cheerful kind, causing the person to sing and dance, to eat food with great relish, and to see aphrodisiac enjoyments," O'Shaughnessy wrote in his paper, "On the Preparations of the Indian Hemp, or Gunjah."'
https://www.livescience.com/24559-marijuana-facts-cannabis.html
This is one I personally like...especially relevant to our dearly beloved Indian society that loves to make the correlation all the time. How many times have we seen in our movies, media reports, police statements and friendly neighborhood conversations the following - Ganja found in possession of rape accused; rowdies held with possession of ganja; you'll go crazy smoking ganja; don't associate with that person who smokes ganja because he will rape you or attack you or do something crazy...ha ha ha
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Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in Shahpura State 1894
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Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in the Punjab 1894
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Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in Hyderabad State 1894
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Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in Gwalior State 1894
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Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in the North-Western Provinces and Oudh 1894
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Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in Nepal 1894
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Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in Mysore State 1894
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Memorandum of Hemp Drugs in Madras Presidency 1894
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Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in Kotah State 1894
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Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in Kishengarh State 1894
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Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in Kashmir State 1894
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Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in Karauli State 1894
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Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in Bangalore 1894
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/06/memorandum-on-hemp-drugs-in-bangalore.html
Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in Jodhpur State 1894
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/06/memorandum-on-hemp-drugs-in-jodhpur.html
Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in Jhallawar State 1894
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/06/memorandum-on-hemp-drugs-in-jhallawar.html
Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in Jeypore State 1894
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/06/memorandum-on-hemp-drugs-in-jeypore.html
Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in Jaisalmere State 1894
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/06/memorandum-on-hemp-drugs-in-jaisalmere.html
Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in Indore State 1894
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/06/memorandum-on-hemp-drugs-in-indore.html
Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in Dholpur State 1894
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/06/memorandum-on-hemp-drugs-in-dholpur.html
Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in Coorg 1894
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/06/memorandum-on-hemp-drugs-in-coorg-1894.html
Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in the Central Provinces 1894
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/06/memorandum-on-hemp-drugs-in-central_3.html
Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in Central India 1894
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/06/memorandum-on-hemp-drugs-in-central.html
Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in Bundi State 1894
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/06/memorandum-on-hemp-drugs-in-bundi-1894.html
Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in Bombay 1894
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/06/memorandum-on-hemp-drugs-in-bombay-1894.html
Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in Berar 1894
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/06/memorandum-on-hemp-drugs-in-berar-1894.html
Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in Bengal 1894
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/06/memorandum-on-hemp-drugs-in-bengal-1894.html
Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in Baroda State 1894
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/06/memorandum-on-hemp-drugs-in-baroda.html
Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in Baluchistan (Quetta-Pishin) 1894
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/06/memorandum-on-hemp-drugs-in-baluchistan.html
Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in Assam 1894
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/06/memorandum-on-hemp-drugs-in-assam-1894.html
Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in Alwar State 1894
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/06/memorandum-on-hemp-drugs-in-alwar-state.html
Memorandum on hemp drugs in Ajmere-Merwara 1894
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/06/memorandum-on-hemp-drugs-in-ajmere.html
Government Resolution appointing the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission 1893
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/06/government-resolution-appointing-indian.html
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