Cannabis and India

'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, Ramesh Menon

When one undertakes a walk to a particular peak, its sometimes appears that the peak that looms ahead is the one intended. But as one climbs higher and reaches this peak, one discovers that there is another beyond which is higher that might be the destination. It is only after crossing a series of such peaks that one often reaches the peak that one had started out to climb.

My cannabis journey has been something like this. When I started out around ten years back looking at the various parts of the cannabis problem - legal, political, economic, industrial, spiritual and social - I had the impression that the United States of America was responsible for global cannabis prohibition, and it was where it all started. I had come across plenty of material regarding the Marihuana Act of 1937 which brought cannabis prohibition to the US, and the subsequent 1961 Single Convention Treaty on Narcotic Drugs which brought about global cannabis prohibition aided by US pressure on nations that refused to sign the treaty. In my subsequent journey I came across the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission Report of 1894-95, a comprehensive report of possibly the largest ever study done of a cannabis using society. This report was particularly valuable, since the study was done by an able Commission set up by the British Administration in 19th century India. The Commission interviewed more than a thousand witnesses - medical experts, magistrates, senior police and excise officials, landlords, senior army officials, district collectors, and persons of eminent standing in society. Even though most of these witnesses were part of the British administration machinery, and all were of either British origin or from the upper classes and castes of Indian society, the findings of the Commission were extensive and detailed in the areas that they addressed. The most valuable aspect of the Commission's report is that it took a snapshot of possibly the greatest cannabis consuming nation in the world at a time when cannabis was still relatively free and the impact of British regulations on cannabis in India was just starting to take effect. This enables us, today, to get a perspective of how society looked like when cannabis was freely available and the measures that brought about its prohibition in India, and subsequently across the world. 

How did the British manage to achieve this stupendous feat of cannabis prohibition in India without getting lynched by the people of the country? They used their statecraft - the skills that enabled them to rule over such vast territories and amass such great wealth. Working on the weaknesses in the structure of society and increasing them so that society broke down and thus became easier to control is key to the methodology used - of which one can find plenty of evidence wherever the British have had colonies. The carving out of India into two countries and the carving out of a nation of Europeans in the middle of the Arab nations are just two examples of this. If we went about writing the instances, then that would be a very long topic, but that is not the focus of this article.

India's pre-British social landscape

The Shaivite-Shakti religions, and other forms of nature worship were practiced largely by the original inhabitants of India who has existed across the country, as the Dravidian culture with its centers in Mohenjodaro, Harappa and the Sangam civilizations in South India descending from the megalithic cultures that existed long before. These were largely casteless religions, where the emphasis was on the divinity of all things and the oneness of creation and the eternal spirit. It was spirituality rather than religion. These societies reached their zenith possibly a few thousand years before the advent of the Aryans and their Vedas and Vaishnavism. It is surprising how little we know about the pre-Aryan ancient Indian civilizations that existed, not just in Mohenjodaro and Harappa, but across the length and breadth of the country. One reason for our limited knowledge of this part of our Indian history is the constant attempt by the caste-based religions to rewrite Indian history to make it appear that India before the caste-based religions was primitive and barbaric, and that it was the caste-based religions that brought civilizational progress to India. Nothing can be further from the truth. It is most likely that, rather than bringing civilizational progress, the new caste-based societies marked the decline of Indian civilization from its zenith to the depths that it finds itself in today. Claude Levy-Strauss writes in Tristes Tropiques, 'In the valley of the Indus, I wandered among the austere remains of the oldest Oriental culture, which have managed to withstand the passing of the centuries, sand, floods, saltpetre and Aryan invasions: Mohenjodaro and Harappa, hardened outcrops of bricks and shards. These ancient settlements present a disconcerting spectacle. The streets are all perfectly straight and intersect each other at right-angles; there are workers districts, in which the buildings are identical, industrial workshops for the grinding of grain, the casting and engraving of metals and the manufacture of clay goblets, fragments of which lie strewn on the ground; municipal granaries which occupy several blocks (as we might be tempted to say, making a transposition in time and space); public baths, waste-pipes and sewers; and solid but unattractive residential districts. No monuments or large pieces of sculpture, but, at a depth of between ten and twenty yards, flimsy trinkets and precious jewels, indicative of an art devoid of mystery and uninspired by any deep faith, and intended merely to satisfy the ostentatiousness and sensuality of the rich. The complex as a whole reminds the visitor of the advantages and defects of a large modern city; it foreshadows those more advanced forms of Western civilization, of which the United States of America today provides a model, even for Europe.' The script of the Indus Valley Civilization remains undeciphered to this day. The ruling dispensation of upper-castes from India's caste-based religions ensure that no scientific findings emerge from a pre-Vedic past of India. Officials from the Archaeological Society of India who were involved in uncovering the pre-Vedic civilizations of India were transferred and assigned other functions. It is only because of Tamil pride in its past and the conflict between the Tamil-speaking societies of the south and the Hindi-speaking societies of North India, that initiatives by the state government of Tamil Nadu in recent times have helped to further uncover this past. The increased efforts to discover the rich past of Tamil culture has yielded significant results. From archaeological sites across Tamil Nadu, we see that the Iron Age was already at its peak a few hundred years before earlier thought, placing India as the possible source of the Iron Age. Findings reveal not just advanced metallurgy, but also craftsmanship involving glass, pottery and precious stones that were traded to other parallel ancient civilizations like that of Europe and Central Asia. The homogeneity of findings between Mohenjodaro and Harappa in the north-west and Tamil Nadu in the south indicate a culture that was already at its peak for a few thousand years before the dates of the artefacts excavated. The caste-based religions try to spread the narrative that India's civilization began with Sanskrit. The importance of Tamil, a version of which was possibly spoken by the pre-Aryan Indus Valley civilization and the Tamil civilizations in the South is constantly downplayed by the Hindi-speaking north Indian population who are more aligned to the caste-based religions. Scientific American reported in 2023 that 'Some linguists, however, argue that the appearance of Sanskrit was predated by Tamil, a Dravidian language that is still used by almost 85 million native speakers in southern India and Sri Lanka. Scientists have documented Tamil for at least 2,000 years. But scholars have contested the true age of the oldest surviving work of Tamil literature, known as the Tolkappiyam, with estimates ranging from 7,000 to 2,800 years. “There are disputes among scholars about the precise date of ancient texts ascribed to Tamil and whether the language used is actually similar enough to modern Tamil to categorize them as the same language,” Patel says. “Tamil [speakers] have been especially [enthusiastic] in trying to separate the language as uniquely ancient.”' Scroll Magazine reported in 2021 that 'Thus, the genetic evidence makes it clear that Dravidian languages spread from the Indus Valley Civilisation to South India after the entry of Sanskrit-speaking Steppe pastoralists (who were earlier called “Aryans”) into India.' The sharing of words between Tamil and various other ancient languages, such as Hebrew, have been cited as evidence by leading linguists of its history and the cultural exchanges that happened between these civilizations. 

The Vaishnavite-Vedic religions were introduced into India with the migration of the Aryans from Central Asia. These religions already had a well-formed caste structure of king-priest-businessman-worker, and it was through the push of the upper castes of these religions that it entered into, and spread across, India. In one way, we see the gradual establishment of caste-based society in India paralleled by the establishment of class-based societies in Greece. While Vedic and Vaishnavite thought displaced Shaivism in India, Platonic thought replaced Dionysian thought in Greece.  Cannabis was the primary entheogen of the non-caste religions in India, with Shaivism being the biggest of these. Cannabis, as ganja, was the favorite herb of Siva and widely used by his followers who worshipped him in his various diverse forms as Nataraja, Pashupathi, Vaidhyanatha, Bhairava, Mahakala and so on, and his consort Shakti as Devi, Durga, Kali, Bhairavi and so on. The presence of cannabis posed a problem to the kings, priests and businessmen of the caste-based religions because the cannabis users had no need for these upper castes as they lived content in communion with their gods and love for nature. Shaivism was so powerful in India at the time of the advent of the caste-based religions that the priests of these caste-based religions had to resort to guile to address the problem. Even as the holy scriptures of Vaishnavism - the Ramayana and Mahabharatha (and its extension, the Bhagavad Gita) - described the worship of Siva by the main characters of these epics - Rama, Krishna and the Pandavas - they also subtly spoke about the superiority of these heroes over Siva. The penetration of the caste-based religions in India were largely propelled by the Ramayana and Mahabharatha which complemented the Vedas. Through these books, the portrayal of non-Vaishnavite religions as evil were implicitly planted in the minds of the people. The breaking of Siva's bow by Rama at Sita's swayamwara, the vilification and defeat of the Shaivite king Ravana, the portrayal of South Indians as monkeys, the stamping into the earth of the southern king Mahabali by Vishnu disguised as a Brahmin boy, and other such incidents subtly gave Vaishnavism, the Vedas and the Shastras moral superiority over the non-caste religions. The Brahmin priests who claimed divine sanction and the Kshatriya kings who claimed divine descent placed themselves at the apex of the caste system. The Kashi Kantha describes Vishnu as the gatekeeper of Siva's holy city of Kashi. Over time, he assumed equal position with Siva and through his avatars gave the caste-based religions equal footing in India, with Vishnu and Brahma becoming gods of the Trinity. To push large sections of Indian society to levels where they became totally subservient to the ruling upper castes needed not just wealth and armies, but also the breaking down mentally of the religious beliefs and ways of life of these non-caste-based societies. The use of Sanskrit - a language largely unfamiliar to the non-caste societies - to read, write and interpret the scriptures enabled the priests to claim divine sanction and gave them exclusive access to the scriptures that they themselves had written. The laying down of religious principles of caste-based religions as laws that tore down the traditions and way of life of the people - such as forbidding meat, alcohol, social relations between castes, etc., - strengthened the upper classes and castes and weakened the lower classes and castes. 

The Islamic rulers who followed the caste-based rulers and controlled large parts of India between the 13th and 17th centuries further enabled the weakening of the non-caste religions in India. It was Islam that provided the blanket term "Hinduism" for the religions practiced by the people of India, thus covering up the thousands of diverse Indian religious practices, and most importantly, clubbing together caste-based religions with non-caste-based religions. B. R. Ambedkar says, 'The first and foremost thing that must be recognised is that Hindu society is a myth. The name Hindu is itself a foreign name. It was given by the Mohamedans to the natives for the purpose of distinguishing themselves. It does not occur in any Sanskrit work prior to the Mohamedan invasion. They did not feel the necessity of a common name, because they had no conception of their having constituted a community. Hindu society as such does not exist. It is only a collection of castes. Each caste is conscious of its existence. Its survival is the be-all and end-all of its existence. Castes do not even form a federation. A caste has no feeling that it is affiliated to other castes, except when there is a Hindu-Moslem riot. On all other occasions each caste endeavours to segregate itself and to distinguish itself from other castes.' While the Islamic rulers of India did not side with any particular Indian religion - caste-based or otherwise - they saw benefit in closely modelling themselves along the lines of the Indian upper castes since that meant that they took over the reins of power. The advent of Islam did not greatly dent Shaivism and the other religions that used cannabis as an entheogen because Islam was primarily targeting alcohol as forbidden, and using this as the means to suppress communities along its path of conquest. It was only in India that Islam came face to face with cannabis as a potential hurdle to religious conquest. Interestingly, the mixing of Islam with Indian religions had the effect of creating a form of Islam that considered cannabis as an entheogen. This gave rise to variations like Sufism whose spiritual mendicants are difficult to differentiate from Shaivite spiritual mendicants in the use of cannabis as ganja or charas for spiritual purposes. This interaction between Islam and Indian religions also spawned Sikhism, which forbade alcohol and smoking, but gave sanction for cannabis to be consumed in liquid form. Buddhism and Jainism, the pre-Vedic and pre-Vaishnavite religions, were classless and casteless. But these religions already showed similarities with future religions like Islam and Christianity, in terms of forbidding alcohol, meat-eating (more Jainism than Buddhism) and smoking as a form of consumption. Buddhism was not against the consumption of cannabis as food, using hemp flour to make bread.

So, we can say that at the time of the advent of the British, Indian society had some sort of stability in terms of the distribution of religions. The caste-based religions of the Vedas and Vaishnavism, and the newer religions of Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Islam and Christianity (to a small extent) had their faithful followers but were not forceful in their attempts to convert the non-caste-based religions to their own. Each was happy in its own compartment, while considering the other religions as pagan, inferior and outcast. 

19th century India

The British, before they arrived in India in the 17th century had absolutely no idea about ganja and charas. They may well have been exposed to opium and habituated to it over the preceding centuries. They definitely were very familiar with European alcohol, beer and wine and starting to adopt tobacco, apparently discovered in South America. Public Domain Review has an essay titled How the English Found Cannabis, which states that '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”.' The same essay states that the first British contact with cannabis happened in Machilipatnam in South India and that the British took a particular liking to the sweetmeat, majum, which they however seem to have mistaken for the beverage bhang. Majum was widely available in all parts of India and was openly sold in the market like any other sweet or delicacy. The essay says, '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.'

We are fortunate in India that we have the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission's Report of 1894-95 available to us. Without it, India would have completely forgotten its rich cannabis traditions, believing that these traditions never existed. Of course, most people in India do not believe that such traditions existed, let alone that the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission Report exists. This is because those who brought about ganja and charas prohibition in India also made sure that the Report was buried in the archives and hardly ever spoken about after it was published. But the Report exists, and through our modern means of communication and technology, it can be disseminated in the public space quite quickly. As the interest in cannabis legalization grows globally, so too will India's curiosity about its cannabis heritage. We are starting to see demands for cannabis legalization in India, but most are based on the misinformation that has gradually seeped in since prohibition began in the 19th century or influenced by the findings from the west in recent times. Most persons who seek cannabis legalization in India want cannabis to be legalized medically or industrially. This aligns with the upper caste and class narrative of ganja as a dangerous harmful drug that must be strictly regulated and only made accessible through government-regulated channels such as the health and industrial ministries. This essentially enables the very same upper classes and castes who brought about cannabis prohibition in the first place, working with the British, to benefit from doing business with cannabis in ways that will mean that only they have access to cannabis, as medicine or raw material for industry. What the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission Report of 1894-95 reveals is that cannabis was pervasive in Indian society before it was prohibited. It was India's primary medicine, intoxicant, entheogen and means of sustainable livelihood for the majority of India's people - the working classes, spiritual mendicants, indigenous communities, minorities and the poor. It was the herb of the people, which was taken away so that only the upper castes and classes could use it and benefit from it. 

The importance of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission Report of 1894-95 cannot be overemphasized. The Report is a detailed documentation that provides the state of cannabis in India before regulatory curbs started being put in place. India was, at the time when regulations started being imposed, the greatest cannabis nation in the world, and it had been so for thousands of years until the 19th century. The cultivation of cannabis was spread throughout the length and breadth of the country as was its usage. Both these factors themselves are clear indicators of the timescales that the cannabis tradition have existed in India, most definitely from pre-Aryan times and, maybe, even before the advent of the Indus Valley Civilization. Ganja was just another plant in India, but a very valuable one at that. Its value was recognized by nearly all the people in India, barring possibly the British who arrived and sought to establish dominion over the land and its people. Within a short time of arriving in India, the British figured out, ably aided by the Indian upper castes, that ganja stood in the way of many routes to establishing British control. It stood in the way of European alcohol, it stood in the way of tobacco, it stood in the way of opium, it stood in the way of western medicines, it stood in the way of British religion that sought to convert the natives, and it stood in the way of mental control over the population through fear and greed. The last two factors were already well recognized by the Indian upper castes who had reached saturation point in terms of annexing the native Indians into the lowest castes by converting them to caste-based religions like Vaishnavism and the Vedas, and of controlling the lower castes through the fear spread by the priestly and warrior castes and the greed spread by the business caste. For the British and the Indian upper castes, the prohibition of ganja meant getting India's majority - its working classes, indigenous communities, minorities and poor - to adopt the alcohol, tobacco, opium, western medicine and religion that they sought to establish in order for greater power and wealth. It meant weakening the bodies and the minds of India's majority and making them more servile to the ruling classes and castes. 

The British Government ordered the setting up of a Commission with the primary objective of investigating the extent of the cannabis culture in India and the dangers that could arise from trying to implement prohibition in India. The Commission consisted of a set of experts who formulated the questions that needed to be answered in order to meet these objectives. The questions, 70 in all, covered a wide range of areas, such as: cultivation or growth; preparation or manufacture; trade; consumption or use; effects; administration, taxation and control. The selection of witnesses to provide evidence and give testimony before the Commission was itself biased in the first place, with those in favour of cannabis regulation and prohibition being given higher priority. The Commission's Report states that 'Previous to issuing their series of questions to Local Governments and Administrations for distribution to witnesses, the Commission had intimated to them that they were anxious to receive evidence from well-informed persons and representative associations, whether philanthropic, religious, or social bodies, who desired to see the preparation and sale of ganja and other hemp drugs further restricted or entirely prohibited, and that it was necessary to give such persons and associations the freest opportunity of coming forward and laying their views before the Commission.' The Report says that 'The classes of persons whose evidence the Commission desired to receive included revenue officers of experience, magisterial officers, police officers, medical officers, officers acquainted with special races of the people, zamindars, employers of labour, and the lower grades of officials, professional men, and missionaries of all denominations.' Particular emphasis was given to the evidence of medical experts, magistrates and police officers. The intent of this special emphasis was to show that ganja was a harmful drug and that it was associated with crime. The medical experts were largely British medical officers or Indian medical experts who practiced western medicine. It was desired that inputs from native Indian practitioners be also collected but we see that the native Indian practitioners who contributed their evidence were few as compared to their proportion in society, just like the inputs of practitioners of western medicine were proportionately higher than their proportion in society. A large number of witnesses were from the ruling British with little or almost no knowledge of cannabis. This included senior administrative officers, medical experts, senior army officials and missionaries. The rest of the witnesses were from India's upper castes and a smattering of witnesses from the religious orthodoxy of Islam that viewed ganja unfavourably. A large proportion of witnesses had no direct knowledge or experience of ganja and charas and relied on information provided to them by their subordinates or persons that they were acquainted with in society. In all these cases, the sources were also mostly from the ruling upper castes and classes or those working for them. All in all, we can say that the witnesses were disproportionately from the ruling castes and classes who together had an anti-ganja bias in the first place. The overwhelming majority of India's population, including the key ganja using sections - such as the working classes, spiritual mendicants, native medical practitioners, indigenous communities and the poor - were unrepresented. There was not a single woman in the witness list. Despite all these biases skewed in favor of showing ganja in a bad light and providing cannon fodder for its prohibition in India, what we see emerge from the Commission's report is the extent to which ganja was inherently woven into India's social, cultural, economic, spiritual and medical fabric. 

The Indian Hemp Drugs Commission's Report of 1894-95 is a cornerstone in the history of global cannabis prohibition. It marks the point from when ganja changed from being a natural herb with immense benefits to becoming the most reviled and discriminated natural plant. The thoroughness of the British approach, however, presented the world with a detailed picture of what the land of ganja was like before prohibition. Like many commissions that have been set up by governments across the world to paint ganja in a bad light, the Hemp Commission too was so overwhelmed by the evidence that it got from its biased witnesses regarding the importance of ganja to the people that it recommended that ganja not be prohibited since it went against the religious freedoms of the people and that its prohibition would have adverse effects on large sections of Indian society. Among the witnesses themselves, an overwhelming majority of 87% of the witnesses who voiced their views on the subject of prohibition expressed their concern against cannabis prohibition, with key concerns being that cannabis prohibition would: interfere with the religious practices of the people; require a large preventive administration to succeed; result in the increased use of more harmful drugs such as alcohol and opium. Despite all this, the British administration went ahead with its objective of ganja and charas prohibition. This is because the gains in revenue and power for the British administration and the Indian upper castes far outweighed - in their eyes - the losses that the people would suffer in terms of liberty and health. The administration was emboldened by the fact that the Indian upper castes looked down upon the smoking of ganja and the classes that smoked it, as did the religious orthodoxy of minority religions like Islam, Christianity, Sikhism and Jainism. The administration was further emboldened by the knowledge that emerged that the ganja-smoking communities were already the oppressed classes, voiceless, disorganized, peaceful, timid and powerless. 

The findings of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission of 1894-95 showed beyond doubt that: cannabis was one of India's foremost medicines; cannabis was one of India's foremost agricultural crops; the social usage of cannabis was widespread across the country; the religious use of cannabis was tied to the deepest and oldest spiritual traditions of the country; the poorest sections of society - the working classes and spiritual mendicants - were major consumers of cannabis, especially smoked in the form of ganja; cannabis was a key source of income for the poorest farmers as a valuable cash crop grown along with other crops; cannabis users were peace-loving communities; cannabis was consumed in beverage form, especially by the Indian upper classes and castes, predominantly in the Northern regions of the country; the social importance of cannabis was similar to that of beer in Europe; and so on. Despite this, the British administration went ahead with cannabis prohibition by gradually stifling the cannabis culture. The measures taken by the administration included: greatly reducing the area of cannabis cultivation; permitting cannabis cultivation only under license and strict administrative supervision; wholesale monopoly to government approved vendors; reducing the number of retail outlets and requiring administrative approval for opening a retail outlet; increased prices and taxes; setting up of a network of informants to notify the government about illegal cultivation; imposing strict penal measures against those who violated the rules, etc. Initially these measures were directed at the farmers and sellers of cannabis. Slowly, the net widened so that home growing of cannabis was also brought under the legal regulatory framework with individuals imprisoned for growing a few plants at home. Over a period of about 50 years - from 1850 to 1900 - India was reduced from the greatest cannabis nation to the level of most other nations. The attack against the cannabis plant were fierce, with the plant destroyed wherever it was found, and it was found across the length and breadth of the country because people had been cultivating it for thousands of years. The country had a diverse variety of cannabis, both domesticated and wild. The number of varieties that went extinct will probably remain forever unknown. This action against cannabis has gone on unabated for 150 years till date, even though the rulers have changed many times. 

Let us see the key findings of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission of 1894-95.

The 108 names of cannabis in India

The Hemp Commission found that the cannabis plant, and specifically ganja, was known by a mindboggling number of names across the length and breadth of the country. Many of these names were indicative of the qualities of ganja, while others were indicative of its proximity to the spiritual traditions of India. The upper castes however created a nomenclature based on the way that cannabis was consumed by them as against how it was consumed by the lower castes that split the cannabis plant into two which suited their purpose. They called the cannabis that they drank as a beverage - with the addition of milk, nuts, spices, etc. - as bhang and the same cannabis plant which the lower castes smoked as ganja. The fact that the difference based on caste and class in the manner in which cannabis was consumed was purely economic did not seem to bother those responsible for the split. It was obvious that the poor could not afford the additional ingredients that went into the making of the beverage bhang, and that the most effective and economical way for the poor to consume cannabis was to smoke it, which is what they had done for thousands of years before the caste-based religions arrived with their religious sanctions prohibiting smoking. The split in castes based on the method of consumption enabled the upper castes to not only project their bhang as medicinal and beneficial but also project the ganja of the lower castes as harmful and dangerous. For the British, this worked out well since they could now appease the upper castes while at the same time oppress the lower castes with the help of the very same upper castes. The Hemp Commission says in its report that '153. Then as regards bhang, the witnesses often use the word to include the female flower head as well as the leaves of the plant, and the green leaves as well as the dry. The male flower head must also enter into it in consequence of the rude method of preparing the drug, viz., by drying the plants and beating out the leaves. But the male flowers are not more narcotic than the leaves; the point to be noted is the inclusion of the female flower head in bhang. The confusion arises from the name of the product bhang being used also for the liquid form in which the hemp drugs are consumed. Ganja pounded up and made into drink becomes bhang. This is the way in which Garhjat ganja is used at Puri. In the west and south of India the distinction between the products bhang and ganja is frequently lost. Bhang is cultivated in Sind with similar precautions to prevent the fertilization of the female plant as in Bengal, and the product is called nothing but bhang, and is rarely used for anything but concocting drink and sweetmeats, the smoking ganja being imported. Bhang is the ancient name of the plant. It is also the name of the form of narcotic product which was earliest discovered, for it must have taken time to learn the art of isolating the female plant and so producing ganja. Bhang is also the name of the most simple style of consumption, viz., by pounding and drinking, which must have preceded smoking. Naturally, therefore, bhang is a more comprehensive term than ganja, and often includes it, especially where the production of ganja has not become a recognised industry. In the Madras Presidency ganja is the more general term, so much so that in some places the word bhang is hardly understood. This is probably due to the hemp plant being only known to the people as cultivated for the production of ganja.'

For more information on this subject, please see https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-108-names-of-cannabis.html

Areas of cultivation and wild growth

It was found that cannabis grew wild and undomesticated in the Himalayan regions, as well as in some hilly regions in the rest of India. It was found that the plant had been domesticated and cultivated across the length and breadth of the country as a key agricultural crop by the small farmer who still dominates India's agricultural landscape. It was found that ganja grew favourably across different soil, water and climatic conditions, with the best quality of ganja coming from the higher altitudes where it was cultivated relative to the plains. This did not mean that there was no good quality ganja coming from the plains as the ganja from Central India and Bengal show. The extent of ganja cultivation across the country was indicative of the time scales over which the plant had been cultivated in India. It was found that wild cannabis grew freely in public places. It was also found that many homes across the country had cannabis plants growing in home gardens for personal use. The extent of cannabis cultivation prompted the Commission to state that 'Ganja ranks as one of the superior crops.' 

Points 25 to 88 in the report summary look to address the areas of spontaneous or wild growth of the cannabis plant. Points 92 to 150 cover the extent of cultivation. These points also touch upon the extent of home growing. From these points it should be self-evident how the ruling entities had already set about in their objective of suppressing cannabis, including its home growing, through increased regulation and legal coercion. What was already the rule in British territories was slowly being extended to other Indian jurisdictions. The report summarizes that the total extent of cannabis cultivation across the country was not more than 6000 acres in 1893. This, however, does not cover the ubiquitous home cultivation of cannabis. Individual witness statements give an idea about the extent to which cannabis was an important aspect of many homes. They also show how the administration zealously went about creating fear in the minds of the people through prosecution of individuals for home growing, often at the behest of licensed cannabis monopoly traders who turned informers. A very striking point that emerges from the evidence provided by witnesses, comprising largely of magistrates and other law enforcers, is that the home growing of cannabis was not against the law in many places. It was only the trading of cannabis without license that was illegal. Licensed monopoly cannabis traders and many local law enforcers however managed to create fear in the minds of the people, bolstered by illegal prosecutions of some individuals for home growing, convincing most people that home growing was illegal. This maintenance of ambiguity regarding home growing has continued to this day and is sewn into the fabric of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act of 1985. Even though the home growing of cannabis for personal use falls well within what can be considered personal medicinal, scientific and religious purposes, most individuals believe that it is illegal to grow a cannabis plant at home. The fear and legal overreach have been maintained to this day through illegal prosecutions of individuals for the benefit of the alcohol and the synthetic drug industries that have replaced licensed cannabis monopoly vendors, besides benefiting the black market that works in cohorts with law enforcers who themselves use the ambiguity for extortion from unsuspecting individuals fearing prosecution.

For more information on this subject, please see https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2022/01/areas-of-cannabis-cultivation-and-wild.html

Methods of cultivation

When the Commission studied the methods of cultivation, it found similarities across the length and breadth of the country, again indicative of a deep-rooted practice that had evolved and been perfected with time. We see in the Hemp Commission's Report detailed descriptions of how ganja was cultivated in various parts of the country, including seed management, preparing the soil, planting seeds in nurseries or directly into the field in ploughed furrows, and the nurturing of the plant as it grew till the time of harvest. This, to me, is very valuable information that will come in most handy when India returns to large scale cultivation of cannabis as an agricultural crop.  

Here is one example of ganja cultivation as it was carried out in the Malayali villages of the Javadi Hills of North Arcot. Mr. C. Benson, M.R.A.C., Deputy Director, Agricultural Branch, Madras, says 'The Javadis are a low hill range covered with jungle, amongst which the Malayali villages lie scattered, few of them consisting of more than three or four huts. Each village has a small patch of land cleared for cultivation near by, and there, in almost all cases, a plot or two of hemp will be found growing. The Malayalis claim to be Vellalas, but except for purposes of trade and barter have little or no connection with the people of the plains. They also claim to alone possess the knowledge necessary for the manufacture of ganja—a practice which has been carried on, they state, in these hills from time immemorial. They attribute the fact that the growth of the crop is confined to the hills merely to the ignorance of the people of the plains, and state that if the latter knew how to deal with the crop, they would easily grow it outside the hills. On the hills cultivation is carried on in small plots, the natural fall of the ground preventing any considerable tolerably level area being found in one place, although to a certain extent the plots are terraced. In these plots the Malayalis raise the ordinary dry food-grains of the country for their own consumption, and with them the hemp plant alternates, hemp not being ordinarily taken on the same land in two successive years. The soil is free, friable, and open, derived directly from the rocks on which it rests; thoroughly well-drained, and appears to be fairly fertile. For hemp it receives a heavy dressing of cattle dung, without which it is said to be hopeless to raise the crop. This manure is spread on the surface in May, or June, before the first rains allow of ploughing being begun. As soon as the land is sufficiently moistened, it is ploughed and the operation is repeated three or four times at convenient intervals until some time in July, when the seed is sown. Sowing is done by dropping the seed, at the rate of five or six sers per acre, in a furrow opened with a plough, the seed being covered with soil drawn over it by the feet of the sower. The seed is sown in rows about three feet apart, and during the growth of the crop the spaces between the rows are worked and kept clean by ploughing and weeding. The young plants appear in about a week after sowing, and when about three weeks old they are partially thinned out, and when they reach to a foot high they are earthed up by means of a plough, which is run along on either side of the rows. This latter process, aided by hand-weeding at intervals of about a fortnight, thrice repeated, keeps the whole land clean. When the crop is about four months old, the anxieties of the cultivator commence and the crop has to be examined carefully and frequently, so that any male plants—called female by the ryots—may be detected and removed. Detection of the male plants is only possible when the flowers appear. Their entire removal is absolutely essential to securing a crop of ganja, as otherwise the whole crop runs to seed. The removal of the male plants is a continuous process, going on as the plants are detected. Notwithstanding this care a certain amount of seed actually sets. Some time early in January the harvest begins. It continues up to March. Plants are ready for cutting as soon as the leaf turns yellow and begins to drop. At the same time the spikes of female flowers also turn yellow. The crop is never cut on a damp or cloudy day. In harvesting, the ripe plants are cut bodily, tied into small bundles, and carried to the threshing-floor of the village. There the spikes are stripped off the stems, with a few of the leaves, and the stems are thrown away. The material thus collected is spread out on the floor in the sun during the middle of the day for three, four, or five hours, and then loosely rolled in the hand to work out such seed as may have been formed and to break up the leaf that remains. This working also causes the spikes to stick to one another to some extent. The broken leaf is then winnowed out, collected, and powdered.'

For more information on this subject, please see http://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2022/09/cannabis-usage-in-19th-century-india.html

Conditions suitable for cultivation

It was found that conditions for cannabis cultivation were favourable through the length and breadth of the country. Most farmers cultivated cannabis as a single annual crop, in addition to other crops, either during the rabi or the kharif season. Brigade-Surgeon-Lieutenant-Colonel G. King, M. B., L.L.D., F.R.S., C.I.E., Director of Botanical Survey of India reported that 'Soil, however, does not appear to be a matter of much importance in the growth of the resin yielding hemp. For, with careful cultivation, it can, I understand, be grown as a garden crop in any part of India. At elevations below 2,000 feet, the difficulty of cultivation is very slight; from 2,000 to probably 9,000 feet there is no difficulty whatever. At higher elevations than the latter it does not appear to be much grown. As regards climate there is little to be said beyond that a period of continuous dry weather, extending over three or four months of the year, is essential, and that temperatures like those prevailing in the middle zone of elevation in the North-Western Himalaya appear to be the most favourable for the development of the drug.'

For more information on this subject, please see https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2022/02/conditions-suitable-for-cannabis.html

Consumption trends, amounts and associated costs

The Commission studied the frequency of cannabis consumption, the amounts of cannabis consumed and the costs that were associated with this consumption behavior. The Commission tried to classify consumption behavior as moderate or excessive. Without a scientific basis for determining what was moderate and what was excessive, we see highly subjective statements by witnesses on this matter. In general, it was stated that about 95% of the cannabis consumers were habitual moderate consumers with the primary consumers being from the working and labouring classes. It was stated that the habitual excessive consumers were primarily from the spiritual mendicant classes and dissipated persons in society prone to excessive behavior. It was found that the amount of money spent by an individual was something that even the poorest persons in India could afford. Ganja was cheap, charas and bhang costlier. Bhang was not costly in plant form since it also contained the leaves of the cannabis plant, besides the flower (what is called ganja). This meant that larger quantities of bhang were consumed to provide the effects of an equivalent amount of ganja or charas (the resin). Bhang was costlier in the sense that the beverage ready for consumption contained milk, spices, nuts, etc. Charas was not commonly available as a product throughout most of India. It was mostly imported from neighbouring regions like Nepal and Yarkhand which made it a relatively more expensive imported product as compared to ganja and bhang. The cost of bhang and charas meant that its consumers were largely from the upper castes and classes whereas ganja was predominant among the lower classes and castes. 

In its summary on the subject, the Hemp Commission stated that '480. It is a general belief that there is a tendency for the moderate habit to develop into the excessive. This belief is based on the general view that such a tendency must exist more or less in the case of all intoxicants, on the fact that as the system becomes accustomed to the use of a drug a larger dose appears to be required to produce the same effect, and on the undoubted fact that there are some excessive consumers who had begun and continued for some time the use of these drugs in moderation. It is, however, a matter of ordinary experience that in the case of a moderate consumer of alcohol, for example, who is in normal health, the effect which he wishes to produce by his moderate use is regularly produced by the same dose without any necessity for increasing it. And the fact that there is comparatively so little of excess in the use of hemp drugs, and that so many consumers, especially of bhang among the middle classes and of ganja among working people, retain their moderate habit and regularly have their accustomed dose twice or thrice a day, seems to show that this tendency is certainly not stronger in their case. While individual differences in strength of mind must always lead to difference in results, and hereditary mental instability is in certain cases a factor which must not be overlooked, the fact seems generally to be that excess is found (as in the case of alcohol) to be mainly confined to idle and dissipated persons, and to be often due to the force of example and foolish emulation in bad company. The man who takes these drugs regularly as a food accessory, or as a stimulant in hard work, does not seem to be prone to excess. Apparently also the tendency is much less towards that occasional excess which in the case of alcohol so frequently becomes habitual. The working man, for example, does not seem to have the same temptation to a debauch with ganja as with alcohol.'

For more information on this subject, please see http://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2022/02/26.html

Myths regarding the harmful physical and moral effects

From the study, the Commission found that various myths regarding the harms of ganja were false, such as it being a cause for dysentery, bronchitis and asthma. The myth that ganja consumption lowered the morals of the individual was also explored and found wanting. In order to hedge its position, the Commission stated that moderate use of ganja was beneficial whereas excessive use was harmful. Considering that the Commission was scarcely exposed to excessive users, that excessive or moderate were not clearly defined scientific measures, and that the health of the classes that were termed as the major excessive consumers of ganja - the spiritual mendicants - was excellent, the Commission only had hearsay evidence from a few witnesses to formulate the hypothesis that excessive consumption was harmful. The perception that excessive consumption was harmful was based on the fact that ganja was smoked, and that excessive smoking is likely to lead to the damage of the lungs, resulting in potentially bronchitis. 

In its summary on harmful physical effects of cannabis, the Commission wrote 'The most striking feature of the medical evidence is perhaps the large number of practitioners of long experience who have seen no evidence of any connection between hemp drugs and disease, and when witnesses who speak to these ill effects from the moderate use are cross-examined, it is found that (a) their opinions are based on popular ideas on the subject; (b) they have not discriminated between the effects of moderate and excessive use of the drugs; (c) they have accepted the diseases as being induced by hemp drugs because the patients confessed to the habit; and (d) the fact has been overlooked that the smoking of hemp drugs is recognized as a remedial agent in asthma and bronchitis. A few witnesses incidentally refer to personal idiosyncrasy as perhaps being a factor in rendering some consumers of the drugs less tolerant and more liable to be affected by them even when used in moderate quantity. This view the Commission are prepared to accept; but for the vast majority of consumers, the Commission consider that the evidence shows the moderate use of ganja or charas not to be appreciably harmful, while in the case of moderate bhang drinking the evidence shows the habit to be quite harmless. As in long-continued and excessive cigarette smoking considerable bronchial irritation and chronic catarrhal laryngitis may be induced, so, too, may a similar condition be caused by excessive ganja or charas smoking; and to the etiology of bronchial catarrh and asthma in ganja smokers the Commission have already referred. The direct connection alleged between dysentery and the use of hemp drugs the Commission consider to be wholly without any foundation. In the case of bhang there is nothing in the physiological action of the drug which could in any way set up an acute inflammation of the large intestine resulting in ulceration. On the contrary, it is well known that hemp resin is a valuable remedial agent in dysentery. As regards ganja or charas smoking inducing dysentery, even assuming that the products of the destructive distillation of the drugs directly reached the intestines, there is evidence that those products, when condensed and injected into a cat's stomach, failed to induce any inflammatory process. The connection, therefore, between hemp drug smoking and dysentery appears even remoter than in the case of bhang drinking and that disease, and cannot be accepted by any stretch of the imagination as even a possible direct cause of dysentery.'

With regard to harmful moral effects, the Commission stated that 'In regard to the moral effects of the drugs, the Commission are of opinion that their moderate use produces no moral injury whatever. There is no adequate ground for believing that it injuriously affects the character of the consumer. Excessive consumption, on the other hand, both indicates and intensifies moral weakness or depravity.' Here the association of excessive consumptopn with moral degradation is debatable. Whether it is the moral weakness of the individual that leads to excessive consumption or the excess consumption that leads to moral degradation is in question here, that is, if there is any connection at all between morality and what a person consumes. It is a known fact that some of the most immoral persons do not use intoxicants of any kind, whereas some of the persons who use intoxicants in excess are said to have excellent moral character. Going by the argument that excessive cannabis use leads to moral degradation, the spiritual mendicants who smoke ganja excessively and the priests of the Jagannath Temple in Puri who drink bhang excessively must be then regarded as highly immoral characters. Again, morality is a very subjective term. Who defines what is moral and what is immoral? Morality varies not just from person to person, but also context to context, and society to society. As Friedrich Nietzsche said in The Will to Power, 'Preoccupation with moral issues indicates a low passion in the intellectual hierarchy; a man thereby shows that he lacks an instinctive sense of privilege, of being a parte, the sense of freedom possessed by those who are naturally creative, by those who are 'children of God' (or the Devil). And regardless of whether he preaches the prevailing morality or criticizes it for failing to meet his own ideal, he shows that he belongs to the herd - even if only as its foremost need, as its 'shepherd'...'

For more information on this subject, please see https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2022/04/creating-myths-of-harmful-physical-and.html

Association with crime

As stated earlier, one of the objectives of giving greater importance to the evidence of the magistrates and police officers was to firmly establish a link between ganja and crime, and to thus further justify prohibition. Unfortunately, the evidence provided showed no link between ganja and crime. It, in fact, showed a greater link between the alcohol - that the British wished to sell in place of ganja - and crime. It was also found that ganja smokers were not offensive to their neighbours.

In its summary, the Hemp Commission reported that 'In respect to his relations with society, however, even the excessive consumer of hemp drugs is ordinarily inoffensive. His excesses may indeed bring him to degraded poverty which may lead him to dishonest practices; and occasionally, but apparently very rarely indeed, excessive indulgence in hemp drugs may lead to violent crime. But for all practical purposes it may be laid down that there is little or no connection between the use of hemp drugs and crime.' 

For more information on the subject, please see http://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2022/03/exploring-myth-that-cannabis-causes.html

Immediate effects

A study of the immediate effects of cannabis consumption revealed a wide range of effects that included euphoria, stimulation, intoxication, aphrodisia, sedation, hunger, mirth, withdrawal and talkativeness. 

The Hemp Commission says in its summary on immediate effects of cannabis consumption that '482. In proceeding to deal more directly with the effects induced by the moderate use of the drugs, the Commission consider it desirable to preface the general analysis of information obtained from ordinary witnesses by a résumé of the known physiological action of the drugs as determined by competent observers. The earliest experiments of which we possess any record were instituted on animals by Sir William B. O'Shaughnessy. Ten grains of Nepalese charas were given to a middling sized dog; in half an hour the dog was stupid and sleepy, dozing at intervals, starting up, wagging his tail as if extremely contented, and ate food greedily. On being called to, he staggered to and fro, and his face assumed a look of utter and helpless drunkenness. These symptoms lasted two hours and then gradually passed away, and in six hours the dog was perfectly well and lively. In another experiment twenty grains of alcoholic extract of ganja were given to a very small dog. In fifteen minutes he was intoxicated: in half an hour he had great difficulty of movement: in an hour he had lost all power over the hinder extremities, which were rather stiff, but flexible: sensibility did not seem to be impaired, and the circulation was natural. He readily acknowledged calls by an attempt to rise up. In four hours he was quite well. O'Shaughnessy conducted experiments on carnivorous as well as graminivorous animals, and found that the former invariably and speedily exhibited the intoxicating influence of the drug, while the latter experienced but trivial effects from any dose administered. As a result of several experiments on pupils at the Medical College, Calcutta, O'Shaughnessy observes: "The result of several trials was that in as small doses as 1/4 of a grain the pulse was increased in fulness and frequency; the surface of the body glowed; the appetite became extraordinary; vivid ideas crowded the brain; unusual loquacity occurred; and, with scarcely any exception, great aphrodisia was experienced." Lauder Brunton states: "Its chief effect is on the brain, and is of a twofold nature; it excites a form of delirium and hallucinations, usually followed by deep sleep. Small doses give rise to delirium with hallucinations generally of a gay character causing much merriment, accompanied by a great inclination to muscular movement. The nature of the hallucinations depends greatly on the character of the individual, and people seem to be able to determine their nature as in the case of opium. The dreams produced by Indian hemp in inhabitants of Eastern countries are usually of a sexual character, but when taken by more civilized people of Western nations they are not sexual, and are often of a disagreeable nature. During this stage of hallucination the person may conduct himself rationally, and answer clearly any question put to him. The drug produces in some persons a curious loss of sense of space and time. This stage is generally followed by deep sleep. The sensory nerves are benumbed, and there is frequent tingling and partial anæsthesia. The pupil is dilated. Respiration may be either quickened or slowed. The action on the pulse is very uncertain. Usually it is at first quickened, then slowed, sometimes vice versâ. The temperature rises or sinks according as the drug produces muscular movement or sleep. The urine is increased. The processes of digestion are less altered by Cannabis indica than by opium, and the after effects of opium (nausea, headache, etc.) are not produced." Dr. Russell (Bengal witness No. 105), in his note furnished to Dr. Prain, gives the following effects of "doses pushed to produce a decided effect": "Mental effects appear in from three to five minutes; exhilaration and excitement of a pleasing nature: the subject talkative and merry; laughs and gesticulates; plays on imaginary musical instruments and sings; converses with imaginary persons; illusions and delusions, usually of a pleasing nature; objective of these very responsive to external impressions and suggestions; rarely quarrelsome or combative. Then ensues a condition of repose and quiet contemplation with fixed stare and immobile pupil. Then drowsiness and restless sleep in from two to three hours, lasting several hours: on waking, dulness, heaviness, profound depression, and irritability lasting for many hours. Physical effects in stage of exhilaration—conjunctiva reddened, pupil immobile; venous turgescence of face and head; respiration increased in frequency by three or four per minute; temperature raised two degrees or more; skin dry; a general condition of febrile excitement, vascular tension, increased pulse, quickened by ten beats or more per minute, hard, jerky, irregular. At later stage of reaction and drowsiness, skin cold, dry, pale; temperature subnormal (97° Fahr.); pulse slow, soft, compressible, very irregular; respirations lessened in frequency and shallow; copious diuresis." These experiments refer to the drugs bhang and ganja smoked and drunk as an infusion (vide the details of certain of Dr. Russell's experiments instituted in 1883 and appended to his evidence). Dr. Prain in his report on the cultivation and use of ganja refers to some experiments made on cats with alcoholic extracts of ganja, and Dr. Evans, Officiating Chemical Examiner, Bengal, at the suggestion of the Commission, also instituted a series of experiments on cats. Both these observers refer to the idiosyncrasy exhibited as to effects in the animals under experiment. Dr. Evans remarks "that some cats under the influence of the drug were prone to sleep, and others to the development of the phenomena ascribed to the disturbance of the sensory-motor apparatus; that the same dose relative to the body weight would in some animals induce disturbance of the sensory-motor mechanism, and in others a varying degree of narcotism. Apart, however, from individual idiosyncrasy, the quantity of the dose was found to play an important part also in determining the character of the effects produced by the drug. For in certain animals who after certain doses had been recognized as prone to develop sensory-motor disturbance without marked sleep or narcotism, an increased dose, if sufficiently large, could be relied on to produce sleep deep enough to mask or prevent the development of sensory-motor disturbance, with the exception of the rocking movements." Dr. Bovill (Bengal witness No. 109) describes the effects of smoking ganja in cigarettes, and Assistant Surgeon J. E. Bocarro (Sind witness No. 20) gives notes in which he compares the effects of drinking bhang and smoking ganja and charas.' 

When we consider the latest scientific findings which show that the extent of the endo-cannabinoid system (ECS) varies from one animal to another, studying the effects on cats and dogs is not the ideal way to study the effects on humans. The immediate effects on humans also varies depending on whether one is a first-time user or a seasoned user, the dosage, mode of ingestion, strength of cannabis, mental and physical state, the settings, and so on. This is in line with the findings of the World Health Organization (WHO) that recommended de-scheduling cannabis in 2020, stating that the most serious adverse effects of cannabis were 'laughter and talkativeness'. In fact, most non-cannabis users find it difficult to differentiate between someone who is under the influence of cannabis and someone who is not.  The Hemp Commission reports that 'Apart from this, the majority of witnesses have not seen the effects at all, and know nothing about them. Of the minority, a few witnesses only have had their attention drawn to the effects before this inquiry began; the rest knew nothing of them until they began to search them out on receipt of the questions issued by the Commission. Some of these witnesses fail to remember that in going to public places, such as shops or shrines where smokers congregate, to ascertain the effects, they have taken measures to see not the moderate, but the excessive, use of the drugs. They thus fail to discriminate between the moderate and excessive use. Their evidence is as unfair a representation of the general effects of the drug as would be the evidence of men regarding the general effects of alcohol who judged of these effects solely from what they saw in public houses in England.' Further in the report, the Hemp Commission states that 'As a matter of fact, the moderate consumer in such localities cannot, they say, be distinguished from the non-consumer. Then, again, a great deal of the vague evidence regarding the general injury to the constitution alleged to result from the use of hemp drugs is based on what the witnesses know of fakirs and wandering mendicants who consume the drugs. It is surprising to find witnesses who have had years of experience, whose work has brought them into close contact with the ordinary life of the people, testifying that they have never seen the drugs used except by religious mendicants, or known any of the effects of the drugs except as shown in these classes.'

The eminent 19th century British physician, William O'Shaughnessy, referred to in the Commission's report above, stated that "As to the evil sequelae so unanimously dwelt on by all writers, these did not appear to us so numerous, so immediate, or so formidable as many which may be clearly traced to over-indulgence in other powerful stimulants or narcotics, viz., alcohol, opium, or tobacco." Live Science reports that '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."'

For more information on the subject, please see https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-immediate-effects-of-cannabis.html

Medical uses 

As stated earlier, the objective of prioritizing the evidence of medical experts - particularly the experts knowledgeable in western medicine - was to portray cannabis as having limited medical value and being, instead, a harmful dangerous drug. The results of the study were contrary to the desired results. It was found that cannabis was one of the most important Indian medicines used to treat a wide range of illnesses. The Hemp Commission states that 'Cannabis indica must be looked upon as one of the most important drugs of Indian Materia Medica.' It was a tonic, febrifuge, analgesic, stimulant, sedative, aphrodisiac, anti-bacterial, anti-viral, digestive, and so on. Witnesses described cannabis as a mental scrub to clean one's mind and bring about clarity of perception, communication and memory. Cannabis as medicine was used not just for adult males but also safely administered to women, children and the elderly. Among the working classes who were the biggest community of regular moderate consumption of ganja, it was primarily used to relieve pain and fatigue, prevent diseases, to rest and work under adverse conditions involving grueling labour over long hours. Among the spiritual mendicants who were the biggest community of regular excessive consumption of ganja, it was found to aid in concentration, spiritual contemplation and to stave off hunger and the excesses of the mendicant life which included long travel, minimum clothes, exposure to heat, cold and damp and long periods without food or good water. The ways in which cannabis could be administered as medicine - through smoking, edibles, beverages, external applications - as oils, pastes, fumigation, etc. - meant that cannabis could be used effectively to address medical problems that were both internal as well as external. It also meant that cannabis as medicine could be administered to the very young as well as the very old, either standalone or mixed with other medicines from the Indian systems of natural medicine. We see here that native Indian medical practitioners are underrepresented but that did not prevent the importance of cannabis as medicine emerging from the study.

The Hemp Commission states that 'Out of a total of 1,193 European and Native witnesses before the Commission, little less than two-thirds refer to the use of hemp drugs by the Vedanti and Yunani schools of native physicians and native doctors generally...If the number of witnesses who speak of this use in each province may be taken as approximately indicating its extent, then it would appear that the medicinal use is well known throughout India.' It further states that 'There are only about fifty witnesses [out of 1,193 European and Native witnesses before the Commission] who assert that no benefit whatever can be derived by consumers from the moderate use of any form of these drugs. The vast majority assert that in some one or other of their forms they may produce at least temporarily beneficial effects. Many even of those who regard the use of the drugs as on the whole baneful admit such temporary benefits.'

Considering that the placement of cannabis in the most severe schedule of controlled drugs by the United Nations based on the argument that cannabis is a very harmful drug with no medicinal value, it is amply clear the great wrong that has done to the cannabis users of the world, and the cannabis plant itself, through its prohibition.  

For more information on the subject, please see http://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2022/07/cannabis-usage-in-19th-century-india.html

Physiological, chemical and biological analyses

Some physicians and chemists studied the physiological, chemical and biological properties of some of the different varieties of cannabis found in India. This was probably the first time that western scientific methods were used to determine the physical nature of cannabis. It was found that the cannabis used in India were primarily for intoxication and medical purposes. The varieties of cannabis that suited industrial use were neglected and often destroyed, unlike in other parts of the world where the industrial use was emphasized over the medical and intoxicating uses. 

For more information on the subject, please see https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2022/02/notes-on-chemical-physiological-and.html

The link between ganja and insanity

Among the biggest arguments used to justify ganja prohibition was the myth that ganja caused insanity. The Hemp Commission says that no other argument was as effective as the cannabis causes insanity myth in convincing the public that ganja needed to be prohibited. The data that supported the myth emerged from the lunatic asylums of India. This data was used globally to justify ganja prohibition. The Commission stated that 'Over and over again the statistics of Indian asylums have been referred to in official documents or scientific treatises not only in this country, but also in other countries where the use of these drugs has demanded attention. Other alleged effects of the drugs have attracted but little attention compared with their alleged connection with insanity.'

On close examination, the Commission discovered that the data used to support this myth was false, mainly propagated by the upper castes, and the data erroneous. The Commission reported that 'In answering the question, therefore, on what the evidence rests that hemp drugs may induce mental aberration, the Commission would offer the following remarks: The evidence may be considered under two heads—(a) popular; (b) scientific. The popular idea that the use of hemp drugs may induce insanity can be traced back for many centuries, and the present day views on the subject are no doubt the outcome of old popular ideas which have been handed down and become concrete. With non-medical witnesses the mere use of the drug along with the fact of insanity, as the evidence shows, has as a rule been accepted as cause and effect. Of the large number of medical witnesses who have given evidence before the Commission, probably not a single one has ever observed the inception of the habit and the use giving rise to mental aberration, and been in a position to gauge the value of other contributory causes if present. With practically no modern literature on the subject, with no special knowledge apart from the popular idea, with a very slight or no clinical experience of insanity in England, with the experience derived from perhaps having had half a dozen insanes in the course of two years under observation as Civil Surgeons, officers have been placed in charge of asylums, and have had to differentiate between cases of hemp drug insanity and ordinary mania. The careful inquiry which has been made by the Commission into all the alleged hemp drugs cases admitted in one year into asylums in British India demonstrates conclusively that the usual mode of differentiating between hemp drug insanity and ordinary mania was in the highest degree uncertain, and therefore fallacious.' As regards physical evidence of brain damage from cannabis use, the Hemp Commission stated that 'So far as the information from all sources before the Commission is concerned, there is no evidence of any brain lesions being directly caused by hemp drugs, as they have been found to be caused by alcohol and dhatura; and there is evidence that the coarse brain lesions produced by alcohol and dhatura are not produced by hemp drugs.'

In its summary on the connection between cannabis and insanity, the Hemp Commission stated that '552. In respect to the alleged mental effects of the drugs, the Commission have come to the conclusion that the moderate use of hemp drugs produces no injurious effects on the mind. It may indeed be accepted that in the case of specially marked neurotic diathesis, even the moderate use may produce mental injury. For the slightest mental stimulation or excitement may have that effect in such cases. But putting aside these quite exceptional cases, the moderate use of these drugs produces no mental injury. It is otherwise with the excessive use. Excessive use indicates and intensifies mental instability. It tends to weaken the mind. It may even lead to insanity. It has been said by Dr. Blanford that "two factors only are necessary for the causation of insanity, which are complementary, heredity, and stress. Both enter into every case: the stronger the influence of one factor, the less of the other factor is requisite to produce the result. Insanity, therefore, needs for its production a certain instability of nerve tissue and the incidence of a certain disturbance." It appears that the excessive use of hemp drugs may, especially in cases where there is any weakness or hereditary predisposition, induce insanity. It has been shown that the effect of hemp drugs in this respect has hitherto been greatly exaggerated, but that they do sometimes produce insanity seems beyond question.' Going by the argument that sufficient stimulation in a person predisposed to mental illness will cause insanity, all stimulants and mental stimulation stand to be judged on the same grounds as cannabis. This includes coffee, sex, physical exertion, watching a thunderstorm, etc., etc. In this sense, the causes of insanity in a person predisposed to insanity are infinite, and narrowing down on cannabis as a single cause is purely biased. But all this never stopped many nations from prohibiting cannabis using the 'ganja causes insanity' myth to justify global prohibition.

For more information on the subject, please see http://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2022/05/cannabis-usage-in-19th-century-india.html

Post-harvest processing, packaging and storage

The Hemp Commission report details the steps taken as a part of the post-harvest processing of the cannabis crop. It details how the cannabis crop is dried, rolled into cylinders or flattened out into layers to enable packing into bales that are transported to the market or to middlemen. Many of the witnesses to the Commission showed their ignorance of the cannabis plant when they classified these different types of packaging - round (rolled), flat and chur (the residue from the rolling or flattening) - as different varieties of ganja when, in fact, it was only different varieties of packaging. The Hemp Commission states that 'It must be remembered that the terms 'flat,' 'round,' and 'chur' are peculiar to the Bengal manufacture and excise system. Their exact meaning is rarely understood outside the province.' We see that the extraction of resin for charas was not practiced much in India and that resin or charas production was mainly from the regions to the northwest of India, such as Yarkhand, and northeast, such as Nepal. The problems of storage such as moisture, rats, etc., and the methods of storage are described by witnesses. 

In its summary on the subject, the Hemp Commission states that 'It will be seen from the above detailed description that bhang, whether produced by the cultivated or wild plant, is prepared by simple drying. The processes by which ganja is prepared consist of pressing, drying, and removal of leaf. The manufacture is most perfect in Bengal. In other provinces it is not characterized by the same degree of care, and one or other of the three essential features of the manufacture is more or less neglected. Ganja collected from the wild plant and from the bhang crops of Sind, and probably also that yielded by stray cultivation, is simply dried. There are only two methods of preparing charas which appear to be used when the drug is produced on any considerable scale, viz., that by rubbing the flower heads with the hands as in Kumaon and Nepal, and that described as being practised in Yarkand, which may be called the garda method, and consists in beating the plant over cloth, and manipulating the dust that is thus deposited. The collection of the resin adhering to hands and implements in the course of harvesting ganja is worth remembering, for it is proved in Gwalior and Bombay. The practice of the Malwa Bhils is perhaps established. Other methods are unimportant, and the common report that charas is collected by men dressed in leather moving about in the hemp crops has not been definitely located. It is doubtful if this device is employed anywhere in India.'

The use of cannabis for industrial purposes was limited in India. It was primarily cultivated as ganja for intoxication and medicine. The Hemp Commission reports that 'It is interesting also to note that two or three witnesses, Mr. Giles being one, report the preparation of fibre from the hemp grown in Sind. Mr. Giles says: "Sometimes, but very rarely, the thick stalks of the plant are placed in water to rot, and with great labour rope or twine is made from them by individual persons for special purposes; but the plant is never grown for the use of its fibre or of its seed only." Witness (14) states that: "The bhang plant stalks are usually buried in soft wet mud for a few days instead of being soaked in water, as in the case of the sihata or the ak." The fibre production seems to be very limited in amount, but it is worth special notice because this is the only mention of its occurrence below the Himalayas in the evidence collected by the Commission.'

For more information on the subject, please see http://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2022/09/cannabis-usage-in-19th-century-india_28.html

Regulation, taxation and revenue systems

The report describes the various regulatory, taxation and revenue collection systems that were present across the different regions of the country. The Bengal Presidency is where the British regulation and prohibition of ganja and charas truly began in India. Here, the British fine-tuned the techniques they had learnt during their implementation of cannabis prohibition in Burma. We see the measures taken: drastic reduction of area of ganja cultivation; setting up of government supervisors to oversee cultivation and harvest; cultivation under license; setting up of wholesale dealers to buy the produce; creating retail licenses; increasing the prices and taxes; reducing the number of retail outlets; setting up of informers to detect unauthorized cultivation and sale; and imprisoning those who cultivated without authorization, including the, till now, undisturbed individuals who grew a few plants in their home gardens. We see the setting up of Excise Acts in the British presidencies of Bengal, Bombay and Madras. We see the largely unregulated cannabis culture in native Indian states. We see the immediate problems of smuggling from unregulated regions to the British controlled regions. We see the bias of the officials towards opium that realizes greater revenue for the ruling classes. We also see that despite stringent regulations imposed on cannabis, the crop contributed about 20% of the revenue of the Bengal Presidency in around the year 1882. The Indian Hemp Drugs Commission says "Hemp drugs, of which ganja is the principal, constitute one of the chief sources of excise revenue in Bengal. The importance of hemp-drugs in these provinces will be apparent from the fact that out of a total excise revenue of 115 lakhs in 1892-93, ganja and its congeners contributed 24 1/4 lakhs, or about 21 per cent., and occupy the second place, being next only to country spirits. It is satisfactory to note that though the consumption of ganja has been reduced in 20 years by nearly one-third, the total revenue has during the same period been more than doubled."

The revenues that the State procured from ganja regulation was by no means insignificant. In fact, ganja revenue was said to be only second to the revenue from country liquor in Bengal by 1892, despite the curbs imposed by the State. It was in the range of about 20% or more of the total State revenue. This is despite the fact that the cost of intoxication from ganja was about 4 times cheaper than intoxication from an equivalent amount of opium, and about 12 times cheaper than intoxication from an equivalent amount of country liquor. But the margins for revenue were much greater for opium and alcohol than it was for ganja. Despite this wide disparity in revenue, the Hemp Commission states that in 1892-93, the revenues from ganja for the British controlled provinces, for which figure were available, were as follows: Bengal: "1892-93 1,510 maunds were exported to other provinces and 5,451 maunds paid duty, amounting to Rs. 12,80,631. The license fees for retail sale of ganja amounted to Rs. 11,05,435 in addition. The total revenue from charas, of which only 11 maunds 26 sérs paid duty, was Rs. 9,097, and from bhang, of which 1,033 maunds paid duty, Rs. 53,558"; Assam: "The amount of ganja which paid duty in 1892-93 was 620 maunds, representing duty to the sum of Rs. 1,39,545. License fees amounted to Rs. 1,64,088"; Northwestern Provinces: "The license fees realized from the auction of the monopoly of vend amounted to Rs. 7,04,788, and this represents the whole of the taxation levied in the province"; Central Provinces: "The revenue derived from this source has been Rs. 2,18,000, of which Rs. 1,36,500 has been from license fees, and the rest from fixed duty. There is no revenue from charas, and from bhang only about Rs. 1,000"; Madras: "In 1892-93 retail licenses was Rs. 47,292"; Punjab: "The only taxation now levied is in the form of fees for the monopoly of vend. The excise income from intoxicating drugs in the Punjab is derived from the farm of the monopoly of sale within tahsils or other subdivisions of districts (Rule 1). The total amount of this income is between 1 and 1/2 and 1 and 3/4 lakhs per annum"; Bombay: Rs. 1,22,987. Revenue from the Hill States lying between Bengal, Central Provinces, and Madras were: Chota Nagpur Tributary Mahals: Rs. 1,86,327; Orissa Tributary Mahals: Rs. 11,54,975; Chhattisgarh States: Rs. 7,88,591. That totals up to Rs. 61,50,314 for the year 1892-93, which I can say with certainty is under-reported. The figures from Indian Native states were, of course, not available with the British administration at that time.

In its summary of excise administration across areas where British control was significant, the Hemp Commission states '632. The following is a summary of the prominent features of the excise administration of the hemp drugs in the principal provinces (except Burma):— Bengal.—Cultivation and manufacture of ganja controlled. Smuggling rare, except in Orissa. Ganja and charas highly taxed. Bhang little controlled. Assam.—No cultivation of ganja permitted. Illicit cultivation rare. Some smuggling of an inferior kind of ganja from the hill tracts. Ganja highly taxed. Charas not used. Bhang little controlled. North-Western Provinces.—Cultivation and manufacture not prohibited. Some ganja produced in the province. Supply of ganja derived from Bengal, Central Provinces, Gwalior, and Bundelkhand. Little smuggling from Native States. Charas imported mainly from the Punjab. A little charas produced in Kumaon and Garhwal, and a small quantity imported from Nepal. Bengal ganja bears the tax imposed in that province. Other ganja and charas hardly taxed. Bhang not controlled. Punjab.—Ganja not used. Charas imported from Central Asia not smuggled, but hardly taxed, there being no direct duty, of which, however, the imposition is under consideration. Bhang not controlled. Central Provinces.—Cultivation and manufacture of ganja controlled. Smuggling from Native States and adjoining Bombay territory not wholly suppressed. Taxation of ganja fairly high—of charas light. Local bhang controlled as ganja. Foreign bhang highly taxed. Madras.—Cultivation and manufacture not controlled. Ganja produced to a considerable extent. Taxation very light, there being no direct duty, and licenses being very few. Charas not used. Bhang little known. Few statistics available. Bombay.—Cultivation and manufacture not controlled. Ganja produced to a considerable extent. Amount imported uncertain. Taxation light, there being no direct duty beyond import duty of 8 annas per maund. Charas hardly used, except in Sind. Bhang little known. Berar.—Cultivation and manufacture controlled. Production of ganja not large, but imports from Khandwa considerable. Taxation light, there being no direct duty beyond a tax on cultivation of Rs. 10 per acre or part of an acre.'

The Hemp Commission made a series of recommendations for British controlled areas such as:

(a) Separation of licenses for different kinds of drugs.

680. The system of retail vend differs largely in the different provinces. In some places the licenses for retail vend of the drugs are held by the same persons and under the same contract as licenses for the sale of opium without any attempt to discriminate the amount of fees due to each. More frequently the licenses cover the sale of all kinds of hemp drugs, and the relative demand for the different kinds is not ascertainable. Where the demand is small there may be reasons for maintaining the latter system, but the hemp drug licenses should, in the opinion of the Commission, be distinct from all others, and in most cases it is desirable that the licenses for the different kinds of hemp drugs should also be distinct; for it is not the desire of Government that a demand for any of the drugs should be created. Shop licenses should only be given where the demand exists, and there may be a demand for one kind and not for another. The demand for a bhang license, for instance, should not be responded to by licensing the sale of ganja or charas in addition, which may not be necessary. As a rule the licenses should be sold separately.

(b) Separate sale of shops.

681. As to the question whether the licenses for different shops should be sold separately or collectively for any given tract, the Commission are not prepared to generalize. The latter system affords a better guarantee for the respectability of the licensee, and has the mt of simplicity. But where auction bids are affected by combinations, the separate system may be desirable. The matter is one that must be left to the discretion of Local Governments and Administrations.

(c) Grant of retail licenses to  wholesale vendors.

682. The Commission are averse, as a rule, to the grant of retail licenses to wholesale vendors, and there is a good deal of evidence against the practice. It is not desirable to insist on the wholesale vendors becoming also the retail vendors, and diversity of practice tends to produce complications. If both functions reside in the same person, he has too extensive a monopoly, and will command the market to an undesirable extent. It cannot be too strongly insisted upon that uniformity and simplicity of system are essential to providing the means for ascertaining whether the drugs are sufficiently axed; and when some of the shops are held by the wholesale vendors, and others be separate retail vendors, it is more difficult to gauge accurately the effect of the system. At the same time the Commission are aware that the practice of allowing wholesale vendors to hold retail licenses is very general, and they are unable to recommend that it should be authoritatively put a stop to. The subject is one which they would commend to the notice of Local Governments with reference to the above remarks.

(d) Licensing of shops.

683. A separate license should be granted for each shop. This is ordinarily the practice, but there are exceptions. None should be permitted. The District Officer should watch the auction bids and refuse to renew licenses if they only amount to a nominal figure. The principle should be to supply a real demand, not to create one; and if the demand only exists to a very limited extent, the danger of stimulating it must prevail against the convenience of the very limited number of consumers.

(e) Consumption on the premises.

684. The hemp drug shops in British India are rarely used as smoking resorts. They are not unfrequently shops where other articles are also sold. If not, they are generally small and incapable of affording accommodation for a number of persons. Ganja smokers who smoke in company generally congregate in places of public resort or in their own houses. And the evils which result from consumption of liquor on the licensed premises in England may be said to be unknown in connection with ganja shops. There are a few witnesses who in answer to the Commission's question on the subject say that such shops are undesirable; but these remarks are mainly founded on theoretical objections, not on practical experience. In the Central Provinces consumption on the premises has been prohibited since 1891, but there is no information as to the origin of the prohibition. It seems probable, however, that when the prohibition was issued as regards madak and chandu, the clause was made to include the hemp drugs without special inquiry. In the City of Bombay there are two classes of shops—those in which consumption on the premises is permitted, and those in which it is prohibited. With reference to the former, Mr. Campbell, Collector, says: "I think it is a good thing to have some shops in Bombay City where the drugs are consumed on the premises. It keeps the consumers under notice. The shops are bound to close at a certain hour and the consumers to behave in an orderly manner. This tends to regulate the practice and control the habits of consumers. The closing of the chandu and madak shops is said to have really increased the number from 14 shops to about 150 clubs. The latter are not open to inspection or visit by the authorities. As a matter of fact, too, consumption of ganja within licensed shops is really small and shows no serious evil."

Limits on quantity for possession

On limits of quantities that should be permitted for possession, the Hemp Commission was of the view that '690. As regards ganja and charas, and any preparation or admixture of the same, the Commission are of opinion that there should be one limit for the whole of India, and that this limit should be 5 tolas. It is only in Bengal that this measure would require an alteration of the law, and the opportunity should be taken when the Excise Act is amended to make the necessary provision. It is understood that the subject has already been under discussion, and that this amendment of the law has been recommended by the Excise Commissioner. As regards bhang, the limit is nowhere less than 1/4 sér. This limit is probably low enough where the hemp plant grows wild, viz., in the Bengal Presidency. For other provinces, where bhang is merely the refuse of the ganja plant, the question arises whether the limit ought to be higher than in the case of ganja. But upon the whole the Commission think that the two products, ganja and bhang, are sufficiently distinct, and that no great objection exists to allowing a higher maximum. They would therefore recommend that 5 tolas for ganja or charas and 20 tolas or 1/4 sér for bhang be regarded as the proper maxima for all provinces, and that as opportunity offers all Native States be advised to accept these limits. There is certainly some advantage, considering how British territory is interlaced with Native State territory, in having one standard in this respect for the whole of India.'

Reporting on the disparities between regulation in British controlled areas and non-British-controlled areas, the Hemp Commission stated that '739. In the foregoing remarks on the excise administration in respect of hemp drugs which exists in the Native States, the Commission have endeavoured to indicate where further control is desirable in the interests of the British administration. They are not in a position to estimate in each case the requirements of the States themselves, or the difficulties which may exist in the way of introducing a more effective system of control. But they have no reason to think that the system which they have recommended for British provinces is not generally applicable to these States, and they would suggest for consideration whether, subject to any special exceptions for which good reason may be alleged, they would not be invited to cooperate with the British Government in adopted that system. It is probable that in these States, as in most of the British provinces, the subject has not received the attention it deserves, and that they will have no objection to uniting with the British Government in an effort to introduce effective control into this branch of their administration.'

For more information on the subject, please see http://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2022/12/cannabis-usage-in-19th-century-india.html

Social usage, gender and age demographics

From the evidence collected, we see that ganja was predominantly consumed by the working classes, lower castes, indigenous communities, spiritual mendicants and the poor. It is estimated in some places that at least 50% of the working and labouring classes were habitual moderate smokers of ganja. Among the spiritual mendicants, some estimates go as high as 90% of mendicants being regular excessive smokers of ganja. It is predominantly males that were reported as ganja smokers, with adult males typically starting ganja use after the age of eighteen. Women who smoked ganja were labelled as lower castes and prostitutes. It is not that the upper castes and classes did not smoke ganja. At least 30% of the upper castes and classes are estimated to be ganja smokers in some areas. But for the upper castes and classes, the preferred mode of cannabis consumption was in beverage form as bhang. Upper caste and upper class businessmen, priests, and warriors consumed bhang in great quantities. This was in addition to ganja, charas, alcohol, opium and tobacco. The latter three had been introduced by Europeans and the Indian upper castes and classes took to them with glee in order to show their new British masters how much like them they were. To differentiate themselves from the lower castes and outcastes, the upper classes and castes called their bhang medicinal and sanctioned by the scriptures, and the ganja smoked by the lower castes and lower classes as harmful and prohibited by the religious scriptures. Women from the upper castes and classes drank bhang. Women typically smoked ganja after the mid-thirties when the hold of patriarchy loosened with advancing age, but the number of women who smoked ganja were largely restricted to the lower classes and castes and the spiritual mendicant classes. Women and children were prescribed cannabis as medicine. Sweetmeats prepared from cannabis, such as majum and halwa, were freely available across the country. Festivals of all religions were associated with the drinking of bhang or smoking of ganja. Groups of men gathered in village and town squares at the end of the day to smoke their ganja and relax, much like the western culture of meeting at a pub for a few beers. Men smoked in groups or in solitude, though the drinking of bhang was generally a social event given the elaborate process of preparing the drink. Western alcohol was shunned as much by the masses as it was embraced by the upper classes and castes, as was opium. Charas was too expensive for most people and so it was more used by the upper classes and castes. We see by the 19th century, that tobacco had more or less established itself as a serious contender to cannabis. Most cannabis users mixed their cannabis with tobacco by the end of the 19th century.

For more information on the subject, please see http://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2023/04/cannabis-usage-in-19th-century-india.html

Classes who cultivated and consumed cannabis

We see that the classes who cultivated cannabis were the agricultural class who grew cannabis along with other crops. The classes who smoked ganja were mainly from the working classes, spiritual mendicants, indigenous communities and the poor. The classes who drank bhang were essentially from the upper castes - the priests, businessmen and warriors, as well as from religions like the Sikhs that forbade smoking. We see attempts by the upper caste and class witnesses to malign the lower classes and castes for smoking ganja, calling it a despicable habit that only the dregs of society indulge in. We also see attempts at portraying ganja smoking and cultivation as activities of minorities like Muslims to further strengthen the argument that ganja must be banned. In truth, cannabis was consumed, albeit in different forms, by the entire Indian population, irrespective of caste, class or religion, contrary to the narrative established by the upper castes and classes. 

The Hemp Commission reports in its summary on classes that cultivated cannabis that '205. Hindus appear to be the chief growers of bhang, while the majority of ordinary cultivators are Muhammadans. Mr. Giles writes that "the actual sowing of the seed, the ploughing, weeding, and bird scaring, etc., is always carried out by Bania or Hindu cultivators, the Muhammadan cultivator supplying the bullocks which work the well and the zamindar giving the land. The Bania supplies the seed, but the manure is given in the same proportion as the produce is divided, i.e., one-fifth to the Bania and two-fifths each to the raiyat and the landholder. The landholder also gives takavi or advance in cash to the raiyat." This seems to describe a partnership of a kind which probably exists in the cultivation of other produce in the same country; but there is other evidence to show that the Hindus preponderate in growing this particular crop. The habit or custom is not, however, sufficiently well marked to be regarded as a special feature of the industry.' This separation of activities between Hindu upper castes and Muslim cultivators appears to be a feature in parts of North India. This is probably one of the reasons why ganja came to be associated with Muslims as well as lower castes and something to be looked down upon by the upper castes. 

The use of ganja by the lower classes and castes came to be looked upon as a despicable act by the bhang drinking upper caste Hindus and the subsequent basis for saying bhang is legal and ganja and charas illegal in the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act of 1985, even though it was the same cannabis plant being smoked or drunk. The Hemp Commission stated in its summary on the classes that consumed cannabis that '489. From what has been said above it will be expected that there would be many witnesses whose opinion regarding the use of these drugs as stimulants would not be favourable. The very great majority of witnesses in all provinces declare that this use of the drugs is regarded with disapproval by the people generally. This disapproval rests on several grounds. It depends partly on the classes using the drugs. Many witnesses point out that ganja is the cheapest intoxicant, and that it is principally used by the lower classes, while bhang is more used by the upper classes. They state that it is on this account that ganja smoking is regarded with much more general disfavour than bhang drinking. As one witness points out, the feeling is somewhat akin to that which some Englishmen who do not generally disapprove of stimulants have regarding a "vulgar taste for gin." On the other hand, the use of ganja by religious persons is not thus generally disapproved. Many witnesses share the view which one witness tersely expresses thus: "Sanyasis are respected by the people; low caste people are not respected." There is no doubt that by far the greater part of the community abstain from any disapproval, and in fact are even strongly in favour, of the use of these drugs by religious persons, although that use is so often excessive. Mr. Monro (Bengal witness No. 206), however, records an instance of his having persuaded the people among whom he was working to dissociate ganja and holiness, so that "a sanyasi was laughed out of the town when I convicted him of habitually consuming ganja." The disapproval of the use of hemp drugs by classes other than these religious classes is, as has been already indicated, based also on a religious objection to intoxicants still held by many, both Hindus and Muhammadans. There can be no doubt that this orthodox objection influences the public expression of opinion by many who have ceased themselves to share this religious sentiment. It is a respectable thing to denounce intoxicants; and it sometimes requires an effort for a witness to speak favourably or apologetically of intoxicants, especially of those which are used by the lower orders. Another ground for this expression of disapproval by so large a majority of the witnesses is the fact that so many of them have seen nothing but the excessive use. It cannot be too carefully remembered that the moderate use does not obtrude itself, and that much of the evidence given before the Commission deals in truth only with excess. Thus we find a large number of witnesses illustrating the popular disapproval of the drug by pointing out that "ganjeri" or "bhangi" (the names given to the consumers of ganja or bhang) is a term of great reproach. They point out that it means "one who acts as if he had lost all sense," an unreliable and despicable character. Other witnesses explain that these terms correspond to the English word "drunkard," and that the moderate use is not, so far as their experience goes, regarded with contempt at all. Akin to this is the natural desire expressed by several witnesses to assist the young in resisting the temptations of bad companions by establishing in their minds a wholesome antipathy to intoxicants of all kinds, excessive indulgence in which is followed by disastrous results, especially to the young.' When one considers that it is the same plant being spoken of here, and people being discriminated on the basis of how they consumed it, one can see the complete ludicrousness of ganja and charas prohibition in India and the blatant discrimination against the people of India by the upper castes that this whole prohibition is.

For more information on the subject, please see https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2022/02/19th-century-indian-cannabis-user.html

The manner and forms of cannabis consumption

The different ways in which cannabis was consumed, internally - eating, drinking, smoking - and externally - applying as oils, pastes and ointments, fumigation, poultices, etc. - are described in the report. The flowers, resin, leaves and seeds of the cannabis plant were used for these purposes. Generally, the flowers and resin were smoked as ganja and charas; the flowers, leaves and resin were crushed and mixed with other ingredients like milk, nuts and spices to prepare the beverage, bhang; the flowers and resin were used in the preparation of sweetmeats; the seeds were crushed to make flour for bread; the flowers and resin were used to make medicines; etc. We see a few reports regarding the addition of ganja to the cooking of meat. We see the occasional addition of dangerous compounds like arsenic, nux vomica and opium, to the mix when ganja was smoked. This adulteration of ganja most likely started after regulation increased, making it more difficult to access good quality ganja at affordable prices, resulting in a market for more potent adulterated ganja, much like the prohibition of alcohol results in the illicit distillation of adulterated alcohol.

On the various forms of cannabis consumption, the Hemp Commission reported that:

Manner of smoking ganja.

416. Ganja is used principally for smoking,—almost wholly for that purpose in Bengal, where it is so expensive. The process of preparing the drug for smoking, the kind of chillum or pipe that is used, and the manner of inhaling the smoke are the same all over India. A small quantity of ganja, about 1/16 of a tola, is kneaded in the palm of the left hand with the thumb of the right, a few drops of water being poured on it from time to time. When it ceases to part with any colour to the water, it is ready to be smoked. The chillum is a bowl with a short neck issuing straight from the bottom of it, all made of clay; the same that is commonly used for smoking tobacco. It is laid with a foundation of a small quantity of tobacco. On this is placed the washed ganja which has been chopped up and another thin layer of tobacco. A live coal is placed on the charged pipe, a damp cloth is generally wrapped round the neck of it and folded into the palm of the left hand, while the pipe is grasped by the neck between the thumb and first finger. The right hand is pressed, fingers upwards, against the cloth and neck of the pipe, and the draught is made through the space between the thumb and first finger of this hand. A few short breaths are blown and drawn to light up the pipe, and when this is accomplished one long deep draught is taken with the lungs. The pipe is then handed on to a companion, and so goes the round of the circle.

Manner of smoking charas.

417. In Bengal charas is only used by people in good circumstances. It is in the Punjab and North-Western Provinces that most is to be learnt about the ordinary method of consuming it. It varies in quality and price, and is often very much adulterated. It is almost wholly used for smoking. A quantity, not larger than is usually put into the ganja pipe, is buried or kneaded up in two or three times the quantity of tobacco in the form (gurakhu) in which it is prepared for smoking with the huka. The huka is then smoked in the ordinary way, the draught being taken into the lungs. Dry tobacco may be used instead of the prepared tobacco, and the chillum instead of the huka

Other ways of smoking.

418. Ganja also is sometimes smoked in the huka, and other implements and means of smoking are mentioned. Thus in Bombay and the Central Provinces epicures occasionally use a pipe made of sugarcane in preference to the chillum. There are also certain rude expedients in vogue amongst jungle people for the smoking of tobacco, which are no doubt resorted to in connection with the hemp drug, and some of which appear in the evidence. The pipe bowl may be constructed in the ground, and a reed used to communicate with the mouth. A pipe or cigarette may be made with leaves. The leaf cigarette containing a mixture of tobacco and hemp leaves is spoken of in the Madras Presidency. A green branch of the Euphorbia neriifolia can be readily fashioned into a pipe, and is commonly used on emergency in the Satpura Hills. And in connection with the smoking of charas, there appears to be a custom at religious gatherings in Upper India for religious mendicants to sling a huge chillum containing a sér or more of the drug to a tree so that all comers may partake of it. Bhang, i.e., hemp leaves, or the very inferior kinds of ganja or ganja refuse, is only smoked under the compulsion of poverty or want of the better article.

Mixture of spices in smoking.

419. The above are the simplest forms in which the drugs are smoked. But the well-to-do are fond of flavouring the pipe with spices. The mixture with tobacco has the effect of making the pipe burn properly and go further, and of diluting the smoke which is inhaled; but other explanations are given of the reason for using tobacco with the drugs. Spices give fragrance and flavour to the pipe, and possibly, some of them, pungency. Those commonly used are musk, mace, saffron, cloves, cardamom, keori (the male flower of Pandamus odoratissimus), rose, leaves, attar, nutmeg, ginger, betel-nut, and betel-leaves.

Mixture of potent drugs in smoking.

420. Powerful and noxious drugs are occasionally introduced into the pipe; but this practice is confined to excessive consumers, and among them to a mere proportion only, on whom hemp alone has ceased to produce the desired effect of exhilaration or stupefaction. The seeds of dhatura are by far the commonest ingredient of this class. The next place should probably be taken by opium, and then follow arsenic and nux vomica, aconite, and the root of kanher (Nerium odorum or Thevetia neriifolia, the latter of which is known among the natives as yellow kanher), and after these may be mentioned certain substances to which the consumers attribute poisonous or intoxicating properties, or at least the virtue of enhancing the potency of the hemp. Such are hemp seeds, the root of the cold-weather jawari (sorghum of the kind called ringni in the Central Provinces and shalu in Bombay), the root of rice, the juice of the madar (Callotropis gigantea), and the skins and poison of snakes; and, lastly, cantharides is sometimes mixed for a special purpose. It is said that the jawari root is sometimes soaked in liquor to increase its potency. In describing these admixtures, distinction has not been made between charas and ganja smoking because the use of the ingredients is a matter of individual caprice, and they do not form part of any recognized preparation of the hemp drugs.

Simple preparation for drinking.

421. As with smoking, so in the case of drinking, there is a common and simple form, and also various compounds more or less elaborate. The simple form is merely to pound the drug very fine with a little black pepper, add water according to the strength of the drink desired, and filter the decoction through a cloth. This beverage is sometimes made with the bhang composed almost entirely of the leaves of the plant, and sometimes, most commonly outside Bengal, the North-Western Provinces, and the Punjab, of the flower heads or mixture of flower and leaves that has come away in the course of the manufacture of ganja. It goes by different names in various parts of India. In Bengal it is commonly called bhang or siddhi; in the North-Western Provinces bhang, siddhi, or thandai; in the Punjab, Bombay, and Central Provinces bhang or ghota; and in Sind ghota and panga according to its strength. In Madras the simplest form of preparation seems to be very little used, but when it is, it is probably called bhang or subzi. The Madras preparation called ramras or ramrasam seems to correspond to the dudhia of Upper India. The common names may be taken to include all forms of beverage made from the hemp drugs, except those which have special names of their own.

Spiced preparations for drinking.

422. There is next a class of beverages in which the hemp drug and pepper are supplemented by harmless perfumes and spices, the whole enriched, it may be, with sugar and milk or curds. Every bhang drinker who can afford it adds some or other of these ingredients. The spices most commonly used are anise, fennel, coriander, dill, ajwan (Ptychotis), cucumber and musk-melon seeds, almonds, rose leaves, cloves, saffron, and cardamom. But many others of the same class of innocent ingredients are mentioned, viz., hemp and poppy seeds, mace, mint cummin, endive, parsley, musk, betel-leaves, keori, attar, cinnamon, lotus seeds the seed of hollyhock, the kernels of pistachio and charoli (Buchanania latifolia), asafoetida, liquorice, cubebs, chillies, and senna leaves. The juices of fruits and trees are also employed in the concoction, such as that of the pomegranate, grape, mango, bael, cocoanuts, and date (not toddy).

Mixture of potent drugs for drinking.

423. The above ingredients are used by all moderate consumers according to their taste and means. There are others which by their potency, their uncommonness, or their quaintness are designed to meet the craving of consumers whom the compounds in ordinary use fail to satisfy. Here again dhatura takes the first place, and evidence is not wanting that the seeds of this plant are sometimes kept in stock by the grocers who supply the other ingredients, if not by the sellers of the drugs. Besides dhatura, opium, arsenic, strychnine, aconite, the oleander root, and seed of black henbane are mentioned as being introduced into hemp drinks. A mixture of two or three of these with the hemp drugs in one or two forms, and perhaps one or two other fanciful ingredients, goes by the cant name of panchratna (the five jewels), panchrangi, or panjtul. The name is apparently applied to this sort of compound, and sometimes even to more innocent ones, whether it is to be used for eating, drinking, or smoking. The poison of copper is sometimes utilized by making the decoction in a copper vessel, or putting copper coins into it while it is being prepared.

Curious ingredients for drinking.

424. There is still another class of ingredients, which are used because they are believed to have a certain efficiency of their own, or to be instrumental in enhancing the power of the hemp drug. These are the roots of grass, of rice, and of jawar, the manna and rotten knots of bamboo, soot, cobwebs, decayed string, the juice of the ak (swallow wort), and the root of mothk. These are, of course, to be regarded as curiosities of the subject, though the mention of the jawari root is rather frequent. As in the case of smoking, cantharides is very rarely mentioned as an ingredient.

Use of hemp drugs with alcohol.

425. The hemp drugs are sometimes used to doctor alcoholic drinks. In the Punjab the name lutki is given to a concoction of this kind. In Baluchistan there is also said to be a drink called mudra, which is compounded of dhatura, bhang, alcohol, and opium. The drink is also known in the Punjab. In other quarters the hemp drugs are said to be smoked after drinking liquor to add to the intoxication. The evidence of the association of the hemp drugs with alcohol in these ways is fortunately scanty. The practice is probably rare, for it implies a recklessness in in temperance which is foreign to the Indian character.

For more information on the subject, please see http://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2022/08/cannabis-usage-in-19th-century-india.html

The public opinion farce and near total opposition to cannabis prohibition

We see in the report how the British administration wished to bring about cannabis prohibition by collecting evidence only from those who were most likely to oppose cannabis. We see the exclusion of the majority of India's ganja-smoking communities - the working classes, spiritual mendicants, native physicians, indigenous communities and the poor - from the exercise of gathering information regarding India's cannabis culture. Despite this farce in the name of public opinion, we see that an overwhelming majority of the witnesses to the Hemp Commission state that habitual cannabis consumption in moderation was not harmful but actually beneficial. We see witnesses state that cannabis prohibition will greatly affect the Indian working classes and spiritual mendicants. We see witnesses state that cannabis prohibition will be viewed by the people as interference with religion. We see witnesses state that the prohibition of cannabis will lead to the use of more harmful drugs such as alcohol and opium as well as adulteration. We see witnesses state that cannabis prohibition is quite impossible and may not be achieved even with a large preventive mechanism involving excise, police, judiciary, prisons and informers. We also see the totally biased and irrational reasons for prohibition given by the small percentage of witnesses who were in favour of cannabis prohibition. Some of these witnesses state that alcohol and opium are safer than cannabis. Others state that ganja smoking is a social evil that needs to be reformed given the enlightened education that the British have provided. Still others state that cannabis use is not sanctioned by the religious scriptures. For many, cannabis prohibition essentially meant ganja and charas prohibition. They viewed bhang as a completely different drug that was perfectly harmless and beneficial.  The Hemp Commission itself weighed the entire evidence and recommended that cannabis not be prohibited but only regulated. Despite all this, cannabis prohibition picked up momentum by the end of the 19th century. 

The following passages are taken from the summary findings of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission Report of 1894-05.

553. The question of prohibiting the growth of the hemp plant and the sale of ganja and allied drugs is one which stands in the forefront of the present inquiry. It has been remarked by a well known historian* (*J. A. Froude's History of England, 2nd Edition, Chapter I, page 57) that "no laws are of any service which are above the working level of public morality, and the deeper they are carried down into life, the larger become the opportunities of evasion." If these words are true as applied to England under a feudal system, they are much more true in the present day as applied to British India. The Government of this country has not grown out of the forces contained within it, but has been superimposed upon them, and the paternal system of government which may have been suitable in England during the sixteenth century, and in the initial development of some Indian provinces during the period immediately following their annexation, becomes purely visionary when public opinion is in process of formation and the needs of the people are year by year finding more ready expression. Occasionally, no doubt, the Legislature in India has anticipated a standard of morality not universally accepted by the people, as in the case of laws relating to infanticide or the burning of Hindu widows; but these measures were passed under an overwhelming sense of the necessity of correcting popular notions of morality in matters coming well within the sphere of Government, and in the assurance that in the course of time they could not fail to secure the assent of all intelligent members of the community. In the chapter of Mill's Political Economy which treats of the non-interference principle, a distinction is made between two kinds of intervention by the Government—the one authoritative interference, and the other giving advice or promulgating information. And the following remarks are made regarding the former: "It is evident, even at first sight, that the authoritative form of Government intervention has a much more limited sphere of legitimate action than the other. It requires a much stronger necessity to justify it in any case, while there are large departments of human life from which it must be unreservedly and imperiously excluded. Whatever theory we adopt respecting the foundation of the social union, and under whatever political institutions we live, there is a circle around every individual human being which no Government, be it that of one, or of few, or of the many, ought to be permitted to overstep: there is a part of the life of every person who has come to years of discretion within which the individuality of that person ought to reign uncontrolled either by any other individual or by the public collectively. That there is, or ought to be, some space in human existence thus entrenched around no one who professes the smallest regard to human freedom or dignity will call in question: the point to be determined is where the limit should be placed; how large a province of human life this reserved territory should include. I apprehend that it ought to include all that part which concerns only the life, whether inward or outward, of the individual, and does not affect the interests of others, or affects them only through the moral influence of example. With respect to the domain of the inward consciousness, the thoughts and feelings, and as much of external conduct as is personal only, involving no consequences, none at least of a painful or injurious kind, to other people, I hold that it is allowable in all, and in the more thoughtful and cultivated often a duty, to assert and promulgate with all the force they are capable of their opinion of what is good or bad, admirable or contemptible, but not to compel others to conform to that opinion, whether the force used is that of extra legal coercion, or exerts itself by means of the law. Even in those portions of conduct which do affect the interests of others, the onus of making out a case always lies on the defenders of legal prohibitions. It is not merely a constructive or presumptive injury to others which will justify the interference of law with individual freedom. To be prevented from what one is inclined to, or from acting contrary to one's own judgment of what is desirable, is not only always irksome, but always tends, pro tanto, to starve the development of some portion of the bodily or mental faculties, either sensitive or active; and, unless the conscience of the individual goes freely with the legal restraint, it partakes, either in a great or in a small degree, of the degradation of slavery. Scarcely any degree of utility short of absolute necessity will justify a prohibitory regulation, unless it can also be made to recommend itself to the general conscience; unless persons of ordinary good intentions either believe already, or can be induced to believe, that the thing prohibited is a thing which they ought not to wish to do." These remarks have been given at length, because the Commission believe that they contain a clear exposition of the principles which should guide them in deciding whether the prohibition of the hemp drugs should be authoritatively enforced by Government.

The question of entirely suppressing all intoxicants.

554. Now, a certain number of persons (among whom may in all probability be reckoned the mover of the question in the House of Commons which led to the appointment of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission) deem it to be the duty of the British Government to suppress the trade in all intoxicants in all the countries under its sway; and there are no doubt special circumstances in India which render it less impossible than in some other countries to consider even so drastic a policy. These are notably the general sobriety of its races and the feeling, popular as well as religious, which prevails against their use among a large section of the community. Even then no appeal in support of such a measure can be made to the public morality or practice of civilised nations at large, nor, so far as the Commission are aware, to any marked success attending the experiment in particular instances. In the exceptional cases in which the experiment has been attended with partial success (as in some of the American States), the reformation of the habit has become an object of desire to the majority of the people, and the enactment for promoting such reformation has presented itself less as a restrictive force than as an auxiliary agency.

Not laid before the Commission.

555. But the Commission are not called upon to pronounce on so wide an issue. It was not upon the basis of this general principle that the Secretary of State for India accepted the proposal made in the House of Commons, nor do the instructions issued to the Commission by the Government of India cover so wide a field. The question of prohibiting the production and sale of the hemp drugs in India has to be considered by the Commission apart from the general question, and such prohibition must be justified, if at all, on some more special ground than the mere fact that they are intoxicants.

556. Again, there are a certain number of persons whose evidence before the Commission points to the assumption that the case for prohibition of the hemp drugs has already been established in the records of the Government, and that further enquiry implies a wilful blindness to what has been abundantly proved by such records. A reference to Chapter XII of this Report will show how untrustworthy these records are in regard to the production of insanity by the use of the drugs—an aspect of the question which is of the utmost importance, and has formed the basis of nearly all the official opinion heretofore recorded against such use. And, after availing themselves fully of every opportunity of consulting the official literature on the subject, the Commission have arrived at the conclusion that it shows little originality, and that a very limited amount of personal observation has been made to do duty as the basis of large conclusions. The want of reliable data has been compensated by annual reiteration until the stamp of antiquity has secured for the opinions so expressed a large amount of acquiescence among officials who had neither the time nor the opportunity to examine the matter for themselves. So far, therefore, as the effects of the hemp drugs are concerned, the Commission have had to approach the subject as almost a tabula rasa, and, while availing themselves of the imperfect data previously collected, have endeavoured to avoid accepting any conclusions without a substantial foundation of well ascertained facts. The attitude, however, of the Government in regard to the question may be briefly described. So far back as 1798 an inquiry was made in Bengal regarding the quality of ten intoxicating articles—"opium, madak, ganja, subzi, bhang, majum, banker, charas, tobacco, and toddy—" with a view to determining whether it might not be advisable to prohibit altogether the sale of any of them. The conclusion arrived at, which was stated in a letter of the Board to the Governor General in Council, No. 22, dated 29th May 1798, was to the following effect: "It appears that the original productions are as follows: Tobacco, opium, ganja, subzi or bhang, banker, and toddy, and that the three remaining articles are for the most part compositions of those here recited, as above mentioned. With respect to the drugs specified in the foregoing schedule, they are not for the most part represented as producing any very violent or dangerous effects of intoxication except when taken to excess; and, although the operation of them may be more powerful in their compound state, we apprehend it would be difficult to sanction the sale of the original productions, and to prohibit with effect the use of compositions of which they are susceptible; to which may be added that most of these articles, both as original productions and as artificial combinations, appear to be useful either in medicine or otherwise; for these reasons we do not deem it necessary to recommend that the sale of any of them be altogether prohibited, but shall proceed to state what appear to us the best means of restraining the use of them, and improving the revenue by the imposition of such taxes as are best adapted to the nature of the case." A complete inquiry was made in 1871 from all provinces as to the effects of the several preparations of hemp; and if the result should call for any action in the direction of restricting them by enhancement of the duty or of limiting, or even prohibiting, the cultivation of the plant, the advice of the Local Governments was invited as to the expediency and practicability of such measures. The result is contained in the Resolution of the Government of India, Finance Department, No. 3773, dated 17th December 1873. The following passage shows the conclusion arrived at: "Upon a consideration of all the opinions thus collected, it does not appear to the Governor-General in Council to be specially proved that hemp incites to crime more than other drugs or than spirits. And there is some evidence to show that on rare occasions this drug, usually so noxious, may be usefully taken. There can, however, be no doubt that its habitual use does tend to produce insanity. The total number of cases of insanity is small in proportion to the population, and not large even in proportion to the number of ganja smokers; but of the cases of insanity produced by the excessive use of drugs or spirits, by far the largest number must be attributed to the abuse of hemp. In Lower Bengal the circumstances have admitted of a system under which the consumption of ganja has been reduced one-half, while the amount of duty levied on it has been doubled. It would be very desirable to control the cultivation and preparation of ganja and bhang elsewhere in the same way. But it is believed that this would not be easy; indeed, it would probably be impracticable. Moreover, with the exception of the Chief Commissioners of British Burma and the Central Provinces, the Local Governments are not in favour of altering existing arrangements. His Excellency in Council, however, trusts that the various Local Governments and Administrations will endeavour, wherever it may be possible, to discourage the consumption of ganja and bhang by placing restrictions on their cultivation, preparation, and retail, and imposing on their use as high a rate of duty as can be levied without inducing illicit practices. As regards British Burma, the Chief Commissioner has already been informed that the Governor-General in Council concurs with him in thinking that the cultivation and consumption of ganja should be absolutely prohibited, and it has been prohibited from the beginning of the year 1873-74." In 1877 the Bengal Government appointed a special officer, Babu Hem Chunder Kerr, to make a full inquiry into the details of the cultivation of ganja, the sufficiency or otherwise of the present safeguards, and the reforms which it might be advisable to introduce. Sir Ashley Eden's conclusions on this officer's report in regard to the effects of ganja and policy to be followed were as follows: "The Lieutenant-Governor has himself no doubt that the use of ganja in any form is injurious to the consumer, and that it is the duty of Government to make the tax on this article as high as it can possibly bear. Unfortunately it is habitually used by large numbers of the lower classes of the population, who would, if deprived of it altogether, apparently find in the leaves of the wild hemp plant and in other drugs narcotics and stimulants of equally deleterious character. It does not seem possible, therefore, to stop the cultivation altogether. The policy of Government must be to limit its production and sale by a high rate of duty without placing the drug entirely beyond the reach of those who will insist upon having it." The last important utterance on the subject previous to the appointment of the Commission is contained in the letter of the Government of India, Finance Department, to Her Majesty's Secretary of State, No. 212, dated 9th August 1892, in which the following remarks occur: "We are inclined to believe that ganja is the most noxious of all intoxicants now commonly used in India. But even if the absolute prohibition of the use of the drug could be enforced, the result might be to induce the use of still more noxious drugs. India abounds with plants growing wild from which drugs can be procured which are more deleterious in their effects than ganja. One such plant is the dhatura (Stramonium), the seeds of which are already used to intensify the narcotic effects of bhang, a liquid preparation of hemp leaves; and we apprehend that if the use of ganja were suppressed altogether, dhatura might be largely resorted to by the poorer classes as a means of satisfying their craving for stimulants. Apart, however, from the objections just mentioned, we believe that it would be impossible to enforce in India a prohibition of the use of ganja. That drug is produced in Native States, and the difficulties in the way of preventing its import from them, if the supply in British India were cut off, would be immense. It would not, moreover, be possible to suppress the supply in British India. The hemp plant grows readily in India, in many places wild without cultivation of any kind, and it would be easy for any one addicted to the use of ganja to grow a plant or two in the enclosure of his own house and in nooks and corners which would be safe from observation and from the risk of detection. The question in the House of Commons suggests that as the possession and sale of ganja has been prohibited for many years in Burma, it is desirable that the same prohibition should be extended to other provinces of British India. The analogy of Burma does not, however, apply to India. When the prohibition was enforced in Burma, the drug was very little used by the Native Burmese, its consumption being almost entirely confined to coolies and other immigrants from India; and the cultivation of the plant in Burma, which had never been extensive, had virtually ceased, the consumers being dependent on importations for their supplies. In India, on the other hand, the practice of ganja smoking has existed from time immemorial, and among certain sects of Hindus, ascetics, and religious mendicants hemp intoxication is habitually indulged in; and, as explained in the preceding paragraph, it would be impossible to suppress the growth of the plant. But, although we consider it impracticable to enforce the absolute prohibition of the use of ganja, we fully recognise it as our duty to restrict its consumption as far as practicable, and we have distinctly laid down the policy to be pursued in respect of this drug in our Resolution of the 17th December 1873 already quoted. The annual reports of Excise Administration show that the subject has since been continually before Local Governments, who are making every possible endeavour to minimise the evils and discourage the use of the drug wherever it is a source of danger to consumers." Thus "restraining the use and improving the revenue by the imposition of suitable taxation," "discouraging the consumption by placing restrictions on the cultivation, preparation, and retail, and imposing on their use as high a rate of duty as can be levied without inducing illicit practices," "limiting the production and sale by a high rate of duty without placing the drug entirely beyond the reach of those who will insist upon having it," "restricting consumption as far as practicable, minimising the evils, and discouraging the use of the drug wherever it is a source of danger to consumers" have from time to time been the watch-words of the Government in the matter of the hemp drugs, a policy only once definitely abandoned, viz., in the case of Burma, where total prohibition was introduced in 1873.

Is prohibition in India justifiable, feasible, and advisable?

563. Starting, therefore, from the position that what is known of the hemp drugs in the past is not sufficient to justify their prohibition in India, and that for such a measure there must be strong justification based on ascertained facts scientifically and systematically examined, the first question for the Commission to decide is whether such justification is to be found in the evidence before them, and the second whether, if this is so, prohibition is feasible and advisable on other grounds. These will now be considered.

Prohibition of bhang.

564 The effects of the hemp drugs have been treated in Chapters X to XIII of the Report; and as the first result of these conclusions, the Commission are prepared to state that the suppression of the use of bhang would be totally unjustifiable. It is established to their satisfaction that this use is very ancient, and that it has some religious sanction among a large body of Hindus; that it enters into their social customs; that it is almost without exception harmless in moderation, and perhaps in some cases beneficial; that the abuse of it is not so harmful as the abuse of alcohol; that its suppression, involving the extirpation of the wild hemp plant, would in some tracts be a matter of great difficulty; that such a measure would be extremely unpopular, and would give rise to widespread discontent; and, finally, that, if successfully accomplished, it would lead to the use of more hurtful stimulants. The Commission deem it unnecessary to traverse the evidence further than has been done in the preceding chapters of this report in support of these propositions. It is almost unanimous in regard to them. The utmost that is necessary in regard to this product is that it should be brought under more effective control, and this matter will be dealt with further on. But absolute prohibition is, in the opinion of the Commission, entirely out of the question.

Prohibition of ganja and charas.

565. Though it has been shown that as a rule ganja and charas are used in moderation, and that the moderate use ordinarily does not cause appreciable injury, yet it has been established that the excessive use of these forms of hemp drugs has been more injurious than in the case of bhang. Whether they should be prohibited or merely controlled is a question which might be settled merely with reference to their ascertained effects. The Commission consider that the effects are not such as to call for prohibition, and on the general principles discussed in the opening paragraphs of this chapter, such interference would be unjustifiable. Nevertheless, it seems advisable to refer to the other evidence with a view to ascertaining the generally prevailing views on the subject, and considering the grounds on which prohibition is advocated or opposed.

The evidence regarding prohibition of ganja and charas may be considered together.

566. In reviewing the evidence on these points, it will not be necessary to draw a distinction between ganja and charas. The effects of these two drugs have been shown to be similar, though charas is cœteris paribus the more potent. They are both ordinarily smoked, though very occasionally used for eating and drinking usually in the form of admixtures with other condiments. As stated by Mr. Lyall (Bengal 1): "Ganja and charas are really one, and in time, if the question be scientifically followed up, possibly charas will be the only form used." The refuse of ganja is used in some provinces as bhang, but this substance more nearly resembles bhang than ganja properly so called. The ganja of the different provinces varies in quality. But these distinctions cannot here be specially observed; it will be sufficient to bear in mind that the opinions in Bengal, the Central Provinces, Madras, Bombay, and the smaller Administrations relate to ganja; that those in the Punjab relate to charas; and that those in the North-Western Provinces and Sind relate to ganja and charas, both of which are consumed.

Supply of ganja and charas in its relation to prohibition.

567. A few remarks, however, recapitulating the local conditions of ganja and charas will not be out of place. Charas is practically a foreign article. Small amounts are imported from Nepal and Gwalior, but they may be left out of the account. The bulk comes from Yarkand through the Himalayan passes, or to a much smaller degree from other parts of Central Asia through the routes on the frontier of Afghanistan. It would not be a very difficult matter to stop these imports, though the co-operation of the Kashmir Darbar would be necessary in regard to Yarkand charas. It may, therefore, be accepted that the supply of charas might be cut off without much difficulty, though, as this article forms the principal import from Yarkand, the prohibition of charas would paralyse, if not extinguish, the trade with this country. In regard to ganja, the problem is more complex. Ganja is regularly cultivated in Bengal, the Central Provinces, Madras, Bombay, and Berar. In Bengal and the Central Provinces, the cultivation of the hemp plant for its production is under complete control. In Berar cultivation is only permitted under license. In the other tracts of British territory it is not directly controlled. Assuming that control is possible in these tracts, it does not follow that it would be equally possible to prevent cultivation altogether. Moreover, there still remains a considerable amount of production in many of the Native States all over India. To induce these States to prohibit cultivation would be a difficult matter, and, even if this were done, the suppression of illicit cultivation would offer the most serious difficulties. For, though ganja of good quality requires some cultivation and tending, the evidence before the Commission tends to establish the fact that ganja of an inferior kind can be manufactured from the spontaneous or casual growth which is found near human habitations and amidst cultivation of other crops in many parts of India. While, therefore, it cannot be asserted that the task of preventing the manufacture of ganja is an impossible one, it would certainly at the present time be attended with considerable difficulty.

Opinions of the witnesses regarding prohibition of ganja and charas.

568. The question addressed to the witnesses regarding the prohibition of the hemp drugs (No. 35) was so framed as to elicit in the first place opinions as to the feasibility of such a measure. The considerations bearing upon the subject were also set forth in the form of subsidiary questions. The question whether the witnesses advocated prohibition was not specifically put, but it is not difficult, comparing the answers to the questions above mentioned with those relating to other questions, to decide what the opinion of each witness is on this question. Those who hold decided views have no doubt generally stated them in some portion of their answers, and at all events ample opportunity of doing so was afforded them. A larger number of the witnesses have contented themselves with merely giving an affirmative or negative answer to the questions on the subject. It is impossible to attach much importance to such answers. The Commission have abstracted them and considered them, but they feel bound to give far more weight to the opinions of witnesses whose replies show that they have formulated an opinion on the desirability of prohibition. Some account will now be given of these answers.

 

Opinions regarding prohibition of ganja and charas.

569. Out of the total of 1,193 witnesses, 575 have expressed a decided opinion on the question of prohibition. Of these only 99 advocate it in their answers. The remainder are against it. 

Thus, not only is there a very large preponderance of opinion against prohibition, but the preponderance is specially marked among superior Civil officers. The only witnesses indeed of the latter class who favour prohibition are three in the Punjab, where charas and not ganja is consumed. The most important of these opinions on either side will now be specified. The most forcible opinions in favour of prohibition will be quoted at some length in order that the argument for this view may be thoroughly appreciated. The opinions against prohibition are too numerous to be quoted, but the witnesses will be named under headings setting forth the most prominent views expressed.

General review of evidence

585. A general review of the evidence relating to the question of prohibition of ganja and charas brings the Commission to the same conclusion as that which they have framed upon a consideration of the evidence on the ascertained effects alone. The weight of the evidence above abstracted is almost entirely against prohibition. Not only is such a measure unnecessary with reference to the effects, but it is abundantly proved that it is considered unnecessary or impossible by those most competent to form an opinion on general grounds of experience; that it would be strongly resented by religious mendicants, or would be regarded as an interference with religion, or would be likely to become a political danger; and that it might lead to the use of dhatura or other intoxicants worse than ganja. Apart from all this, there is another consideration which has been urged in some quarters with a manifestation of strong feeling, and to which the Commission are disposed to attach some importance, viz., that to repress the hemp drugs in India and to leave alcohol alone would be misunderstood by a large number of persons who believe, and apparently not without reason, that more harm is done in this country by the latter than by the former. The conclusion of the Commission regarding bhang has been given in paragraph 564; under all the circumstances they now unhesitatingly give their verdict against such a violent measure as total prohibition in respect of any of the hemp drugs.

For more information on the subject, please see http://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2022/02/near-total-opposition-to-cannabis.html

Religious associations of ganja

We see from the report that ganja was primarily associated with the Shaivite and nature worshipping religions of India who essentially made up the lower caste and outcasts of the caste system. We see that bhang was primarily associated with the upper castes of the Vaishnavite and Vedic religions and religions that forbade smoking such as Sikhism, Jainism and Islam. We see that cannabis was an essential part of all religious festivities in India, irrespective of the religion. We see that cannabis was distributed to spiritual mendicants and the needy in many places of worship. We see that the Brahmin priests of Jagannath in Puri and the business class Marwaris and Chaubes of Mathura to be excessive consumers of bhang. The strongest religious association of ganja is with Siva, considered the god of ganja from whose sweat the ganja plant emerged as the sweat fell on the ground from his forehead. We see opposition to ganja coming primarily from the religious orthodoxy of various religions that viewed intoxication, sexuality, eating of meat and smoking as against religious sanction. 

The Indian Hemp Drugs Commission reported that 'It is chiefly in connection with the worship of Siva, the Mahadeo or great god of the Hindu trinity, that the hemp plant, and more especially perhaps ganja, is associated. The hemp plant is popularly believed to have been a great favourite of Siva, and there is a great deal of evidence before the Commission to show that the drug in some form or other is now extensively used in the exercise of the religious practices connected with this form of worship. Reference to the almost universal use of hemp drugs by fakirs, jogis, sanyasis, and ascetics of all classes, and more particularly of those devoted to the worship of Siva, will be found in the paragraphs of this report dealing with the classes of the people who consume the drugs. These religious ascetics, who are regarded with great veneration by the people at large, believe that the hemp plant is a special attribute of the god Siva, and this belief is largely shared by the people. Hence the origin of many fond epithets ascribing to ganja the significance of a divine property, and the common practice of invoking the deity in terms of adoration before placing the chillum or pipe of ganja to the lips.' 

Siva existed before the caste-system came to India, so he cannot be slotted into any of the castes, definitely not Brahmin, as his behavior flouted many of the rules laid out for the Brahmin caste. As Daniela L. Eck writes in her book Benares - "Shiva cannot be categorised in any way - not by varna, or ashrama. He cannot ne known by his clan or lineage. 'He' cannot even be known by sex, since Shiva is half Shakti, his female energy. He is a bafflement to conventions, including religious conventions. It is not surprising, therefore, that his followers were sometimes called veda-bahyas, those who are 'outside the Vedas.'" In recent times, many of the religious orthodoxy have chosen to remain silent on the subject of Siva and his love for ganja, or they claim that it is only a few of his followers, "of the lower orders", who smoke ganja. 

The proponents of the Vedic religions, Indo-Aryan religions, Islam, Buddhism and Christianity, had a significant hand in the suppression of ganja, and through it the suppression of the religion of Shiva and the other animistic deities, specifically through their upper classes and castes, with their love for material wealth and power. The lower classes and castes, no matter what religion they followed, seem to have been more or less unanimous in their love for ganja, choosing to worship whichever god they desired, using ganja as an aid. Ganja was used across India by all religions, all classes and all castes for a vast range of festivals, and to worship a wide variety of gods. Here is evidence of the wide use of ganja by all religious groups, according to the evidence provided to the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission:

• "The custom of offering an infusion of the leaves of the hemp plant to every guest and member of the family on the Bijoya Dasami, or last day of the Durga Puja, is common in Bengal, and may almost be said to be universal. It is alluded to by many of the witnesses who refer to its use on this occasion as well as on other days of the Durga Puja festival...Witnesses who can speak with authority on the subject, such as Mahamahopadhya Mahesa Chandra Nyayaratna, C.I.E., Principal of the Government Sanskrit College, Calcutta, testify to religious sanction for the use of bhang or siddhi, while many witnesses of high social position, well acquainted with the habits of the people, as, for example, Maharaja Sir Jotindra Mohan Tagore, K.C.S.I., Maharaja Durga Charan Law, Raja Piari Mohan Mukharji, C.S.I., Rai Rajkumar Sarvadhikari Bahadur, Rai Bahadur Kanai Lall Dey, C.I.E., and others, speak to the prevalence of the custom, its intimate association with the religious devotions of the people, and the innocent harmlessness of the practice." - Indian Hemp Drugs Commission.

• "Diwali, Chait Sankranti, Pous Sankranti, Sripanchami, Sivachaturdasi, Ramnavami, and indeed on occasions of weddings and many other family festivities" bhang was a key part of the celebrations. - Indian Hemp Drugs Commission.
• " Offerings were made of "siddhi or bhang in the form of sweetmeats to the god Ganesh, which are then eaten by the worshippers and their friends and relatives. This festival, called the Ganesh Chaturthi, occurs in the month of Bhadro (August-September)." - Indian Hemp Drugs Commission.
•  "In Ganjam, the witnesses speak to the common use of bhang on the Mesha Sankranti day in honour of Siva and Anjanayya, and also in the worship of Durga. Several also allude to a custom of offering a confection or draught containing bhang to the image at the temples of Hanuman." - Indian Hemp Drugs Commission.
• "Among the Sikhs the use of bhang as a beverage appears to be common, and to be associated with their religious practices. The witnesses who refer to this use by the Sikhs appear to regard it as an essential part of their religious rites having the authority of the Granth or Sikh scripture. It is customary among the Sikhs generally to drink bhang, so that Guru Gobind Singh has himself said the following poems in praise of bhang: 'Give me, O Saki (butler), a cup of green colour (bhang), as it is required by me at the time of battle' (vide 'Suraj Parkash,' the Sikh religious book)." - - Indian Hemp Drugs Commission.
•  Mr. Azizuddin, Sahib Bahadur, Deputy Collector, in his evidence before the Commission, says: "Neither the Musalman nor the Hindu religion requires the use of these drugs on religious occasions. On the other hand, it is prohibited. Nevertheless, in the maths of bairagis, such as at Tripati, and of Muhammadan saints, such as at Nagore, Conjeveram, Arcot, and other places, the manager of the shrine distributes ganja to all the fakirs who assemble during the festival."
•  J. M. Campbell, C.I.E., Collector of Land Revenue and Customs and Opium, Bombay, in his note on the Religion of Hemp to the Commission, writes - "To the follower of the later religion of Islam the holy spirit in bhang is not the spirit of the Almighty. It is the spirit of the great prophet Khizr or Elijah. That bhang should be sacred to Khizr is natural. Khizr is the patron saint of water. Still more Khizr means green, the revered colour of the cooling water of bhang. So the Urdu poet sings 'When I quaff fresh bhang I liken its colour to the fresh light down of thy youthful beard.' The prophet Khizr or the Green prophet cries 'May the drink be pleasing to thee.' Nasir, the great North Indian Urdu poet of the beginning of the present century, is loud in the praises of his beloved Sabzi, the Green one. 'Compared with bhang spirits are naught. Leave all things thou fool, drink bhang.' From its quickening the imagination Musalman poets honour bhang with the title Warak al Khiyall, Fancy's Leaf. And the Makhzan or great Arab-Greek drug book records many other fond names for the drug. Bhang is the Joy-giver, the Sky-flier, the Heavenlyguide, the Poor Man's Heaven, the Soother of Grief."
•  T. S. Kristnasamy Chetty, Vishnuvite, Pensioned Police Inspector, Trinamalay, South Arcot District, writes in his evidence that -"There are certain classes of people in Southern India who worship Muni, Karuppan, Veeran, Maruthaveeran, etc., whom they call their family deities, usually offer ganja as offerings and then consume."  
•  Mr. F. H. Barrow, Magistrate and Collector of Bankura, in his evidence, states - "There are also some religious ceremonies in this district called Ahoratra, which lasts for a day and night; Chabhisprahar which lasts for 3 days and 3 nights; and Pancharatra which lasts for 5 days and 5 nights. In these ceremonies large crowds of Baisnabs assemble and recite vociferously the names of "Radha Govinda" continuously without any intermission whatever during the time the ceremony is to continue. They divide themselves into parties, and when the energy of one party is exhausted, its place is taken by another. In the above ceremonies ganja is consumed rather excessively."
•  "In Sylhet the Vishnuvites use ganja at all their religious ceremonies." - Evidence of Mr. J. D. Anderson, Deputy Commissioner; Officiating Commissioner of Excise.
•  "(1) On Shivaratri (the night of Shiv god) his worshippers offer the bhang drink to his linga. (2) In the hot weather most Hindus keep vessels full of bhang drink and water for free distribution to all. (3) In all religious assemblies the bhang drink is prepared and distributed to all . (4) On the death of a big saint or sadhu vessels full of bhang drink and water are kept all along the way by which the funeral procession proceeds. (5) Worshippers of Vishnu (god), who are prevented from using liquor, prepare bhang and drink it in Holi holidays and on other gatherings. On the above occasions and at other times, the use of bhang forms a religious or a social duty." - Evidence of Pesumal Narumal, Farmer and Merchant, Hyderabad.
• "During Muharram festival, ganja and bhang is used, as it is the custom for them to take it during those days." - Evidence of Hospital Assistant Maduranayagum Pillai, Vellala, Uravakonda, Anantpur District.
•  "The consumption of ganja in one form or another is customary on holidays such as the Shivaratra or Muharram."  - Evidence of Rao Bahadur Ramchandra Rajaram Mule, Deshastha Brahmin, Administrator of Jath, in Southern Mahratta Country.
• "During the great spirit time of marriage in Bombay among almost all the higher classes of Gujarat Hindus, of the Jain as well as of the Brahmanic sects, the supplies sent by the family of the bride to the bridegroom's party during their seven days' sojourn includes a supply of bhang. The name of the father who neglects to send bhang is held in contempt. Again, after the wedding, when the bridegroom and his friends are entertained at the house of the bride, richly-spiced bhang is drunk by the guests. The Gujarat Musalman bride before and after marriage drinks a preparation of bhang. Among the Pardeshi or North Indian Hindus of Bombay bhang is given not only at weddings, but the Pardeshi who fails to give his visitor bhang is despised by his caste as mean and miserly." - J. M. Campbell, C.I.E., Collector of Land Revenue and Customs and Opium, Bombay, in his note on the Religion of Hemp to the Commission

 
Even though all religions used ganja, it was essentially the ordinary working classes, lower classes, lower castes, and the poor among these religions who were the most ardent users of the herb, besides the ascetics, fakirs and sadhus who shunned material wealth and power. For  the priests, rulers and businessmen of all these religions - the people who were the most ardent devotees of material wealth and power, the people who benefited most from the rigid caste and class systems, the people who wished to keep the knowledge of one's divinity away from the lower classes and castes so that the upper classes could continue to play out the charade of brokers between god and man - the use of ganja was a direct threat to all that they wished to establish and strengthen. Thus, the religious orthodoxy of all religions, along with the rulers and businessmen of these religions, got together to try and remove ganja from the equation. What started as subtle propaganda that the users of ganja were reviled persons, were criminals, or were members of the lowest classes and castes, slowly gained momentum, especially with the arrival of the British who shared the same views as these Indian upper class and caste orthodoxy. The British had the same goals as India's upper classes and religious orthodoxy, which was to establish their own religion and culture, while at the same time establishing themselves as the ruling and upper classes, with the vast majority of India's people working to further British material wealth and power. While the religion that the British professed to practice was Christianity, it was in truth the religion of material wealth and power, the division of society into ruling and upper classes lording over the working and lower classes, the religion where the priests played broker between god and man and accumulated wealth for the ruler and the church. True Christianity, the teachings of Jesus Christ, are identical to the teachings of Shiva. It speaks of shunning the pursuit of material wealth and power, of love for all beings and nature, of peace and non-violence, and of the recognition of divinity in all beings.

In its general conclusions on the subject, the Hemp Commission stated that 'General conclusions. 450. In summing up their conclusions on this chapter, the Commission would first remark that charas, which is a comparatively new article of consumption, has not been shown to be in any way connected with religious observance. As regards Northern India, the Commission are of opinion that the use of bhang is more or less common everywhere in connection with the social and religious customs of the people. As regards ganja, they find that there are certain classes in all parts, except the Punjab, who use the drug in connection with their social and religious observances. The Commission are also of opinion in regard to bhang that its use is considered essential in some religious observances by a large section of the community, and in regard to ganja that those who consider it essential are comparatively very few. The Commission have little doubt that interference with the use of hemp in connection with the customs and observances above referred to would be regarded by the consumers as an interference with long established usage and as an encroachment upon their religious liberty. And this feeling would, especially in the case of bhang, undoubtedly be shared to some extent by the people at large. Regarding Southern India, the same remarks apply with this reservation, that the difference between ganja and bhang as materials for smoking and drinking respectively is much less marked there, and the distinction between the two forms of the drug is much less clearly recognised, although by the term "bhang" is generally meant the drug as used for drinking, and by "ganja" the drug as used for smoking.'

For more information on the subject, please see http://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2022/12/cannabis-usage-in-19th-century-india_15.html

Trade and movement

We see from the report that ganja was traded across regions. As the regulations took effect in some regions, these regions imported ganja and charas from other regions that were still relatively less regulated. We see the trade of ganja from the Central Provinces and the Bengal Presidency to other regions in North India and the trade of ganja from the Madras Presidency to neighbouring regions. We see that cannabis was exported in large quantities over land and sea to the European market. We see that charas was primarily imported from Yarkhand and Nepal. 

There was extensive movement of charas, ganja and bhang throughout India and between India and other nations. Here I have extracted primarily the information from the Hemp Commission report regarding trade between India and other nations, and omitted internal trade. The Commission reports in its summary on trade and movement the following information:

Bengal. Exports of ganja.

279. Bengal exports ganja by land to Assam, Kuch Behar, Nepal, and the North-Western Provinces, and by sea to London, British Indian ports, and places outside India...None of these figures is in a very striking degree abnormal. The exports to Assam and Kuch Behar are taken direct from the head-quarters at Naogaon, and the rest apparently from the local stores most convenient to the trade. The balance left for home consumption is 5,573 maunds, which approximates to the annual consumption. One of the most noticeable points in the information relating to exports is the extraordinary shipment of 774 maunds in the year 1891-92 to other parts than those for which the Commission asked for information by name in the statement. This export was ten times the ordinary quantity, and no explanation is furnished about it.

North-Western Provinces. Import of charas.

293. The charas used in the North-Western Provinces is almost wholly the produce of Yarkand and Bokhara obtained through the Punjab. Nepal also supplies from 25 to 50 maunds. The total import is given as 2,251 maunds. This is far in excess of any previous record, but Mr. Stoker advises caution against placing too great reliance on these statistics, and states that he has only recently established a system of registration which can be expected to give at all accurate results. The figure is probably unduly enhanced by the partial registration of transports within the province. In such registration the district exports must have failed to appear, for the total export of the year is only given at 45 maunds. In the correspondence of 1881 the Board of Revenue estimated the consumption at only 1,000 maunds, and it cannot be supposed that it has doubled since that time. Mr. Stoker's estimate of the imports, viz., 1,100 or 1,200 maunds, may be adopted. Some interesting information is furnished in a letter of the British Joint Commissioner of Ladakh which appears in the correspondence of 1881. That officer states that the charas which comes into India by the Ladakh road is produced in Eastern Turkestan, viz., Yarkand, Yengi Hissar, Kashgar, Khotan, etc. This is regarded as inferior to the charas of Bokhara, which is carried through Kabul to Peshawar, and through Kandahar (in ordinary times) to Shikarpur in Sind. The charas of Yengi Hissar, which is the best of the kinds produced in Eastern Turkestan, is frequently sent through Khokand to Bokhara, and thence imported with Bokhara charas, and sold under that name. The great bulk of the charas sent through Ladakh to India is consigned to Amritsar. Amritsar is the chief depôt of charas, and the North-Western Provinces supply would seem to be drawn from that place. The traders have informed Mr. Stoker that the drug is much less pure than it used to be some years ago, and also much cheaper. The Sháhjahani or Saljaháni charas from Nepal is of very superior quality, and commands as high a price as Rs. 10 a sér. It seems all to go to Lucknow, where it is retailed at Rs. 35 to Rs. 40 per sér. The import has fallen off in late years in consequence of Yarkand charas having become cheaper, but its superior quality still secures a market for it.

North-Western Provinces. Charas produced in the Himalayas.

294. Charas is manufactured to the extent of about 50 maunds in the mountains of Kumaon and Garhwal from the crops cultivated for fibre. It is for the most part consumed locally, but 5 or 6 maunds pass annually into the hands of the contractors. It would appear that a small amount is exported to Tibet. This district also receives small imports from Tibet and Nepal. It is said that the people prefer Yarkand charas to their own, and Mr. Stoker cannot understand in what, except cheapness, the superiority of the latter can consist, for the home produce must be far the purer of the two. Some charas is prepared from the wild growth, but it is doubtful if it enters the market. It may, however, affect the trade by satisfying the wants of a certain class of consumers. There is still another source of charas in the province, though it is not yet drawn upon except by the hillmen who come down to cultivate in the Kumaon Terai and the Bhabar. The wild growth of this region is made to yield the drug of which Mr. Stoker had succeeded in getting a specimen. The quantity made and used is quite insignificant, and does not appear to find its way into the market; but the possibility of preparing the drug from the wild growth of the low country is interesting.

 

North-Western Provinces. Export of charas.

295. The export of charas is only 45 maunds. It probably passes into Bengal and the Native States on the southern frontier; but there is no definite information. The figure may not mean exports from the province, but it is reasonable to expect that there should be a little trade in the directions indicated.

Punjab. Import of charas.

300. Nearly the whole of the charas supply of India comes through the Punjab. The Excise Commissioner estimates that in 1892-93 the total import amounted to 5,000 maunds; that this was an exceptional year, and that in ordinary years it is between 3,000 and 4,000 maunds. When examining the trade of the NorthWestern Provinces, information was quoted from the Joint Commissioner, Ladakh, about the kinds of charas which pass under the names of Bokhara and Yarkand, and the routes by which the two articles are imported into India. The Joint Commissioner, in this case Captain Ramsay, reported to the Financial Commissioner, Punjab, in August 1888, on the subject of the charas trade. In this report he writes: " Charas is produced chiefly in the vicinity of Yarkand. It grows at Bokhara and other places in Turkestan, but I have been informed that the Russians have prohibited its cultivation within their dominions, and that supplies of the drug are now obtained almost entirely from Yarkand territory. The finest charas does not find its way into Ladakh, but is exported to Bokhara and other places." He proceeds to give some interesting details of the trade: " The reported value of the charas is fictitious for this reason that the Yarkandis bring their charas to Leh, and there meet Indian traders who take their charas in exchange for piece-goods and other Indian articles. Each party over-values his goods, hence the reputed value of both charas and piece-goods, etc., is from 10 to 20 per cent. in excess of the real value." He then shows that the trade has a strong spice of gambling about it: "It will be observed that the fluctuations in the price of charas are very great, and this fact has led two of my predecessors and myself to express opinions hostile to the fostering of this particular branch of our Central Asian trade on the ground that all charas dealings partake rather of the nature of a gambling transaction than of legitimate trade. The price fixed for charas at Leh is almost entirely speculative. The charas is intended for sale in the Punjab, but none but license-holders are permitted to sell charas there; the consequence is that when merchants take their charas to the Punjab, they are obliged to sell it for such price as the license-holders will pay. The charas cannot be kept in India, as it goes bad after a year, and it cannot be taken back on account of the cost of transport. The down country licenseholder is therefore in a position to fix the price of the drug. Nevertheless large profits are sometimes made on charas taken down for sale, and thus the trade continues to thrive." These remarks appear to be just, though it may not be correct to say that charas goes bad in quite so short a time as one year. The charas having arrived at Leh, and having apparently passed into the hands of Indian traders, is taken to the Punjab by two routes, via Kashmir and viá Kulu. The ganja, gard bhang, or chura charas manufactured in Kashmir is all consumed locally; none is exported to the Punjab (Kashmir Governor's Memorandum). The Kashmir authorities take precautions to see that the Yarkand charas passes through with bulk unbroken, and they levy duty on any that may be sold in Srinagar. The import by this route may be roughly stated at 500 maunds. Six or seven times as much is imported direct through Kulu to Hoshiarpur, and during the last three years the amount has grown considerably. The figures for the last three years are— Maunds. 1890-91 2,201 1891-92 3,242 1892-93 3,932. The figures quoted by the Excise Commissioner from the Provincial Reports of external trade show that the Kabul route is also used for the import of charas, but no imports were apparently registered in 1890-91 and 1891-92. In discussing the value of these figures, the Excise Commissioner remarks that no drug is shewn as coming across the western frontier (from Sewestan) or the northwestern (from Bajaur) except that from Kabul, while there is undoubtedly a certain amount of import trade with the Derajat and Hazara. This implies that to the west of the Kashmir route there are several roads from Hazara round to the Sind frontier by which charas enters the Punjab. The figures of import and export given in the form prescribed by the Commission are obviously incorrect; the same drug must frequently have been registered more than once. The estimated import is 5,000 maunds. The registered consumption as shown in the statistical tables is 1,020 and 1,026 maunds for 1892-93 and 1891-92 respectively. But the figures seem to be merely the differences between the imports and exports, and cannot be otherwise verified. It would hardly be an excessive estimate to put the amount consumed in the province at 1,200 maunds. This leaves 3,800 maunds for export, of which, according to Mr. Stoker, the North-Western Provinces would take another 1,200 maunds. The balance, 2,600 maunds, must go in waste, and be exported to the rest of India. It must be remembered that the imports of charas in 1892-93 were exceptionally high, being 1,000 or 1,500 maunds above the normal. With this allowance the consumption by India outside the two northern provinces seems to come within limits which accord with the general information regarding the habits of the people. A not insignificant share must be taken by the Native States of the Punjab, where the charas habit is as prevalent as among the population of the British portion of the province.

Madras.  Exports.

308. There is definite information of the following exports in 1892-93:— Exports of ganja. Maunds. To Mysore (average of three years, Mysore statistics) 540 To Bangalore (average of seven years, Bangalore Memorandum) 57 To Coorg (average of two years, Coorg Memorandum and Statistics) 21 By sea (Government report) 58 Total 676 - leaving a balance of 3,774 maunds. There is probably some licit importation into Hyderabad from the Northern Sircars, though it would appear from the Hyderabad evidence to be small; and a certain amount of smuggling not only into Hyderabad, but also to Orissa, the Central Provinces, and Burma. Mysore probably gets some illegal addition to its registered imports. The amount left for consumption in the Presidency and the Native States subordinate to it can hardly exceed 3,500 maunds. And it must be remarked that in the case of Madras ganja, there is not less waste than in the Khandwa drug as far as the Commission can judge. The consumers, therefore, do not probably get a larger share of this produce for actual use than the consumers of the Central Provinces do of the portion of their produce which stays at home. The export to Burma, there is reason to believe, is considerable. The Commission were informed in Burma that the drug came in considerable quantity from Pondicherry and ports on the Madras coast. All this export would appear to be Madras ganja.

Bombay. Exports by sea.

314. It will be seen from the following statement that there is a considerable export of ganja by sea. Something less than one-half of the whole goes to British Indian ports, several of which are probably in the Bombay Presidency. A little more than a quarter finds its way to foreign Indian ports, which would include those of Cutch and Kathiawar. There is not, however, any definite information of the Indian ports, British and foreign, to which the drug is carried. As much of the drug as is imported into the Presidency and its Native States has, of course, been included in the above survey of import and consumption. About 28 per cent. goes to Aden, Arabia, Africa, and Europe. The export to London is very considerable. There is no reason to suppose that any of the sea export consists of other than Bombay ganja.

Sind. Import of charas.

321. The average import of charas is 70 maunds, and the registered retail sale 24 maunds. Amritsar seems to be the source of supply. Though the drug is said to be brought from Afghanistan, Yarkand, and Khorassan, there is no information of any direct import over the Sind Frontier on the west. The Karachi figures of retail sale are again wanting, and the drug would appear to be little used in Thar and Parkar. But the latter district appears to be more addicted to opium. The Acting Commissioner in Sind (Colonel Crawford) suspects some smuggling of charas and ganja from Jaisalmir through Thar and Parkar, and some illicit import of bhang from Khairpur into surrounding districts. Neither traffic appears to be at all extensive. In the last two years there has been a trifling export of 10 maunds of ganja by sea from Karachi.

Baluchistan.

326. The information from Baluchistan does not enable the Commission to judge of the extent of the trade in the province. The farms in two divisions—Bolan and Quetta-Pishin— fetch over Rs. 4,000 each; but it is not clear that these do not include the right to sell other intoxicating drugs besides the hemp products. There is practically no local production of the drugs. It would appear that the consumption of bhang and ganja are about equal, and that of charas is twelve times as great as either.

Kashmir.

333. The whole of the ganja or gard bhang or chura charas which is prepared in Kashmir, about 70 maunds, is consumed locally. A considerable quantity of bhang is carried away from Jammu into the Punjab. The quantity is not ascertainable. It appears to be gathered near the Punjab frontier. The traffic in charas from Leh through Srinagar has been noticed in connection with the Punjab imports. It would seem that the goods do not ordinarily change hands or break bulk in Kashmir.

 

Nepal. 

334. The exports from Nepal into the North-West Provinces have been noticed. It is probable that a small amount of Nepal charas still finds its way to Calcutta. There may be a little smuggling of ganja into Bengal, but it cannot be important. On the other hand, the Bengal statistics show that Nepal took in 1892-93 177 maunds of Bengal ganja.

For more information on the subject, please see https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2022/03/trade-and-movement-of-cannabis-in-19th.html

Warnings on the dangers of alcohol

We see in the Hemp Commission report warnings of the dangers of alcohol from knowledgeable witnesses belonging to both the British administration and the Indian upper castes and classes. The Hemp Commission quotes the eminent British physician William O'Shaughnessy as saying "As to the evil sequelæ so unanimously dwelt on by all writers, these did not appear to us so numerous, so immediate, or so formidable as many which may be clearly traced to over-indulgence in other powerful stimulants or narcotics, viz., alcohol, opium, or tobacco." 

The Indian Hemp Commission's findings on alcohol in comparison to cannabis is as follows:

490. In this connection it is well to notice the references made to alcohol. It is only a minority of the witnesses who compare alcohol and hemp drugs. But it is a striking fact that of these witnesses a majority of about three to one declare alcohol to be more injurious than hemp drugs. In every province the majority of the witnesses who make this comparison hold the view above expressed. This majority includes experienced officers of Government. Thus Colonel Hutchinson, Commissioner of Lahore (Punjab witness No. 4), says: "So far as effects have come to my notice, the effects of liquor are infinitely worse than those of drugs." Mr. J. B. Thomson, Collector of Allahabad (North-Western Provinces witness No. 2), gave evidence to the following effect: "I remember no case from which I can deduce the theory that the use of the drugs is in any way connected with crime; that is to say, from my own personal experience. I cannot say the same regarding alcohol even among natives of this country." Similarly, Mr. Toynbee, Commissioner of Bhagalpur (Bengal witness No. 4), says: "I have never had persons pointed out to me as social wrecks from the effects of ganja. As far as I have seen, many more cases of evil effects from alcohol than from hemp have come before me." And Colonel Bowie, Commissioner in the Central Provinces (witness No. 2), says: "I can call to mind a great many cases which I have had to deal with as a Magistrate and as a Sessions Judge, in which serious hurt and homicide have been caused by persons under the influence of alcohol, but not a single case of crime of any kind which had been committed under the influence of bhang or ganja." Representative officers from other provinces might be quoted, such as Mr. Vidal or Mr. Campbell, C.I.E., in Bombay, or Mr. H. E. M. James, Commissioner in Sind. The Rev. Mr. Laflamme (Madras witness No. 153), who took much pains in collecting information, gives evidence in the same sense. It is, however, in the northern provinces that there is most experience of these drugs. The only officer of standing in Upper India who holds the contrary view is Mr. T. Stoker, Excise Commissioner, North-Western Provinces (witness No. 6), who says: "I put these drugs above liquor and opium in their injurious tendencies." In saying this, he differs, however, both from his predecessor, Mr. R. Wall (witness No. 233), who held the office for eleven years, and from the Hon'ble A. Cadell (witness No. 1), who is the Member of the Board of Revenue in charge of Excise. 

The opinion that alcohol is more injurious than hemp drugs is also expressed by leading Native gentlemen in these provinces, such as Maharaja Bahadur Sir Jotindra Mohan Tagore, K.C.S.I. (Bengal witness No. 163), Munshi Newal Kishore (North-Western Provinces witness No. 231), Babu P.C. Chatterji, Judge, Chief Court (Punjab witness No. 76), and the Hon'ble Gangadhar Madho Chitnavis (Central Provinces witness No. 46). The first of these only need be quoted. He says: "The use of the aforesaid indigenous drugs appears to me to be preferable to the use of ardent spirits and wines now rapidly replacing them to the great injury of the moral and material well-being of our people. Prohibition, I fear, would lead many to take to the use of ardent liquors, and this, in my humble opinion, would be replacing one evil by another of still greater magnitude." These views are held by the great majority of the native witnesses who make the comparison between hemp drugs and alcohol; and there is really no witness of authority on the other side. 

This is also the opinion of medical witnesses who make this comparison. It is no doubt an accepted and established opinion among medical men that the evil effects of alcohol are intensified in the tropics. This may explain the very strong opinion held regarding alcohol. Perhaps it is unnecessary to refer to more of these witnesses than to two of more than ordinary experience who take a very strong view of the deleterious character of hemp drugs if used to excess, but a still stronger view regarding alcohol. Surgeon-Lieutenant-Colonel Crombie says: "I believe that the habit of using ganja moderately is absolutely harmless; but I think even the moderate use of alcohol is liable to produce tissue changes in the long run. Further, I here refer entirely to the native community; and it is my observation that when a native takes to alcohol, it is extremely difficult for him to remain moderate; and in life assurance work, of which I have a good deal, I always advise an extra premium in the case of any native who indulges in alcohol even in the most moderate way, and utterly refuse to accept a native life if there is evidence of the consumption of alcohol to any considerable extent which would still be considered moderate in the case of Europeans. My experience leads me to hold the same views of the effects of alcohol on the lower classes. A native who takes to liquor is lost. As regards the excessive use, I would still place alcohol first. I regard it as most deleterious." The only other medical man who need be quoted is Dr. H. M, Clark, a well-known Medical Missionary in the Punjab (witness No. 46), who says: "As regards charas, I think there can be no such thing as moderate use, if we mean such use as will not leave any permanent bad effect on the system. In whatever quantity it is used, it is bound to be deleterious. I should say that in this country alcohol does more harm than charas." These views are supported by distinguished native medical men like Rai Bahadur Kanny Lall Dey, C.I.E. (Bengal witness No. 117), and others.

It is not within the province of the Commission to come to any definite finding on this evidence as to the comparative effects of alcohol and hemp drugs. The effects of alcohol were not within the scope of the inquiry. As has already been stated, it is only a minority of the witnesses who make the comparison. It was not asked for in the Commission's questions, and has only been incidentally made by certain witnesses. The Commission have not felt called on to test the correctness of the views of the witnesses on this point, as this could only have been done by a full inquiry into the effects of liquor. But it is important to observe the existence of these views. In this connection it is interesting to notice the existence in certain parts of the country of a belief among ignorant persons that "the attack on hemp drugs was due to a desire to foster European liquor" (see the evidence of Mr. William Almon, Assistant Collector, Abkari Department in the town of Bombay, witness No. 38); or, as another witness puts it, "the agitation is attributed to them who are anxious to encourage the spread of alcohol, i.e., the persons who import and manufacture liquor" (V. K. Joglekar, Bombay witness No. 110). The existence of such misapprehensions can only be explained by the difficulty felt in accounting for an agitation against these drugs alone. The Rev. Mr. Laflamme (Madras witness No. 153) says: "Many are surprised to hear that the Government is concerned about a practice which is confined to so small a portion of the people as is ganja and bhang, and is not concerned about the widespread, rapidly increasing, and much more injurious habit of alcoholic drink, from which much greater harm results. I have been six years in the country, and engaged in village work during four years. Before entering on these inquiries I did not know the hemp drugs were in use among the people, and had only met with them in the temples." One witness of much experience (Khan Bahadur Kadir Dad Khan, C.I.E., Sind witness No. 4) says: "All classes of the people, from the most influential spiritual leader to the lowest beggar, will say that the British Government, while not interfering or prohibiting the use of alcohol in their own country, are stopping them here from the use of less intoxicating drugs, which they have been using from time immemorial, and which is also religiously respected." 

As cerebral stimulants

Point 537 says Alcohol is a typical cerebral stimulant, and any drug which, like alcohol, increases the functional activity of the brain, may, like alcohol, give rise to what is technically known as "an intoxication." The effect of alcohol may result in three principal sets of symptoms, which are admirably set forth by Legrain (Dictionary of Psychological Medicine). (a) Taken in large amounts, in a short time it produces acute symptoms, which are immediate, but temporary—intoxication or drunkenness. (b) Alcohol if taken often and in great quantities, or if the drunkenness is nearly continuous, or if the individuals are not very strong in brain, accumulates in the organism without being at any time completely eliminated, and gives rise to acute symptoms of longer duration than mere intoxication—delirium tremens. (c) Alcohol regularly or irregularly introduced into the system for a long time in doses even short of producing immediate symptoms is known to produce general disorders and progressive lesions, characterized by weakening of the faculties and premature dementia, the ensemble of the symptoms constituting chronic alcoholism. The analogues of these chief effects of alcohol may also be traced in the symptoms induced by hemp drugs, in which we have— (a) The condition of more or less delirium with hallucinations and merriment as occurring in a person who has taken what is to him a large dose of the drug, the symptoms being only temporary— hemp drug intoxication. (b) The condition of wild frenzy, with symptoms of transitory mania occurring in a person who has systematically indulged largely in the drugs—hemp drug delirium.(c) Cases in which the drug has been used for a considerable period, and then given rise to mania of shorter or longer duration, or cases in which the symptoms of hemp drug delirium do not completely subside, but pass on into a state of mania usually curable, and thus indicating the probable absence of anatomical lesions— hemp drug mania. The evidence, though by no means clear and decisive, is perhaps sufficient to justify the presumption of an analogy such as is above indicated; and cases which have come before the Commission have seemed to divide themselves into these three classes. At the same time it must be pointed out that the sharp line of demarcation in symptoms which separates alcoholic intoxication from delirium tremens does not separate the intoxication and delirium produced by hemp drugs. Further, in regard to what has been said about hemp drug mania, it may be noted that it is not improbable, though it has not been established by evidence, that prolonged abuse of the drugs may give rise in some cases to definite brain lesions resulting in a progressive weakening of all the faculties leading to dementia. 

 

On the mixing of the two

425 The hemp drugs are sometimes used to doctor alcoholic drinks. In the Punjab the name lutki is given to a concoction of this kind. In Baluchistan there is also said to be a drink called mudra, which is compounded of dhatura, bhang, alcohol, and opium. The drink is also known in the Punjab. In other quarters the hemp drugs are said to be smoked after drinking liquor to add to the intoxication. The evidence of the association of the hemp drugs with alcohol in these ways is fortunately scanty. The practice is probably rare, for it implies a recklessness in intemperance which is foreign to the Indian character

As contributing causes for insanity 

524 There are eighteen of these mixed cases in which alcohol has been ascertained to be a possible factor. In view of the connection between alcohol and insanity as established in Europe,and in view of the clear evidence that brain lesions are directly caused by alcohol, there seems certainly not less reason for ascribing these cases to alcohol than to hemp drugs. The English statistics show percentages of 19.8 and 7.2 of cases as due to alcohol for males and females respectively. The Commission are of opinion that such high percentages cannot be expected in India; for, although the action of alcohol is more injurious in the tropics, the people of this country are generally much more abstemious. 

Given the lack of detailed understanding of the effects of cannabis among the British medical experts, attempts have been made to create a similarity between the effects of alcohol - which the British were very familiar with - and cannabis. So, we see stages of effects when cannabis is consumed in large amounts being described as: intoxication; mania; delirium tremens; lesions in the brain and eventually dementia. From the latest scientific finds, we know that even excess amounts of cannabis usage does not produce delirium tremens when one ceases to use it, unlike alcohol. In fact, what one experiences is a bit of uneasiness much like when one is deprived of one's daily cup of tea or coffee. Regarding the third stage described of lesions in the brain and eventual dementia, the latest scientific studies show that cannabis helps health the brain, especially as seen in the treatment for brain damage from the abuse of cocaine, methamphetamine, opioids, alcohol and traumatic brain injury (TBI).  Dr. Cunningham's studies submitted to the Hemp Commission regarding the effects of ganja on a rhesus macaque showed no signs of brain lesions in its autopsy. Regarding dementia, one of the 30 odd medical conditions for which cannabis can be prescribed as medicine in US states with medical cannabis is dementia.  It has been found that cannabis enables the breakdown of amyloids in the brain that have been suspected of causing dementia through their build up.

For more information on the subject, please see http://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2022/01/alcohol-and-cannabis-comparison-in.html

Detailed memorandums from across India

We see that as a part of the Hemp Commission's exercise, memorandums on the state of cannabis in individual regions being provided by senior officials. This helps us to understand in more detail the cannabis situation in individual provinces and states. From the Hemp Commission's report we get access to detailed reports regarding sales, consumption, revenue, lunatic asylum records, areas of cultivation, regulation and taxation, etc. The report is a treasure trove of information based on governmental data. The fact that the Hemp Commission's report has remained buried till date shows how far the separation of Indians have been from ganja. 

For more information on the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission's Report of 1894-95, please see https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/p/19th-century-india.html

Opposition to cannabis legalization in India

India's caste system

To break a culture as strong as the cannabis culture in India is not something that can be done from the outside. Inside help is required. This help the British found in the Indian upper classes and castes. The British found that India was a land of a thousand religions. Many religions had religious scriptures but there were probably many more that did not, much like the languages in India. Among the scriptures associated with the blanket term "Hinduism" there were the Vedas, Shastras, Upanishads, Puranas, the Vaishnavite epics - The Ramayana, Mahabharatha and the Bhagavad Gita -  and the numerous creations of sages and poets across the length and breadth of the country. The fact that these is no single scripture that defines Hinduism - like the Quran defines Islam and the Bible defines Christianity - is itself clear evidence that Hinduism is not a single religion. The majority of the people - the working classes, the poor, the indigenous communities - belonged to religions that held cannabis dear. These religions pre-dated the Vedic and Vaishnavite religions of the Aryans and the Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Christianity and Islam of the last 3000 years. What the British discovered was that within the broad blanket of Hinduism, there were primarily two kinds of religions - those that practiced the caste system and those that did not. They also found that there was a clear divide between the religions that practiced caste and those that did not. There was a covert, if not overt, attempt that had been carried on by the religions that practiced caste for hundreds of years to bring in the non-caste-based religions into the caste system, primarily as the lowest caste or workers. The biggest incentive for this was that it strengthened those who occupied the higher levels of the caste system. Like a ponzi scheme where the biggest gainers are those who enroll into the scheme the earliest, the priests, kings and businessmen of the upper castes established dominion over those in the lowest caste and enslaved them. Through use of force, lure of money, fear and deception they constantly worked to increase the size of the lowest castes so that their own power increased. The tension between these two opposing forces is probably most evident between the tension of the Shaivite-Shakti religions and the Vaishnavite-Vedic religions. 

Once the British arrived and got a good understanding of the social situation, they naturally slotted themselves with the Indian upper classes and castes who shared a similar affinity for power and wealth. The British kings, priests and businessmen developed close affinity with the Indian kings, priests and businessmen of all religions and together they started to double the milking of the working classes, the indigenous communities and the poor for their own benefit. Both the British and the Indian elites realized that with the English language, British weapons, strategy and guile the vast majority of the people could be controlled. The Indian elites were quick to assimilate the English language, as well as opium, alcohol, tobacco and western medicine. They were enamored by the British and eager to please them so as to expand their own opportunities for wealth and power. The British and the Indian elites who espoused the caste system struck a common chord in their mutual dislike for cannabis. Cannabis kept large numbers of India's non-caste religions in contempt of the Indian upper classes and castes. Cannabis also kept the British drugs of opium, alcohol, tobacco and western medicine at bay, and the cannabis users were always perceived as a potential source of threat to Britain's empire ambitions. Together, the British and the Indian upper classes and castes of all caste-based religions - Vaishnavism, Vedic, Christianity , Islam, Jainism, Sikhism, Buddhism, etc. - sought the prohibition of cannabis which would not only take away the entheogen of the non-caste religions, classes and castes, rendering them more susceptible to the injunctions of the priests of caste-based society, but also drive them to alcohol, tobacco, opium and western medicine, thus weakening their minds and bodies, and creating a dependency in the oppressed classes and castes for these drugs. Even the prohibition of cultivation of cannabis - which was a source of revenue and livelihood for millions of India's small farmers - forced these farmers to cultivate crops as dictated by the ruling elites - including cotton, tobacco, sugar and opium - that could be traded in other nations, or forced the farmers to become indentured labourers in the farms of big landlords or end up in overseas colonies such as South Africa and the Caribbean. For the spiritual mendicants and the working classes, who were the largest communities of ganja smokers, together constituting easily more than 50% of the Indian population this was the cutting off of their entheogen, intoxicant, medicine and, often, source of livelihood. 

Not only was the strangulation of cannabis done at the physical level, it was done at a mental level as well. The high priests of all Indian religions up to this point and the new religions Christianity and Islam condemned ganja and charas as prohibited by the scriptures, a suitable tweak in what had been propounded so far. Almost all those who followed the caste-based religions immediately assimilated this, without bothering to question the scriptures or the authorities who claimed ownership of these scriptures. The British set about trying to destroy cannabis through science. The English-speaking classes and castes soon created enough material to propagate myths that were not based on scientific facts, such as: ganja causes insanity; ganja users are criminals and cannabis use incites crime; only the lowest classes and castes smoked ganja; women who smoked ganja were prostitutes; ganja was against the scriptures; alcohol, tobacco and opium were safer and more medicinal than ganja; ganja was addictive; and so on. They used the social power structure of politics, media, education, medicine, law, religion and other entities to spread these myths that soon became most popular among the elite ruling classes. Using these myths, they isolated the cannabis communities and targeted them. From the middle of the 19th century, India's majority working classes, indigenous communities, spiritual mendicants and poor watched as their ganja culture was slowly and systematically strangulated. The ruling upper classes and castes, who could scarcely live without cannabis themselves - for the very same uses as medicine, intoxicant and entheogen - developed a loophole in the legality for themselves so that their access of cannabis remained unaltered. They said that they drank bhang instead of smoking the despicable ganja since they were more refined, intelligent and pure. It did not matter to them that all that was different was the mode of ingestion of the same cannabis plant, where they drank it as a beverage, while the poor who could not afford the additional ingredients that went into the beverage, smoked it directly as ganja. 

The caste-system is at the root of most of the evils that plague Indian society and the cannabis prohibition, just as the class-system is at the root of cannabis prohibition globally in other nations that claim to be caste-free. In India, there is no greater revolutionary against the caste system than B. R. Ambedkar, the Father of the Indian Constitution. It is through his relentless effort that concepts such as equality, fraternity and liberty have been made a part of the Indian constitution. Among the things that Ambedkar failed in securing for his people are a separate electorate and the legalization of cannabis. Ambedkar seems to be completely silent on the latter subject and on the subject of the caste-based discrimination that allows bhang usage by the Indian upper-castes but prohibits ganja-smoking by India's lower castes. He does talk about ghee though and how the Indian upper castes oppressed the lower castes for using ghee which they considered to be too pure for the lower castes. Ambedkar's silence on ganja could well be because of his American education that would have further drilled in the myths against ganja smoking. The fact that the religion Ambedkar chose to adopt was Buddhism and not Shaivism or any of the other non-caste-based religions of the original inhabitants of India seem to suggest that by the time of Ambedkar, the caste-system had managed to pervade even these religions making them unappealing to him. Despite this, what Ambedkar achieved against the face of all odds to give voice to the unseen majority of India is second to none. He lived in a political and social climate where the Indian caste system was at the peak of its power, strongly supported by the British colonists. Ambedkar went to school and got an education sitting on sackcloth while the upper castes sat on benches in the classroom. He went to Columbia University and came back with a global education and a mind that found no match in Indian society. It is the sheer force of his intellectual power that got him to be the Chairman of the committee that drafted the Indian Constitution. He was surrounded by the upper castes wherever he went - in politics, religion, society, legal systems and economics. While all the Indian upper castes wanted with independence was the handing over of the reins of control over the people from the British, so that they could further oppress the greatly weakened lower castes and outcasts, Ambedkar demanded their rights to be seen as human beings. 

In juxtaposition to Ambedkar, we find the most revered man in modern Indian history, M. K. Gandhi. As I wrote at the start of this article, as one goes further in the exploration of truth, one finds that many of the things one held sacred at one time become profane on closer examination. My research on the role played by the caste-system in ganja and charas prohibition led me to Ambedkar and Gandhi, since I often wondered why both these luminaries had neglected the importance of the herb to the oppressed classes and to Indian society itself. I suspected that the form of Vaishnavism practiced by Gandhi forbade ganja as well as endorsed the caste system. Ganja fell in the category of intoxicants along with alcohol. Gujarat, where Gandhi came from, was one of the first Indian regions to show greater affinity to opium than the rest of India. Wherever the British were firmly established, such as in the Bengal and Bombay Presidencies, opium was highly favoured by the ruling elites. Gujarat possibly developed its affinity for opium through its businessmen and their close ties with western businessmen and the proximity to the British opium cultivating centers in Afghanistan. Whether Gandhi consumed opium is something that we will never know, just as we will probably never know the outcome of his experiments to test his sexual control by sleeping with young women. But given Gandhi's strong support of the caste-system and strong belief in Vaishnavism, ganja as the drug of the lowest castes and the Shaivites probably was unacceptable. Gandhi's sponsorship by mill owners like Birla and the benefits that it accrued for them is evident from how cotton woven as khadi was made a centerpiece of the freedom movement with millions of Indians unwittingly working to create more business for these mill owners. Gandhi's hypocrisy is very evident from his days in South Africa as a lawyer where he fought for the causes of the Indian business communities there, rather than for the indentured labourers who worked in South Africa. His request for ghee to be served in prison for himself in place of the oil served to South-African Blacks and indentured Indians, and his calling of black South African fellow-prisoners as 'kaffirs' shows his racial mindset. 

Gandhi stymied Ambedkar's attempts to give more voice to the oppressed classes through a separate electorate with double voting rights by emotionally blackmailing Ambedkar with a hunger fast that forced Ambedkar to sign the Poona Pact and give up his attempts to bring the Communal Award into practice. Incensed by Gandhi's opposition to Ambedkar's call for the annihilation of the caste system, Ambedkar was probably the only Indian at the time to provide an accurate character sketch of Gandhi who by this time was revered in India as the 'Mahatma'. Writing about the hypocrisy of Gandhi, where he sends two opposing messages to two different sets of audiences (a trait common to most power-hungry individuals), Ambedkar writes in his A Reply to the Mahatma, '9.5...Does he [Gandhi] regard varna as the essence of Hinduism? One cannot as yet give any categorical answer. 9.6. Readers of his article on "Dr. Ambedkar's Indictment" will answer "No." In that article he does not say that the dogma of varna is an essential part of the creed of Hinduism. Far from making varna the essence of Hinduism, he says "the essense of Hinduism is contained in its enunciation of one and only God as truth and its bold acceptance of ahimsa as the law of the human family'" 9.7. But readers of his article in reply to Mr. Sant Ram will say "Yes." In that article he says "How can a Muslim remain one if he rejects the Quran, or a Christian remain Christian if he rejects the Bible! If caste and varna are convertible terms, and if varna is an integral part of the shastras which define Hinduism, I do not know how a person who rejects caste, i.e., varna, can call himself a Hindu." Why this prevarication? Why does the Mahatma hedge? Whom does he want to please? Has the saint failed to sense the truth? Or does the politician stand in the way of the saint? 9.8. The real reason why the Mahatma is suffering from this confusion is probably to be traced to two sources. The first is the temperament of the Mahatma. He has in almost everything the simplicity of the child, with the child's capacity for self-deception. Like a child, he can believe in anything he wants to believe in. We must therefore wait till such time as it pleases the Mahatma to abandon his faith in varna, as it has pleased him to abandon his faith in caste. 9.9. The second source of confusion is the double role which the Mahatma wants to play - of a Mahatma and a politician. As a Mahatma, he may be trying to spiritualise politics. Whether he has succeeded in it or not, politics has certainly commercialized him. A politician must know that society cannot bear the whole truth, and that he must not speak the whole truth; if he is speaking the whole truth it is bad for his politics. The reason why the Mahatma is always supporting caste and varna is because he is afraid that if he opposed them he would lose his place in politics. Whatever may be the source of this confusion the Mahatma must be told that he is deceiving himself, and also deceiving the people, by preaching caste under the name of varna.' In his Reply to the Mahatma on Gandhi's indictment of Ambedkar for his Annihilation of Caste speech, Ambedkar says, 'The Mahatma is a Bania trader by birth. His ancestors had abandoned trading in favour of ministership, which is a calling of the Brahmins. In his own life, before he became a Mahatma, when the occasion came for him to choose his career he preferred law to scales. On abandoning law, he became half saint and half politician. He has never touched trading, which is his ancestral calling.' In 1921, Gandhi had written in the Gujarati 'Navajivan' that 'I believe that if Hindu society has been able to stand, it is because it is founded on the caste system...To destroy the caste system and to adopt the Western European social systems means that Hindus must give up the principle of hereditary occupation which is the soul of the caste system. Hereditary principle is an eternal principle. To change it is to create discord. I have no use for a Brahmin if I cannot call him a Brahmin for my life. It will be chaos if every day a Brahmin is changed into a Shudra and a Shudra is to be changed into a Brahmin.' This behavior of speaking one thing to one audience, and another thing to another audience, often in languages specific to that audience and giving out messages that cement one's position with the audience, even if the messages entirely contradict each other are inherent core qualities of a politician. Here, it is Gandhi the politician speaking, and not Gandhi the Mahatma. This multiple personality disorder is clearly evident in many of today's politicians as well, notably Donald Trump of the US, and Gandhi's fellow Gujarati, Narendra Modi. Regarding Gandhi, Aldous Huxley wrote in Ape and Essence, 'This man who believed only in people had got himself involved in the subhuman mass-madness of nationalism, in the would-be superhuman, but actually diabolic, institutions of the nation-state. He got himself involved in these things, imagining that he could mitigate the madness and convert what was satanic in the state to something like humanity. But nationalism and the politics of power had proven too much for him. It is not at the centre, not from within the organization, that the saint can cure our regimented schizophrenia; it is only from without, at the periphery. If he makes himself a part of the machine, in which the collective madness is incarnated, one or other of two things is bound to happen. Either he remains himself, in which case the machine will use him as long as it can and, when he becomes unusable, reject or destroy him. Or he will be transformed into the likeness of the mechanism with and against which he works, and in this case we shall see Holy Inquisitions and alliances with any tyrant prepared to guarantee ecclesiastical privileges.'

What Ambedkar says about Gandhi is essentially a character assessment report of every member of India's upper castes, irrespective of the religion that person belongs to. It is the infantile behavior of changing one's beliefs as the situation demands, so as to ensure that one always gets what one wants, no matter the cost, that commonly denotes the upper castes. They do this in order to remain secure in the social positions in society. The entire caste system is created by persons who have not developed the mental maturity to see the oneness of humanity and nature and to be in a relationship on equal terms with existence. The insecurity of being reduced to an inferior drives these people to establish themselves as superior. The drive to keep ganja prohibited is one of the key ways to establish superiority. Key representatives of the upper classes and upper castes around the world today show evidence of this infantile and erratic behavior. We see, besides, Trump and Modi, leaders like Xi, Putin, Netanyahu, and other autocratic leaders who seek the continuity of complete control for the upper castes and classes over the majority of the people in their nations - the working classes, the indigenous communities, the minorities and the poor. Ganja and charas prohibition is one common subject that all these politicians follow with great enthusiasm.

The origins of the caste system in the East happened around the same time that the class systems started making themselves prominent in the West. I attribute the rise of the caste system in the East to the Vedic religions and Vaishnavism gaining prominence in India around 4000 years ago when the Aryan migrants into India started making inroads into the social life of the native inhabitants of India who had till then practiced caste-less religions. I also attribute the rise of the class system in the West to the rise of Platonic thinking in Greece that altered the democratic ways and created social hierarchies. Ambedkar says in Annihilation of Caste, '5.2. As a matter of fact the caste system came into being long after the different races of India had comingled in blood and culture. To hold that distinctions of caste are really distinctions of race, and to treat different castes as though they were so many different races, is a gross perversion of facts. What racial affinity is there between the Brahmin of Punjab and the Brahmin of Madras? What racial affinity is there between the Untouchable of Bengal and the Untouchable of Madras? What racial difference is there between the Brahmin of Punjab and the Chamar of Punjab? What racial difference is there between the Brahmin of Madras and the Pariah of Madras? The Brahmin of Punjab is racially of the same stock as the Chamar of Punjab, and the Brahmin of Madras is of the same race as the Pariah of Madras.' Once the caste system had firmly established itself and the king-priest-businessman had established adequate control over the rest of society, caste began rigid. From this point on, any person wishing to join the caste-based religions could only do so by entering the lowest caste. With this, attempts at religious conversion into the caste-based systems more or less ceased. Caste became a hereditary inheritance. If conversion happened, it was mostly within the family, especially the conversion of Shaivite and other non-caste religions for women into Vaishnavism and the Vedic religions. I have come across narratives where women who married into Vaishnavite families were forbidden from worshipping their pre-marriage family deities if these deities were outside the caste-based religions. Ambedkar says, 'the Hindu religion ceased to be a missionary religion when the caste system grew up among the Hindus. Caste is inconsistent with conversion. Inculcation of beliefs and dogmas is not the only problem that is involved in conversion. To find a place for the convert in the social life of the community is another, and a much more important, problem that arises in connection with conversion. That problem is where to place the convert, in what caste? It is a problem which must baffle every Hindu wishing to make aliens convert to his religion...Unlike a club, the membership of a caste is not open to all and sundry. The law of caste confines its membership to persons born in the caste. Caste are autonomous, and there is no authority anywhere to compel a caste to admit a newcomer to its social life. Hindu society being a collection of castes, and each caste being a closed corporation, there is no place for a convert. Thus it is caste which has prevented the Hindus from expanding and from absorbing other religious communities. So long as caste remains, Hindu religion cannot be made a missionary religion, and 'shuddi' will be both a folly and a futility.'

The upper castes use methods of exclusion and expulsion to break down the other and try and reduce them to subhuman levels, without dignity and self-esteem, so that they can be controlled more effectively. The French anthropologist, Claude Levy-Strauss, writes in Tristes Tropiques, 'India's great failure can teach us a lesson. When a community becomes too numerous, however great the genius of the thinkers, it can only endure by secreting enslavement. Once men begin to feel cramped in their geographical, social and mental habitat, they are in danger of being tempted by the simple solution of denying one section of the species the right to be considered as human. This allows the rest a little elbow-room for a few more decades. Then it becomes necessary to extend the process of expulsion. When looked at in this light, the events which have occurred in Europe durng the past twenty years, at the culmination of a century during which the population figures have doubled, can no longer appear as being simply the result of an aberration on the part of one nation, one doctrine, or one group of men. I see them rather as a premonitory sign of our moving into a finite world, such as southern Asia had to face a thousand or two thousand years ahead of us, and I cannot see us avoiding the experience unless some major decisions are taken. The systematic devaluation of man by man is gaining ground, and we would be guilty of hypocrisy and blindness if we dismissed the problem by arguing that recent events represent only a temporary contamination.' He further says, 'India tried to solve the population problem some three thousand years ago by endeavouring, by means of the caste system, to change quantity into quality, that is to differentiate between human groups so as to enable them to live side by side. She even conceived of the problem in still broader terms, extending it beyond man, to all forms of life. The vegetarian rule, like the caste system, was intended to prevent social groups and animal species from 'encroaching' on each other, and to guarantee each group its own particular freedom by forcing the others to relinquish the enjoyment of some conflicting freedom. It is tragic for mankind that this great experiment failed; I mean that, in the course of history, the various castes did not succeed in reaching a state in which they could remain equal because they were different - equal in the sense that there would have been no common measure between them - and that a harmful element of homogeneity was introduced which made comparison possible, and consequently led to the creation of a hierarchy. Men can exist on condition that they recognize each other as being all 'equally', though 'differently' human, but they can also coexist by denying each other a comparable degree of humanity, and thus establishing a system of subordination.' The Indian upper castes used various methods to exclude people or expel them from their upper castes. These included the prohibition against the use of intoxicants, smoking, eating meat and other such social customs that had been practiced by non-caste communities for thousands of years. The prohibition of smoking ganja, stating that it was an intoxicant and that smoking was against the scriptures, was one of the most significant measures of exclusion taken up by the Indian upper castes. While it was a fact that predominantly the lower castes, and the outcastes (those outside the caste system) were the major consumers of cannabis - smoked as ganja for intoxication, medicine and entheogen - the upper castes spread the propaganda that ganja smoking was a low-caste activity that went against the rules of caste. They termed ganja-smokers as despicable lowest castes, the dregs of society, criminals and outcasts. Women who smoked ganja were called prostitutes or women with lose morals. They turned ganja smoking into a moral issue when, in fact, most of these upper-castes consumed cannabis, but primarily in liquid form, as bhang. It was not just ganja-smoking, meat eating and sexual liberation that was prohibited, the upper castes came up with other bizarre rules as they went along to further oppress the lower castes and outcastes. Wearing similar clothes or headgear, use of metal utensils, sending lower caste children to upper caste schools, and even the use of ghee were designated as upper-caste prerogatives and those from the lower castes flouting these rules were dealt with severely. Ambedkar says in the Annihilation of Caste, 'The incident at Kavitha in Gujarat happened only last year. The Hindus of Kavitha ordered the Untouchables not to insist upon sending their children to the common village school maintained by the government. What sufferings the Untouchables of Kavitha had to undergo, for daring to exercise a civic right against the wishes of the Hindus, is too well known to need detailed description. Another instance occurred in the village of Zanu, in the Ahmedabad district of Gujarat. In November 1935 some Untouchable women of well-to-do families started fetching water in metal pots. The Hindus looked upon the use of metal pots by Untouchables as an affront to their dignity, and assaulted the Untouchable women for their impudence.' He further says, 'A most recent event is reported from the village of Chakwara in Jaipur state. It seems from the reports that have appeared in the newspapers than an Untouchable of Chakwara who had returned from a pilgrimage had arranged to give a dinner to his fellow Untouchables of the village, as an act of religious piety. The host desired to treat the guests to a sumptuous meal, and the items served included ghee (butter) also. But while the assembly of Untouchables were engaged in partaking of the food, the Hindus in their hundreds, armed with lathis. rushed to the scene, despoiled the food, and belaboured the Untouchables who left the food, and ran for their lives. And why was this murderous assault committed on defenceless Untouchables? Ther reason given is that the Untouchable host was impudent enough to serve ghee, and his Untouchable guests were foolish enough to taste it. Ghee is undoubtedly a luxury for the rich. But no one would think that consumption of ghee was a mark of high social status. The Hindus of Chakwara thought otherwise, and in righteous indignation avenged themselves for the wrong done to them by the Untouchables, who insulted them by treating ghee as an item of their food - which they ought to have known could not be theirs - consistently with the dignity of the Hindus. This means that an Untouchable must not use ghee, even if he can afford to buy it, since it is an act of arrogance towards the Hindus. This happened on or about the 1st of April 1936!' Ambedkar says, in his Reply to the Mahatma, 'As a matter of fact, a Hindu does treat all those who are not of his caste as though they were aliens, who could be discriminated against with impunity, and against whom any fraud or trick may be practised without shame. This is to say that there can be a better or a worse Hindu. But a good Hindu there cannot be. This is so not because there is anything wrong with his personal character. In fact, what is wrong is the entire basis of his relationship to his fellows. The best of men cannot be moral if the basis of relationship between them and their fellows is fundamentally a wrong relationship. To a slave, his master may be better or worse. But there cannot be a good master. A good man cannot be a master, and a master cannot be a good man.' Arundhati Roy, in her essay The Doctor and the Saint, writes, 'According to the National Crime Records Bureau, a crime is committed against a Dalit by a non-Dalit every sixteen minutes; every day, more than four Untouchable women are raped by Touchables; every week, thirteen Dalits are murdered and six Dalits are kidnapped. In 2012 alone, the year of the Delhi gang-rape and murder, 1, 574 Dalit women were raped (the rule of thumb is that only 10 per cent of rapes or other crimes against Dalits are ever reported), and 651 Dalits were murdered. That's just the rape and butchery. Not the stripping and parading naked, the forced shit-eating (literally), the seizing of land, the social boycotts, the restriction of access to drinking-water.' 

Writing is often considered a way to bring together disparate sections of society and to enable the recording of knowledge so that this knowledge can be disseminated and one can learn from the experiences of others. But writing can also be used as a tool for exclusion and for oppressing those who cannot read or write. The establishment of scriptures in written form by the priests in a language that was known only by the upper castes, mainly the priests, enabled the priestly class to put down its version of the truth that claimed all should submit to the priestly class since the scriptures stated that only the priests knew the will of God. The process of putting thoughts, ideas and principles into written form enabled the upper castes to convert those religious principles that were beneficial to them into laws that, if flouted, met with severe punishment. Claude Levy-Strauss writes in Tristes Tropiques, 'My hypothesis, if correct, would oblige us to recognize that the primary function of written communication is to facilitate slavery. The use of writing for disinterested purposes, and as a source of intellectual and aesthetic pleasure, is a secondary result, and more often than not it may even be turned into a means of strengthening, justifying or concealing the other...Although writing may not have been enough to consolidate knowledge, it was perhaps indispensable for the strengthening of dominion. If we look at the situation nearer home, we see that the systematic development of compulsory education in the European countries grew hand in hand with the extension of military service and proletarianization. The fight against illiteracy is therefore connected with an increase in governmental authority over the citizens. Everyone must be able to read, so that the government can say: Ignorance of the law is no excuse.' The use of languages such as Sanskrit and English that only the ruling elites could read, write and speak, enabled the exclusion of the lower castes and outcasts. It also helped the spread of anti-ganja myths and propaganda besides the injunctions of the caste-system.

 

Ambedkar wonders why Indian society has not witnessed a social revolution like other countries to break the oppressive caste system. The reasons he gives are many. One is the religious sanction that the caste-system is said to have and the extent to which the upper-castes must go to prevent any threat to the existing caste system. He says the action to be taken is prescribed in one of the most influential religious scriptures of the caste-cased religions - The Ramayana. He says, 'That without penal sanction the ideal of chaturvarnya cannot be realised is proved by the story in the Ramayana of Rama killing Shambuka. Some people seem to blame Rama because he wantonly and without reason killed Shambuka. But to blame Rama for killing Shambuka is to misunderstand the whole situation. Ram Raj was a raj based on chaturvarnya. As a king, Rama was bound to maintain chaturvarnya. It was his duty therefore to kill Shambuka, the Shudra who had transgressed his class and wanted to be a Brahmin. This is the reason why Rama killed Shambuka. But this also shows that penal sanction is necessary for the maintenance of chaturvarnya. Not only penal sanction is necessary, but the penalty of death is necessary. That is why Rama did not inflict on Shambuka a lesser punishment. That is why the 'Manusmriti' prescribes such heavy sentences as cutting off the tongue, or pouring molten lead in the ears, of the Shudra who recites or hears the Veda.' Another reason he gives for the lack of a social revolution is the extremely weakened state of the oppressed classes where they are kept away from bearing arms, deprived of education and forced to work in the lowest levels of economic activity away from positions through which they can exert influence. He says, 'Why have the mass of people tolerated the social evils to which they have been subjected? There have been social revolutions in other countries of the world. Why have there not been social revolutions in India, is a question which has increasingly troubled me. There is only one answer which I can give, and it is that the lower classes of Hindus have been completely disabled for direct action on account of this wretched caste system. They could not bear arms, and without arms they could not rebel. They were all ploughmen - or rather, condemned to be ploughmen - and they never were allowed to convert their ploughshares into swords. They had no bayonets, and therefore anyone who chose, could and did sit upon them. On account of the caste system, they could receive no education. They could not think out or know the way to their salvation. They were condemned to be lowly; and not knowing the way to escape, and not having the means of escape, they became reconciled to eternal servitude, which they accepted as their inescapable fate.' To me, the prohibition of ganja for the oppressed classes is another way in which they have been weakened. Ganja - as entheogen, medicine, intoxicant and means to sustainable livelihood - will greatly strengthen the bodies and minds of the oppressed classes, making them bolder and stronger to pursue equality and restoration of their human rights. The third reason he gives why there has been no social revolution in India is the power of the Brahmin class who currently enjoy the benefits of the caste-system the most and who stand to lose the most if the hierarchical order of Indian society based on caste is destroyed. Speaking about the biggest resistance to the breaking up of the caste system coming from the Brahmins, he says, 'All this of course seems very plausible. But in all this it is forgotten that the break-up of the caste system is bound to affect the Brahmin caste. Having regard to this, is it reasonable to expect that the Brahmins will ever consent to lead a movement, the ultimate result of which is to destroy the power and prestige of the Brahmin caste? Is it reasonable to expect the secular Brahmins to take part in a movement directed against the priestly Brahmins? In my judgement, it is useless to make a distinction between the secular Brahmin and the priestly Brahmins. Both are kith and kin. They are two arms of the same body, and one is bound to fight for the existence of the other.' On the likelihood of the Brahmins themselves leading the social reform, he says, 'People sometimes ask the idle question, why the Pope does not introduce this or that reform? The true answer is that a revolutionist is not the kind of man who becomes a Pope, and that the man who becomes a Pope has no wish to be a revolutionist.' He says that 'There is no exaggeration in saying that the entire destiny of a country depends on its intellectual class. If the intellectual class is honest, independent and disinterested, it can be trusted to take the initiative and give a proper lead when a crisis arises. It is true that intellect by itself is no virtue. It is only a means, and the use of means depends upon the ends which an intellectual person pursues. An intellectual man can be a good man, but he can easily be a rogue. Similarly an intellectual class may be a band of high-minded persons, ready to help, ready to emancipate erring humanity - or it may easily be a gang of crooks, or a body of advocates for a narrow clique from which it draws its support...You may think it a pity that the intellectual class in India is simply another name for the Brahmin caste. You may regret that the two are one; that the existence of the intellectual class should be bound up with one single caste; that this intellectual class should share the interest and the aspirations of that Brahmin caste, which has regarded itself as the custodian of the interest of that caste rather than of the interests of the country. All this may be very regrettable. But the fact remains that the Brahmins form the intellectual class of the Hindus. It is not only an intellectual class, but it is a class which is held in great reverence by the rest of the Hindus.'

A recent report by the World Inequality Lab stated that the wealth gap between the Indian upper classes and lower classes was greater than it had been even in the times of the British colonists. This clearly shows that the Indian ruling upper classes and castes who took over the reins from the British post-independence have not slowed or changed the course set during British times. It has, in fact, only pursued the path of concentration of wealth and power among a few at the cost of the many. It was the very reason why the British and the Indian upper castes got along so well. They both recognized the mutual benefit of keeping the lower castes and classes oppressed. 

If one ponders over the whole caste monstrosity, one sees why the upper castes insist on keeping it going strong, and insist that everybody should follow their ancestral calling, even as they themselves blatantly flout this rule while applying it stringently to the lower castes. It is because the lower castes are required by the upper castes to perform those social functions that they themselves think it is below their dignity to do, such as: sweeping, cleaning toilets and sweepers, clearing garbage, etc. In the form of the Indian government, we have the biggest upholders of the caste system. Not only do all top posts go the upper castes, often Brahmins, but the rest of the government posts go to the Vaishya and Kshatriya castes. The overwhelming majority of government jobs in India are held by these three castes. Religious minorities and the lower castes are almost insignificant. The only government jobs where you will find these social demographics at an overwhelming majority are in the jobs as sweepers. Arundhati Roy wrote in The Doctor and the Saint, 'There is one government department in which Dalits are over-represented by a factor of six. Almost 90 per cent of those designated as sweepers - who clean streets, who go down manholes and service the sewage system, who clean toilets and do menial jobs - and employed by the Government of India are Dalits.' It is for this reason that the Indian and state governments employ such a large number of personnel and allocate the majority of the budget to governmental expenditure. Even as the country suffers the increasing income divide between the rich and the poor, inflation and the lack of jobs in the economy for youth and the poorer sections of society, government officials make sure that they get their annual pay hikes without fail. Frequent upward revisions of pay scales, incentives and pensions ensure that the upper castes in the government are well fed and paid for by the people of India. The whole system is wired to benefit the upper castes. 

The recently concluded Mahakumbh mela at Prayagraj brought in 66 crore people over the space of about 45 days. The entire organization of the event was streamlined in such a way that the elites and upper castes enjoyed smooth access to key areas and priority over all others. A stampede occurred due to this, but the government refused to acknowledge it at first, till the news leaked out through other sources. The official death toll has been put around 30 though many claim that the numbers are much greater. The government announced in parliament that it did not have data regarding how many had died, much like the deaths of the unknowns during the Covid pandemic, another stunt orchestrated by India's ruling classes and castes in conjunction with their global allies in the US, UK, China and Russia. After the completion of the Kumbh, the garbage that had accumulated is in the process of being cleaned by 'Swathcha Mitras' and 'Ganga Dhoots' - basically people from the lowest castes and the minorities. This act of giving divine names to persons who have to perform the jobs that the upper castes will not is a continuation from Gandhi's times where he gave them divine names like 'Harijan' even as he insisted that a manual scavenger must not try and change jobs as it went against caste and the scriptures. His follower, Narendra Modi, gave the name 'Covid Warriors' to the sections of society - the civic workers, policemen, medical staff, etc. - that were forced to ensure that the oppressive orders of the government were complied with during the fake pandemic, thus helping it to become a grand success for the ruling classes and castes, doubling their wealth in a period of two years, even as the wealth gap between rich and poor plunged to worse levels than pre-colonial times. It is ironic that the Kumbh Mela is organized to worship Siva - the god of non-caste religions and an outcaste according to the caste-system - thus showing the complete dominance that the upper castes have over the narrative in India. One need look no further than the Kumbhmela to see the hypocrisy of India's ruling upper castes. They have appropriated Siva for a festival organized for their own benefit, blending their upper-caste religion with Shaivism. During the period of the Kumbh mela the authorities turn a blind eye to cannabis consumption. Bhang, ganja and charas are freely consumed by the attendees. The Statesman reported in 2019 that '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.' What about the gods who exist outside the Kumbh space, the Sivas who wander and live across the length and breadth of this country? No sooner is the Kumbhmela over than the government swings into action punishing those found using ganja and charas, unless they are the naked Naga sadhus or wearing saffron attire. An interesting incident from this year's Mahakumbh mela was about somebody called 'IIT Baba' who apparently became famous for his projections on social media during the kumbh. He soon found that the reality outside the kumbh was not exactly like Siva's world. IIT Baba was apparently busted by the cops in his hotel for possession of a small amount of ganja on his way back to his real world (IIT I guess). This hypocrisy of the state with regard to the Kumbhmela, with regard to its approach to the upper castes and lower castes when it comes to ganja and charas, and its approach to ganja when it comes to Siva is all-pervasive in Indian society. To me, this is one of the most obvious pieces of evidence of discrimination by the upper castes against the lower castes, minorities, non-caste-based religions, indigenous communities and the poor of India. To not see this is to be totally blind. 

The common man in India is a simple person, content with the little he or she has, deeply religious and adapted to survive in the middle of a billion other humans vying for the scarce resources available. Regarding the simplicity of the common man in India and Pakistan, Claude Levy-Strauss wrote in Tristes Tropiques, 'Very little is needed in order to exist: little space, little food, little joy, few utensils or tools; it is life on a pocket-handkerchief scale. But, on the other hand, there seems to be no lack of soul, one is aware of it in the bustle on the streets, the intensity of the look in people's eyes, the passion which marks the most trifling discussion, and the courteous smiles with which passing strangers are greeted, and - in Moslem territory - the accompanying 'salaam', a low bow in which the palm of the right hand is placed on the forehead. Only quality of soul can explain the ease with which these people fit into the cosmos. Theirs is indeed a civilization in which a prayer rug represents the world, or a square drawn out on the ground marks out a place of worship. They live in the open streets, each within the universe of his tiny display of goods and placidly occupied with his particular trade, among the flies, the passers-by and the hubbub made by barbers, copyists, hairdressers and craftsmen. In order to survive, each must have a very strong and personal link with the supernatural, and this, perhaps, is one of the secrets of Mohammedanism and the other religions in this part of the world: each believer feels that he is constantly in the presence of God.' For thousands of years, ganja and charas was an aid to this class of humans - as intoxicant, medicine, entheogen and means of livelihood - who make up the majority. The taking away of ganja and charas from these hundreds of millions is possibly the greatest act of cruelty that has been performed by the ruling elites of the country. Even during Islamic rule there were no strict regulations on ganja and charas and people of all religions used them freely. It is said that even Aurangzeb, portrayed as the worst anti-Hindu ruler of India, desisted interfering with the common man's freedom of intoxication. It was only when the British came that even this area of a person's liberty was fully violated. For the British it was all about selling their alcohol, opium, tobacco and western medicine. For the Indian elite upper castes who joined hands with them, it was about stamping the lower castes, religious minorities and outcastes further into the ground, much like Vishnu as the Brahmin boy had done to Mahabali, the king of the non-caste religion of Kerala. For the Brahmin community, it was vital that ganja be removed since it induced thoughts of oneness with the divine and enabled direct communion with one's god leading to the reduced need for a priest to play mediator. This also struct a resonant chord with the other religions where the priest held the power - such as Islam, Christianity, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism - and laid down laws prohibiting the use of intoxicants and smoking.

India is not only a deeply casteist society, it is also a racist society. Dark-skinned people, whether they are tribals from South India or from the African nations, are the targets of the oppression by the ruling elites of the upper classes and castes. At the root of the caste system is the fair-skinned Aryans establishing themselves as the upper castes over the dark-skinned original inhabitants of India. As much as the white man discriminates against the yellow man, the yellow man discriminated against the black man. Both white and yellow men discriminate against the black man. Ganja prohibition enabled the upper castes of the caste-based religions of the Vedas and Vaishnavism to differentiate themselves from the dark-skinned non-caste based religions of India. Ganja prohibition helped the white man in the west to differentiate himself from the Blacks, Hispanics and Asians. In India, Africans are labeled as drug-users and drug peddlers the minute they set foot in India. India's jails are filled with lower castes, minorities and indigenous communities and the poor for their usage of ganja. 

For the Indian upper castes, homosexuality is probably more acceptable than ganja, which is not saying much since homosexuality is deeply frowned upon by nearly all sections of Indian society. Since the Indian caste system is the rejection and expulsion of the other, we see that rejection of homosexuality, of the third sex, of intoxication, of meat eating, of intercaste marriages, etc. are all part of the same bundle of measures that determine who is acceptable and who is not. The narrative of the Indian upper castes often club together all these aspects to confuse society, much like the bundling of all drugs under a single heading 'drugs' irrespective of the merits and demerits of each. This mental laziness is a distinct feature of the Indian upper castes and their excuse for this is that the religious scriptures i.e. the writings of their fellow upper castes says so. In this, orthodox caste-based Hinduism is no different from orthodox Islam or orthodox Christianity. The Hindu reported that '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.”' So, this person is stating that one must reject historical findings that show that homosexuality was part of Indian culture. His argument is that if we say that homosexuality should be legalized since it is a part of Indian culture, then so must ganja, sati, dowry, polygamy/polyandry, etc. What he has so cunningly tried to argue hides his complete ignorance of the facts at hand. Homosexuality and ganja are about personal freedoms and fundamental rights. They are decisions taken by the individual that have no adverse effects on any other persons in society i.e. there is no victim. Dowry, sati, bribery are all heinous crimes that have been sanctioned by the upper castes and classes in society in order to oppress the weak and vulnerable. Dowry and bribery are basically extortion by upper castes and classes to ensure that they do what it is their duty to do in the first place, i.e. look after the wife or do a piece of work which they claim to be qualified to do. Sati is basically murdering the wife after her husband's death. In polygamy/polyandry we can say that the multiple spouses and their offspring are the victims of the polygamist or polyandrist. To subtly slip in homosexuality and ganja in this mix of social evils is just like slipping in ganja into the anti-drug narrative featuring heroin, methamphetamine, synthetic pharmaceutical prescription drugs, tobacco and alcohol. When this sort of association happens, for the ignorant public at large, it appears that all these things spoken about are similar issues. 

The business class

Obviously, cannabis legalization will adversely impact the businesses that thrive in its absence. These are the very same businesses that have destroyed public health and the environment and which have brought the planet to the brink of climate disaster through human-induced global warming. More importantly, it will destroy the power structure that has been established in Indian society where the upper castes oppress the lower castes, and nowhere more so than through the prohibition of ganja and charas. When the British colonists had sucked India dry of its wealth and had entered into a global war of domination fueled by this wealth, it found no further incentive to maintain territorial control over India. It found an effective way to withdraw from India but still maintain its authority over India. This it did by merely handing over the reins of control to the Indian upper castes who had served it faithfully in the 400 years that the British Empire ruled over India. Like the estate owning British master who left for home leaving the estate in the hands of his most faithful Indian servant knowing that the interests of the master would be protected, the British colonists withdrew from India, symbolically at least, entrusting the ruling of the nation to its faithful servants - the upper castes. These upper castes continued where the British left off, oppressing the lower castes who had been systematically weakened mentally and physically by the combined assault of the British colonists and Indian upper-castes. The task of continuing the oppression was made that much easier because the herb of the people, ganja, which gave physical and mental strength and fortitude to India's masses had been taken away by the end of British rule. 

Regarding the business or Vaishya caste, Arundhati Roy wrote in The Doctor and the Saint, 'A recent list of dollar billionaires published by Forbes magazine features fifty-five Indians. The figures, naturally, are based on revealed wealth. Even among these dollar billionaires the distribution of wealth os a steep pyramid in which the cumulative wealth of the top ten outstrips the forty-five below them. Seven out of the top ten are Vaishyas, all of them CEOs of major corporations with business interests all over the world. Between them they own and operate ports, mines, oilfields, gas fields, shipping companies, pharmaceutical companies, telephone networks, petrochemical plants, aluminium plants, cellphone networks, television channels, fresh food outlets, high schools, film production companies, stem cell storage systems, electricity supply networks and Special Economic Zones. They are: Mukesh Ambani (Reliance Industries Ltd), Lakshmi Mittal (Arcelor Mittal), Dilip Sanghvi (Sun Pharmaceuticals), the Ruia Brothers (Ruia Group), K. M. Birla (Aditya Birla Group), Savitri Devi Jindal (O.P. Jindal Group), Gautam Adani (Adani Group) and Sunil Mittal (Bharti Airtel). Of the remaining forty-five, nineteen are Vaishyas too. The rest are for the most part Parsis, Bohras and Khattris (all mercantile castes) and Brahmins. There are no Dalits and Adivasis in this list.' 

In January 2021, I wrote, 'So who else besides autocratic governments shutting down their people benefited from the Covid stagecraft? Today's DH says that India's top 100 billionaires made more than 12 lakh crores during the pandemic. Mukesh Ambani made so much money per second that it would take an unskilled worker 3 years to earn that much. To earn what Ambani earned in 1 hour it would take 10,000 years. The business and government elites have emerged from Covid as big winners while the rest of the human race and the planet have paid the price...' In May 2021, I wrote regardin the imbecility of the Indian upper classes and castes, 'Here's how it works. I, out of fear, anxiety, stupidity and stress, go and get myself injected with the vaccine, thinking it will make me immortal. Now infected with the virus, feeling invincible, I move around freely, exhorting one and all to take the vaccine. Those nearby now contract the virus from me. The weak and vulnerable among them fall seriously ill and die, mostly fast tracked on the journey by the medical and pharmaceutical industry. Seeing the seriously sick die (and also the very aged), more and more people arrive at the conclusion that if they vaccinated themselves, they will not. As the waves ripple out, instead of addressing the problem's root cause, it becomes larger and larger. We have now infected large numbers of front line workers and those above 45. They now spread the virus, including its altered forms. Most of us would have by now developed natural herd immunity for the original virus. Now we are lining up the between 44 and 18 year olds with talk already increasing about infecting the young ones after that...a ponzi scheme where the people buy death, sold as a way to immortality, and the cone's apex, the pharma, medical, and petrochemical industries, and the government that back them, get richer. Till we stop taking the tests and vaccines, this fire will not be put out...'

The alcohol industry

Today, in most parts of India, western introduced distilled alcohol reigns supreme. Many states in India get significant proportions of revenue through the sales of alcohol. Fermented alcohol such as toddy have been banned in most states. Some states - especially the ones where the upper-caste religious orthodoxy have near complete hold - such as Gujarat and Bihar have alcohol prohibition, while states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu have strict alcohol regulation by the state. All this has not prevented hundred of millions of Indians from getting addicted to alcohol and millions from dying every year through alcohol related deaths such as overdosing, liver and kidney failures, violent homicides, deaths from spurious liquor and traffic fatalities. The state makes vast revenue from retail and license sales. Many of the world's top distilleries have set up shop in India. India's population is taking to alcohol in ever increasing numbers, driven by a desire to emulate the elites here and abroad. Celebrities from all walks of life glorify alcohol, even as they malign ganja. The media, film industry, judiciary, executive, legislature, businessmen, armed forces, and even religious orthodoxy in some places, consider alcohol as a totally harmless pursuit. Most people encourage the consumption of alcohol even as they completely discourage the consumption of ganja and charas. We see increasing numbers of women and youth taking to alcohol aping the west, even as these very same demographics in the west switch to cannabis having realised the harms of alcohol. For India's working classes, indigenous communities and poor, there is no other option than alcohol - licit or illicit - to ease the pain and suffering of their lives. The state makes symbolic gestures to show that it does not approve of alcohol even as governments keep increasing excise sales targets for alcohol year on year and encouraging the setting up of distilleries. One of the first areas of business that saw curbs from the fake pandemic Covid lifted was the alcohol business because, for one thing, people were dying since they could not access the alcohol that they were addicted to, and for another, the state was losing out on precious excise revenue due to the two-year shut down of alcohol businesses. 

The warnings by knowledgeable people that ganja and charas prohibition would lead to a shift to the harmful alcohol have now come to be realized in India. The insanity that alcohol was producing in Europe in the centuries before it was introduced into India is now very much a part of the Indian mental health scenario. The warnings of medical experts that the biological constitution of the Indian made him particularly vulnerable to addiction and health damage from alcohol have now been realized. But there is no sign of a let up on this menace on Indian society. Most Indians consider ganja and charas as many times more harmful than alcohol, thanks to the propaganda of the British colonists and the Indian upper castes. Almost every state in India faces the problems of alcohol addiction and its related harms.

I am not proposing a ban on alcohol because that is as ridiculous as the ban on ganja and charas. Intoxication is as essential for enduring the pain and suffering of life on earth as food and rest is. We have more than enough evidence from across the world that the ban on alcohol will spawn its own set of problems - such as smuggling, bootlegging and the manufacture and sale of adulterated alcohol. A ban will make people resort to dangerous behaviour such as consuming chemical or synthetic alternatives to alcohol. The only way that India can counter the threat of alcohol that it faces today is to legalize ganja and charas for recreational purposes so that there is a safe, healthy alternative to alcohol. It has been found in places that have legalized cannabis for recreational use that the amount of alcohol consumed by a person comes down if he or she smokes ganja or charas. The aggressive violent behavior that is characteristic of alcohol gets tempered with the calm peaceful behavior that ganja and charas brings. In many places, cannabis is being seen as one of the most effective ways to wean a person away from alcohol addiction. For the poor in India, ganja and charas is a much more safe, accessible and affordable option to alcohol. Any person who has smoked ganja or charas and consumed alcohol will know that even one puff of ganja or charas provides better quality intoxication than drinking a whole bottle of the most refined and expensive alcohol.  

The problem of alcohol, which moved in to take the place of cannabis - along with opium, tobacco and western medicines - is completely glossed over in India because state governments earn vast revenue from alcohol sales. In fact, it is common for states like Karnataka and Kerala to set ever increasing alcohol revenue targets for the excise sales. Indian society glorifies alcohol, with its consumption projected as a masculine and high-society trait through films, media and celebrities. Lakhs of people die every year from alcohol abuse. The number of alcohol-related deaths due to liver cirrhosis, kidney failures, traffic fatalities, homicidal and domestic violence never figure in these statistics. Alcohol, which is many times more dangerous than cannabis, is viewed by society as harmless whereas ganja is considered an extremely harmful drug, thanks to the decades of propaganda. It is common to see deaths due to the consumption of illegal adulterated liquor in states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Tamil Nadu. In September 2021, Scroll Magazine reported that 'The urgency of Punjab’s alcohol problem is under-recognised – it is one of three states where, a survey found, more than half the male population consumed alcohol. While Punjab’s drug abuse problem has drawn wide attention, the survey, done in 2019 by India’s social justice ministry along with the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and the National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre, suggested the state also had an alcohol dependence problem.'

The cocaine industry

The cocaine industry is not so prominent in India, unlike the US and Europe, primarily because the coca plant is not endemic to Asia and the Indian sub-continent. Cocaine grows in so few places, its supply so scarce, and the demand for it is so high that it barely goes out of the hands of the richest people in the world. So, cocaine remains mainly the pursuit of the Americans and Europeans, with possibly only the wealthiest persons in other nations having access to it and the money to pay for it. It does not mean that cocaine is not available in India. The only thing is that you are likely to find only the richest people in India having access to regular supplies of cocaine.

Methamphetamine

To leverage the high demand for cocaine and its scarcity, methamphetamine was introduced. Methamphetamine does not have the constraints that cocaine faces - such as a plant that is endemic to a few places in the world and the scarcity and expensiveness of the drug. Methamphetamine can more or less be manufactured nearly anywhere by anyone who has access to the precursor chemicals and a small laboratory setup. The knowledge for how to manufacture methamphetamine is freely available on the internet. For the hundreds of millions of Indians aspiring to be like the Colombian drug lords, Hollywood and Bollywood celebrities, and the richest people in the world, methamphetamine is the alternative available. The fact that India has a booming synthetic pharmaceutical industry means that all the precursor chemicals can be accessed without much difficulty in India and a methamphetamine manufacturing unit can be set up even in one's own home. For those in whom the DIY and entrepreneurship mentality runs low, there is always our neighbouring countries in the east and west willing to step in and meet the demand for stimulants. Iran and Afghanistan to the west of India are global methamphetamine manufacturing hubs that cater to Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Similarly, Myanmar, Indonesia, Laos, Malasia and the Phillipines are methamphetamine manufacturing hubs that cater to the Far East, Oceania and south-east Asia. Being in this geographical position, we see methamphetamine now pouring into India from east, west, north and south, besides being manufactured locally. 

Much of Indian society is still blissfully unaware of the menace of methamphetamine that was already devastating the US in the early 1980s. Maybe it is the complex chemical name for the drug that makes it difficult for the average Indian to pronounce it. For the hep urban individual, this problem is circumvented by using the street name 'crystal meth' for the drug. Like all synthetic drugs that have moved in to take the place of ganja and charas, methamphetamine is very difficult to detect by the authorities. Everybody in India is looking for ganja and charas in their war on drugs, while methamphetamine quietly claims its victims. Adulterated methamphetamine, sharing of needles and syringes, and overdosing on it are some of the additional problems that the drug brings. Anti-drug campaigns by law enforcement, health and education officials focus on ganja and charas while people in India are increasingly injecting methamphetamine. For many parents and adults, the ability to differentiate between methamphetamine and their own prescription medicine like insulin is non-existent. Anyway, it is that green herb that looks like cowdung that is the evil drug right, not the medicinal crystals and white powder that one injects along with one's own physician?

Ganja and charas are being used to wean people in the west off methamphetamine addiction, and to heal the damage done to brain tissues due to it. For India, methamphetamine is one of the most potent threats to public health, especially given that India and China - the world's largest producers of the active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) for synthetic drugs - actively engage in trade of these products in the name of bilateral trade and cooperation. 

Methamphetamine or crystal meth flows into India from all directions, much like heroin. The need for stimulants has meant that key methamphetamine producing nations like Iran, Afghanistan, Laos, Myanmar, etc., are now supplying meth to the Indian market. UNODC reported that '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.' It said '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'. Besides this, India's flourishing synthetic pharmaceutical industry ensures that meth can be manufactured locally as well with relative ease. UNODC reported in 2020 that '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.'

Opium

As I stated before, nothing is more evident of the success of British efforts to kill India's ganja culture than the fact that India has changed from the greatest ganja cultivating and consuming nation in the world to the world's biggest producer of legal opium in the space of about a hundred years. It was in the 1925 World Opium Conference that the world's leading opium experts got together and decided on working towards global prohibition of ganja and charas. The opium industry has managed to portray the vastly medicinal ganja and charas as an evil drug with no medicinal value and the highly addictive and dangerous opium as the world's best painkiller. The Indian legal opioid industry is one of the biggest contributors to the revenues of the pharmaceutical industry. Even as countries in the west grapple with the ever-increasing number of fatalities from opioids, India continues its opioid journey uninterrupted. The ruling BJP, with the roots of its leaders in Gujarat, never speak about their traditional love for opium and the British, much like the Bengali upper castes and the upper castes of Kashmir and Punjab.

While legal opium, as opioids, comes out of the pharmaceutical industries in India, illegal opium flows into India, mainly as heroin, from the west originating in Afghanistan, sometimes through Pakistan, into Kashmir and Punjab by land, and Gujarat and Maharastra by sea.  In the east, heroin flows in from Myanmar through Assam, and the northeastern states. The Indian Union government provides arms to the military junta in Myanmar to protect its illegal opium interests and recognizes and supports the militant terrorist group Taliban in Afghanistan to ensure that India gets its share of heroin.

For the Indian public, opioids, like methamphetamine, do not figure in their image of 'drugs'. This is because opioids typically come in blister packs that are readily prescribed by physicians as pain medicine, and even often available over the counter at pharmacies without the needs to produce a prescription from a registered medical practitioner. For many individuals, it is the physician who sets the patient on the road to opioid addiction by first introducing the patient to opioids, typically as painkillers. Once the patient has used the opioids regularly for sufficient periods of time, the opioid tolerance and addiction means that the patient is seeking larger quantities of opioids to function normally. When the pharmacies start to cut down their supply to the patient, then there is no other alternative other than to go to the black market.

Fentanyl is probably India's opioid of biggest concern, because fentanyl is many times more potent than heroin, and fentanyl overdosing is even more likely than heroin overdosing. Like methamphetamine was created to meet the global demand for cocaine and to overcome the problems of non-availability of the coca plant, fentanyl was created to meet the global demand for heroin and to overcome the problems of non-availability of the opium plant. India is, after China, the world's biggest producer of fentanyl. Like methamphetamine and China, India is able to achieve this, because it has a booming synthetic pharmaceutical industry which means that the pre-cursor chemicals are freely available. Fentanyl did not even figure in the NDPS Act until countries like the US put pressure on India to bring in some sort of regulation to control the flooding of foreign markets with Indian and Chinese fentanyl. Most Indians are not even aware of the existence in India of fentanyl. Their focus is on ganja.

Not only is India the world's largest producer of legal opium, it is also a regional hub for the movement of illegal opium between Central Asia and the Far East, with significant quantities of the drug flowing into the Indian market. The key transit points for heroin in the country continue to be Gujarat, Mumbai (in Maharashtra), Kashmir and the hill states bordering Myanmar. The Indian government in complicit in this illegal trade of heroin, as can be seen from the efforts spent by it to secure control over the administration of these regions. The ruling party in the central government is also the ruling party or has presidential control over most of these states. Often national security and terrorism are cited as reasons for the center deploying the armed forces to ensure that the heroin trafficking remains undisturbed. Occasionally, a raid is conducted to present a picture of legal action to keep the public fooled. Deccan Herald reported regarding heroin seizure at the Mundra port in Maharashtra stating that 'The drug haul is considered to be one of the biggest in the world with the value of the seized heroin estimated to be Rs 21,000 crore in the international markets.' Most ports that serve as transit points for heroin are under the control of the petrochemical and synthetic pharmaceutical industries that have a hand in shipping out precursors as well as finished products. UNODC reported in 2020 that '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).'

India is also at the forefront of the illegal trade of cheap opioids, especially to African nations and other countries in Asia. The expensive opioids find their way into European and North American markets, while what is left over is flooded into poorer nations across the world. UNODC reported in its World Drug Report 2020 that '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).' UNODC reported that '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.' It is typically the youth in these countries who are most vulnerable. UNODC reported that '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.' The cheaper rates for tramadol as compared to heroin make it a much more attractive proposition for the middle and lower classes. UNODC reported that '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.'

Besides the legal opioids (morphine for the rich, tramadol for the poor) and the illegal heroin, India has also managed to establish itself as a front runner in preparing the precursors for fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is many times more dangerous and potent than even heroin. Again, it is the thriving synthetic pharmaceutical industry that has enabled India to achieve this dubious feat. UNODC reported that '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'. CSIS reported that '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.' India is second to China in the production of fentanyl and its precursors. When China started cracking down on fentanyl production due to the global backlash it faced, India stepped up to fill the gap in supply. NPR reported that '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."'

One of the objectives of cannabis prohibition by the British was to turn India into an opium producing and consuming nation. It succeeded greatly in this objective. The International Narcotics Control Bureau (INCB) reported in 2019 that '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'. 

Today, not only is the country the world's leading producer of legal opium, it is also seeing an opioid crisis that is rarely spoken about since the crisis is fueled by the medical industry and pharmaceutical industry who project opioids as essential critical medicine rather than the highly addictive dangerous drug that it is. While Canada and many states in the US legalized cannabis for recreational use to counter the opioid crisis, India continues to peddle its opium to unsuspecting citizens within the country and other nations, while firmly opposing cannabis legalization. UNODC reported that '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.' The Indian upper castes, much like the upper classes around the world, do not consider opium as the lethal, addictive drug that it is. This is because it is prescribed to them by their upper-caste physicians and comes to them as pills in blister packs or as liquids in vials that can be injected. For these ignorant upper castes, this is medicine, unlike the safe, non-addictive ganja and charas that the lower castes use for the same benefits that the upper castes use opium. This is also the reason why synthetic pharmaceutical drugs are considered medicine despite the harm and addiction that they cause in society. UNODC reported in its World Drug Report 2020 that '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.' CSIS reported that '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.' The Indian upper castes and classes consider all this as medicine and abuse opioids at high rates. In homes, children merely follow in their parents' footsteps when they start abusing opioids, having been, in most cases, introduced to the drug by the parents themselves who see nothing wrong in this. Of course, India's local market gets the lower end opioids like tramadol and codeine whereas the high end opioids like heroin and morphine end up in the hands of India's wealthy elites and the elites across the world. The International Narcotics Control Bureau (INCB) reported in 2019 that '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).' It also reported that '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).' This is strange that India has to import codeine, considering that it is the world's leading producer of legal opium. All this suggests round-tripping by legal and illegal pharmaceutical companies. 

The Synthetic Pharmaceutical Industry

India is not only the world's leading producer of legal opium, it has a robust synthetic pharmaceutical industry that enable easy diversion of precursor compounds into the black market for the manufacture of illegal synthetic drugs like fentanyl, methamphetamine and ephedrine. India, like China, has emerged as a source country for concern when it comes to these precursors. The US White House issued a statement some time back that 'The United States is committed to working together with the countries of the Western Hemisphere as neighbors and partners to meet our shared challenges of drug trafficking and use. My Administration will seek to expand cooperation with key partners, such as Mexico and Colombia, to shape a collective and comprehensive response and expand efforts to address the production and trafficking of dangerous synthetic drugs that are responsible for many of our overdose deaths, particularly fentanyl, fentanyl analogues, and methamphetamine. In Mexico, we must continue to work together to intensify efforts to dismantle transnational criminal organizations and their networks, increase prosecutions of criminal leaders and facilitators, and strengthen efforts to seize illicit assets. In Bolivia, I encourage the government to take additional steps to safeguard the country’s licit coca markets from criminal exploitation and reduce illicit coca cultivation that continues to exceed legal limits under Bolivia’s domestic laws for medicinal and traditional use. In addition, the United States will look to expand cooperation with China, India, and other chemical source countries in order to disrupt the global flow of synthetic drugs and their precursor chemicals. ' It is only because of the thriving synthetic pharmaceutical industry that India and China have emerged as hubs for dangerous illegal synthetic drugs, besides cheap opioids. The governments of both countries have their hand in the sale of both legal and illegal synthetic drugs.

One of the intentions of the British colonists was to establish their western medicine in India. The practice of natural medicine that had been prevalent in India for thousands of years had produced various branches, such as Ayurveda, Unani, etc. These used naturally available plants and minerals to treat various illnesses with success, having evolved with the conditions in India and the nature of the Indian biological constitution. Among the first things that the colonists did was to try and rubbish Indian natural medicine and promote European medicine as more scientific and advanced. Even though many British physicians immediately recognized the value of cannabis as medicine, especially people like William O'Shaugnessey who was instrumental in taking cannabis to the world, the emphasis of the British medical industry was to try and penetrate and capture the Indian market with its own medicines. By the 1920s, cannabis-based medicines were popular in most of Europe and North America, with many leading pharmaceutical companies manufacturing and selling cannabis-based medicines. 

The narrative that cannabis had no medicinal value, but was harmful and addictive, was probably pushed through mostly by the opium industry which went to great pains to malign cannabis. In the various opium conferences, erroneous data linking cannabis with insanity were amplified and propagated to promote opium. By stifling the cannabis culture in India, the colonists and the Indian upper castes and classes forced the people to seek western medicine and non-cannabis alternatives, as the availability of cannabis drastically decreased by the early 1920s. The Indian upper classes and castes took great pride in showing that they were educated, civilized people by adopting western medicine, and joining hands with the British to label Indian native physicians as quacks. By the 1930s, with the US and Canada introducing cannabis prohibition, with one of the primary aims being to promote opium and western medicine, cannabis came to be regarded increasingly across the world as harmful and non-medicinal. 

The increasing manufacture of synthetic pharmaceuticals, using many of the by-products of the petrochemical industry, resulted in large pharmaceutical companies that spent massive amounts of money on setting up research departments that invented molecular compounds in the laboratories that they patented and sold to the world. The money amassed by these synthetic pharmaceutical companies enabled them to fund medical education and turn the narrative among the modern physicians completely against natural medicine and cannabis. Today, the word medicine means only synthetic pharmaceutical medicines, with pharma companies taking great pains to ensure that cannabis as medicine does not enter the public domain. 

India's ruling upper classes and castes embraced not only opium and petrochemicals, but also synthetic pharmaceuticals and chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The west saw great benefit in outsourcing all four to India as it enabled them to create products cheaply at massive scales for distribution in India and across the world. Today, India is, along with China, one of the global powerhouses of synthetic pharmaceutical medicines. The close collaboration between the opium industry, petrochemicals and synthetic pharmaceutical industry mean that all the ingredients required to create the synthetic chemical concoctions that go by the name of pharmaceutical medicines are available in abundance in India. In addition to this, India imports massive amounts of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) from China to further fuel the synthetic pharmaceutical industry. 

The manufacture, use and disposal of synthetic pharmaceuticals causes great damage to the environment and life in India. The fact that once a person is put on a regimen of synthetic pharmaceuticals by a physician, it becomes a lifelong trap, is great incentive for the pharma industry. The prolonged use of synthetic pharmaceuticals develops addiction and dependency, so that ceasing its use even for one day can prove fatal. Besides, the difference between a safe dose and a lethal dose of synthetic pharmaceuticals is so narrow that innumerable people have died because of it. These deaths are however attributed to secondary causes such as liver or kidney failure, heart attacks, strokes, diabetes and cancer. 

Nowhere was the ruthlessness and unscrupulousness of the synthetic pharma industry more evident than during the fake pandemic Covid. The biggest gainers from Covid were the synthetic pharma industries, the petrochemical industries and the authoritarian rulers who all joined hands to create this scam and loot the people of the world. India was at the forefront of the scam, with its authoritarian leader Narendra Modi using it to suppress all dissent against his government and party, much like what Trump, Xi, Putin, Boris Johnson, Jair Bolsonaro and others did across the world. The Indian upper castes and classes showed their undiminished loyalty to their former British colonial masters, and repaid their former masters for transferring power to them, by setting up a vaccine manufacturing unit in India that manufactured British patented 'vaccines'. India also created its own home-grown 'vaccine' so that discontent in the Indian pharmaceutical industry remained manageable. Prior to the invention of these dubious vaccines, the Indian synthetic pharmaceutical industry used all the fear and panic created among the people to pump them with all the available stock of synthetic pharmaceuticals, irrespective of the health condition or the nature of the pharma drug. We had whole categories of medicines - antivirals, antibiotics, steroids, analgesics, histamines, anti-inflammatory drugs, even anti-malarial drugs administered in deadly cocktails to individuals who were imbecile enough and rich enough to afford these poisons. Large numbers of people from India's upper castes and upper classes perished through the toxic effects of these drugs by the time the so-called vaccines were rolled out. Once these 'vaccines' were ready, the Indian upper classes and castes queued up to dose themselves with these poisons and market them, with the government, health officials, municipal authorities, celebrities and so-called medical experts urging the people to take the miracle vaccines. Hundreds of millions of the working classes - ranging from corporate executives to housemaids - were threatened with losing their jobs and quarantine if they did not play ball. Students were threatened with dismissal from educational institutions if they did not inject themselves with these poisons. The government put out roadshows in which civic workers, army and police personnel and medical personnel were felicitated and showered with flowers from helicopters as 'Covid warriors' for unquestioningly following the bidding of the upper classes and castes. By the time the fiasco petered out, largely due to the fact that it became a question of whether to continue with the charade or to survive, the damage had been done. Millions of Indians died from this direct assault by the synthetic pharma industry, while probably ten times more died due to the oppression of the lockdown that denied the large majority of India's poor access to food, shelter and jobs, besides the mental trauma and stress of social isolation. In the space of two years, India's synthetic pharmaceutical industry doubled its wealth.

Today, the Indian synthetic pharmaceutical industry is one of the biggest and most powerful opponents of ganja and charas legalization because it will completely devastate this harmful industry, rendering universal healthcare a reality for the poorest persons in India. Even the rich upper classes and castes will switch over to cannabis as medicine, rejecting synthetic pharmaceutical medicines, as is clearly evident from the nations embracing medical cannabis such as Canada, the US, Germany, etc. 

At the moment however, for the average Indian citizen medicine means a little white pill or capsule sold in a blister pack prescribed by a sophisticated looking medical professional, and for the wealthy Indian citizen a needle, syringe and ampule of liquid that they can inject themselves with to show how evolved they are as compared to the barbarians who smoke that herb that looks like dried cowdung. Even if one goes to the villages, one will find that a person judges how economically and socially successful he or she is by the number of different synthetic pharmaceutical medications consumed. It is very common to see people self-medicate and show their medical knowledge by prescribing various synthetic medicines to others. Pharmacies have no qualms about dispensing synthetic pharmaceuticals to people as long as the money is produced. The medical insurance industry ensures that a wider set of the Indian population can be targeted by synthetic pharmaceuticals. For India's adults and elderly, life is not complete today without the mandatory swallowing of pills at least three times a day, and increasingly the injection of painkillers and insulin on a daily basis. For much of India, this is the most clear marker of their having risen successfully out of the lower classes and castes of Indian society.

The fake Covid pandemic was one way in which India's Narendra Modi joined hands with Trump, Putin, Xi and Boris Johnson to enable the synthetic pharmaceutical and petrochemical industries double their wealth in the space of two years. They were aided in this global scam by all the other elite upper classes and castes who formed the medical experts, media and administration. Nature reported that 'More than 120 million doses have been administered, mostly of an Indian-produced version of the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine called Covishield. But that’s less than 10% of India’s population, so there is still a long way to go. In particular, India needs to ramp up vaccinations in the hardest-hit regions, says Kang. Some people might have become infected while getting vaccines, says Udwadia, because crowds often share clinic waiting areas with ill people who are waiting to be seen.' The Guardian reported that 'Anyway, what about the vaccines? Surely they’ll save us? Isn’t India a vaccine powerhouse? In fact, the Indian government is entirely dependent on two manufacturers, the Serum Institute of India (SII) and Bharat Biotech. Both are being allowed to roll out two of the most expensive vaccines in the world, to the poorest people in the world. This week they announced that they will sell to private hospitals at a slightly elevated price, and to state governments at a somewhat lower price. Back-of-the-envelope calculations show the vaccine companies are likely to make obscene profits.' It was not just the vaccines, but all the other synthetic pharmaceutical drugs, opoids, petrochemical-based products like masks, sanitizers, test kits, PPEs and other medical equipment that also made obscene profits during this period as the government played upon the fears of the people. When asked for data regarding the pandemic, the government cited lack of information, as it standardly does in matters that can portray it in a bad light. Science Magazine reported that 'The Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, K. VijayRaghavan, released a note the next day acknowledging the problems and promising to increase access. “Our broader research community needs to be much more facilitated by our research agencies,” the letter said. But some scientists are skeptical that the situation will improve quickly; the note was low on details and previous requests for data from government agencies have often gone unanswered, they say. Why the Indian government is so reticent to share data is unclear.' Not only did people die from the synthetic medications administered, but the overdosing resulted in the rise of deadly pathogens. BBC News reported that 'Doctors believe mucormycosis, which has an overall mortality rate of 50%, may be being triggered by the use of steroids, a life-saving treatment for severe and critically ill Covid-19 patients. Steroids reduce inflammation in the lungs for Covid-19 and appear to help stop some of the damage that can happen when the body's immune system goes into overdrive to fight off coronavirus. But they also reduce immunity and push up blood sugar levels in both diabetics and non-diabetic Covid-19 patients. It's thought that this drop in immunity could be triggering these cases of mucormycosis.' Showing its typical hypocritical behavior when it comes to internal versus external behavior, India ensured that the locally made vaccine Covaxin reaped maximum revenue, even as it batted for global concessions on international vaccines to aid economically vulnerable populations to access them. BBC reported that 'While India has supported waiving the patents on foreign-made vaccines, it has made no move to suspend it for Covaxin. Contrary to its international position, it has opposed suggestions from opposition leaders to invoke compulsory licensing and allow other pharma companies to manufacture the approved vaccines, saying these measures would prove "counterproductive".' In June 2021, Deccan Herald reported that "A typical prescription for Covid-19 in India includes azithromycin, doxycyline, ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, vitamin C, vitamin D, zinc, acetylcysteine, and inhaled budesonide, or dexamethasone. The antiviral favipiravir became the top-selling drug in India in April 2021, despite not being recommended for Covid-9 by any major guidelines," researchers from the George Institute of Medical Sciences wrote recently in a commentary in the Lancet.'

The immense damage caused to India by its complicity in the Covid scam will probably remain unknown forever. The hundreds of millions who lost their jobs, the hundreds of thousands from the poorer sections of society who lost their lives from the lockdown, the impact on children's education and future, the damage done to the environment, are all things that will remain forever unknown. Washington Post reported in September 2021 that 'But recent studies paint a grim picture of the impact of the extended school closures. Students from rural areas, where a majority of the country’s population resides, and those from marginalized communities, faced multiple barriers to continuing their education even before the pandemic. A survey in August spanning 15 states found that 37 percent of children in grades one through eight in rural areas were not studying at all, and nearly 50 percent could not read more than a few words. Results in urban areas were only marginally better. The survey of nearly 1,400 children focused on students from underprivileged backgrounds who studied in public schools.'

India's thriving synthetic pharmaceutical industry also ensures that the illegal trade of novel psychotroic substances (NPS) flourishes. The United Nations Office of Drug Control (UNODC) reported in its World Drug Report 2020 that '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.'

The love that Indians have for prescription synthetic pharmaceutical medicines is matched by their love to play physician and self-medicate with these harmful drugs. The physician is god in India and anything that comes in blister packs or in vials for injection is medicine. I have come across people in rural areas asking me to buy them some prescription medicine, any prescription medicines, for their pain from the pharmacies. They trust me and the pharmacy completely. The Indian pharmacies sell vast amounts of synthetic pharmaceutical medicines without prescriptions to almost anybody who comes to buy it. Even the age of the buyer and the potent harm of the drug are not matters of concern for most pharmacies. Many of the buyers are long-term customers who regularly buy their drugs from the pharmacies, often deciding what they need by themselves or asking the pharmacist for recommendations on what is best. So, it is either the customer or the pharmacist playing doctor in these cases. It is only recently, when the abuse of prescription drugs have spiked through the overuse of painkillers, sedatives, anti-pyretics, anti-biotics, steroids, etc., that the medical community has started to take notice. The Hindu reported that '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.'

In February, 2021, I wrote, 'The Rs 35,000 crores that the government says has been allocated to bolster healthcare in its recent budget, specifically Covid related measures, is essentially taxpayer money flowing to pharma companies so as to make them richer and produce more so-called vaccines. These vaccines are being used to assault the Indian public, and as a gesture of Indian magnanimity, they are being shipped to vulnerable nations across the world where they can be used to assault the vulnerable public there while their governments consolidate their positions harping on the great efforts undertaken to protect public health... a truly commendable show of destructive international cooperation...' In May 2021 I wrote, 'The TRIPS waiver drama for Covid vaccines is an interesting study for all those who adore pharma companies and swear by the governments that back them...the production and distribution of vaccines so far, as well as the profits made by these companies in the past year, should already provide ample reading material, that is if you have not been following their role against the cannabis plant to date...legalize cannabis now for universal access to the best plant medicine in the world...grow your own cannabis at home to protect your own health and to clip the wings of the pharma companies and the governments that support them...' Again, in May 2021 I wrote, 'All those people exhorting others to get vaccinated saying that the vaccine is free or cheap, please understand that the central government allotted nearly $5 billion in its last budget to pay for vaccines i.e. to enrich the vaccine producing pharma companies. The taxpayer has paid the bulk of the money upfront enabling governments to appear to be supplying you wonderful affordable medicine. This is not just taxes paid by elites but by the poorest persons as well, who stand by and watch elites use smartphones and smartness to get the vaccine before them. Elites lining up to be first at receiving the vaccine are especially eligible since they have insurance or enough personal wealth for the medical and pharma industry to milk them, which is why elites are so attractive to them. Of course, both elites and poor don't realize that by participating in this whole vaccine drive we are only expanding the market for the pharma companies, and that all are better off without all this...'

In October 2022, I wrote, 'Ever wondered why the Department of Pharmaceuticals comes under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers that also administers the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, and the Department of Fertilizers? One would think that the Department of Pharmaceuticals would come under the Ministry of Health, just as the Department of Fertilizers would come under the Ministry of Agriculture. That is, of course, if the Health Ministry was looking at holistic health that involved other options, besides synthetic pharmaceuticals, such as natural medicine. Strangely, there is a separate orphan ministry called Ministry of Ayush supposedly responsible for the research and propagation of natural medicine. Similarly, if the Agriculture Ministry was looking at holistic use of fertilizers, especially natural fertilizers and organic farming, then the Department of Fertilizers would be under it. The current organization, however, works best for the synthetic petrochemical, synthetic pharmaceutical and chemical fertilizer industries...A significant chunk of India's budget, money sucked out of its people, goes into buying petrochemicals, chemical fertilizers and active pharmaceutical ingredients, the national, and global, use of the very products that wreck havoc with the planet and public health. Along with China and Russia, two of the biggest opponents of cannabis, India forms a cartel that trades in these goods, while putting up a show of integrity, commitment to global peace, environmental sustainability and equality. Recently, the three - India, Russia and China, along with the other two champions of cannabis prohibition, the US and Britain, even went to the extent of inflicting upon the world a bio-chemical weapon, called Covid, to boost these industries, to amass wealth for their bosses who own these industries, and to fund their individual political parties. When the path of cannabis for universal healthcare, sustainable agriculture and bio-degradable industry offers solutions on a global scale for humanity and the planet, these addicts of money and power work in the opposite direction, consolidating their own positions by inflicting increasing suffering on the world's majority - its poor and working classes. In this, they are fully supported by the world's rich upper classes...They delude the masses, projecting themselves as upholders of traditional values, nationality and prosperity for all...but what they all pursue is one religion - money, one ruling party - the rich, and one language - doublespeak...'

The political class

What the British colonists managed to do to ensure their successful dominion over India for 400 years was to team up with the Indian upper castes and classes. The love for money and the desire to oppress and exploit the masses found resonance among these entities. Education in English for the Indian upper castes meant that they now had a common language amongst themselves and their masters that enabled them to conspire against the nation. The Indian National Congress, when it was formed, consisted of these educated upper castes and classes. The Communist parties as well as the regional parties and right-wing parties, though outwardly professing different ideologies, were internally composed of the same upper castes and classes whose implicit aim was to continue the oppression of the people that had been perfected during colonial times. The nature and composition of the Indian political class would have been sufficient reassurance for the British that they were leaving the country in the hands of their trusted servants who could be relied on to continue the exploitation and oppression of the masses.

Politics under the Indian National Congress was dominated by the upper-castes. It was the same with the socialist political parties as well. The socialists in India tried to, and even today seek to, create a socialist society in India on the lines of what was achieved in Europe. Ambedkar says that such a system is doomed to failure in India unless the caste problem is addressed. The aim of economic distribution of wealth to produce equality cannot work as long as economic wealth is concentrated in the hands of the upper castes. Only when the social causes that enable this concentration of wealth are removed can economic reform really benefit the oppressed classes. Ambedkar says, 'The socialists of India, following their fellows in Europe, are seeking to apply the economic interpretation of history to the facts of India. They propound that man is an economic creature, that his activities and aspirations are bound by the economic facts, that prosperity is the only source of power. They therefore preach that political and social reforms are but gigantic illusions, and that economic reform by equalisation of property must have precedence over every other kind of reform. One may join issue with every one of these premises - on which rests the socialists' case for economic reform as having priority over every other kind of reform. One may content that the economic motive is not the only motive by which man is actuated. That economic power is the only kind of power, no student of human society can accept.' He also talks about the power that religion holds in India and the reverence that Indian society has for the priest. He says, 'That the social status of the individual by itself often becomes a source of power and authority is made clear by the sway which the Mahatmas have held over the common man. Why do millionaires in India obey penniless sadhus and fakirs? Why do millions in India sell their trifling trinkets which constitute their only wealth, and go to Benaras and Mecca? That religion is the source of power is illustrated by the history of India, where the priest holds sway over the common man often greater than that of the magistrate, and where everything, even such things as strikes and elections, so easily take a religious turn and can so easily be given a religious twist.' Ambedkar says that the caste-system must first be abolished, especially those aspects of it that enable one caste to oppress another. He says, 'Now the question I would like to ask is: Is it enough for a socialist to say, " I believe in perfect equality in the treatment of the various classes?" To say that such a belief is enough is to disclose a complete lack of understanding of what is involved in socialism. If socialism is a practical programme and not merely an ideal, distant and far off, the question for a socialist is not whether he believes in equality. The question for him is whether he minds one class ill-treating another class as a matter of system, as a matter of principle - and thus allowing tyranny and oppression to continue to divide one class from another.' He says, 'That the social order prevalent in India is a matter which a socialist must deal with; that unless he does so he cannot achieve his revolution; and that if he does achieve it as a result of good fortune, he will have to grapple with the social order if he wishes to realise his ideal - is a proposition which in my opinion is incontrovertible. He will be compelled to take account of caste after the revolution, if he does not take account of it before the revolution. This is only another way of saying that, turn in any direction you like, caste is the monster that crosses your path. You cannot have political reform, you cannot have economic reform, unless you kill this monster.'

Today, more than 75 years after so-called Indian independence, we see a plethora of political parties that make it appear to the masses that they have representatives and voices in the administration of the country who will protect their interests. Unfortunately for India's gullible masses, all these representatives are only birds of a feather. The Indian political classes are completely dominated by upper caste and upper class individuals, irrespective of religious background, who work cohesively to ensure that the people stay oppressed and that the divide between upper caste and lower caste, upper class and lower class remains intact. Nearly every Indian politician is obscenely wealthy, coming from families that have been landlords or having acquired wealth through legal and illegal businesses that have destroyed the people and the natural resources of the country. A majority of Indian politicians are criminals, with serious offences like murder and rape. The masses have been corrupted by seeing these people as their leaders for so long that they themselves aspire to be like them. Thus, repeatedly, in the name of democracy and a rule of the people, by the people, for the people, the country has been systematically looted and laid to waste. A recent report stated that the wealth gap between the rich and the poor in India was now even greater than during British colonial times. 

The strategies employed by the political class, irrespective of ideology, are common. It is the creation of division in society based on caste, religion, wealth, skin color, education, language and every possible way in which such divisions can be fostered. The imbecility of the masses means that the people keep falling for the same tricks time and time again. The concentration of wealth and power among the upper classes and castes has meant that they now have sophisticated means, such as technology and surveillence, besides the traditional weapons of the elites - the army, press, police, judiciary, media, patriotism and education - to increasingly keep the divisions going for their own benefit.

The opposition to ganja and charas is one area in which the polictical classes are united because ganja and charas will dissolve and erode the divisive barriers in society that enable the corrupt political classes to retain power and thrive. Ganja and charas will greatly increase and strengthen the 'organic filaments' that Carlyle and Ambedkar spoke were essential for an ideal and cohesive society. Ganja and charas will bring empathy and collaboration across Indian society and strengthen the minds and bodies of Indian society to realize the oneness of humans and nature and the importance of the concepts of liberty, equality, fraternity and love for nature.

The current Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, shows a lot of similarities with Gandhi that are quite disturbing. He has blatantly sided with the richest businessmen in India, who fueled his rise to the top, by helping them to amass great wealth during his tenure. For Gandhi, his sponsors were the mill owners like Birla. For Modi, it is the petrochemical kings - Adani and Ambani - as well as the synthetic pharmaceutical industries and the opioid industry. Like Gandhi, Modi speaks a different language depending on the audience he is addressing. To the global audience, he talks about India's commitment to peace, democracy, protecting minorities, human rights, freedom of press, etc. To his native Hindutva audience he preaches discord against the Muslims, India's post independence leaders, and the brand of Hinduism that advocates the caste-system. He has a particular affinity for similar autocratic leaders across the world such as Trump, Putin and Xi who look to ensure that the ruling elites maintain a firm grip over the world and protect the anti-cannabis industries. Like Gandhi, Modi portrays himself as half saint - half politician. When key elections approach, Modi dons the attire of the saint and publicizes himself meditating at various appropriate locations. Under his rule, India has achieved a number of ignominous ranks in various measures, including: human development, poverty, inequality, happiness, democracy, freedom of press, etc. It also tops various charts where the aim is to be as low-ranked as possible, such as: import of arms; population; diseases like diabetes, obesity and tuberculosis; unemployed youth; corruption; internet shutdowns, etc. Modi's party, the BJP, recieves immense funding from the Indian upper castes and classes to ensure that the status quo is maintained. The BJP is the culmination of the bonhomie between the British colonists and the Indian upper castes that led to the establishment of colonial rule in India and the subsequent suppression of India's working classes, minorities, indigenous communities and poor. For India's public that worshipped Gandhi, even as he worked to keep the oppressed classes down, Modi is another god who has been divinely sent to make India great again.

On his lack of faith in the leaders of the Hindus, including Gandhi, being able to reform Hindu society, Ambedkar says, in his Reply to the Mahatma, 'Hindu society seems to me to stand in need of a moral regeneration which it is dangerous to postpone. And the question is, who can determine and control this moral regeneration? Obviously, only those who have undergone an intellectual regeneration and those who are honest enough to have the courage of their convictions born of intellectual emancipation. Judged by this standard, Judged by this standard, the Hindu leaders who count are, in my opinion, quite unfit for the task. It is impossible to say that they have undergone the preliminary intellectual regeneration. If they had undergone an intellectual regeneration, they would neither delude themselves in the simple way of the untaught multitude, nor would they take advantage of the primitive ignorance of others as one sees them doing...Notwithstanding the crumbling state of Hindu society, these leaders will nevertheless unblushingly appeal to ideals of the past which have in every way ceased to have any connection with the present - ideals which, however suitable they might have been in the days of their origin, have now become a warning rather than a guide. They still have a mystic respect for the earlier forms which makes them disinclined - nay, opposed - to any examination of the foundation of their society. The Hindu masses are of course incredibly heedless in the formation of their beliefs. But so are the Hindu leaders. And what is worse is that these Hindu leaders become filled with an illicit passion for their beliefs when anyone proposes to rob them of their companionship...The Mahatma is no exception. The Mahatma appears not to believe in thinking. He prefers to follow the saints. Like a conservative with his reverence for consecrated notions, he is afraid that if he once starts thinking, many ideals and institutions to which he clings will be doomed. One must sympathise with him. For every act of independent thinking puts some part of an apparently stable world in peril...Unlike the Mahatma, there are Hindu leaders who are not content merely to believe and follow. They dare to think, and act in accordance with the result of their thinking. But unfortunately they are either a dishonest lot, or an indifferent lot when it comes to the question of giving right guidance to the mass of people. Almost every Brahmin has transgressed the rule of caste. The number of Brahmins who sell shoes is far greater than those who practise priesthood. Not only have the Brahmins given up their ancestral calling of priesthood for trading, but they have entered trades which are prohibited to them by the shastras. Yet how many Brahmins who break caste every day will preach against caste and against the shastras?...For one honest Brahmin preaching against caste and shastras because his practical instinct and moral conscience cannot support a conviction in them, there are hundreds who break caste and trample upon the shastras every day, but who are the most fanatical upholders of the theory of caste and the sincerity of the shastras. Why this duplicity? Because they feel that if the masses are emancipated from the yoke of caste, they would be a menace to the power and the prestige of the Brahmins as a class. The dishonesty of this intellectual class, who would deny the masses the fruits of their thinking, is a most disgraceful phenomenon...The Hindus, in the words of Mathew Arnold, are "wandering between two worlds, one dead, the other powerless to be born". What are they to do? The Mahatma to whom they appeal to for guidance does not believe in thinking, and can therefore give no guidance which can be said to stand the test of experience. The intellectual classes to whom the masses look for guidance are either too dishonest or too indifferent to educate them in the right direction. We are indeed witnesses to a great tragedy. In the face of this tragedy, all one can do is to lament and say - such are thy leaders, O Hindus!'

In April 2021, I wrote, 'Cleaning up governance by banning political parties is not such a herculean task. All it requires is that the institutions set up to safeguard the Constitution and protect the people, such as the Supreme Court and the Election Commission, do their jobs properly. Some simple mandatory criteria for a political party to be legit, will achieve the goal of ridding politics of its bane, the political party, within the blink of an eye. They are: no person with a criminal or corruption record must be provided membership to a political party; no donations must be made to political parties from undisclosed sources. Amounts donated must also be disclosed under RTI; gender, race and economic equity must be mandatory within a party; parties must declare income, pay income tax and submit themselves to income audits like all other organizations; shifting political parties when one currently holds a post as elected representative is prohibited.'

Cannabis Prohibition Advocacy Groups

Cannabis prohibition advocacy groups in India work either with the misplaced zeal of complete ignorance of the real nature of drug addiction, or with the ulterior motive of keeping the anti-ganja propaganda alive in the minds of Indian society, especially the youth. These groups are generally funded by the synthetic pharmaceutical industry, the medical industry, law enforcement, drug rehabilitation centers, the media, educational institutions and religious orthodoxy and work together with these entities to run anti-ganja campaigns. The fact that synthetic drugs (including prescription medicine), alcohol and opioids are the dangerous and addictive substances while ganja is the least addictive and harmful is something that these groups are either unaware of or chose to ignore. Most of these groups do not exercise their intelligence to recognize that the root cause of the drug menace in society is the prohibition of ganja and charas that leads to: its sale through the black market that targets youth; the addiction to and abuse of synthetic prescription drugs and opioids for which physicians and parents are significant causes as they themselves abuse these drugs and prescribe them for their family members and friends, including the young; the abuse of alcohol and tobacco - the legal drugs sanctioned by the state.

Most of these anti-ganja advocacy groups are run by upper caste individuals who view intoxication as a prohibited pleasure. Even as the members of these prohibition groups get high on synthetic pharmaceutical drugs, the delusion of thinking that they are reforming society, the moral superiority over the ganja-smoker and the attention that they get from society, they try to prevent the intelligent ganja-smoker from pursuing the natural and healthy high of smoking the medicinal ganja and charas.

Anti-ganja advocacy groups are among the key perpetrators of the anti-ganja myths, such as: ganja destroys the youth; ganja increases crime in society and is used by criminals; ganja causes insanity; ganja is addictive and harmful; only the lowest classes and castes use ganja; and so on. We see that anti-ganja prohibition groups were at work during the 19th century itself in India, especially in Bengal, where they posed as social reformers and spread the message that enlightened and educated societies must follow the preachings of the British and shun ganja as a social evil. I am certain that many of these persons were partakers of bhang and did not see anything wrong with it. Today, anti-ganja prohibition groups in India probably recieve funding from international entities as well much like the Christian and Islamic orthodoxy. In the war on ganja, anti-ganja advocacy groups can be considered as part of the foot soldiers.

The construction industry

Many people will wonder how the construction industry can be opposed to cannabis legalization. When we see that the primary building materials used by the modern construction industry consist of concrete, which is essentially a byproduct of the burning of coal to generate thermal power, and that hempcrete - made of hemp biomass - is a sustainable and renewable alternative to concrete, then we can understand why the construction industry could be opposed to cannabis legalization, especially for industrial purposes.

Hempcrete has been found to have insulation, energy saving, cooling and biodegradability that is far superior to concrete. The use of hemp in construction on large scales will result in the reduction of the urban heat islands that most of our cities, and increasingly our rural areas are becoming. The cost effectiveness of hempcrete and the simplification of the construction process that it represents, drastically bringing down the need for heavy equipment and machinery for construction, transportation and disposal, will completely alter the construction industry, making it renewable, sustainable, biodegradable and affordable. The goals of affordable housing for all can be easily met with hempcrete. But the fossil fuel industry, of which the construction industry is an offshoot, is powerful and highly influential. The construction industry itself is so wealthy and powerful, again run by India's upper classes and upper castes, that this sort of complete overhaul of the industry will directly impact a number of core and ancillary industries that rely on concrete based construction, including the steel, iron and glass industries. We are seeing the rapid adoption of hempcrete in the US, Europe and Africa. A few startups in India have brought hempcrete into increasing focus but for large scale adoption cannabis must be cultivated as one of India's major agricultural crops.

The heartlessness and soul-lessness of concrete as it increasingly makes India's landscape dull and bleak is a good indicator of India's increasing disconnect with nature. In the name of development, the Indian government diverts vast amounts of the taxpayers' money into building concrete-based infrastructure as a part of every annual budget. Large-scale concrete based construction projects fill the pockets of the construction and fossil fuel industry, lines to pockets of politicians and bureaucrats and paves the way for a society where the rich can glide in their fast cars to their businesses and pleasures, even as the working classes toil to make this world a reality and find themselves living on the fringes of this world. The use of hempcrete as a significant construction material, and the use of concrete only where it is absolutely necessary will greatly combat climate change and reduce the carbon footprint of India.

The petrochemical industry

The petrochemical industry in India is the source of many of the industries that have devastated India, making it the third largest source of carbon emissions in the world. Besides the direct use of petrochemicals for industry and transport, the industry spawns a myriad of byproducts that are the pillars of the unsustainable development. Non-biodegradable plastics, synthetic fabrics and textiles, chemical fertilizers and pesticides, synthetic pharmaceutical medicines, the illegal synthetic drug industry, all rely on the petrochemical industry to provide the raw materials for their products. The introduction of cannabis in industry will make all these downstream industries sustainable. It will also develop the biofuel industry as a renewable sustainable alternative to petrochemicals for transport. The use of industrial cannabis to develop the bodies of transportation vehicles will make the transportation industry more sustainable.

The petrochemical industry leaders are the richest men in India today, and among the richest in the world. They directly fund the prime minister and his political party, and all decisions made by the ruling politicians are done keeping the interests of the petrochemical industry at the forefront.

The fake pandemic Covid was a great boost to the petrochemical industry as the entire nation was exhorted and forced to use the products of the petrochemical industry - the face masks, sanitizers, disinfectants, PPE kits, gloves, etc., - in the name of public health. The petrochemical industry is, obviously, ruled by the Indian upper castes, especially the business class from Gujarat, the home state of India's leading politicians and members of the ruling party. The money gained from the fake pandemic funded subsequent national elections and enabled the ruling party to win for a third successive term. In February 2021, I heard a government Covid jingle on All India Radio - "Covid ko hum rokhenge...mask nahin tho tokkenge..." which basically translates to "We will stop Covid...If you don't wear a mask, we will shoot you."

The medical industry

In India, the physician, along with the priest, is the closest thing to god in human form. Today, physicians are nothing but front-end salesmen for the synthetic pharmaceutical industry and the opioid industry. Medical education is essentially education in synthetic pharmaceutical drugs, preparing the physician for the life ahead as synthetic pharmaceutical salesman. The physicians, as a class, are completely dominated by the upper castes and classes. Whole generations of upper caste families practice the trade of physician as an ancestral occupation. The hostility that this profession has for any threats to their domination by the lower classes and castes is clearly evident from the suicides of lower caste medical students who manage to beat all odds and enter these medical institutions. 

Physicians are among the most vocal opponents of cannabis as medicine as it will mean a reduction in the use and sales of synthetic pharmaceutical drugs, and therefore the kickbacks that these physicians get from the pharma industry. Physicians therefore leverage their much respected positions in society to spread anti-ganja propaganda, including associating ganja with deaths from other causes. The Indian physician who recommends a reduction in the use of synthetic pharma drugs is rare. The Indian physician who recommends the use of ganja and charas as medicine is even more rare. When one considers that British physicians in 19th century India were open to considering cannabis as effective medicine, the complete fanatical opposition of the Indian medical industry to ganja and charas shows the delusional bubble within which they live. Not only are physicians opposed to ganja and charas, they are themselves very often addicted to the synthetic pharma drugs that they have easy access to, right from the time that they enter medical colleges.

Physicians were also largely instrumental in making the Covid scam a success as they indiscriminately prescribed all kinds of synthetic pharmaceutical drugs to patients in the name of Covid treatment and exhorted the public to take the 'vaccines' in the name of public health. The legalization of ganja and charas will greatly affect the medical community, especially the ones who rely on synthetic pharmaceutical drugs to accrue and amass great wealth. For the few, rare physicians for whom the health of the individual, especially of the poorest classes of society, is paramount, ganja and charas legalization will mean the opportunity to make universal healthcare a reality, and medicine a sustainable, affordable field.

The Indian medical community is, by and large, opposed to cannabis and all forms of natural medicine. Those who are even slightly inclined to cannabis as medicine, are looking to maximize their returns by turning the herb cannabis into a pharmaceutical drug that can be packaged and sold to the elite upper classes and castes. The issue of returning the herb back to the masses to whom it rightfully belongs, and the fact that complete cannabis legalization is the most effective way to improve public health in India, is predictably overlooked. Deccan Herald reported in 2019 that '"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.' 

In April 2021, I wrote, 'Wearing masks in the stifling Indian summer heat is something that only madmen can demand, but you do it anyway so as to not be labelled mad yourself. As you gasp for breath under the mask, a new device from the medical industry is available, the oximeter. Check your oxygen saturation levels and impress everyone around you with your health and tech savvy. If the levels are below the standard that completely disregards individuality and context, just like blood pressure and blood sugar standards, you may go into panic. You might even pop a paracetamol, or some of the designer opioids or remdesivir from your new drug stash. You could become even more breathless, and the mounting panic may send you into a state of hysteria and near asphyxiation. Don't worry, some alert family member around you will ferry you to the nearby hospital, where they wait for you in PPE kits with open arms, injections, ventilators and oxygen cylinders. A hit of oxygen is comparable to all the other synthetic drugs that you've been tripping on, no? Everybody, including you, will agree that a few days dosing on all this is a great idea. If you don't make it, don't worry, your family members will pay the fat bill that awaits. If you do, buy some more masks, paracetamol and oximeters for the family. The medical insurance should anyway cover most of it....err, is there a vaccination slot free anytime soon?'

The religious orthodoxy

We saw from the evidence given by the Indian upper castes and classes to the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission how the priests of the religious orthodoxy of the Vaishnavite and Vedic religions were opposed to ganja and charas, calling it the drug of the lowest castes, outcasts and prostitutes. They stated that ganja and charas were not sanctioned by the religios scriptures, which incidentally was written by them. In this way, the religious orthodoxy directly attacked Shaivism and the non-caste-based religions of India. The Vaishnavite religious orthodoxy use the Ramayana and Mahabharatha to keep the caste-system alive. They were largely instrumental in convincing the naive British that bhang and ganja were two different drugs, that bhang was medicinal and healthy and ganja was addictive and harmful. As Ambedkar wrote in his Annihilation of Caste speech, the destruction of the caste system in India can only be achieved by the rejection of the superiority of the religious orthodoxy and the scriptures that they preach. While Ambedkar proposed intermarrying as possibly the most effective way to break down the caste system and the hold that the religious orthodoxy have over the people, I believe that this is not an effective process by itself. Intermarrying between castes has been practiced for more than 75 years now, at least among urban populations, but it has hardly dented the widespread dominance that the religious orthodoxy have over the people. The ineffectiveness of intermarrying as a solution to breaking down the caste system, specifically the oppression by the upper caste religious orthodoxy or Brahmins of the lower castes, minorities and indigenous communities is because: more than half the adult population in India is already married; for all the youth from the upper castes to marry the lower castes will take many generations; marriage is about chosing a partner to raise a family with as the primary goal, not about bringing social reform; while men from the upper castes may choose women from the lower castes, how many women from the upper castes will agree to marry men from the lower castes in a society where women are as oppressed as the lower castes?

What I believe is that the complete legalization of ganja and charas, and its acknowledgement as the divine herb of Siva, the casteless god, and the numerous nature-worshipping communities in India is the most effective way to break down the caste system. It is an instantaneous change that will impact the entire population of India and show that the religious scriptures that the religious orthodoxy use to claim that ganja is not sanctioned by religion is false, or atleast the claims of these religious orthodoxy are false  The recognition by the people of India that ganja is the supreme entheogen that reveals the unity of god, human and nature will be a more effective way to break down the caste system and the power and reverence that the religious orthodoxy holds. Once ganja is recognized as the divine entheogen that it is, then the people who use it can be recognized for who they really are - equals to every caste and class in society. The legalization of ganja and charas completely will enable the lower classes and castes to use it as their medicine and means of sustainable livelihood and enable them to raise themselves from the depths of poverty and oppression. Ganja cultivation by India's majority small farmers will elevate them economically and socially. 

Contrary to what many people think, it is not only the caste-based religions of Vaishnavism and the Vedas that practice the caste-system that is at the root of ganja and charas prohibition in India. Christianity, Islam and Sikhism in India are superimposed on the caste-system. Many of the indigenous communities and the lower castes who convert to these religions, or are born into these religions, discover that they are fitted into the lowest strata of these religions where the religious orthodoxy, businessmen and ruling classes form the upper castes. It is only the name of the religion that changes, but the functions of the lowest castes are the same - to serve the upper castes unquestioningly and not to cross their prescribed stations in life. All these religions share the same upper-caste rules as Vaishnavism and the Vedic religions, such as: prohibition of intoxication, especially alcohol and ganja; prohibition of all meat or some forms of meat; prohibition of sexual liberty; the superiority of the religious orthodoxy; and so on.

The religious orthodoxy draws its power from the support of the businessmen and the ruling elites. When the oppressed classes become sustainable, physically and mentally strong, the power of the religious orthodoxy will conversely decrease, as increasing awareness will reveal the hypocrisy and falsehood of the religious orthodoxy. Today, the religious orthodoxy have convinced the people that ganja and charas are prohibited by god, and that Siva's association with ganja and charas is either a myth or a fault of his. Those who wish to see Indian society shed its shackles of the caste system and the dominance of the religious orthodoxy of all religions over the people will do well to recognize that there is no path as potent as the path of ganja and charas legalization to make the people of India spiritual once again, and to establish the equality, fraternity and liberty that are currently only meaningless words in the Constitution of India far removed from reality.

Ambedkar writes about the way the religious orthodoxy and its scriptures have come in the way of caste becoming an unsurmountable barrier for the existence of the ideal Indian society. By stating that caste has religious sanction, because the upper caste Brahmin priests wrote and interpreted the scriptures, each caste was made an air-tight compartment. Ambedkar writes, 'Religion compels Hindus to treat isolation and segregation of castes as a virtue. Religion does not compel the non-Hindus to take the same attitude towards caste. If Hindus wish to break caste, their religion will come in their way. But it will not be so in the case of non-Hindus. It is, therefore, a dangerous delusion to take comfort in the mere existence of caste among non-Hindus, without caring to know what place caste occupies in their life and whether there are other "organic filaments" which subordinate the feeling of caste to the feeling of community. The sooner the Hindus are cured of this delusion, the better.' He says, 'Caste may be bad. Caste may lead to conduct so gross as to be called man's inhumanity to man. All the same, it must be recognised that the Hindus observe caste not because they are inhuman or wrong-headed. They observe caste because they are deeplu religious. People are not wrong in observing caste. In my view, what is wrong is their religion, which has inculcated the notion of caste. If this is correct, then obviously the enemy you must grapple with is not the people who observe caste, but the shastras which teach them this religion of caste. Criticising and ridiculing people for not inter-dining of intermarrying, or occasionally holding inter-caste dinners and celebrating inter-caste marriages, is a futile method for achieving the desired end. The real remedy is to destroy the belief in the sanctity of the shastras...The Hindus hold to the sacredness of the social order. Caste has a divine basis. You must therefore destroy the sacredness and divinity with which caste has become invested. In the last analysis, this means you must destroy the authority of the shastras and the Vedas.'

One of the most fundamental rules of society is that religion and politics should not mix because if their aims are not aligned then one comes in the way of the other. Gandhi is a classic example of the problem of mixing religion with politics. His constant attempt to play two roles that were anti-thetical to each other resulted in the confusion that was created post-independence. Ambedkar says, 'Some may not understand what I mean by destruction of religion, some may find the idea revolting to them, and some may find it revolutionary. Let me therefore explain my position. I do not know whether you draw a distinction between principles and rules. But I do. Not only do I make a distinction, but I say that this distinction is real and important. Rules are practical; they are habitual ways of doing things according to prescription. But principles are intellectual; they are useful methods of judging things. Rules seek to tell an agent just what course of action to pursue. Principles do not prescribe a specific course of action. Rules, like cooking recipes, do tell just what to do and how to do it. A principle, such as that of justice, supplies a main heading by reference to which he is to consider the bearings of his desires and purposes; it guides him in his thinking by suggesting to him the important consideration which he should bear in mind...The difference between rules and principles makes the acts done in pursuit of them different in quality and in content.  Doing what is said to be good by virtue of a rule and doing what is good in the light of a principle are two different things. The principle may be wrong, but the act is conscious and responsible. The rule may be right, but the act is mechanical. A religious act may be a correct act, but must be at least a responsible act. To permit of this responsibility, religion must mainly be a matter of principles only. It cannot be a matter of rules. The moment it degenrates into rules, it ceases to be religion, as it kills the responsibility which is the essence of a truly religious act...What is this Hindu religion? Is it a set of principles, or is it a code of rules? Now the Hindu religion, as contained in the Vedas and the smritis, is nothing but a mass of sacrificial, social, political, and sanitary rules and regulations, all mixed up. What is called religion by the Hindues is nothing but a multitude of commands and prohibitions. Religion, in the sense of spiritual principles, truly universal, applicable to all races, to all countries, to all times, is not to be found in them, and if it is, it does not form a governing part of a Hindu's life. That for a Hindu dharma means commands and prohibitions is clear from the way the word dharma is used in the Vedas and the smritis and understood by the commentators. The word dharma as used in the Vedas in most cases means religious ordinances or rites. Even Jaimini in his 'Purva Mimamsa' defines dharma as "a desirable goal or reult that is indicated by injunctive (Vedic) passages."...To put it in plain language, what the Hindus call religion is really law, or at best legalised class-ethics. Frankly, I refuse to call this code of ordinances as religion. The first evil of such a code of ordinances, misrepresented to the people as religion, is that it tends to deprive moral life of freedom and spontaneity, and to reduce it (for the conscientious, at any rate) to a more or less anxious and servile conformity to externally imposed rules. Under it, there is no loyalty to ideals; there is only conformity to commands...But the worst evil of this code of ordinances is that the laws it contains must be the same yesterday, today and forever. They are iniquitous in that they are not the same for one class as for another. But this iniquity is made perpetual in that they are prescribed to be the same for all generations. The objectionable part of such a scheme is not that they are made by certain persons called prophets or law-givers. The objectionable part is that this code has been invested with the character of finality and fixity. Happiness notoriously varies with the conditions and circumstances of a person, as well as with the conditions of different people and epochs. That being the case, how can humanity endure this code of eternal laws, without being cramped and without being crippled?...I have, therefore, no hesitation in saying that such a religion must be destroyed, and I say there is nothing irreligious in working for the destruction of such a religion. Indeed I hold that it is your bounden duty to tear off the mask, to remove the misrepresentation caused by misnaming this law as religion. This is an essential step for you.  Once you clear the minds of the people of this misconception and enable them to realise that what they are told is religion is not religion, but that it is really law, you will be in a position to urge its amendment or abolition...So long as people look upon it as religion they will not be ready for a change, because the idea of religion is generally speaking not associated with the idea of change. But the idea of law is associated with the idea of change, and when people come to know that what is called religion is really law, old and archaic, they will be ready for a change, for people know and accept that law can be changed.'

Ambedkar felt that religious reform is the way to address the menace of the caste-based religions and the mixing of politics with religion. He suggested a few religious reforms to take the power away from the caste-based religions. He says, 'Indeed, I am so convinced of the necessity of religion that I feel I ought to tell you in outline what I regard as necessary items in this religious reform. The following, in my opinion, should be the cardinal items in this reform: 1. There should be one and only one standard book of Hindu religion, acceptable to all Hindus and recognised by all Hindus. This of course means that all other books of Hindu religion such as Vedas, shastras, and puranas, which are treated as sacred and authoritative, must by law cease to be so, and the preaching of any doctrine, religious or social, contained in these books should be penalised; 2. It would be better if priesthood among Hindus were abolished. But as this seems to be impossible, the priesthood must at least cease to be heriditary. Every person who professes to be a Hindu must be eligible for being a priest. It should be provided by law that no Hindu shall be entitled to be a priest unless he has passed an examination prescribed by the state, and holds a 'sanad' from the state permitting him to practise; 3. No ceremony performed by a priest who does not hold a sanad shall be deemed to be valid in law, and it should be made penal for a person who has no sanad to officiate as a priest; 4. A priest should be a servant of the state, and should be subject to the disciplinary action of the state in the matter of his morals, beliefs, and worship, in addition to his being subject along with other citizens to the ordinary law of the land; 5. The number of priests should be limited by law according to the requirements of the state, as is done in the case if the ICS [Indian Civil Service].' On the separation of religion from politics, he says, 'Morality and religion, therefore, are not mere matters of likes and dislikes. You may dislike exceedingly a scheme of morality which, if universally practiced within a nation, would make that nation the strongest nation on the face of the earth. Yet in spite of your dislike, such a nation will become strong. You may like exceedingly a scheme of morality and an ideal of justice which, if universally practiced within a nation, would make it unable to hold its own in the struggle with other nations. Yet in spite of your admiration, this nation will eventually disappear. The Hindus must, therefore, examine their religion and their morality in terms of their survival value...The principle, which makes little of the present act of living and growing, naturally looks upon the present as empty and upon the future as remote. Such a principle is inimical to progress and a hindrance to a strong and a steady current of life.'

Regarding the priest or Brahmin caste, Arundhati Roy wrote in The Doctor and the Saint, 'According to Ambedkar, Brahmins, who were 3 per cent of the population in the Madras Presidency in 1948, held 37 per cent of the gazetted posts and 43 per cent of the non-gazetted post in government jobs.' Khushwant Singh wrote in 1990, in Brahmin Power, 'Brahmins form no more than 3.5 per cent of the population of our country...today they hold as much as 70 per cent of government jobs. I presume the figure refers only to gazetted posts. In the senior echelons of the civil service from the rank of deputy secretaries upward, out of 500 there are 310 Brahmins, i.e. 63 per cent, of the 26 state chief secretaries, 19 are Brahmins; of the 27 Governors and Lt. Governors, 13 are Brahmins; of the 16 Supreme Court Judges, 9 are Brahmins; of the 330 judges of the High Courts, 166 are Brahmins; of 140 ambassadors, 58 are Brahmins; of the total 3,300 IAS officers, 2,376 are Brahmins. They do equally well in electoral posts; of the 508 Lok Sabha members, 190 were Brahmins, of 244 in the Rajya Sabha, 89 were Brahmins. These statistics clearly prove that the 3.5 per cent of Brahmin community of India holds between 36 per cent to 63 per cent of all plum jobs available in the country. How this has come about I do not know. But I can scarcely believe that it is entirely due to the Brahmin's higher IQ.' Regarding the judiciary in India, Arundhati Roy wrote in The Doctor and the Saint, 'According to the CSDS study, 47 per cent of all Supreme Court Chief Justices between 1950 and 2000 were Brahmins. During this period, 40 per cent of the Associate Justices of the High Court and lower courts were Brahmin. The Backward Classes Commission, in a 2007 report, said that 37.17 per cent of the Indian bureaucracy was made up of Brahmins. Most of them occupied the top posts.' I got a first hand experience of the role that the judiciary in India plays in keeping ganja and charas prohibited and the caste system intact, when I approached the Supreme Court of India asking that ganja and charas prohibition be removed as it violated the fundamental rights to life through safe intoxicant, medicine and entheogen and the right to practice sustainable livelihood through ganja and the right against discrimination that I, and hundreds of millions of Indians like me, faced due to ganja and charas prohibition. The top judiciary's response was ferocious and instant. It passed the buck to the legislature - another area of Indian society dominated by the upper castes - and threatened me with penal action.

The impact of the three global religions - Buddhism, Christianity and Islam - on reinforcing the global caste and class systems - can be felt to this day. These religions came on the heels of Platonic classes and the castes of the Vedic religions and Vaishnavism. With Platonic classes and the caste-system of the Vedas and Vaishnavism, inequality, exclusion and hierarchy had already been introduced into human society. The subsequent religions helped to reinforce this inequality, exclusion and hierarchy. The separation of humans from the natural world, the suppression of certain communities and the alienation of the female were all increasingly evident through these religions and time. Claude Levy-Strauss wrote in Tristes Tropiques, 'Mankind has made three major religious attempts to free itself from persecution by the dead, the malevolence of the Beyond and the anguish of magic. Over intervals of approximately 500 years it originated in tuern Buddhism, Christianity and Islam; it is a striking fact that each stage, far from constituting an advance on the previous one, should be seen rather as a regression. For Buddhism, there is no Beyond: its whole teaching can be summarized as a radical criticism of life, such as humanity would bever again be capable of, leading the sage to deny all meaning to beings and things; it is a discipline which abolishes the universe, and abolishes itself as a religion. Christianity, yielding again to fear, restored the other world, with its hopes, its threats and its last judgement. It only remained for Islam to bind this world to the other world: temporal and spiritual were brought together. The social order acquired the prestige of the supernatural order, and politics became theology. In the last resort, the spirits and phantoms, which superstition had always failed to bring to life, were replaced by masters who were only too real, and who were furthermore allowed to monopolize an after-life which added its burden to the already crushing weight of life here below.' These religions not only brought separation from the natural world and the female, they also created the east-west divide where there had been an opportunity for unification of the world through recognition of all communities, nature and the female as different facets of the one eternal spirit that runs through all things. Claude Levy-Strauss was particularly critical of Islam. He wrote, 'Islam cut a more civilized world in two. What appears modern to it belongs to a bygone age; it is living with a time lag of a thousand years. It was able to accomplish a revolutionary mission, but since this mission affected a backward section of mankind, Islam fertilized actuality and sterilized potentiality: it brought about a form of progress which is the reverse of a project. If the West traces its internal tensions back to their source, it will see that Islam, by coming between Buddhism and Christianity, Islamisized us at a time when the West, by taking part in the crusades, was involved in opposing it and therefore came to resemble it, instead of undergoing - had Islam never come into being - a slow process of osmosis with Buddhism, which would have Christianized us still further, and would have made us all the more Christian in that we would have gone back beyond Christianity itself. It was then that the West lost the opportunity to remain female.' Levy-Strauss' criticism of Islam can be applied as relevantly to the caste-based religions and what they did to Indian society.

As Ambedkar stated, when religious principles cross their boundaries and become laws, that is when the problem arises. That is when religion has entered politics and corrupted it. The religious morals of one religion take precedence over the morals of other religions, and through the establishment of laws, one religion oppresses another. Then society loses its ability to remain fluid and cohesive. It does however greatly increase the power of the priest who now becomes lawmaker. Friedrich Nietzsche wrote in The Will to Power, 'Preoccupation with moral issues indicates a low passion in the intellectual hierarchy; a man thereby shows that he lacks an instinctive sense of privilege, of being a parte, the sense of freedom possessed by those who are naturally creative, by those who are 'children of God' (or the Devil). And regardless of whether he preaches the prevailing morality or criticizes it for failing to meet his own ideal, he shows that he belongs to the herd - even if only as its foremost need, as its 'shepherd'...' When the laws based on religion come into effect then the social and cultural traditions of the oppressed communities come to be greatly affected. Wherever religion has corrupted politics we see moral-based laws selectively chosen in order to propagate the state-sponsored religion. These moral laws include what one should eat, drink, wear and spend one's time on as occupation. Intoxication, sexuality, the eating of meat and smoking are typically the target of most moral-based religious principles that have become laws in different lands across the world. These are practices associated with the non-caste and class based pagan communities of the world, leading the religious orthodoxy to label them as evil actions propagated by the Devil. It is interesting to see that as a result of this, what is typically called the Devil in Islam and Christianity, and demonic in the Vedas and Vaishnavism, is in fact the gods of the non-caste religions that preceded them. Therefore Dionysius, Siva, Osiris, Jehovah become the pagan gods of the caste and class based religions. 

Ambedkar's recommendations for reform

The tobacco industry

The British apparantly brought tobacco to India, if one is to believe that tobacco was 'discovered' by European colonists in South America where it was being used by native Indians there. If this is true, then it begs the question that what where the Indians in India smoking till the 17th century? If there was no tobacco in India till the 17th century, then till that point Indians must have been smoking primarily cannabis. Opium is not endemic to India. If the Europeans introduced tobacco in India in the 16th - 17th century, then their measures to spread the use of tobacco were so effective that we see by the end of the 19th century, ganja and charas smokers were regularly mixing tobacco with their cannabis. 

My understanding is that the regulation of ganja and charas had been so successful by the end of the 19th century that it was so difficult to access the cannabis plant that Indians were forced to mix tobacco with it to obtain sufficient quantities for their daily consumption. It is a well-known fact that many British, French, Spanish and Portuguese businessmen fell in love with tobacco once they came into contact with it (which begs the question, what were Europeans smoking till they discovered tobacco?). They created huge tobacco plantations wherever they set foot and introduced the habit of tobacco-smoking among the local populations to increase the sale of tobacco and their own profits. Large numbers of the native populations were enslaved on tobacco plantations to cultivate the crop. 

Tobacco as a crop destroys the soil making it barren. The use of vast amounts of chemical fertlizers and pesticides are needed to cultivate tobacco, leading to further harm to the soil and the increase of carcinogens in tobacco leading to it becoming one of the key sources of cancer today. Lakhs of people die in India every year to what is called tobacco-related deaths. Is it just the plant itself that causes cancer or is it the process in which it is cultivated and manufactured that leads to the high number of deaths. My guess is that it is both.

When the British were trying to promote tobacco in India, the Indian upper castes joined hands with them. First, the Indian upper castes and classes started smoking tobacco and becoming brand ambassadors for it. They spread the message that tobacco is much healthier and safer than ganja. Nevermind that even if one smoked a kilogram of tobacco, one would not get the pleasure of a single puff of ganja. Over the years, tobacco was promoted over ganja, with prominent members of society flaunting their loyalty to the British and their newly found enlightement by smoking tobacco and exhorting the rest of society to follow suit. With the forceful removal of ganja and charas from society, the smoker was left with no choice but to start smoking the tobacco that started becoming freely available everywhere. It was only in the mid-1950s that reports started emerging from the west of the harms of tobacco smoking. Even as western society has pulled back on its tobacco consumption and started replacing it with ganja and charas, Indian society today continues its love for tobacco. The state makes huge revenue from tobacco sales, even as it shows seeming concern for public health by launching anti-tobacco campaigns and creating laws aimed at tobacco control like COPTA. What we see in India today is that the smoker is caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. There is no ganja or charas available. Tobacco smoking results in fines and increasing social ostracization and taxes. The ruling upper castes are once again spreading the message that smoking is harmful, the very message that they used to convince the public that bhang was healthy and ganja was harmful, and that these were two different drugs. The religious orthodoxy is again behind the narrative that smoking is harmful, that it is not sanctioned by the scriptures, etc. This is behind the behavior of the Sikhs who drink bhang but do not smoke ganja. The ridiculousness of the smoking is harmful argument can be see in the fact that it is one of the methods of detoxification employed in Ayurveda. Also, the fact that everybody seems to be concerned about smoking tobacco or ganja, while they busy themselves with driving cars that emit hundreds of carcinogens, burn crop stubble and use air-conditioners that run on the thermal power plant produced electricity which spews carcinogens into the atmosphere, burn trash on the streets, to name just a few sources of smoke in the atmosphere makes one want to laugh to death. 

Air pollution is one of the leading causes of death in India. As I have repeatedly said, if the control of tobacco-related harms is one of the goals in Indian society, then the legalization of ganja and charas is probably the most effective method to achieve this. But then, what about the vast revenue that the state gets from tobacco industry and the wealth and influence of the tobacco industry? The tobacco industry in India is surely one of the key opponents to ganja legalization in India, and the public is to naive to understand what is happening. In the Deccan Herald dated April 3rd, 2025, a legislative member of the ruling BJP stated that there is no conclusive evidence that air pollution is linked to mortality, completely defying all the scientific evidence from across the world for the last 200 years. If air pollution itself is not dangerous, then what is the problem with allowing an individual to smoke tobacco or ganja or anything else that he or she wishes to smoke? After all, the harms of smoking are almost entirely felt by the smoker himself or herself, with the issues from second hand smoking being much lesser than first hand smoking. 

The oppression of smokers in general is very high in India. Since ganja is illegal, tobacco is what is smoked through the length and breadth of the country today. For the upper castes and religious orthodoxy, the act of smoking itself is a sin. The oppositio of cannabis began with the opposition to smoking it since the upper castes only drank it. When cannabis was prohibited and the dangerous tobacco took its place, the upper castes have not even spared the tobacco users. Numerous anti-tobacco campaigns and oppressive tobacco control laws like COPTA target the poorer sections of society. It is forgotten that smoking is a human habit that began thousands of years ago. The Indian medical system of Ayurveda itself prescribes smoking as one of the ways to detoxify the body and to address medical issues concerning the head and neck. The ignorant upper castes created the propaganda that smoking is bad and banned ganja. They replaced it with tobacco stating that it was healthier than ganja, influenced by the British. Now, when it has been found that tobacco causes great harm, these upper castes are trying to take away even tobacco from the people. Much of India's ganja prohibition and tobacco control is driven by religious considerations. During the rule of the Mughals, many people converted to Islam but did not stop the ganja smoking that they had been practicing for thousands of years. These people came from the same social strata as non-Muslims, i.e. the fakirs, working classes, indigenous communities and the poor. The Hindu upper castes used this as an opportunity to spread the propaganda that ganja and charas smoking was mainly practiced by Muslims and so Hindus should shun it. We still see this religious prejudice against ganja and charas because it is used by Muslims. The Hindu reported about the ban on hookah centers in Bengaluru and the ignorance of the municipal officials enforcing this ban. The report said '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.' The amusing thing is that the religious orthodoxy in every place, irrespective of religion, propagate a ban on ganja stating that it is a practice of the pagan religions that must be shunned. 

The textile industry

One aspect of cannabis prohibition in India that is scarecely touched upon is the impact that this had on the textile industry. With the setting up of cotton mills in India and England, the small-scale weaver in India was destroyed. Not only the weaver, but also the industries that employed material other than cotton, such as hemp, jute, and other natural fibers were greatly affected. Cotton, a resource guzzling crop that reduces the fertility of the soil, was promoted by both the British and the Indian upper castes. Gandhi became a brand ambassador for cotton, using the spinning wheel as a symbol of independence and exhorting people across the nation to weave cotton. Much of his life in India and South Africa was under the sponsorship of Indian mill owners like Birla. Regarding the impact of the emphasis on cotton and the industrialized weaving introduced in the cotton mills, Claude Levy-Strauss wrote in Tristes Tropiques, 'However, one has to go into the villages to understand the tragic situation of these people, who are close to the most primitive communities in their customs, forms of habitation and way of life, yet who hold markets as elaborately laid out as a modern departmental store. Barely a hundred years ago, their homes littered the countryside. They were weavers and had been reduced to starvation and death through being forbidden by the colonial authorities to practice their traditional trade, so as to leave the market open for cotton goods from Manchester.' Through this, the British administration, in collaboration with the Indian upper castes, converted India into a cotton-cultivating nation where the farmers toiled in conditions similar to the Black slaves in the cotton-fields of the United States of America. The focus on cotton continues to this day, even as farmers kill themselves, the environment gets contaminated through overuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides and ground water gets depleted. To add to the monopoly that cotton enjoys in the textile field, we have the addition of synthetic petrochemical-based fibers, fabrics and textiles that magnify the negative impact of the fossil-fuel industry in the country.

From the time that the British developed their mechanized weaving mills in England and banned manual weaving in India so as to promote the English textile industry, India's weavers, almost all of whom are from the poorest sections of society, have suffered immensely. Not only did mechanized weaving disrupt India's small scale industry, the emphasis on cotton as the raw material meant that hemp, jute, silk and other materials started to become neglected. Cotton is highly unsustainable, requiring large amounts of water and other resources. It also greatly reduces soil fertility. But India's farmers were forced to cultivate cotton for fiber at the cost of all other materials. The cotton mills set up in India enslaved large numbers of the working classes, much like it did in England (as clearly depicted by Charles Dickens in Hard Times). Gandhi, as protector of the business castes of India, took up the role of trade union leader to negotiate between the workers and mill owners. He repeatedly discouraged the workers from striking for their rights. Gandhi's chief patron was the mill owner Birla. The people thought that he was on their side. In addition to this, Gandhi became a brand ambassador for cotton, extolling the virtues of spinning cotton on the spinning wheel, stating that it was the way to build self-reliance. One of the most enduring images of Gandhi is that of him at the spinning wheel creating homespun cotton fabric. Soon, the entire country was spinning cotton in what it thought was an act of defiance against the British colonists when in fact it was only promoting the use of cotton over much more sustainable natural fiber like jute or hemp.

Industrial cannabis or hemp is a much more sustainable crop for producing fiber for textiles and fabrics. The crop requires a fraction of the water and other resources that cotton requires. Besides this, cannabis sequesters carbon at rates equivalent to tropical forests and rejuvenates the soil. It can be grown organically with minimum need for chemical pesticides and fertilizers. The biomass left over from using cannabis for fiber can be used as animal feed and to produce paper, pulp and hempcrete, among other things. 

As if the near complete switch to cotton as the input for the textile industry was not bad enough, today we have petrochemicals providing the raw material for synthetic fabrics. These synthetic fabrics, like petrochemical-based-nonbiodegradable plastics, are cheap to produce and impossible to dispose. Thus, we see today that the poorest people in India do not have food to eat but they have more clothes than they will ever need. The low cost of synthetic fabrics has meant that there is a consumer culture of buying and throwing away clothes that are scarecely worn. These discarded synthetic fabrics end up in landfills and remain in the environment practically forever. Gandhi's successor Narendra Modi is working for the petrochemical industry bosses today to enable the mass production of synthetic fabrics, much like Gandhi worked with the mill owners for the mass production of cotton fabrics.

Globally, we see increasing awareness among leading manufacturers of apparels, including brands like Levi's, as they re-incorporate hemp-based fabrics into their industry. These fabrics are not only healing for the skin of the wearer, they are more durable and strong, and can be disposed sustainably. Due to the scarcity of hemp fabrics, it currently is a niche product that only the upper classes and castes can afford. If India takes up hemp cultivation for textiles and fabrics in a big way, it can replace cotton and synthetic fabrics, bringing sustainability across the manufacturing chain for textiles right from cultivation of crop to the disposal of used fabrics. China has embraced cannabis for textiles in a big way for the last five years, but in India it is only a handful of small startups that are looking at cannabis for textiles. 

The media

The media in India - print, TV, radio and internet - is dominated by the upper castes. Media houses are owned by persons with close affiliations to the ruling BJP or other political parties that are similarly dominated by the upper castes and classes. Given this, what the media projects to the people is what the upper castes and the ruling dispensation want the people to hear. All dissenting voices are silenced, and the rhetoric of the upper castes are projected as news. Any dissenting voice is labeled as anti-national. Freedom of speech is greatly suppressed. In terms of freedom of press, India finds itself among the bottom-ranked nations in the world. 

Regarding the media in India, Arundhati Roy wrote in The Doctor and the Saint, 'In 2006, CSDS did a survey on the social profile of New Delhi's media elite. Of the 315 key decision-makers surveyed from thirty-seven Delhi-based Hindi and English publications and television channels, almost 90 per cent of the decision-makers in the English language print media and 79 per cent in television were found to be 'upper-caste'. Of them, 49 per cent were Brahmins. Not one of the 315 was a Dalit or an Adivasi; only 4 per cent beloned to castes designated as Shudra, and 3 per cent were Muslim (who make up 13.4 per cent of the population).' She wrote that 'Of the four most important English national dailies, three are owned by Vaishyas and one by a Brahmin family concern. The Times Group (Bennett, Coleman Company Ltd), the largest mass media company in India, whose holdings include The Times of India and the 24-hour news channel Times Now, is owned by the Jain family (Banias). The Hindustan Times is owned by the Bhartiyas, who are Marwari Banias; The Indian Express by the Goenkas, also Marwari Banias; The Hindu isowned by a Brahmin family concern; the Dainik Jagran Hindu daily, which is the largest selling newspaper in India with a circulation of fifty-five million, is owned by the Gupta family, Banias from Kanpur. Dainik Bhaskar, among the most influential Hindi dailies with a circulation of 17.5 million, is owned by Agarwals, Banias again. Reliance Industries Ltd (owned by Mukesh Ambani, a Gujarati Bania) has controlling shares in twenty-seven major national and regional TV channels. The Zee TV network, one of the largest national TV news and entertainment networks, is owned by Subhash Chandra, also a Bania.'

Not a day goes by without media reports about cannabis seizures by police and excise officials. The value of cannabis seized overwhelmingly dominate drug seizure figures and portray these agencies in a positive light. For example, Deccan Herald reported some time back that in Bengaluru, 'Police seized 1,723 kg of ganja, 55.8 kg of opium, 40 grams of heroin, 1.02 kg of hashish oil, 467 grams of charas, 570 grams of cocaine, 3.19 kg of MDMA, 43 LSD strips, and 572 different types of tablets.' What the media, public and officials turn a blind eye to is the fact that cannabis is a herb and not a dangerous synthetic drug like heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine or MDMA. The amount of cannabis seized is a small fraction of the cannabis circulating in the black market. At the time of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission's study in 1894-95, when the British began regulating and prohibiting cannabis in India, one of the key concerns of the overwhelming majority of witnesses who opposed cannabis prohibition was the argument that cannabis prohibition was impossibly and required a large preventive system to enforce. 130 years down the line, this fact has only been further proven with the utter failure of the legal machinery to eradicate cannabis. The voices that highlight this gross administrative failure - where lakhs of crores of rupees from the Indian economy are lost to the black market and maintenance of preventive machinery - are few and far between. One of the rarities is the Times of India editorial that stated, 'Large hauls of cannabis seized post-lockdown is proof that bans and over legislation don’t work, especially when there is public demand. In 2018, a whopping four lakh kgs of ganja was seized. Such massive production is surely not a sign of deterrence. Besides, over 60% narcotics cases involve personal use rather than trafficking or production. Instead of choking overburdened police and courts with thousands of cannabis cases, there is a strong case for cash strapped governments regulating cannabis production, sale and use. In two years after legalisation in January 2018, California has netted $1 billion in revenue receipts from marijuana. With a nationalist government mindful of traditional cultures and strongly betting on ease of doing business, it is time to let go of overzealous, impractical, ineffective policies.' The usual narrative in the media regarding ganja is like this article in the Hindustan Times that says, '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.'

The Indian film industry can be largely described as infantile when it comes to its approach to ganja. It mirrors the childlike ignorance of the Chinese film industry. Ganja is still portrayed with all the flavours of reefer madness. Only in the recent past have younger and newer film makers been bold enough to portray a more realistic picture of ganja, minus the social stigma. Most of these film makers are non-commercial film makers. Some film makers have been taking interesting approaches to redefine the image of ganja in Indian society. The Hindu reports that '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.' The Indian commercial film industry is run by the upper classes and upper castes. The flavors of the typical Indian commercial film include: loud-chest beating nationalism and patriotism; portrayal of Muslims as evil enemies; portrayal of women as objects of pleasure; portrayal of a successful man as one of great wealth irrespective of the means employed to procure this wealth; stressing on the virtues of the caste-system and the caste-based religions; employment of megastars (including many from Muslim backgrounds) who fight against all odds to uphold the current social structure; and so on. Most big budget Indian films as produced by businessmen from the upper classes and castes, or persons with links to the criminal world and politicians. As if this was not bad enough, we have long-running television serials in all possible regional languages that drive home the same messages of upper caste superiority, divisiveness in society, patriarchy and the oppression of women, the gloriousness of caste-based religions, and the path of wealth as the way to success in society. Hundreds of millions of Indian women remain glued to television screens daily throughout the day. With the advent of smartphones, these women spend long hours soaking up the garbage that these TV soaps spew out, even as their spouses and children soak up the rest of the garbage driving home the same messages as TV and film that has become easily accessible for society.

Law enforcement

Law enforcement is among the biggest opponents of ganja and charas legalization since it benefits greatly from prohibition. It can target individuals from the lower castes and classes, indigenous communities, minorities and poor, based on their cannabis usage. It works in tandem with the black market making huge sums of money for turning a blind eye to drug trafficking. It protects the elite upper castes and classes in their procurement and use of all drugs. It uses ganja and charas seizure information to bloat its perfomance figures, with typically 99% of seizures consisting of ganja and charas, including giving different names to charas as hashish, and showing cannabis oil as a separate drug. It extorts money from the middle classes for cannabis possession. It imprisons the lowest castes and minorities. It diverts seized ganja and charas back into the black market for a share of the proceeds. It shows its war on ganja and charas as justification for increased budgets and expenditure. If ganja and charas are legalized, law enforcement will be exposed in terms of its inadequacy in addressing the menace of the dangerous legal and illegal synthetic drugs and opioids that are the root problems for society.

Excise

Today, the Excise department earns large amounts of revenue from the sale of alcohol. This revenue can be possibly doubled or trebled if ganja and charas are legalized for retail sales. This will free up excise resources from trying to curb the illegal trafficking of ganja and charas. It will bring down the illegal trafficking of alcohol and other drugs as society switches to the ue of ganja and charas.

The paper and pulp industry

Today, paper and pulp are created by the cutting down of precious tree cover across India. Before the use of timber-based pulp for the manufacture of paper, industrial cannabis was used in many parts of the world. Industrial cannabis is a renewable, sustainable crop that can be grown annually unlike the felling trees that are often decades old and provide the vital green cover that the nation sees fast depleting, causing soil erosion, rising temperatures and climate catastrophe.

The education system

Regarding education, Arundhati Roy wrote in The Doctor and the Saint, 'In Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) - which is regarded as the bastion of progressive social scientists and historians - only 3.29 per cent of the faculty is Dalit and 1.44 per cent Adivasi, while the quotas are meant to be 15 per cent and 7.5 per cent respectively.'

Ambedkar got his early education sitting on sackcloth in a classroom filled with the upper castes who sat on benches. If we see the education system in India today, most the the premier schools, colleges and universities are completely dominated by the upper castes and classes. The proportion of lower castes, lower classes, minorities and indigenous communities are disproportionately much lower to their proportions in Indian society. India's education system is wired to enable the upper castes and upper classes to succeed and to weed out anybody who is outside these demographichs. This ensures that only the upper castes and classes enter into roles as leaders of business corporations, scientific institutions, medicine, judiciary, bureaucracy, law enforcement, education itself, the media and so on. It is common to see reports of lower caste students being forced to quit education or to take their own lives in premier educational institutions due to caste and class pressures that the upper castes and classes exert to eliminate threats to their power structure. Some of the criteria that determine one's entry into premier educationals institutions are one's caste, religion, gender, financial standing, parental and family background, and the influential persons that one knows. There are constant attempts to rewrite India's educational curriculum to fall in line with upper caste ideology so that the minds of the young are brainwashed at the earliest possible age. 

Current scenarios

Business and economic scenario

Today, in India, the primary cannabis business thriving on cannabis prohibition is the black market. It is only in the past five years that India has started exploring cannabis as a means of business. The businesses primarily associated with cannabis today in India are mainly medicine, wellness, fabrics and construction. It is mostly small startups that are venturing into cannabis businesses. These startups face huge challenges considering the anti-ganja mentality pervasive in Indian society today as a result of the near total anti-ganja propaganda that has been unleashed by the British and India's upper castes over the last 130 years. Startups need to first convince ministeries headed by upper castes that industrial and medical use of cannabis is not prohibited by drug laws. Then they need to get farmers to cultivate cannabis. Only then do they recieve the raw materials required to do their business. Once products are ready, these startups need to contend with the stigma and bias that exists in society regarding cannabis, especially ganja, in order to sell their products. Even as global scientific knowledge regarding the safety of ganja enables countries like Canada, South Africa and Germany to legalize cannabis for recreational use, and even after the recommendation by the World Health Organization (WHO) that cannabis must be descheduled, India's ruling upper castes and classes cling to their ignorance for fear that they will lose their hold over power, wealth and the people of India. The industrial use of cannabis is at a very nascent stage, both in India and across the world. With increased research on the plant, we can uncover vast applications across diverse fields, enabling the introduction of a sustainable and easily accessible raw material that will mitigate the need for mining the earth for precious metals and the need for introducing lab-developed synthetic compounds in industry that are incompatible with nature.

The benefits of fully legalizing ganja and charas are mindboggling. The US, with just 24 states out of 50, having legalized recreational cannabis is expected to have a positive impact from cannabis to the US economy in the range of $100 billion in 2025. The cannabis sector is one of the largest employers in the US. For India, the land of ganja, legalization will have tremendous impact. Construction, bio-degradable plastics, sustainable textiles and fabrics, nutrition, beverages, animal feed, biofuels, medicine, tourism, wellness, paper and packaging, research, retail, agriculture, the environment, etc., are just some of the areas that will see a complete transformation to sustainable economics with complete cannabis legalization. Cannabis legalization will provide for jobs directly connected to cannabis for medical, industrial and recreational purposes across diverse areas like agriculture, processing, extraction, distribution, retail, accessories, data analysis, research, etc. India still has some of the finest varieties of cannabis in the world. There are a large number of countries in Europe, Oceania, the Middle East and North America that cannot grow good quality cannabis for recreational and medical purposes due to the climatic conditions in these places. There is a huge demand for cannabis from these countries. In the 19th century, before cannabis was prohibited in India, Europe imported large amounts of cannabis from India. The legalization of cannabis in India and all these countries will enable India to export high quality cannabis to these places. Indian cannabis will be much sought after across the world. It is much better to trade in a wonderful sustainable herb like cannabis than to trade in arms, petrochemicals, chemical pesticides and fertilizers, opioids and synthetic pharmaceuticals. Obviously, India must start exporting only when there is sufficient cannabis in India to meet local demand, especially amongst the poorest sections of Indian society. For this, cannabis security measures, much like food security measures, must be put in place. The boost to home growing can meet some of the domestic demand. If India prioritizes export to wealthy countries over the needs of the people, it will only be the elites once again controlling the cannabis narrative and getting even more rich from the very herb that they opposed vehemantly till date. I believe the Indian cannabis exports will overshadow nearly all other types of exports from the country in terms of value, and India can easily emerge as the world's biggest producer and exporter of cannabis. This, believe me, is far better for humanity and the planet than being the world's biggest producer and exporter of legal opium. 

The additional revenues that the state gets from cannabis can be used to improve areas like education, public health, housing, protection of environment and the upliftment of oppressed communities. These are areas that are always neglected by governments that prioritize the needs of the upper classes and castes and of securing government salaries before addressing these core problems. In most places where cannabis has been legalized till date, the additional revenue obtained from cannabis has been used to address these neglected areas. 

India does not miss an opportunity to brag about its economic progress measured in terms of GDP. When looked through this perspective, India is among the top five nations in the world and everybody in India is very proud of this fact. What this does not reflect is that 284 Indian billionaires possess wealth equivalent to 1/3rd of India's GDP and that the average income of the Indian is amongst the lowest in the world. India has the most number of people in the world below the poverty line, the most number of people who go hungry and homeless everyday, and the most number of unemployed youth. India repeatedly says on the global stage that its economic developmental destiny means that it will burn fossil fuels to the extent that it can attain net-zero carbon emissions only by 2070. This blatant misdirection to the Indian economy can be corrected by making cannabis central to Indian economic policies. As a sustainable and renewable source for development in the areas of agriculture, business, industry, medicine and culture, cannabis can not only bring down India's net carbon emissions to in half the projected time, it can also clean up a large amount of the mess that has been created through the economic development based on fossil fuels.  

Today, we see India's entire economic development to be not just unsustainable, since it is built on a foundation of fossil fuels, but also non-inclusive. The development of infrastructure and technology are aimed at making the lives of the elite upper classes and upper castes easier. India blindly imitates the development models of the west, forgetting that the Indian context is completely different. India is largely an agrarian economy with small farmers forming the backbone of agriculture. The bulk of the business are small-scale establishments. India's most valuable resource is the human resources it has. But what we see is the attempts to use technology to eliminate this very resource from the world of business. Classic examples are the implementation of the Fastag model on Indian highways. This was initially conceived of as a way that those who wished to avoid long queues at highway tollbooths having a separate lane where they could drive through based on the RFID based Fastag payment of toll fees. The government, completely disregarding the economic make-up of the country, made it mandatory for all vehicles to install the Fastag application, penalizing those who chose not to with double fares. The successful implementation of Fastag will eliminate the thousands of jobs that toll personnel have today due to manual fee collection. Another example is the drive towards digital payments for purchases through smartphones and payment gateways. What this has resulted in is that the small businesses and vendors have been left cashless when what they need is liquid cash to make their purchases of daily essentials. The attempt to make all money transactions digital in a country where a vast number of people are illiterate, and nearly half the population does not possess a smartphone, has led to a sharp increase in cybercrime with even so-called educated and literate individuals falling for the schemes conceived by international criminal gangs that operate across borders. Probably, the most wideranging impact that the attempt to shove technology down people's throats without considering ground realities is the Aadhar unique identification scheme. Nandan Nilekeni, after amassing great wealth along with his colleagues at Infosys (including the 70-hour work week recommending Narayan Murthy) by bodyshopping thousands of Indian IT technicians to the US and Europe, decided to implement his learnings across the country. He devised assigning a unique ID for every Indian that was initially projected as enabling the vulnerable sections of society to benefit from government welfare schemes. Instead of strengthening the existing means of identifying Indian citizens, such as voter ID, driver's licenses, passports and PAN cards, this entirely new method of identifying who is an Indian citizen and who is not was conceived. What was initially projected as voluntary soon became a means of identifying and discriminating between people. The government saw great opportunity in implementing the scheme as it enabled it to bring large numbers of people within its surveillance network. Soon, it was mandated that a person's bank account would be disabled if his or her PAN card was not linked with Aadhar, a person's PAN card itself would be disabled if it was not linked with Aadhar. Basic amenities like food rations, gas connections, mobile connections, etc., were mandated for compulsory Aadhar linking with threats of disconnection if one failed to link their Aadhar IDs with their consumer account numbers for these civic amenities. Despite the Supreme Court of India ruling on a number of occasions that the Aadhar was not a mandatory requisite unless one wished to avail of the government's welfare schemes, the government continues its push for getting citizens to register for the Aadhar IDs. Hundreds of thousands of Indians who live in poverty have been denied food rations for not having Aadhars, despite possessing valid ration cards. Now, on discovering that the voter's database is flawed with many duplicate or missing entries, the new push is to link the Aadhar with voter IDs. The Aadhar database is itself replete with errors and duplication. Vast amounts of government funds are siphoned out by corrupt entities in collaboration with government officials themselves based on these incorrect or fake Aadhar IDs. To make matters worse, the government has now quietly rolled out a version of Aadhar, called Apaar, for those below the age of 18. The claim of the government is that it wants to track a student's academic career from the time of school enrolment to graduation. In both cases, Aadhar and Apaar, detailed information about an individual is being captured including personal details. In the case of Aadhar, biometric information of the gullible masses is being captured. Frequently, there are news reports of Aadhar databases being hacked and user data being sold in the black market to cyber crime perpetrators. All this shows the government's great interest in possessing private individual information which it can use for targeted campaigns, especially during elections. It also shows the complete lack of understanding of the ground realities of Indian society where simplicity and inclusion are the key drivers required by the state to bring about welfare, rather than complexity. In a country where 75% of the people are ignorant of technology, these measures show the perils of blindly aping what is done in technically advanced societies from other places. It also shows a dark intent to bring society into the system that makes society at large work for the benefit of the elites, and to create systems of exclusion that target the working classes, minorities, indigenous communities and the poor. It is another reflection of the Indian upper caste and upper class mentality that sees itself as the face of India rather than the majority of the people who make up the country.

We see today that a huge number of Indian youth are unemployed because the social and economic structure of the country has no place for them. We see a number of educated youth being promised jobs overseas ending up working under confines for criminal gangs that perpetrate cyber crimes from places like Myanmar. We see a large number of youth taking up gig work to make ends meet. Gig work, by definition, are jobs that one takes up for short periods of time to tide over financial constraints until one finds a permanent job. What we see in India is that large number of youth are permanently employed in gig work that offers no jon security or benefits. They toil day and night, mainly as delivery boys, supplying food, drink and cigarettes to the elite upper classes and castes who do not hesitate to demand their cup of tea or pack of cigarettes to be delivered to their doorsteps irrespective of the time of the day or night or weather conditions. These gig workers lack basic amenities like toilets, drinking water and shelter from the rain and sun. It is a sad story of the Indian economy that for many of India's youth such jobs are so attractive that they do not mind the hardship. The state of women in the Indian economy is far worse than men as they continue to live like secondclass citizens, doing jobs that men refuse to do and at a fraction of the pay that a man would get. The majority of the oppressed classes continue to do the same menial jobs that they have been doing for the last thousand years with the conditions that they work in only getting worse as the environment in which humans live degenarates under human greed and ignorance. The economic state of a society is stable when a majority of its adult workforce has a sustainable means of livelihood that is secure and fulfilling. Cannabis offers an opportunity for India's adult workforce to secure sustainable livelihoods though a renewable, sustainable commodity that heals the planet rather than destroys it. 

One of the vibrant aspects of India's cannabis landscape is the number of start ups that are entering the field for cannabis as medicine, wellness, fabrics, construction, etc. Most of these startups are headed by a younger generation that has been able to look beyond the anti-cannabis myths and the latest scientific findings and business opportunities in the cannabis world. The rise of the cannabis-based start-ups is largely due to the partial legalization by states like Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Kashmir that enables the cultivation of cannabis for medical and industrial purposes, thus providing the valuable crop for use by these startups. Bengaluru saw the establishment of a cannabis retail outlet by the Bombay Hemp Company (BOHECO), probably the first of its kind in Bengaluru. Medical cannabis can be procured here on consultation with the physician. BOHECO also uses cannabis for products in wellness, textiles, etc. 'At the heart of Bengaluru. Situated in Indiranagar, the heart of the beautiful city of Bangalore, BOHECO Cannabis Health & Wellness centre is all you need to kickstart your journey with Cannabis powered wellbeing.'  

In March 2021, I wrote, 'An elegant outcome to the impasse between India's farmers and the government will be for the farmers to grow cannabis as an additional agricultural crop. Cannabis has diverse industrial, medicinal, scientific, nutritional, environmental and recreational uses that are incomparable. Its stalk, from which pulp and fiber can be extracted, can be used for such diverse applications as construction, textiles, paper and hi-tech industries. Its leaves, flowering tops and seeds can be used for medicine, recreation, food and nutrition, wellness and cosmetics to name just a few. The biomass, a by-product, can be an excellent source for animal feed and organic fertilizers. The plant itself is a bio-accumulator that removes toxins from the soil increasing soil health. The plant requires far less water than any of India's blockbuster crops - rice, wheat and cotton. The crop can be grown in both India's growing seasons, kharif and rabi. Cannabis is one of the most suited crops for India's diverse growing conditions, especially suited for small farmers and the adverse effects of climate change. China is quietly now the world's largest cannabis producer for industrial purposes while France is Europe's. The Indigo movement, salt satyagraha, rice, wheat, khadi and cotton revolutions will pale in significance compared to the green revolution that cannabis can be for all India's farmers and the country...'

Legal scenario

Cannabis legalization will help address a number of legal issues that plague Indian society today. These include: the non-availability of banking facilities for cannabis businesses at the moment, resulting in the lack of infrastructural support for the industry; the reduction in violent crime associated with alcohol and synthetic drugs, crimes driven by discontent and stress, crimes against those trying to access cannabis, and reduction in the recruitment of youth into criminal gangs using the lure of cannabis; the reduction in traffic fatalities due to alcohol and synthetic drugs; the reduction in disproportionate legal action against the working classes, indigenous communities, minorities and the poor for associating with cannabis to the same extent as the rich upper classes and castes; the freeing up of law enforcement resources to address real crimes such as financial and violent crimes involving real victims; a shrinking of the black market for cannabis as well as other drugs that find demand in the absence of cannabis; the freeing up of excise departments to focus on the dangerous drugs that harm society such as alcohol, synthetic drugs and opioids; the reduction in the adulteration of cannabis, deliberately or accidentally, with toxic materials by bringing cannabis under the food safety regulatory frameworks; reduction of the burden on the legal system due to cannabis related arrests,  trials and imprisonment.

For all this to happen, the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act of 1985 must be modified so that all references to cannabis in all its forms - ganja, charas/hashish, bhang, THC - must be deleted. The NDPS Act is under the control of the Department of Revenue under the Ministry of Finance. I petitioned the Supreme Court of India in October 2023 to ask the government to make these changes as it violated my fundamental rights: to life through safe intoxicant and medicine; against discrimination; to religious freedom; and to practice a sustainable livelihood. The Registry of the Supreme Court advised me to file a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) since this issue affected hundreds of millions of Indians. I however chose to take the writ petition route since I wanted the court to address the issue of violation of my fundamental rights in the first place, as the fundamental rights of one individual are applicable to the fundamental rights of all citizens of India. The Supreme Court, however, dismissed my writ petition stating that it was a matter for the legislature, thus failing to uphold its duties as protector of the constitution and fundamental rights. In doing so, the apex judiciary of the country showed that it is firmly in the control of the upper castes of India with the mindset of a tobacco-smoking, whisky-drinking Dev Anand playing James Bond to rescue Parveen Babi from the clutches of foriegn chillum smoking hippies while all along extolling the virtues of caste-based religions.

From a cannabis advocacy perspective, the awareness in a country of 1.4 billion people - that was once the land of ganja and a country that calls Siva, the god of ganja, as Mahadev (great god) - is infantile and imbecile, to say the least. We see a people that are still swayed by the anti-ganja propaganda created by the upper castes, mildly and docilely obeying the strictures of these rulers even as society gets flooded with alcohol, tobacco, opioids, synthetic legal and illegal pharmaceutical drugs. The sway that the religious orthodoxy has over the people and the strong presence of the upper castes across all political parties means that cannabis opposition is entrenched in the Indian legislature, judiciary and executive. The dominance of the upper castes in media, education, law enforcement, and other entities in the social power structure, and the fact that the mindset of India's adults is no different from the reefer madness mindset of the whites in the US of the 1930s means that the overall state of cannabis awareness in India remains far removed from reality. There are hardly enough voices in society speaking out against this greatest of crimes against India and its people. Even among the voices that are heard, there is always the cautiousness against ganja so as to ensure conformity to existing social norms, with stress being put on only the industrial and medical use of cannabis, whereas the most important use of cannabis is as ganja for recreational purposes, and the greatest discrimination is against THC, and the most absurb prohibition is the prohibition against 'getting high' through a safe, natural herb. The word 'ganja' itself is taboo in Indian society, with English-speaking Indians using words like 'weed' (US slang) or 'marijuana' (Mexican) and the non-English-speaking Indians using words like 'biriyani', 'masala' and 'maal' like pathetic teenagers trying to use their own code language to avoid adult scrutiny.  Strong advocacy is required from Indian society's leading thinkers across diverse fields for legalization of ganja. For this, Indian society must first take as much pride in the word 'ganja' as it does in the word 'India'. It is a very well known fact that many leading thinkers and intellectuals across diverse fields in India are ganja-smokers. But the attitude of these people - smoking ganja in private and professing opposition to it in public - is the attitude of a mentally immature individual. This hypocrisy is practiced to conform to the existing discriminatory social norms and to maintain the superficial social status that comes along with it. For ganja to become fully legalized in India, it must become as reverential to Indians as the word Siva (which itself has lost all meaning with the domination achieved by caste-based religions). For ganja legalization to become a reality in India, public opinion must change strongly in favor of it. This is the way that nations like Canada, Germany, South Africa and Uruguay, and the 24 (at the time of writing) US states achieved it. Only when public opinion is strong enough in favour of ganja will the elected representatives, the judiciary and the executive open their minds to it. The fact that ganja is such an important part of Indian society, the value that it brings to Indian society and the long-standing connection that India has with ganja has been so thoroughly erased from the Indian psyche. It is this brainwashing that has resulted in India's increasing disconnect with nature and sinking to the depths of human development.

The Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act of 1985 is at the core of ganja and charas prohibition in India and the oppression of the lower classes and castes due to it. The upper castes and classes escape legal censure and consume cannabis with impunity while persons from the lower social and economic strata find themselves targets for legal action. Swaddle reported that 'The current suggestions respond to two ideas. One, it highlights the loopholes with the NDPS and its unbridled usage under the NCB. Senior Advocate Rebecca John told The Federal the real “mischief” lies in arresting persons with small quantities of drugs. “These are bailable offenses, but in order to justify the arrest, they routinely talk of international conspiracies, funding, etc that gives them time to convert a bailable offense to a non-bailable one and extend the period of detention – which is clearly illegal,” she noted. Most NDPS cases (97.3% in 2018) in Mumbai, for instance, dealt with “possession [of drugs] for personal consumption,” according to a study. The study noted this usage has led to the law exploiting people it sought to protect. Secondly, it lacks nuanced distinctions between recreational users and addicts. “There is a deep lack of sophistication and nuance in the understanding of addiction in India – either on the level of society, or the law – and our laws are a reflection of our collective ignorance and bias,” writer Ronny Sen noted in Akademi Mag.' The legal challenges to ganja and charas prohibition under the NDPS Act have been few and far between. In all cases, the apex court has brushed aside the pleas to exclude cannabis from the NDPS Act, reiterating its commitment to protect the upper castes and classes in the country. Swaraj Magazine reported regarding a petition in the Delhi High Court that '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.' Deccan Herald reported the expected outcome of the petition in the Delhi High Court stating that '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.' This is similar to the response I recieved from the Supreme Court of India when I petitioned it in October 2023 to legalize ganja and charas through its removal from the NDPS Act since its prohibition violated my fundamental rights. The judges passed the buck to the legislature and appeared to be itching to impose costs on me for seeking justice for not just myself, but for hundreds of millions of Indians from the poorest sections of Indian society. 

In the US, persons of color are more than 3.5 times likely to face legal action for cannabis related offenses. This is one of the key factors driving legalization which is seen as a means to restore racial justice and correct the wrongs of the past. Indians, smug in their thinking that they do not have such issues and living in alternate realities, should examine the proportion of minorities, especially Muslims, Dalits and indigenous communities that are in prison or under trial for cannabis related offenses. I am sure that there will be a much higher proportion of these demographics facing legal action than there are in the general population...

On April 7th 2021, I wrote, 'In today's DH report, the Supreme Court says that drug dealers are worse than those accused of murder. People accused of murder only kill one or two persons while drug dealers kill many persons. I totally agree. Pharma companies and their dealers including physicians, chemical pesticide and fertilizer manufacturers and their dealers, petrochemical based non-biodegradable polymer manufacturers and their dealers, are all drug dealers at the apex of the pyramid. They kill hundreds of millions of people every year, along with numerous other life forms and destroy the planet. They, and the governments that support and promote them, must be punished with the utmost severity rather than targeting the inconsequential individuals at the bottom of the pyramid for selling a few grams of heroin or cocaine. What is the Supreme Court doing to address and mitigate this? Can it punish the powerful criminals at the apex for their monumental crimes? Why is cannabis still banned when it provides a safe, sustainable and healthy alternative to synthetic drugs, chemical fertilizer and pesticide based agriculture, petrochemical based products and industries? Can we start with the complete legalization of the plant, a fundamental right to life, instead of meaningless actions that fail to address the root causes of the problems afflicting society? Remove all references to cannabis in any form from the NDPS for starters...'

In April 2021, I wrote, 'I rank the Allahabad High Court, Madras High Court and the Bombay High Court among the better courts in India in terms of judicial performance, with the Allahabad High Court as the top ranker. The Supreme Court I would rank somewhere in the lower half of rankings, closer to or on par with the Delhi High Court. Not that Supreme after all, given its subservience to the central government...' Recently, huge amounts of cash were found among the burnt remains of a Delhi High Court judge. The Supreme Court of India decided to transfer him to the Allahabad High Court drawing protests from the Allahabad Bar Council that its court was not a dumping ground. With the constant transfer of judges between high courts, and the retirement and new appointments, the rankings of which court is best keeps changing like the rankings of teams in the Indian Premier League for cricket. My interactions with the Supreme Court of India for legalizing ganja and charas in October 2023, however, only vindicated my thoughts regarding it that I had noted down a couple of years before.

Medical scenario

As we saw in the medical uses of cannabis in India until the 19th century, the medical use was extensive and cannabis was one of India's primary medicines. Today, we see that the world, which banned cannabis stating that it has no medical value, is quickly changing its mind now that it is starting to realize the harms of synthetic pharmaceutical medicines and opioids, and the vast medical benefits of cannabis. A number of nations have legalized cannabis for medical use - primarily nations from the west that were instrumental in bringing about global cannabis prohibition and boosting the opioid and synthetic pharmaceutical industries in the absence of cannabis. In the US, 38 states have legalized medical use of cannabis for nearly 40 medical conditions. Countries like Canada and Germany, and many of the 24 US states that have legalized cannabis for recreational use, first legalized cannabis for medical use and found it to be very effective. Colorado, the first US state to legalize cannabis for recreational purposes in 2012, and Calfornia first legalized cannabis for medical use before they went ahead with legalization for recreational purposes. It was the effectiveness of cannabis as medicine that set the ball rolling once again in favor of the global movement for cannabis legalization after more than a century of prohibition. 

The primary factors that make cannabis the world's best medicine are: its safety profile which means that one does not die or face severe adverse side effects if one overdoses on it or stops medication unlike synthetic pharmaceutical drugs that have hairline margines between the right dose and overdose, serious adverse side effects from regular usage, and severe dependency through daily usage which means that stopping its use for even a day can prove fatal; its effectives for all age groups ranging from infants to the very elderly; its multiple benefits for women in addition to the common benefits thatit has for both men and women; the mind-boggling range of medical conditions for which it can be used; the different modes through which it can be administered, both externally and internally, locally and generally across the human body; the ease with which it can be cultivated in most parts of the world, making it truly accessible and affordable, especially to the poorest and most vulnerable persons living in the most remote and adverse places on earth, unlike synthetic pharmaceutical medications and opioids that are accessible and affordable to about 10% of the world's population - the elites of all countries; its medical benefits for not just humans, but other animals like cattle, horses, elephants, camels, birds, insects, etc.; and so on.

In most places where cannabis is used as medicine, and where it is used recreationally, the primary reasons why it is used is to: relieve pain and inflammation; reduce anxiety; improve sleep; improve digestion; reduce stress; stimulate the system; treat depression. Besides these overarching medical conditions that are common to all humans across the world, cannabis is used to treat medical conditions in the following areas, to name a few: attention deficit disorders (ADD); arthritis; autism; cancer; to reduce the debilitating side effects of conventional synthetic pharmaceutical drug bases cancer treatment; Crohns disease; dementia; skin ailments; diabetes; epilepsy; fibromyalgia; glaucoma; improve appetite in HIV and tuberculosis patients; Huntington disease; infectious diseases like malaria, cholera, dysentery, viral fevers, etc; treatment of addiction to opioids, cocaine, methamphetamine, synthetic presciption drugs, alcohol, tobacco, etc.; obesity; orthopaedics; PTSD; Parkinson's Disease; sexually transmitted diseaes like gonorrhea and syphilis; sickle cell disease; etc.

Cannabis is medicine for the brain, heart, liver, lungs, skin, digestive system, reproductive organs, excretory organs, muscles, kidneys, etc. Being natural medicine, it does not harm the kidneys and liver, unlike the highly toxic synthetic pharmaceutical medications and alcohol. Cannabis is an aphrodisiac that stimulates sexual activity.

Cannabis is used by some of the elite sportspersons in the world to stay at the peak of physical health and to recover from serious injuries. Cannabis is used by some of the world's leading intellectuals and thinkers to stimulate and process their thoughts. Cannabis is used by creative individuals like artists, musicians and writers to spark and channelize their creativity. Cannabis is used by persons involved in hard physical labour under adverse conditions to work long hours and to enable them to be ready to get back to work the next day.

In India, the current medical scenario is aligned, like everything else, to cater to the needs of the upper castes and classes. The medical industry and pharmaceutical industry are only concerned with profits. The Indian healthcare system is aligned only to meet the needs of the upper class and caste elites, blindly aping whatever happens in the west, with the public wanting whatever it is that the west is having as medicine. India's medical care only caters to the top 20% of the population, while the rest of the country is left to fend for itself. For many in the middle classes, the cost of healthcare is more than 50% of its annual household budget. For the working classes, indigenous communities, and the poor, healthcare is basically non-existent. Instead of legalizing cannabis completely, so that it is available to the poorest person in India as medicine, the state tries to bring in more and more people into the deadly net of synthetic pharmaceutical medicines by creating schemes like medical insurance that locks in a person to the synthetic pharmaceutical industry and the physicians who are the biggest salesmen for this industry. 

Today, we see across the world, that the elderly are the fastest growing demographic that are going back to cannabis as medicine. These are wealthy individuals from the developed nations who have discovered from long, bitter experience that the synthetic pharmaceutical drugs and opioids do not do what they claim to do. The adverse effects and ineffectiveness of these synthetic medicines have led these elderly to switch to cannabis, often on their own against the advice of their physicians. Once they adopt cannabis, they never return back to the synthetic medicines. Germany, which was the Europe's biggest importer of medical cannabis, found it so difficult to procure enough to meet its growing needs that it legalized recreational cannabis in April 2024 with provisions for home growing and growing through cannabis clubs in order to boost the supply for cannabis that all the world's wealthy nations are scrambling with each other to secure from the few nations that export cannabis today. It is fitting that the ones who got together to take away the poor man's medicine should now themselves scrounge to secure the very same herb that they banned and caused untold suffering to the world.

As the medical industry and synthetic pharmaceutical industry start to recognize that the battle against cannabis is a losing battle, they are now trying to appropriate cannabis into their array of offerings to try and profit from it. They are trying to propogate the message that recreational use is harmful, but when cannabis is sold as a pharmaceutical drug 'manufactured' by a pharmaceutical company and prescribed by a medical professional - who till date ridiculed all natural medicine and called cannabis a deadly evil drug - it miraculously turns from the devil's weed into medicine under the Midas touch of these imbeciles. In India too, we see the same comedy being played out with the upper castes and classes now starting to see the power of cannabis as medicine and also its potential to make them richer. So, in India too we see a medical cannabis movement picking up among the upper castes and classes who, however, make it a point to stress on the fact that they are talking about the medical use of cannabis which only the enlightened upper castes and classes are knowledgeable of and capable of experiencing unlike the despicable lower classes and castes who use cannabis to pleasure themselves and behave like animals. This is very much a repeat of the 'we are enlightened upper castes who use bhang, unlike the despicable lower castes who use ganja' story. The twist today is only that the upper castes and classes have realized that they can no longer fool people by trying to project bhang and ganja as different drugs, so they have taken the morally superior stance that 'we use cannabis for medicine, unlike the beastly lower castes who use cannabis to get high'.

As the world starts to understand why Siva is also known as Vaidhyanathan - the god of medicine - the Indian upper castes continue in their delusion of opium and synthetic medicines that their caste-based religions created for them. Indians continue to adore Gandhi's successor Narendra Modi and his version of anti-Siva upper caste Vaishnavism even as he works with dedication to serve the opioid industry, the synthetic pharmaceutical industry and his bosses - Adani and Ambani - from the petrochemical industry that provides most of the ingredients for the synthetic pharmaceutical industry. Even the fact that Modi teamed up with upper class imbeciles like Trump, Putin, Xi and Boris Johnson to lock up the entire world and pump the world with synthetic pharmaceuticals and opioids by creating a fake pandemic called Covid, thus greatly increasing the wealth of the upper classes and upper castes in the space of two years has done nothing to shatter the delusion of India's masses. Ironically, the attempt to portray opioids and synthetic pharmaceuticals as the life saving miracle drugs of humanity worked only for a few years. The unintended backlash of this crime against the world of unprecedented proportions is that by making medicine and medical treatment a privilege that only the upper classes and castes can enjoy, these clowns pushed even greater numbers of humans towards cannabis, including those from some of the elite upper class nations like Germany. This is because, through the so-called vaccines that these imbeciles developed and distributed, they made it very clear that it was not only the lower castes and classes of the world that they were against, but also pretty much most demographics in the world today - persons of colour, their former opponents of the world wars, the lower castes, classes and indigenous communities, the believers in fraternity, equality and liberty, and so on. The proponents of Covid crystallized the truth that they have been the same immature, insecure, greedy, selfish, discriminatory fragments of human beings that they have been from the time when humanity started thinking that it is different from and superior to nature. 

On February 11, 2021, I wrote, 'Today's DH says that the Director General of Central Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Institute has co-authored a study, published in Current Science, where he's trying to establish a link between high Covid fatalities and countries with high GDP. But wealth does not kill directly. The real link to high Covid fatalities is what the wealth has been used for. Having prohibited cannabis in nearly all countries, both high and low GDP, for decades now, most persons with money on their hands are binging on legal pharmaceutical drugs (opioids, benzodiazepines, sedatives, stimulants, steroids, anti-diabetes drugs, anti-blood pressure drugs, anti-histamines, etc, etc) as well as illegal pharmaceutical drugs (heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, novel psychotropic substances, synthetic cannabinoids, amphetamine type substances, etc, etc) that people of low income still cannot access or afford. This prolonged assault on the human body through cocktails of dangerous synthetics has made these high income persons highly vulnerable to any sort of infection, including those that would earlier have been considered mild. To top it, when these high income individuals rush to hospitals for treating their conditions, they are given a cocktail of drugs, similar to that which made them ill in the first place. Like the proverbial straw that breaks the camel's back, this is what finally kills the individual. In most low income countries, Covid fatalities remain low because individuals' bodies are still relatively untainted by the prolonged assault of synthetic drugs.' Again, in February 2021, I wrote, 'The 2% fatalities in India attributed to Covid are also most likely individuals with a history of pharmaceutical drug use. Given the already weakened state of their kidneys, liver, lungs, etc. from the chronic intake of pharmaceutical drugs, when they were rushed to hospitals for Covid treatment and dosed with an array of powerful pharmaceutical drugs, it proved lethal for their already compromised bodies. Almost no poor person was able to get admitted to a hospital for Covid treatment. Even if they were, due to their inability to pay, they were mostly prescribed paracetamol. High income individuals with their medical insurance coverage were treated to the entire multi-course pharma cocktail and hence make up the majority of the fatalities. Overall, the low exposure of the majority of the Indian public to pharmaceutical drugs is one of the key reasons why India shows a low fatality rate compared to affluent societies. So it is in spite of governmental, medical and pharmaceutical industry efforts to the contrary that India has a low fatality rate...but with the push towards vaccines and testing they are still trying hard...' I wrote regarding the absolutely irrational behavior of Indians during the fake pandemic, 'The total number of alleged Covid related deaths in the country has now equaled deaths in road accidents in 2019. The absurd governmental rule making mask wearing mandatory in public, besides causing serious hygiene related issues due to prolonged mask wearing and providing petrochemical industries with vast amounts of revenue through synthetic mask sales, has also produced an equally absurd reaction among the public. Two-wheeler riders are required to wear both masks and helmets. Citing discomfort with wearing both, many riders have chosen to wear the mask and discard the helmet. This means that they have chosen to protect themselves against a cause of death which has about a 2% fatality rate i.e. Covid rather than protect themselves from a cause of death that has at least a 75% fatality rate i.e. a head injury.'

India's cannabis politics

As stated earlier, India's upper castes and classes have been in control over the judiciary, legislature and executive since the British left. The politics practiced by India's political class has ensured that cannabis does not feature anywhere in the country's political discourse. On the contrary, the policies laid down by successive governments have only strengthened the industries opposed to cannabis. The political classes have worked unitedly in their efforts to keep the lower classes and castes, indigenous communities, minorities and poor oppressed. By maintaining an extreme anti-cannabis stance both internally and internationally, the political class has managed to keep the minds of society away from ganja and charas. This is not only achieved by creating divisions and conflict in society, but also by partnering internationally with the political leaders most opposed to cannabis legalization. So we see India in close relations with the US, China, Russia, Britain, etc., for the trade of products that strengthen the anti-cannabis industries. India provides arms support to Myanmar's military junta and recognizes the militant Taliban outfit in Afghanistan to ensure that the global opioid trade remains unaffected. India works closely with China to ensure that the synthetic pharmaceutical industry and the chemical pesticide and fertilizer industry thrive. India works closely with Russia and the Middle East to ensure that the petrochemical industry grows. 

Internally, India's political classes preach a brand of religion that views ganja and charas as prohibited by the religious orthodoxy of the upper castes. State governments in all states work closely with the industries opposed to ganja and charas as well as law enforcement, excise, the media, judiciary, religious orthodoxy, educational institutions and the bureaucracy to ensure that the lower castes and classes, indigenous communities, minorities and the poor cannot even think about demanding their rights to ganja and charas for safe medicine, intoxicant, religious freedom, right against discrimination and right to sustainable livelihood. 

There has not been a single political leader in India who has been able to bring ganja and charas into the political discourse of the nation till date. This is because all political leaders and political parties are concerned with only the retention of power and the increase of their personal wealth at all costs. The welfare of the people and the upholding of the Constitution are the least of the concerns of these people. It is most likely that they fully recognize that the legalization of ganja and charas will dilute the concentration of power and wealth from the upper castes and classes and enable it to flow into the hands of the majority. It is most likely that they recognize that ganja and charas will physically, mentally, socially and economically empower the oppressed masses enabling them to achieve equality, liberty and fraternity. It is also just as likely that these ruling politicians are so imbecile that they have not thought beyond where their next pile of money is going to come from. There are no politicians in India today who wish for and work towards making India a sustainable, peaceful and strong nation. Everyone is in it for the money and the protection of their caste or tribe. Just as Hinduism as a religion does not exist, but is a veil that covers the numerous religions endemic to India, India as a nation does not exist. It is a veil that covers numerous castes and communities. Each of these religions, castes and communities work constantly only for their own welfare and prosperity, constantly trying to oppress and subjugate the other castes, communities, languages and cultures and establish their own as the dominant one. In this constant battle of social fragments, the upper castes of the Vaishnavite and Vedic religions have held supremacy since they joined hands with the British colonists. They constantly stamp down any attempts by those they consider the other in order to maintain their upper hand over society. They have been so effective that hardly any person living in India considers or acts like Indian society is one entity. That is the primary reason why India finds itself with the wealth divide between the rich and the poor today, and at the bottom of all the rankings that indicate a healthy, vibrant and sustainable society. The Indian is so naive, ignorant, selfish and greedy that he remains an infantile imbecile who has never evolved beyond the tribalism of the chimpanzee.

While the world embraces cannabis as medicine, India - where the Hemp Commission stated that cannabis indica was one of the most important Indian medicines - continues to exist in blissful ignorance. State governments refuse to acknowlegde the scientific evidence. Hindustan Times reported in Goa that 'Speaking to the media on Wednesday evening, Sawant said that “the Goa government is not interested in going ahead with this proposal”. “The Indian Institute of Integrative medicine, a premier Government of India agency, had sent us a proposal... We had sent it for examination to different departments. It does not mean we are going for cannabis cultivation,” Sawant said. The proposal was vetted by the Goa law department, with law minister Nilesh Cabral saying that he was in favour of legalising cannabis for medicinal purposes only.' It is only Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir that have started to look at the medicinal and industrial uses of cannabis. Times Now reported in March 2021 that 'What's more, although the cultivation of cannabis is prohibited under India's Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropics Substances (NDPS) Act, there are provisions within the law that permit state governments to allow regulated cultivation of hemp for industrial or horticultural purposes. The clamour for the legalisation of cannabis has been growing louder in India, particularly in view of the increasing number of health and medicinal properties it is reported to have. Hemp can also be used as a building material. CM Thakur has himself stated previously that the cannabis seeds may also be used in the production of paint, biofuel and ink. But the revival of the state's shelved plans to legalise cannabis is also a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Himachal Pradesh relies extensively on its burgeoning tourism sector to generate state revenues. But with the intra and inter-state restrictions necessitated by the COVID-19 outbreak, the state's coffers have been struck hard.'

In February 2021, India Today reported a rare positive action by the Indian government regarding cannabis. The report stated that 'The issue has gained traction recently after India voted with the majority of member states at the United Nations to remove cannabis and cannabis resin from the list of most dangerous substances in the International Convention on narcotic drugs. The move by India hinted that the government was in favour of doing away with the criminalisation of recreational and medicinal use of cannabis.' Nothing has happened on this front since then. 

India's cannabis legalization journey is seeing most progress in the northern states of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Kashmir as well as the central state of Madhya Pradesh. All these states have legalized cannabis for medical and/or industrial purposes in some fashion. These states are traditional high ganja and charas consumption areas and so there is still a connection that exists between cannabis use and society that has not been forgotten unlike the other Indian states. One of the big benefits of this partial cannabis legalization is that we are seeing many startups emerging in the field of medical cannabis, wellness, textiles, fibers, and construction, mainly. In fact, it is the determined efforts of the young entrepreneurs of these startups through the presentation of scientific facts dispelling the anti-cannabis myths and countering the anti-cannabis propaganda that has helped gradually remove the stigma associated with cannabis among the ruling upper classes and castes who form the policy makers in these states. India Times reported around five years back that '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.' The fact that India possesses some of the world's best ganja and charas, despite 130 years of assault by the state on the cannabis plant, is something that all Indians need to be thankful for. Charas from Malana and ganja from Idukki have global acclaim. There are surely many regions of India that still possess high quality ganja and charas. Not only would complete legalization benefit the local population through access to high quality ganja and charas, the export of these products to the world would bring in vast revenues for the regions producing these iconic varieties and the state. Instead, all these revenues flow into the black market, while the product reaches the hands of the elites in India and all over the world. The elites are, obviously, not complaining about this state of things. Swarajya Magazine reported that '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.' The Hindu reported that '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'. By only looking at the industrial and medical aspects of cannabis, and by neglecting its economic, recreational and entheogenic aspects, most policy makers in Himachal, Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh are missing out on about 80% of the cannabis pie. With recreational legalization, the number of persons who benefit from cannabis will probably multiply ten-fold if not hundred fold. The vastly increased market for it will make cannabis revenue contribute around at least 20% of every state's revenues. Almost all Indian states face revenue crunches and take up oppressive measures to realize more revenue, like increasing the price of essentials, medicine, alcohol and tobacco instead of recognizing cannabis as a key sustainable source of long term state revenue. US states with legalized ganja and charas are using the revenues to improve public infrastructure, education, health and the other areas that are typically ignored when the state faces a revenue crunch. Kerala is another state that is facing a perpetual revenue crunch due to: the mass migrations to the Gulf and other states; reduction in agriculture; hostile environment for businesses; state schemes to ensure that the working class get paid for doing nothing (thus creating a labour market for migrants from north and north-east India); an alcohol problem that both the state and the people are proud of; the increasing influx of methamphetamine, plastics and synthetic pharmaceutical legal and illegal drugs; oppressive control by the ruling upper castes and classes irrespective of the religion that they belong to; etc. Until the 19th century, the Malayalees of Kerala were known to be expert cultivators of ganja. The high quality ganja from Idukki is a remnant of this past culture. Today, Kerala shows a brand of orthodoxy that is common between all religions and political parties. Alcohol is loved by all, as is beef. The caste-system exists as a subtle undercurrent. The whole state, however, is unanimous in its opposition to ganja. The people of Kerala, despite being highly literate, with a great education and health care system, is also a land where the people can be easily swayed by blind faith. The suppression of Shaivism and the parallel rise of casteism (symbolized by Vishnu as the Brahmin boy pushing Mahabali into the ground with his foot), the near complete capitulation to the fake pandemic Covid, and the near uniform belief in all the anti-ganja propaganda that has been spread (easily done given the Malayalee's affinity to ape the white man or the Hindi-speaking North Indian) are all indicators of the duality between false beliefs and scientific reality that exists in Kerala. The word 'ganjav' is notorious in Kerala and used to evoke images of the worst criminals and dregs of society. Most Malayalees are completely oblivious to the harms of alcohol. Most probably do not even know the existence of methamphetamine and opioids. To them, the physician is god and anything he prescribes is medicine. Malayalees take great pride in flounting their knowledge of synthetic pharmaceutical drugs and playing doctor to self-medicate themselves. In Kerala, anything goes as long as it is not 'ganjav'. Only a few people still recall Kerala's glorious ganja tradition. The Hindu reported that '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.'

There were efforts in Manipur a four-five years back to bring about cannabis legalization. India Today reported in 2019 that '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.' Around the same time, Hindustan Times reported that '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'. This move towards cannabis legalization in Manipur may very well have fueled the crisis that Manipur is witnessing today. There is a schism in the state between the majority Meiteis who are upper-caste Hindus and the minority Kuki-Zho-Naga populations who are largely Christian or belonging to the indigenous communities of non-caste based religions. While the official messaging states that the conflict is over attempts by the majority Meiteis to establish further control over Manipur, including the attempt to categorize the Meiteis as an oppressed community, the underlying causes may well center around the opium cultivation and trade that thrives in these regions. As I said, the Indian union government is opium-centric and its ruling upper caste lawmakers wish to ensure that nothing affects the opium trade in the country. The proximity to Myanmar, the world's largest cultivator of illegal opium, means that Manipur serves as a key transit point between opium and its products entering India. Thus, it is necessary for the government - central and state - to secure the flow of this opium to the elites. For the last few years, both the central government and the state goverment of Manipur were controlled by the ruling BJP, during which time the efforts to consolidate control over opium and reign in those who did not toe the line turned so oppressive that the minorities from the hill regions revolted. The failure of the state machinery meant that the union government stepped in to take full control by imposing president's rule in the state. Besides the attempt at independent opium cultivation by the indigenous Kuki-Zho-Naga communities, backed possibly by Myanmar rebels, may have forced the union government to take a high hand. There is also the very distinct possibility that cannabis reform movements have started making their presence felt, especially in the Kuki-Zho-Naga areas, which is possibly the biggest threat to not just Manipur's upper caste Meiteis, but also the ruling BJP at the center, as well as Myanmar and its puppet master, China. We see complete control by the BJP of the state government in Assam, another traditional opium consuming state that was converted to opium during British colonial times by the colonial masters as well as Indian upper castes, easily done due to the proximity of Assam, like Manipur, to the opium trade route from China, passing through Myanmar and onwards to Afghanistan and, finally, Europe. Similarly, the BJP and its allies have complete control over the other opium entry and exit points in Gujarat, Maharasthra, Punjab, Harayana and Jammu and Kashmir. In Jammu and Kashmir, the Supreme court ordered the reinstatement of statehood at the earliest, but the union government is dragging its feet and keeping its armed forces posted in the region to secure its opium interests, even as it cites national security as the reason for delay. In Goa, the state where the cannabis culture is most visible in India, since it is one of the top tourism destinations in the world and cannabis tourism is one of the key reasons why international tourists flock into the state, the ruling government has for the past decade or so been in the hands of the BJP. Attempts to proceed with cannabis reform have met with stiff opposition from the state government, even as the state faces serious public health issues due to the rampant use of synthetic drugs. It is quite obvious that the illegal black market for ganja and charas is closely linked to the ruling governments of this state, irrespective of the political parties that they belong to. Hindustan Times reported around 2019 that 'Speaking to the media on Wednesday evening, Sawant said that “the Goa government is not interested in going ahead with this proposal”. “The Indian Institute of Integrative medicine, a premier Government of India agency, had sent us a proposal... We had sent it for examination to different departments. It does not mean we are going for cannabis cultivation,” Sawant said. The proposal was vetted by the Goa law department, with law minister Nilesh Cabral saying that he was in favour of legalising cannabis for medicinal purposes only.' Tripura, another BJP controlled state has been facing the menace of methamphetamine that flows in from the key methamphetamine producing regions in Asia - Myanmar, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia etc. Deccan Herald reported that '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.'

Most people think that the BJP is the supreme guardian of Hinduism in India. Therefore, they think that the BJP will legalize ganja and charas in India, given the religious significance of the herb to Shaivites. What most of these ignorant people have failed to understand is that the BJP is not the guardian of Hinduism, it is the guardian of the Hindu upper castes. It is the same set of people who worked with the British to bring about cannabis prohibition in India, the same set of people who benefit from the caste system and the same set of people who worked to weaken Shaivism and other non-caste Indian religions so that Vaishnavism, the Vedic religions and the caste-system can remain unchallenged. Most people do not recognize that the leaders of the BJP work to protect the legal and illegal opium industry, the legal and illegal synthetic pharmaceutical industry, the petrochemical industry, the construction industry, the chemical pesticide and fertilizer industry, the cotton and synthetic textile industry, and all the other industries that prosper because of cannabis prohibition. In doing this, the BJP is only continuing what the upper castes did during British colonial times. Not that the other political parties in India are any better. They are all composed of upper castes who all view cannabis as evil and a threat to their positions in society and so the entire political class works to oppose cannabis legalization. In this, they are ably supported by the upper-caste dominated media, education, law enforcement, public services, judiciary, armed forces, medical profession and so on. Some of these gullible people who think that the BJP will stand up for cannabis are MLAs and MPs for the BJP. North-east Now reported about five years back that '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.' Little probably did Prasenjit Chakraborty realize that he was writing to the kingpin of the opium trade in India to asking for cannabis legalization. It was effectively asking Narendra Modi to slap the faces of Ambani, Adani, Trump and Putin when the PM is busy licking their shoes. Not only does India produce legal opium for the world's upper classes and castes, it also is instrumental in ensuring that illegal opium reaches those who cannot access legal opium. While constantly trumpeting its war on terrorism at the global state, the Indian government works with these so-called terrorist organizations to ensure that additional revenue flows in to the coffers of the ruling upper castes. CSIS reported in 2019 that '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.' Similarly, an MP from Patiala tried to introduce a ganja legalization bill in Punjab. Scroll Magazine reported that '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”.' For the ruling politicians, a significant number of whom have amassed their wealth through the black market for drugs and thus been able to secure their positions as lawmakers, such a bill appears to have been disagreeable since that is the last I heard of it, and Punjab still grapples with the menace of heroin and alcohol. GQ India also had an article on a private bill in Punjab which may be about the same bill by Dharam Vir Gandhi. It reported that '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.' Satpathy Tathagatha, a former prominent politician from Odisha was vocal for ganj legalization during his days in office. He wrote an op-ed for the Hindu where he stated that '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.' Unfortunately, the political party that he belonged to, had other ideas. It decided to ignore the legalization of ganja and, instead, showed that it was as full of the upper castes as the ruling BJP and Congress parties. When I last heard, the party was cosying up to the BJP at the center. Odisha is one of the sources of illegal ganja for states in the south. This shows that the ganja culture is very much prevalent in Odisha today. Would it not have been so much better to legalize ganja in the state and work with other states to legalize ganja in the country so that it could be grown and traded legally to boost public health and state revenue, instead of carrying on the hypocrisy?

India's rapid urbanization, driven by the emphasis by the state towards economic development driven by industries, coupled with the degradation of land for agriculture due to climate change and diminishing rural opportunities, has forced mass migrations from rural areas into cities. The city is where exposure to synthetic drugs, alcohol and opium increases to a great extent. In rural areas, there is still a reasonably strong inclination to ganja and charas. The balance needed in society is a flourishing rural landscape with agriculture, including the cultivation of ganja and charas, as the backbone, providing jobs, sustainable industries and income for the rural population thus reducing their need to face the harsh conditions of urban life which itself is a key factor for driving a person to drugs. The large scale cultivation of ganja and charas in rural areas will ensure that the city get its intoxicant, medicine and cannabis for industrial purposes like construction enabling to improve public health and to achieve greater climate resilience. UNODC reported in its World Drug Report 2020 that '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.'

Unlike the massive grassroots-level cannabis legalization movements in the US, Canada, European countries, Mexico, South Africa, South American countries - pretty much half the world's nations - the grassroots-level cannabis movements are pretty much non-existent. One would think that in the land of ganja, with its long tradition of ganja usage, and about the majority of the country belonging to traditional ganja-smoking communities, there would be massive legalization movements. The hold that the upper-castes have on the narrative is so complete, and the propaganda that they built against ganja for 130 years working with the British so complete, that the majority of Indian society today believes that ganja is a very harmful drug that should not be legalized. Scientists, researchers and physicians are increasingly speaking positively about cannabis, but they are only interested in it being available for their own benefit i.e. for research, for use as medicine, etc. They make it very clear that they are not advocating for or endorsing ganja as that would be a caste violation resulting in their potential expulsion from their current positions in society. No, they are only asking that they be given access to ganja so that they can smoke it secretly and prescribe it to others to profit from it. As for making it completely legal so that the people to whom the herb belongs - the poorest sections of society, the working classes, the indigenous communities and the minorities - is still too much of a stretch of the imagination for this section of society. The Hindu reported that ' 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.”' One would think that the oppressed classes and indigenous communities would organize a massive movement, if not the agricultural community. Unfortunately this is not the case. The leaders of these communities, as well as the leaders of the minority religions, are all upper-class people who identify with the upper castes of Hindu society and who believe that rejecting ganja enables them to be accepted among the upper castes. The poor outcasts, obviously, have no voice to speak for them. If there is any effort at all to build awareness about the benefits of ganja and the evils of prohibition, it is essentially a few voices from people who are themselves from the upper castes and classes. These are typically from the younger generations barring one or two persons in the above 50 age groups. Much of the cannabis legalization advocacy that comes from these scattered voices are concerned with legalizing medical cannabis or industrial cannabis, since these advocates are themselves upper caste or upper class persons wishing to profit from the business of cannabis. For them, ganja is still an evil drug. They walk the thin knife edge to try and portray that they are not like the dirty despicable ganja smokers but good clean upper caste upper class persons carrying out their Vaishya traditions. There are no social reformers of the caliber of B. R. Ambedkar to rouse the masses and demand the ending of this worst form of discrimination against Indian society by the ruling elites. It is the thouroughness of the anti-ganja misinformation that has seeped into the core of Indian society that is at the root of this problem. Almost the entire country today is unaware of India's ganja traditions and the multiple fundamental rights that are violated through ganja and charas prohibition. Probably, the most famous cannabis legalization advocacy group in India is the Great Legalization Movement (GLM) which has made the news a few times. A report says that it has about 27,000 Facebook followers. In a country of 1.4 billion people that is as good as being non-existent. This group is again, walking the straight line, advocating for medical and industrial use legalization, thus betraying its upper caste and upper class roots. Scroll Magazine reported that '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.' The Hindustan Times reported the founder of GLM as stating that '“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.' To reach the scale of Indian society, a 100,000 such organizations are needed. Not only that, all these organizations need to stop playing coy and widen their focus to include ganja and charas legalization because only then will the herb reach the people who need it the most - the working classes, indigenous communities, lower castes, minorities and the poor. The imbeciles in the west may not know anything about ganja, which is why they have come up with the arbitrary and unscientific 0.3% delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) limits. The countries with advanced scientific understanding of cannabis - such as Canada, Germany, the US, South Africa - have gotten over the anti-THC fixation and recognize THC as the most medicinal cannabis compound. Indians are not even aware of THC. The Narotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act does not even mention the 0.3% THC limit that separates legal cannabis from illegal cannabis, which is the standard adopted world-wide to regulate cannabis. One of the big problems in bringing about social reform in India is the sheer numbers of people and the levels of ignorance. It is like trying to get the proverbial boulder on top of the hill rolling. It takes great effort to start the ball rolling, but once it does there is no stopping it. Unfortunately, this is as true for positive social reform as it is for establishing negative social practices, especially when the religious scriptures are also mixed up in it. The Economic Times reports that '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.' The biggest voice that I have heard against ganja prohibition is probably the film actor Nasiruddin Shah. Everybody else among the upper classes and castes is hiding under the table and smoking ganja, because papa and mummy told them not to. Mans World India published an article about the politicians talking about this most important issue, less than a handful. It is way too few people talking about ganja, if you ask me. Ganja legalization has to become a mainstream subject for all Indian politicians at all levels till it is legalized. Unfortunately, the decision-makers in the country, the politicians, the judiciary, the medical experts, the media, education, civil rights groups, law enforcement, the religious orthodoxy, etc., are all filled with upper castes and upper classes who oppose ganja legalization. Mass education and empowerment through knowledge of we the people is required. Vice Magazine carried an article asking for a presidential apology to the people of India for the crime of ganja prohibition. It stated that '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.' Considering that India's current President, Draupadi Murmu, is from the oppressed classes, and just a pawn in the scheme of things, I think the apology should come from the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, since he represents the rich upper classes and upper castes who brought about this crime against Indian society. Far from apologizing, or even legalizing, one can expect the opposite to continue to happen, which is an even more heightened attack on cannabis and its users, especially given that Modi has got an additional boost with his buddy across the ocean, Donald Trump, back in the driver's seat there.

Not only is there an infinite number of petty issues that India's politicians get permanently embroiled in, casting the welfare of the people to the winds, there are even misdirected efforts to make the harmful substitutes for ganja - opium, alcohol, tobacco, and prescription synthetic pharmaceutical medications  - more accessible to the public. The Hindu reported that '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.' Amarinder and Sidhu seem to have progressive thoughts on drug policy. But the plant that needs to be legalized nationally and internationally is ganja 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.

Strategies used by the government to curb ganja include portraying ganja trade as a source of funding for anti-state armed activists like the Naxals and Maoists. The Hindu reported that '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.' The official thinking still portrays ganja smoking as a habit practiced by primitive uncivilized communities who need to be reformed by taking away the ganja and educating the people about the harms of it. The harms done to the people through ganja prohibition remain a non-issue for the so-called reformists. The Hindu reported that '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.' Governments themselves are clueless about how to address the growing menace of addiction to synthetic pharmaceutical legal and illegal drugs, opioids, alcohol and tobacco. In their minds, they cannot concieve of these drugs as harmful since much of it is legal and often prescribed by physicians as medicine. Generally, when there is a war on drugs, it is a war on one drug - the harmless and medicinal herb, ganja. The Hindu reported that '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.' We see in the state of Kerala, plagued by a serious alcohol problem that the public refuses to acknowlede, the war on drugs promoted by anti-cannabis propaganda groups. The Hindu reported that '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.' Looking at all this, it is clearly evident that ignorance and selfish interests lie behind the state and the upper castes war on ganja. It is obvious to see that making ganja legal is the way to take it out of the equation in terms of funding anti-state activities. It is obvious that the ganja communities are not primitive humans, considering that Carl Sagan and Bob Dylan are two ganja smokers and that Germany, South Africa and Canada - nations India can hardly consider as primitive - have legalized ganja. It is obvious that the legalization of ganja will address the drug menace in the country at its roots. Legal ganja will shrink the black market for drugs. Legal ganja will shift people from dangerous and addictive synthetic drugs, as well as opioids, alcohol and tobacco. So, it is the prohibition of ganja that has given rise to the evils of legal discrimination against the oppressed classes of society, that has made many communities unsustainable, and that has led to the drug menace in India. It the ruling elites were sincere about ending these issues, then ganja legalization is what should be taken up on priority, rather than haphazard, harmful and oppressive measures that only exacerbate the problem. The very reasons why countries like Canada, Germany, South Africa and some of the US states have legalized ganja and charas is to address these issues, and they have been highly successful so far. India's public and its ruling elites remain as ignorant as they were at the time that the anti-ganja myths started getting propagated 130 years ago...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... 

India is ranked 118 out of 147 countries in the latest World Happiness Index. Apparantly, the Hindutva mode of establishing Ramrajya in India is not working. Yes, 20% of the population comprising of the upper castes and upper classes is probably very happy, given that they have doubled their wealth in the last 3-4 years, but the majority of the country comprising the working classes, indigenous communities, minorities and the poor are definitly not happy with their situation. Unfortunately, a good number of these 80% think that the BJP, with its brand of Hinduism and development, can make them happy and so they wholeheartedly embrace its ideologies and leadership. India is ranked lower than its neighbours, Pakistan and Bangladesh, two countries that India portrays as backward countries living in the hinterlands of the supposed economic powerhouse that India thinks it is. India never misses an opportunity to project Pakistan as a terror-infested anarchical society sunk in poverty and the dark ages, and Bangladesh as the poor maiden it rescued from the clutches of Pakistan. With the ouster of Sheikh Hasina, Narendra Modi's friend in Bangladesh, all sympathy in the Indian government has been lost and the new government under Muhammad Yunis is viewed as another Pakistan. China, another country that India routinely tries to jostle with on the world stage, is way ahead of India in the Happiness Index, despite having an autocratic leader at its helm. Of course, in China what comes out as public opinion is generally the government's opinion so the real state of the people may not be as rosy as they project it to be. For India, with its masses living on a shoestring budget, there is a feeling among the upper castes and classes that everybody in the country is content, happy and grateful to be born in this glorious land of upper castes. Yes, there was a time when travellers who visited India spoke of the contentment of the people and the deep spirituality of the nation. But those days have passed. Today, with the Indian leadership in all fields only showing the ruthless desire to get rich at all costs, and the absolute disregard for the vulnerable sections of society and the state of the environment in the country, even the people have developed a deep restlessness to get rich at any cost. The constant bias of the system towards the elites has reduced the nation as a whole into selfish and unscrupulous individualism. I attribute the prohibition of ganja and charas to being a significant contributor to the drop in India's happiness levels. Smoking ganja makes a person content, healthy and connected with society and nature. It develops the 'organic filaments' - the multiple ways in which communities can interact and become cohesive - that Ambedkar refered to that are essential for an ideal society. In the attempt by the upper castes and classes to oppress the lower castes and classes further, ganja was prohibited. The further oppression of the people, in parallel with the taking away of the balm to ease suffering, has resulted in a sharp decline in happiness in Indian society. The toxic poisons that have been introduced to replace ganja - alcohol, tobacco, synthetic pharmaceutical drugs, illegal synthetic drugs, opioid, plastics, concrete, synthetic fabrics, chemical pesticides and fertilizers, etc. - have only served to magnify the pain of the people. Complete legalization of ganja and charas, with their abundant and free availability across the Indian population, will within the span of a few years propel India up the happiness charts, besides a whole lot of other charts - such as sustainable development, climate control, poverty, hunger, health, agriculture, industry, sports, creativity and so on - by re-establishing and strengthening the connection between India's people and nature. This is because the fundamental cause for unhappiness in this world is the increasing disconnect with the nature that nourishes and rejuvenates us. The prohibition of ganja and charas is nothing but the disconnection with nature. Similarly, the legalization of ganja and charas will revitalize spirituality in India, a land once considering one of the spiritual fountainheads of the world. Today, spiritualism is dead in India, replaced by religious orthodoxy with its meaningless rituals and rules or new religious fads that only serve to drive in the underlying religious orthodoxy of caste-based religions in innovative ways. India was a spiritual nation when the people of India were spiritual, when every person in India believed to be in direct communion with god - the god who lived within and who was no different from oneself and everything around. Ganja and charas were deeply instrumental in the fostering of this spirituality and keeping it intact for thousands of years. By taking away ganja and charas, the ruling upper castes and classes forced the individual to lose contact with spirituality, and to seek the services of the priestly classes to understand the ways of god. The priestly classes, obviously, interpreted ways that benefitted them and the upper castes as the ways of god, and pushed the individual into deeper despair. So, if ganja and charas is fully legalized and return to their former states of social existence - as it was prior to the 19th century - it will be no surprise that happinesss in India greatly increases, driven by the reconnection with nature, good health and spirituality that the divine herb brings.

The US intelligence, in a report appearing in the Deccan Herald on March 27, 2025 have called India and China as 'state actors' in the illegal trade of fentanyl to the US. According the US intelligence, 'state actors' directly or indirectly enable the drug trade by providing the necessary precursors and/or facilitites and infrastructure required for the manufacture of fentanyl and other controlled synthetic drugs. This is not a new revelation. The UNODC and other entities like CSIS had reported India as the country only second to China when it came to the manufacture of fentanyl and its precursors for supply to the illegal market in the US and other countries. Following international outcry, China initiated some action by dismantling laborotaries and outsourcing the fentanyl manufacture to neighbouring countries like Myanmar, Laos, etc. India still has a largely unregulated fentanyl environment, making it easy for it to enable production of this potent opioid. Plus, as earlier stated, the synthetic pharmaceutical production industries in India make it just as easy to manufacture drugs for the illegal market as for the legal market. What the US intelligence is not saying is that the Indian government is not only involved in providing the facilities and raw materials for the manufacture of fentanyl precursors, but also involved in the distribution of the finished and semi-finished product to the US. Petrochemicals sit very easily with synthetic pharmaceuticals. The petrochemical industry provides many of the synthetic compounds that go into the manufacture of synthetic drugs. It also controls infrastructure such as ports that enable the movement of goods between locations. The Adani Group and the Ambani Group are close friends of the Indian Prime Minister and contribute huge funds to the ruling BJP. Ambani and Adani are two of the richest persons in the world today. Even though Ambani appears to have slightly fallen out of favor with the Modi government, Adani is still Modi's biggest buddy (yeah Trump, not you). Modi flew in on one of Adani's private jets to take oath when sworn in as Prime Minister for the first time. It is quite obvious that the petrochemical industry, synthetic pharmaceutical industry and opioid industry work in a symbiotic fashion with each other and the government of India.

In January 2021, I wrote, 'Two very obvious ways to move towards economic sustainability is to tax the super-rich who have brought the world to the brink of its sixth extinction through their unsustainable business models and to slash expenditure on super-bloated governments who account for the bulk of the expenses incurred. We do neither. We elect governments who spend all the taxpayers money on themselves and provide the means for the super-rich to thrive while throwing breadcrumbs to critical areas like health, education and environmental protection. We are like the house owner who gives the cook all the money to prepare a multi-course feast which he then feeds his extremely obese family and friends. He finally gives the house-owner and his under-nourished family a few spoonfuls of left-over halwa and they cannot stop praising how incredible the cook is...'

In March 2021, I wrote, '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? No they can't...they are focusing on the next election campaign. Since this post they unleashed Covid with clanging plates and lighted lamps to distract people and suppress dissent while their petrochemical and pharmaceutical buddies made a windfall...' In April 2021, I wrote, 'The Indian states with high pharmaceutical drug, opioid and other synthetic drug addictions are the same states with the strictest curbs, testing and vaccination and are also the same states showing the highest Covid infections and deaths.'

India has been cosying up to the US, Russia, China and the UK for some time now. It teamed up with these nations to successfully scam the world through the fake pandemic Covid. I wrote in April 2021 that 'Choose wisely the company you keep, is one of life's key lessons. India's friends in the 19th century, Britain and China, lured her away from the sacred herb, cannabis, and hooked her on to opium. Besides cultivating opium locally, India sourced opium from China and Afghanistan for her addictions. In 2019, according to UNODC and INCB, India produced 97% of the world's legal opium. India supplies opium to the leading pharmas of the world. Gujarat and Maharashtra are key to this. As threats appeared, such as the western opioid crisis, the revival of cannabis and shortages to legal opium sources with its increasing diversion into the illegal market, India and its friends did on the global scale what smaller drug cartels do at the local level. The shortages in heroin supply forced drug cartels to switch to methamphetamine, easily produced in home labs with readily available ingredients. India and her friends, the very same Britain and China, switched to vaccine development for a new virus threat they doctored. The aim - produce at a global scale a recurring annual vaccine catering to the world's entire population. Again, Gujarat and Maharashtra are central to the scheme. The same behavior is evident at the personal level and the global level, of keeping the company of delinquent friends who hook one to more and more dangerous substances. Cannabis was, is, and will always be the sacred refuge, offering a path out of this. Will India take the path or will she, in the company of her friends, once again lay it all to waste?' India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi is still romancing Putin, Xi and Trump in 2025. Modi's fawning over Trump has not preventing Trump from imposing steep trade tariffs on his dear friend. With Xi, Modi trades in all the dangerous synthetic pharmaceuticals and chemical pesticides and fertilizers while projecting internally that he is the chowkidar who protects India's borders from China. With Putin, India buys Russian oil and funds the war against Ukraine, while pretending to wish for world peace through the ending of the war on Ukraine. Narenda Modi similarly shares great bonhomie with autocratic leaders like Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to show his support for the upper classes crushing Palestinians in their homeland, the Taliban and the military junta of Myanmar for protecting the global trade of opium, and the theocratic Arab nations for protecting the global petrochemical trade. In April 2021, I wrote, 'The permanent members of the UNSC, US, UK, Russia, China and France are the world's biggest arms traders. India, the eternal aspirant to the elite warmongers council in an organization meant to promote global equity, liberty, peace and harmony, along with Israel and Saudi Arabia are the world's leading arms purchasers. Now, that is not all. Recognize the names and their links to global wars and instability. They are the world's leading legal synthetic drug (known by the much revered name pharma drugs) traders. They are the leading traders of petrochemicals and fossil fuel based energy. They are the world's leading emitters of carbon dioxide and other global warming gases. They are the world's leading traders of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. All of them are ruled by authoritarian governments. They are the countries staging the Covid drama, originating the story, linking their pharma deaths to Covid and then claiming to produce vaccines that will stop the virus. They lead on all Covid statistics. They are the countries instrumental in bringing about the global prohibition of cannabis. They continue to be the leading opposition to global cannabis legalization. They are the leading violators of human rights and liberties through their use of law, incarceration and execution of cannabis users and traders. They are the leading destroyers of cannabis plants and varieties beyond number....' In May 2021, I wrote. 'So have we witnessed after nearly two years a new golden dawn of development and progress in the bifurcated state of Kashmir? On the contrary, emboldened by the support and encouragement that it received for its move from across the nation, the government decided to scale up its action to a national level. So now everybody sits in their houses under lock down, while the government and friends loot the entire country without any opposition. Kashmir appears to have been a mock run to test the waters. I suspect that the central government knew clearly in 2019 what it was going to do in the subsequent months. The bromances with Xi, Trump, Bolsonaro, etc during this period points to a global strategy by authoritarian leaders to tighten control over the people and give their pharma, petrochemical and arms manufacturing friends a boost...'

Social

India is a society where the upper castes oppress the lower castes, indigenous communities, minorities and the poor, where men oppress women, the strong oppress the weak, the young oppress the old, the fair oppress the dark, and so on. India is today the most populous nation in the world with a social structure where the few control the many, causing untold suffering for the vast majority and the chains that hold the people only tightening. The only hope that I can see for a change for the better is through the reintroduction of Siva's herb, ganja, so that it heals Indian society. Let us look at some of the key social demographics, the current state and what ganja legalization will mean for them.

The working classes

Cannabis was the medicine, intoxicant, means of sustainable livelihood and entheogen of the working and labouring classes in the past. It enabled them to relieve pain, fatigue, stress, to combat infectious diseases, to rest and sleep and to work long hours under adverse conditions. Approximately 50% of the working classes consumed ganja regularly in moderate amounts. By taking ganja away from them, and replacing it with alcohol, tobacco, synthetic prescription drugs, and opioids, society amplified the pain and suffering of about 70% of the people of India. All these replacements for ganja are too expensive for the working classes. In many cases, they are not even accessible. For the ones who can afford and access these deadly replacements, they soon find themselves hopelessly addicted to them, their health destroyed, their money and social life vanished and a shortened life. The ones who survive find themselves on the streets as cripples and destitutes dying deaths worse than any animal will ever face.

Before the prohibition and regulation of ganja and charas began in 19th century India, it was a common sight for members of the working classes to meet at the end of a hard day's work in village and town squares, courtyards, near retail outlets and under the shade of trees to sit together and smoke their ganja by passing around chillums as they relaxed and spoke with each other. This was one of the key social and cultural features of the working classes, much like the working classes in Europe meeting in pubs and drinking houses at the end of a hard day's labour. With the regulation and prohibition of ganja and charas, these activities involving cannabis smoking slowly started to cease. The upper castes and classes started spreading the misinformation that the ganja-smoking working classes met to criticize the ruling classes and castes and the British colonists, and that the people met to discuss rebellion and revolution. It is because India's working classes were already so oppressed, and the fact that the ganja-smoking communities were peaceful people that the state was able to snuff out this form of social interaction. Imagine if the authorities in Europe tried to ban the drinking of beer at pubs and drinking houses at the end of a day's work? The heads of the entire ruling classes would have been served along with beer at the tables of these social places through the length and breadth of Europe.

The systematic breakdown of India's working classes has enabled the upper classes and castes to enslave these sections of society to work under inhuman conditions for limitless hours and paltry wages in the very industries that destroy not just India but the entire world.

In February 2021, I wrote, 'One of the Indian government's key Covid assaults on its people has been the administration of inadequately tested vaccines on its working classes, especially civic and health workers, sections of society least likely to protest or initiate legal action and demand compensation for any adverse reactions to the vaccines. People of the elite classes, many of whom are begging for the vaccines, have been asked to wait while the working classes have been selected by the government and medical institutions as guinea pigs for large scale disbursal. Even as large numbers of doctors have refused the vaccine, lakhs of the working classes have been administered, often reluctantly and under threat or fear of expulsion from their jobs. What should purely be a voluntary activity respecting one's basic human rights has been turned into a tool of mass coercion and tom-tommed as government service. I have personally come across a couple of instances, one of a medical college student taking the vaccine as it has been declared mandatory by the authorities and another of a member of the medical staff of a prestigious medical hospital who though reluctant to take the vaccine, was compelled to do so for fear of losing the job. This is not just a clear violation of human rights. The administration of potentially lethal drugs on an involuntary subject can also be considered attempt to murder.'

In April 2021, when hundreds of millions of the working classes had been forced to crawl back to their hometowns and villages due to the abrupt Covid crackdown, I wrote 'The poor and labouring classes, who have been forced back to the villages by the changes in the world, must try and redefine their way of life. They must look at agriculture once again as an option for livelihood. Whoever has the means to practice agriculture, must do so. They must endeavor to become sustainable through the most important occupation in the world. The lure of the big cities, with their dreams of big money made fast, must be resisted as much as possible. If each displaced family or individual can try and become self sustainable through agriculture at the rural level, the chances of the world becoming sustainable greatly increase. Working on the land brings far greater riches in terms of the fruits of labour, health and contentment, than any other form of toil does. The push to force the migration of rural people to cities and the promise of a better life in the city, must be reduced. Sustainability must grow from the grassroots once again. Agriculture is the grassroots.'

Ganja and charas legalization with no restrictions on cultivation, possession and use will enable these sections of Indian society to regain their physical and mental health and to follow a sustainable means of livelihood that raises their income levels and their dignity in society. The strengthening of 70% of India's population will have tremendous impact on the state of the nation. Is this not something that every Indian wishes for?

The spiritual mendicants, tramps and beggars

The Indian Hemp Drugs Commission reported that the biggest community of ganja smokers were the spiritual mendicants of all religions. It is stated that up to 90% of these communities were excessive ganja smokers who relied on ganja to fight hunger and exposure to adverse conditions. Most importantly, the spiritual classes relied on ganja to help them meditate, focus their attention on the divine and to spend their lives in nature far removed from society. These communities were the poorest persons in India, most often with hardly even a piece of cloth as their personal possession. Most of this community relied on charity for their ganja and it was an inherent practice of Indian society to distribute ganja to these communities, be it at the doorsteps of houses or at places of worship. The followers of Siva were the biggest members of this community, but there were large numbers of Muslim fakirs and followers of other non-caste based nature worshipping religions that formed India's indigenous communities. Slowly, with the maligning of ganja as an evil drug, and the users of ganja as criminals, child-snatchers, black magicians, rapists, vagabonds and parasites, in addition to the curbs on cultivation by farmers and home growers, increasing prices and difficulty to obtain ganja, this community found their spiritual fuel being cut off. At the same time, the priestly classes of the caste-based religions started consuming cannabis as bhang in large quantities, stating that it enabled them to memorize and recite the religious scriptures with ease.

Today, the spiritual mendicant, as a personification of Siva or Allah, who dedicates his whole life to the meditation of the eternal spirit is practically extinct. They have been, as a community, abandoned by society where once they held the highest positions of reverence. They have been replaced by the upper caste Brahmins and priests of other orthodox religions. Even the Naga sadhus, who were considered the fierecest and most ardent followers of Siva, have been absorbed into the religious orthodoxy of the caste-based religions. Today, to become a Naga sadhu one has to apparently follow a prescribed set of rules laid down by the high priests of certain akhadas or clans. Only when the pre-conditions are met will the person qualify to become a Naga sadhu. So, effectively, even the Naga sadhus have been absorbed into the caste-system. Since they remain away from the public eye, barring religious events like the Kumbh mela where they are fleetingly unveiled to display their capitulation to the religious orthodoxy, they do not pose any serious threat to the Brahminical caste of India. Siva, who is an outcast in the caste-based religions, today has to hide and smoke his ganja and rely on the largesse of the upper-caste dominated state for his divine herb.

Besides the spiritual mendicants, large numbers of India's homeless and moneyless destitutes relied on ganja to enable them to survive in society. These persons, labelled as vagabonds and beggars, were, in the 19th century dragged into prisons and lunatic asylums for smoking ganja. By labeling entire indigenous communities as criminals and ostracizing them, the state punishes them for the crime of being born into a certain community. Those who try to eke out a living by growing or selling ganja are dealt with severely and the legal action is publicized to justify the labeling of these communities as criminals. Today, they are a non-existent part of Indian society, never featuring in any lists enumerating Indian citizens, without any rights or privileges, and suffering their condition with nothing but spurious alcohol and dangerous alternatives to ganja that snuff out their lives very quickly. I estimate easily around 100 million people in India who fall under this class, invisible and living in hell, even as the upper castes try to build walls and whitewash to pretend that they do not exist.

The elderly

It is estimated that the elderly population in India is around 10% today and projected to rise to 20% by 2050. The ones who are lucky enough to be living among the upper castes and classes, provided that they have not been thrown out of their homes after their wealth and possession have been appropriated by their children, rely on a daily dose of a concoction of around a dozen pills, and the periodic injections, of synthetic pharmaceutical medicine to stay in the stupor that they believe is good health. Most of the upper classes and caste elderly are covered by medical insurance that ensures that they are the primary market for the synthetic pharma industry. They are so addicted to the synthetic pharmaceutical drugs that even cessation of one of these dozen or so daily medications will result in a catastrophic health breakdown. Any of these elderly who are unfortunate enough to have a serious medical condition that makes their family take them to a hospital since their children have no time and the elderly person has medical coverage, is gladly captured by the hospital, subjected to a series of medical tests and then pumped with every possible synthetic drug that can be pushed. Only the lucky ones walk out alive, For many, the visit to the hospital is the last time that they will ever step outdoors in their lives again. 

For the majority of India's elderly, who belong to the lowest social and economic strata, medical care through the synthetic pharmaceutical industry is beyond their means. Some of them find solace in alcohol, often of the spurious variety which kills them either instantly or through an agonizing prolonged death through liver cirhossis and renal failure. Of course, these two methods of dying for the elderly are also present for the synthetic pharmaceutical drug using upper class and upper caste elite elderly, since the effects of these synthetic drugs on the liver and kidney are much the same as that of excessive alcohol drinking. 

India's elderly are, however, among the biggest opponents of ganja and charas legalization since they are among the generations that grew up absorbing all the anti-ganja propaganda, and the ones who have total faith in the modern physician and the modern synthetic pharma industry. This demographic was one of the biggest whole-hearted supporters of the fake Covid pandemic, playing to the hilt the rules set down by the conspirators, and even being the biggest influencers to the younger generations and working classes who came in contact with them, urging them to take the vaccines, the array of medicines, wear masks and isolate themselves. It is no surprise that the elderly demographic in India is the biggest set of victims for cybercrime and financial fraud. This generation unquestioningly obeys all forms of authority since this generation is the one that resists change the most, wanting the world to stay as it is till they die without any further surprises, despite the fact that the world is already a living hell for most people and life forms on earth. One of the biggest problems is that these elderly have risen to the top echelons of power in society, despit their imbecility, by dint of their seniority. One needs look no further than the Prime Minister of India to see a classic example of this social demographic. As many grow old, they become more immature and infantile. It is only a few who gain wisdom with age.

Today's technology - especially the smartphone - is like a toy that brings India's elderly as much joy as it does an infant, burying them under an avalanche of data and giving them access to pleasures that were strictly forbidden for them in their youth and adulthood. Their inability to distinguish between truth and deception means that they believe anything that they see on the smartphone, considering it the indisputable facts of science, much like they blindly believe the priests of the religious orthodoxy and the modern physician who works closely with the synthetic pharmaceutical industry. India's elderly, more than any other demographic, consider ganja as the worst drug in the world. Most cannot even imagine that the synthetic pharmaceuticals served to them by their trusted physicians can be dangerous and addictive. Most do not even know of the existence of methamphetamine and fentanyl. Hardly any elderly person thinks that human-induced climate change is a threat to life on earth. For many, it does not matter whether the world survives to see tomorrow, given that they know that they will not exist to see tomorrow. After years of extolling the virtues of marriage and having children, most seem to be totally unconcerned at the world that they have created for their children and grandchildren to survive in. Indian society, with its caste based social orders across religions, has cultivated the art of staying infantile from birth to death.

India's elderly are completely unaware of the changes happening in the world with regard to cannabis. This was most obvious when I encountered the judges of India's apex court, the Supreme Court of India, whose primary responsibility it is to uphold the fundamental rights of the Indian citizen according to the Constitution of India. In almost all the western nations, the elderly are the fastest growing demographic switching to ganja and charas as medicine replacing whole arrays of synthetic pharmaceutical drugs and opioids for their medicine, and replacing alcohol, tobacco, heroin and cocaine for their intoxicant. It is the acceptance of cannabis as medicine by the elderly, along with those facing terminal illnesses, that led to its increasing adoption in western societies like the US, Canada, Germany, Luxembourg, etc. Once the elderly recognized the medical value of cannabis, they spoke in favor of it, which had a much greater impact of changing social perceptions that regarded ganja and charas as the drug of the hippies, delinquent youth and criminals till that point. As these elderly, all from the elite upper classes and castes, held respected positions in society - like Lester Grinspoon and Carl Sagan - the rest of adult society became more receptive to this truth. The elderly in the upper classes and castes of these western societies use cannabis for much of their age-related problems - pain, anxiety, depression, insomnia, indigestion, loss of appetite, to counter the adverse side-effects of synthetic pharmaceutical drugs, etc. 

In 19th century India, the Hemp Commission found that once a person started using ganja and charas - for men around the age of 18, and for women in their mid-thirties - it was lifelong. They rarely, if ever, gave up the use of cannabis. It was found that most of the elderly who had been lifelong users of ganja and charas were in excellent physical and mental health, with many living long lives. Among the elites classes and castes of society today, we see a constant search to stretch lifespans. The rich try all kinds of methods to prolong their lives - like sleeping in oxygen chambers or adopting dangerous untested medical practices. Modern synthetic pharmaceutical medicine has enabled science to keep many of the elderly alive physically, even as their brains completely degenerate due to the excess use of synthetic medicines. So, among the upper classes and castes, it is common to find the elderly living in vegetative states, with medical machines keeping the body alive, while the brain refuses to die. The suffering that this causes to the elderly person and to his or her family are immense. Because the elderly person has the financial means, the transition to death - which should in the ideal case be a smooth quick process - ends up being a prolonged state of agony. That is the price that the well-to-do elderly pay these days for their loyalty to synthetic drugs and the lifelong pursuit of wealth at all costs. 

The legalization of ganja and charas will vastly benefit the elderly in India, especially the poorest sections of society - the working classes, indigenous communities, mendicants - in addition to the upper classes and castes. In a country, where the elderly are increasingly neglected and have no access to synthetic pharmaceutical medicines and the modern physician who functions as a salesman for these synthetic drugs, where large proportions of the elderly have no access to medical insurance or synthetic medicines or ganja or charas, the legalization of cannabis will prove vastly beneficial. It is important for the elderly to recognize that ganja and charas prohibition has destroyed Indian society as well as India's natural environment, and to recognize that ganja prohibition is possibly the greatest evil that happened to India. The elderly in India must grow up, at least now, and recognize their responsibility to a safe, sustainable world, a world in which their progeny have to try and live at least for a few more years in relative happiness.

Women

Women in India have been oppressed from as far back as we can see in history. It was possibly only during the times of the pre-caste-based religions of Vaishnavism and the Vedas - when India's religions were casteless and nature-worshipping - that women possibly enjoyed equal stature in society. Like in western society before the advent of heirarchial class-based societies, women may have been more elevated in society until the times of the Indus Valley Civilizations. Since then, there has been a rapid decline in the status of women in society. Today, women are hardly to be found in the top levels of the power structure of politics, media, judiciary, bureaucracy, corporate businesses, education, religious orthodoxy, etc. In fact, in most of these areas they are as non-existent as the lower classes, castes, minorities and indigenous communities. 

The same principles that keep the oppressed castes down apply to women. The same solution to the problem of the oppressed castes apply to the problem of oppression of women. Women have been prohibited from using ganja and charas based on the absurd upper-caste logic that ganja and charas will make a woman a prostitute, and that only the worst women use ganja and charas. This is one of the ways in which patriarchal Indian society keeps women subjugated. A woman seen using ganja and charas is ostracized and punished with the same level of brutality as a low-caste individual, an individual from the religious minorities, and an individual from the indigenous communities is. The social pressure against a woman consuming ganja or charas is much higher than that of a man. 

We see, in the medical uses of cannabis detailed by the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission in the 19th century, that there were a number of medical conditions specific to women for which it was used as medicine. Today, in the places across the world where cannabis is being legalized, women are emerging as one of the key demographics adopting cannabis as natural medicine. The number of women entreprenuers in cannabis businesses is significantly higher than in other businesses in these places. Many women of high social standing are coming out in the open to speak in favor of cannabis as it helps liberate them from the oppressive chains of patriarchal society. This is also one of the reasons why strongly patriarchal societies like those in Islamic countries and caste-based societies like India fear cannabis legalization.

Ironically, in places where ganja and charas is prohibited, we see that women are among the most vocal supporters of cannabis prohibition. This is because through centuries of being oppressed, most of these women have failed to achieve the mental maturity that recognizes cannabis for what it is. They have become so dependent on male society to make the important decisions in their lives regarding health, liberty and social norms, that it would be no understatement to say that most of them remain infantile in their understanding of cannabis. As much as the elderly fear change, most women in India fear change as it means that increased knowledge and awareness will destroy their concepts of society, religion, science, liberty, equality and fraternity. We see in India, that women are becoming increasingly receptive to the harmful alcohol, opioids, synthetic medicines and tobacco, mimicking the past behavior of liberated women in western societies, even as the women in western societies evolve to replace these harmful poisons with cannabis. 

As much as ganja prohibition is a key way of enforcing the caste system, it is also a key way of ensuring that women are kept subjugated. The Indian Hemp Drugs Commission report of 1894-95 clearly shows how the Indian upper caste males labeled ganja smoking women as prostitutes and lose women belonging to the lowest classes of society. This is despite cannabis being very valuable medicine for women especially as they reached puberty or menopause, in addition to the common medical benefits shared with men. The prohibition of ganja has meant that women today are increasingly vulnerable to alcohol addiction. The Hindu reports that '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.'

The young

In India, about 35% of the population consists of those below the age of 24. Like women, the youth in India copy the harmful social practices of the west even as the youth in the west become more aware of the harms of existing legal intoxicants and medicines and illegal synthetic drugs. We see in the US that about 3/4th of young people today recognize that cannabis is less harmful than alcohol or tobacco. On the other hand, in India, the youth are turning to alcohol and tobacco at far greater rates. What is more alarming is that Indian youth are increasingly finding easy access to dangerous synthetic prescription drugs, opioids, methamphetamine and other synthetic ways to get high as the global peddlers of these dangerous substances find a shrinking market in the west and turn their attention to the huge market that young adults and youth in India represent. 

In 19th century India, the Hemp Commission found that in a society where ganja and charas were completely unregulated, young people took to it only around the age of eighteen. Cannabis was valuable medicine for a number of illnesses in infants and the very young. In western societies where cannabis has been legalized for recreational purposes, we see that teenage usage rates are dropping rather than increasing as the anti-cannabis brigade claimed it would. Cannabis is used to treat autism, epilepsy, terminal illnesses and other medical conditions that the young face in places where it has been legalized. 

With the increased stress that Indian youth face due to the pressures of population growth and the limited opportunities for education, employment and sustainable living, we see in India's youth an increasing spike in depression, addiction and resorting to crime. The role played by Indian adults of glorifying alcohol, tobacco and prescription synthetic drugs, while stigmatizing ganja and charas has meant that the youth turn readily to these dangerous options to help them cope with an increasingly stressful world. The fact that law enforcement targets the youth the most in its war on ganja means that many of India's youth have their first contact with the legal system at an early age. Being put on trial, having to interact with unscrupulous law enforcement officials and spending time in India's prisons mean that many of these youth re-emerge into society as hardened criminals that are readily recruited by criminal networks. In a society where the elders show complete callousness towards the vulnerable sections of society and where the leaders and role models are criminals whose wealth and power are the measures of success, India's youth aspire to get rich and fast using any means possible. The vast numbers of jobless youth mean that they are readily available to cyber criminal gangs, political parties, environmetally damaging businesses, as gig workers and private armies run by the upper castes and classes to ensure the continuity of the current social structure.

The legalization of ganja and charas will mean that the young in India have access to a safe intoxicant and medicine. It will mean that the black market which is the only source for all drugs becomes less appealing to the young. It will mean that the young are not exposed to crime at relatively young ages. It will mean that age restrictions can be imposed on cannabis sales. These are some of the reasons why countries like Canada and Germany legalized cannabis for recreational use. Cannabis legalization will mean that the hundreds of millions of young people in India can pursue livelihoods connected with cannabis including agriculture, processing, distribution and retail. India's youth can create cannabis-centric businesses in areas like hempcrete based construction, biodegradable plastics, biofuels, textiles and fabrics, wellness, cosmetics, medicine, research, paper and pulp, tourism, events, sports, music, art, export, animal feed, food and beverages, and so on. The cannabis industry employed more than 400,000 persons in the US in 2022. All this is sustainable economic development using a renewable resource that sequesters carbon and heals the earth through it usage, enabling India to transition to a low-carbon economy that is sustainable for the future. 

Ambedkar asks very important questions regarding what an ideal society is. In his Annihilation of Caste speech, he says, 'Men do not become a society by living in physical proximity, any more than a man ceases to be a member of his society by living so many miles away from other men...Secondly, similarity in habits and customs, beliefs and thoughts, is not enough to constitute men into society. Things may be passed from one to another like bricks. In the same way habits and customs, beliefs and thoughts of one group may be taken over by another group, and there may thus appear a similarity in the two. Culture spreads by diffusion, and that is why one finds similarity between various primitive tribes in the matter of their habits and customs, beliefs and thoughts, although they do not live in proximity. But no one could say that because there was this similarity, the primitive tribes constituted one society. This is because similarity in certain things is not enough to constitute a society...Men constitute a society because they have things which they possess in common. To have similar things is totally different from possessing things in common. And the only way by which men can some to possess things in common with one another is by being in communication with one another. This is merely another way of saying that society continues to exist by communication - indeed, in communication. To make it concrete, it is not enough if men act in a way which agrees with the acts of others. Parallel activity, even if similar, is not sufficient to bind men into a society...This is proved by the fact that the festivals observed by the different castes amongst the Hindus are the same. Yet those parallel performances of similar festivals by the different castes have not bound them into one integral whole. For that purpose what is necessary is for a man to share and participate in a common activity, so that the same emotions are aroused in him that animate the others. Making the individual a sharer or partner in the associated activity, so that he feels its success as his success, its failure as his failure, is the real thing that binds men and makes a society of them. The caste system prevents common activity; and by preventing common activity, it has prevented the Hindus from becoming a society with a unified life and a consciousness of its own being.' He asks '19.3. The questions to be asked in determining what is an ideal society are: How numerous and varied are the interests which are consciously shared by the groups? How full and free is the interplay with other forms of associations? Are the forces that separate groups and classes more numerous than the forces that unite them? What social significance is attached to this group life? Is its exclusiveness a matter of custom and convenience, or is it a matter of religion? It is in the light of these questions that one must decide whether caste among non-Hindus is the same as caste among Hindus.' He says that the more things that can be bring together a people through shared experience, the better the bonding of society. He calls these shared experiences as 'organic filaments' that bind together society. He says, 'If we apply these considerations to caste among Mahomedans, Sikhs and Christians, on the one hand, and to castes among Hindus, on the other, you will find that caste among non-Hindus is fundamentally different from caste among Hindus. First, the ties which consciously make the Hindus hold together are non-existent, while among non-Hindus there are many that hold them together. The strength of a society depends on the presence of points of contact, possibilities of interaction, between different groups which exist in it. These are what Carlyle calls "organic filaments" - i.e. the elastic threads which help to bring the disintegrating elements together and to re-unite them. There is no integrating force among the Hindus to counteract the disintegration caused by caste. While among the non-Hindus there are plenty of these "organic filaments" which bind them together.' Even though notions such as nationalism and religion serve as binding mechanisms for society, they are more a negative social notion since they rely on the exclusion of others to strengthen the bond within a certain nation or religion. Regarding the caste-system Ambedkar says, 'Caste does not result in economic efficiency. Caste cannot improve, and has not improved, race. Caste has, however, done one thing. It has completely disorganised and demoralised the Hindus...Indifferentism is the worst kind of disease that can infect a people. Why is the Hindu so indifferent? In my opinion this indifferentism is the result of the caste system, which has made sangathan and cooperation even for a good cause impossible.' He says, 'There cannot be a more degrading system of social organisation than the caste system. It is the system which deadens, paralyses, and cripples the people, from helpful activity. This is no exaggeration. History bears ample evidence. There is only one period in Indian history which is a period of freedom, greatness and glory. That is the period of the Maurya empire. At all other times the country suffered from defeat and darkness. But the Maurya period was a period when the caste system was completely annihilated - when the Shudras, who constituted the mass of the people, came into their own and became the rulers of the country. The period of defeat and darkness is the period when the caste system flourished, to the damnation of the greater part of the people of the country.' 

Ambedkar says that for Indian society to save itself from its current state of decay, social reform is needed. He says that without social reform first, all other reforms pursued - political or economic - are meaningless because the fundamental structure of Indian society is itself flawed. He says, 'The path to social reform, like the path to heaven (at any rate, in India), is strewn with many difficulties. Social reform in India has few friends and many critics. The critics fall into two distinct classes. One class consists of political reformers, and the other of the socialists.' He says that during the formative years of organized India's freedom movement, social reform was given equal emphasis as political reform. 'It was recognised at one time that without social efficiency, no permanent progress in the other fields of activity was possible; that owing to mischief wrought by evil customs, Hindu society was not in a state of efficiency; and that ceaseless efforts must be made to eradicate these evils. It was due to the recognition of this fact that the birth of the National Congress was accompanied by the foundation of the Social Conference. While the Congress was concerned with defining the weak points in the political organisation of the country, the Social Conference was engaged in removing the weak points in the social organisation of Hindu society.' The caste system creates a rigid structure that causes fissures in society, preventing the fluidity and cohesiveness that marks an ideal society. His ideas were rejected by the Indian upper castes who shaped its freedom movement. Ambedkar writes about how the Indian upper castes sabotaged attempts at social reform with the National Congress stifling the Social Conference till all attempts at social reform, addressing the root cause of the caste-system, were abandoned. This was primarily due to the political leadership sensing that social reform meant weakening the power of the upper castes who essentially formed all political parties in India then and today. Ambedkar writes about the attempts made by the British government to give a voice to the oppressed classes through the Communal Award and the opposition by India's political leaders to it. He says, 'What is the significance of the Communal Award, with its allocation of political power in defined proportions to diverse classes and communities? In my view, its significance lies in this: that political constitution must take note of social organisation. It shows that the politicians who denied that the social problem in India had any bearing on the political problem were forced to reckon with the social problem in devising the constitution. The Communal Award is, so to say, the nemesis following upon the indifference to and neglect of social reform. It is a victory for the 'social reform party', which shows that, though defeated, they were in the right in insisting upon the importance of social reform. Many, I know, will not accept this finding. The view is current - and it is pleasant to believe in it - that the Communal Award is unnatural and that it is the result of an unholy alliance between the minorities and the bureaucracy.' The greatest opposition to the Communal Award and the push for separate electorates for the oppressed classes by Ambedkar was from none other than Gandhi himself. He blackmailed Ambedkar with a hunger fast that put immense pressure on Ambedkar, forcing him to give up his efforts for setting up a separate electorate for the oppressed classes and making him sign the Poona Pact. 

Cannabis was an integral part of Indian cooking in the past. The beverage bhang is well known but cannabis formed a significant part of Indian nutrition in the past. Buddhist monks are said to have used hemp flour, made from powdering cannabis seeds, for making their bread. Ganja is known to have been added for the cooking of meat. The sweetmeat majum was popular across the length and breadth of the country. In some parts of India, we still find remnants of this past. The Hindu reports that '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.'

 

The environment and climate change

Today India is the world's third largest emitter of greenhouse gases responsible for global warming and runaway climate change. It is also the world's most populous country today. It is not only imperative for India, but also for the whole world, that India becomes a sustainable economy at the earliest. Otherwise, India will - along with China and the US - drag the world down into natural devastation and climate catastrophe.

As far as I can see, cannabis is the only viable large scale alternative that can counter humankind's destruction of the natural world through the industries that have made the upper classes and castes wealthy and the world an increasingly unsafe place to live in. 

It is only if India adopts cannabis completely, at a national level, that we have any hope of even slowing down the slide into our own destruction that the destruction of nature will bring. Cannabis as a key agricultural crop will ensure that the majority of India's small farmers have a means of sustainable livelihood. It will sequester carbon, rejuvenate the soil, reduce the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides and water. Cannabis produced at agricultural scales will mean that there is sufficient cannabis for: natural medicine that replaces synthetic pharmaceutical medicine that contaminates the environment through its manufacture, use and disposal; intoxication replacing distilled alcohol and tobacco that harm the environment through their production; for replacing wood and timber based paper and pulp; for producing biodegradable plastics to replace non-biodegradable petrochemical based plastics; to replace environmentally damaging cotton and petrochemical-based synthetic fabrics and textiles; to replace fossil fuel based concrete with hempcrete as building material; to replace petrochemicals with cannabis based biofuels; to provide renewable and healthy animal feed for India's animal husbandry and poultry industries; to replace harmful chemical-based compounds in the wellness and cosmetic industries; to prevent crop stubble burning after the cultivation of wheat and rice through the cultivation of cannabis as a food crop; to reduce the anxiety, greed and discontentment that makes Indians pursue wealth and power through unsustainable means; to reduce the oppression of the majority of India's people by the upper classes and castes involved in businesses that are unsustainable; to bring nature and the environment to the center of economic development; to provide nutrition for birds and insects to enable the cross-pollination of vital crops and natural plants; to export to nations that cannot grow cannabis at scales to meet their own internal needs;...

With cannabis legalization, completely without any curbs or regulations, India can quickly meet most of its UN Sustainable Development Goals. India can rise in the rankings related to Human Development Index, Nutrition, Happiness Index, Democracy, Freedom of Press, etc and fall in the rankings related to wealth gap between the rich and poor, obesity, diabetes, tuberculosis, hunger, poverty, corruption, etc.

Cannabis enables a person to endure oppressive heat while performing hard labour and remaining outdoors for long periods of time, which is one of the reasons why it was so important to the working classes and spiritual mendicants. The name 'thandai' means 'cooling beverage'. Cannabis consumed - as bhang, ganja or charas - will enable hundreds of millions of Indians who are being exposed to increasing heat waves as the effects of climate change become amplified. Its widespread availability will enable India's population to insulate itself from the dangers of extreme heat.

Cannabis is the cohesive force that breaks down the walls and divisions in Indian society on the basis of language, religion, caste, skin color, wealth, education and so on. As a nation we need to pursue cannabis as a mission in life to save ourselves, our society and our natural world from disintegration. We must make cannabis a religion in India that unites all Indians. Then India's destiny will be possible. We must start today to reduce the extent of the inevitable damage that will come as a consequence of our actions in the past, if we are to have any hope of getting back in tune with nature. There is no other force that will have the kind of power and wideranging impact that cannabis has to achieve all this. Every Indian who believes he is part of something beyond his narrow caste, creed and tribe must act with urgency to bring about this change.

In August 2023, I wrote, 'The new draft Environmental Impact Assessment rules takes the government-industry partnership one step closer to the destruction of the natural world in the name of development. It does away with the means for local and indigenous communities to put forward their grievances against mining, infrastructural development and other such projects in eco-sensitive areas. These are the communities directly impacted along with the flora and fauna in these regions. The reason given for the modification of the rules is that it is to streamline the approval process and reduce delays. This continues down the path taken in recent times, under the cloak of a pandemic, of the National Wild Life Board approving many projects in key wildlife areas and the announcement of stimulus packages to coal and other environment damaging industries as a part of pandemic related economic measures. The bias towards the very same industries that the entire world is trying to rein in as a part of the action against man made global climate change once again highlights governmental focus on unsustainable development and blatant support of harmful industries that fund it. Governments and businesses continue to maximize profits in unsustainable ways, putting the planet and its inhabitants at greater risk with each passing day...'

Is intoxication evil?

Regarding intoxication, which is an elated state of being that not just humans but many other species enjoy, Nietzsche write in The Will to Power, 'The state of pleasure which we call intoxication is precisely a supreme sense of power...Perceptions of time and space are altered; tremendous distances are surveyed, and first become perceivable, as it were; the expansion of the vision to encompass greater masses and distances; the refinement of the faculty for the perception of the smallest and most transitory things; divination, the power of understanding at the slightest hint or suggestion, that is, an 'intelligent' sensibility...Strength as a sense of muscular control, as suppleness of, and delight in, movement, as dance, as ease and presto; strength as a desire to prove one's strength, as bravado, adventurousness, fearlessness: the strength of a heedless creature...All these elevated moments of life stimulate each other; the imagery and imagination of one suffices as a suggestion for the other...Such states which are perhaps better kept apart finally intertwine with each other. For example, the sense of religious rapture and sexual excitement (two profound sensations which are found in combination to an extant which is well-nigh amazing. What is it that pleases all pious women, both young and old? The answer: a saint with handsome legs, still young, still an idiot.)' Speaking about the differences between the hierarchical religion of classes and the classes pagan religion, Friedrich Nietzsche writes in The Will to Power, 'Dionysian intoxication contains sexuality and voluptuousness; it is usually lacking in the Apollonian state. There must also be a difference of tempo between the states...The extreme calm of certain feelings of intoxication (or, more strictly, the diminution of the sense of time and space) is reflected in the vision of the calmest gestures and acts of the soul. The classical style essentially represents calm, simplification, abbreviation and concentration. The intoxication of nature: the supreme sense of power is concentrated in the classical type. Slow to respond; enlarged consciousness; no sense of struggle.'

The futility of prohibiting something that comes naturally to a human has been proved from time immemorial. But the attempt to do so continues despite the mounting failures. Friedrich Nietzsche writes in The Will to Power, 'Every power which prohibits something, which knows how to excite fear in the man to whom it is prohibited, gives rise to a bad conscience (i.e. a desire for something, coupled with a sense of the danger involved in gratifying it, and thus with the necessity of secrecy, clandestine means and caution). Every prohibition corrupts the character of those who do not submit to it voluntarily, but are compelled to do so.' Cannabis prohibition failed right from the time it was implemented in 19th century India. Global cannabis prohibition has failed miserably, with about 250+ million plus official consumers of cannabis globally today. The real numbers are likely to be easily double that, with India itself having around 250 million cannabis users today, despite prohibition. Not only that, the prohibition of cannabis has spawned the illegal drug trade of even more dangerous synthetic drugs like cocaine, heroin, fentanyl, methamphetamine, novel psychotropic substances (NPS) and abuse of synthetic prescription medicine. It has also created a huge market for alcohol and tobacco - legal drugs that kill tens of millions of persons world wide today. Even the prohibition of alcohol is futile, as the US found out in the 1920s when alcohol prohibition gave rise to powerful criminal syndicates that dealt with all sorts of illegal things besides alcohol and consolidated the position of the upper classes. India to is constantly experimenting with alcohol prohibition which only leads to an increased black market for alcohol, besides spawning numerous tragedies from the consumption of illegal adulterated alcohol. Most victims are from the lower economic strata, since the upper classes and castes get their regular high quality alcohol, just like ganja and charas, because they can afford it. The Hindu reported that '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.' The proponents of prohibition are driven by the principles of caste-based religions that say that intoxication is against religious sanctions of the scriptures. They fail to recognize that intoxication is as essential to a human being are oxygen. Even the people who claim to not use intoxicants get their intoxication through other means such as sex, gambling or accumulating wealth and power. The need for intoxication is a natural need, as we can see from the behavior of our primate cousins, besides numerous other species including elephants, canines, felines, bovines, birds and insects. The way to protect public health is to ensure that the safest intoxicants are available to all, not by attempting to remove intoxicants itself from society which is an impossible task. A person can get high from inhaling petrol or paint thinners, so what all can you eliminate from society to prevent intoxication? The way to mitigate the harms of alcohol, tobacco, synthetic drugs and opium is to legalize the safe intoxicant cannabis as ganja and charas. That is how Indian society self-regulated for thousands of years, before all these harmful intoxicants moved in to take its place through its prohibition. The fundamental problem is that most prohibition drives are carried out by ignorant sections of society who cannot make out the difference between different types of intoxicants, and who view ganja and charas as terribly harmful based on all the propaganda that they have ingested, making them intoxicated on false information. 

Some people in India have asked me, 'Why don't you go live in Canada or in the US states where ganja and charas have been legalized?' I have said that they are missing the point completeley. India is the land of ganja and charas, the land of Siva. If there is any place in the world where ganja and charas must be legal, it is here. I would rather stay here and work to make that happen than go live in a foreign land and enjoy the benefits of the wise thinking of the leaders there. Believe me, one of the sweetest things to happen to India will be the complete legalization of ganja and charas here. That is when the people of India will achieve real freedom, especially its majority working classes, indigenous communities, poor and minorities. It is when the yoke of the upper classes and castes will be lifted from the people. To work towards this end gives me ultimate pleasure. The journey to the goal itself is invigorating and fulfilling for me. To grow my own ganja plants and to enjoy its ganja and charas to my heart's content everyday, like tea or coffee, especially as I head into the sunset years of my life is a dream to look forward to. Those who cannot work towards this goal, or cannot wait for it to happen, or who have the means to seek their pleasures wherever they may find them are welcome to travel about for it. For me, paradise on earth is where I am and I create it not anybody else. And that is here, right where I live, in body and mind.  

When I started smoking ganja about 38 years ago, there were still places within the city where people sold ganja sitting on the streets. Even as recently as 25 years ago, for Rs. 500 one could get about 100 grams of good quality ganja. The increasing oppression against the ganja community over the last 25 years has meant that 100 grams of ganja costs around Rs. 10,000 today and to access this one needs to have the right contacts. It is only the upper castes and upper classes who can access or afford ganja in India these days. For most of India's population the cost of ganja and the risks involved in accessing it has meant that it is beyond the reach of the common man. As awareness of the benefits of ganja pour in from all over the world, the Indian upper classes and castes have vastly increased their consumption of ganja and charas, proudly flaunting it after seeing its popularity among white celebrities from across the world. If asked whether ganja and charas should be legalized, these upper classes and castes will say no, it will harm society i.e. that the majority of Indians are too incapable or too immature to regulate their ganja and charas usage, unlike the upper classes and castes who indulge in it for pleasure, supplementing it with alcohol, synthetic drugs and opioids. The ganja culture in India is not so old that it has been forgotten. There are numerous old timers who recall the days when things were much better. The Hindu reports that in the 1970s the picture was not so bad. It says 'The truth is that grass was easily available. For 25 paise, you got enough to fill one joint.' Consider how it must have been in the 19th century when ganja and charas were completely unregulated and many people had numerous ganja plants growing at home, besides being able to walk to the nearest shop to buy their ganja like any other herb. In those days, for the poorest sections of society, especially the spiritual mendicants, there were places where ganja was distributed free of cost. If we look at the big picture, we can see how far we have harmed ourselves as a society through the increasing war on ganja and charas in India. 

In sumary

When I reached Delhi to petition the Supreme Court of India for the restoration of my fundamental rights to life through safe intoxicant and medicine, right to religious freedom, right against discrimination and right to sustainable livelihood, it was October 2nd, 2023. The fact that it was Gandhi Jayanthi, the birthday of India's most famous freedom fighter, buoyed me into a positive frame of mind. The next day, at the court, I found out that Gandhi's upper caste Vaishnavism and the the sychophancy of the Indian upper castes and upper classes to the British colonists was very much deeply entrenched in the mindsets of India's apex judiciary, whose primary responsibility it was to safeguard the fundamental rights of the Indian citizen. I found that even after 75 years of independence the caste system still cast its black shadow over the minds of India and that, in the land of Siva and ganja, this was the biggest roadblock to the legalization of ganja and charas.  

Just as the presence of a tiger is an indicator of a healthy, vibrant forest, the presence of legal recreational ganja is an indicator of a healthy, vibrant society...Legalize it...

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.

 As a part of India's religious and social customs, nearly every person is said to have partaken of bhang during festive occasions. Vast numbers of Indian sadhus across all religions, Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Jain and Buddhist, were habitual moderate to excessive smokers of ganja.  In spite of such widespread historical use, with minimal evidence of danger to the health of the individual and to society, cannabis was systematically prohibited by the government, going against the recommendations of the Hemp Commission. Prohibition of cannabis helped increase sales of western alcohol, tobacco and opium, and aided these emerging industries. Opium would eventually form the backbone of the future pharmaceutical industry worldwide. The persons who supported the prohibition consisted of the British colonial rulers and the people they employed in the Indian administrative set up, mostly persons who considered themselves as the elite crust of Indian society, a privileged class removed from the common man. These people considered cannabis users as the lowest classes, without wealth, voice or social standing, who though strongly opposed to the prohibition and the hardships it would bring on them, would not have the collective will to organize public opposition. They would have no choice but to live with the ban and seek out the more expensive and harmful, but highly taxable, alcohol, tobacco and opium if they sought relief from fatigue and pain and needed recreation, as did every single human being on the planet.

 

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.

India's lawmakers appear to be totally ignorant of all this or deliberately choose to ignore it while they continue to focus on unsustainable economic growth and lining their pockets through the funding from unsustainable big businesses opposed to cannabis rather than on public health and sustainable development. A few lawmakers have spoken briefly about cannabis legalization but their voices have been drowned in the political melee of winning elections, securing seats and maximizing the term in office. Compounding the problem are vast sets of ignorant people who still live in a world of imagined elite and lower castes. Worldwide cannabis prohibition has always been a covert attempt at protecting the selfish interests of the 'upper castes' while keeping the 'other castes' under economic control and exploitation. Boasting that cannabis is as Indian as Shiva while continuing to keep it prohibited is one of India's special forms of hypocrisy. When it comes to facts and actions to justify these claims, India stands exposed as most of the countries undergoing cannabis reforms are following scientific, industrial, medical and historical research to understand their own connections with the plant and to support their own claims.

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 de-scheduling the wonderful plant for the sake of its people and all living beings of the land.

Related articles

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. 

https://restofworld.org/2024/bjp-whatsapp-modi/

Some linguists, however, argue that the appearance of Sanskrit was predated by Tamil, a Dravidian language that is still used by almost 85 million native speakers in southern India and Sri Lanka. Scientists have documented Tamil for at least 2,000 years. But scholars have contested the true age of the oldest surviving work of Tamil literature, known as the Tolkappiyam, with estimates ranging from 7,000 to 2,800 years. “There are disputes among scholars about the precise date of ancient texts ascribed to Tamil and whether the language used is actually similar enough to modern Tamil to categorize them as the same language,” Patel says. “Tamil [speakers] have been especially [enthusiastic] in trying to separate the language as uniquely ancient.”

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/whats-the-worlds-oldest-language/

Indian hemp is classified as a dangerous drug under the Dangerous Drugs Act 2000 with its possession being banned, except for very limited scientific and medical purposes by authorized personnel.

Stubbs however contended that the drug is a ‘sacred herb’, used as a sacrament in manifesting his faith as a Rastafarian and that he has a constitutional right to possess and use it.

Stubbs also contended that to the extent that the DDA does not contain an exemption for religious use, its blanket criminal sanctions on the possession of cannabis infringe on his right to practice his faith freely.

In the 40-page decision, Justice Klein differentiated between Indian hemp and marijuana, stating that while they belong to the same cannabis genus, they are of different varieties of the hemp family. He also highlighted that hemp has been used lawfully for medicinal and other purposes in India and China for thousands of years until its international criminalization following the International Opium Conference in 1925.

In his judgment, Klein said that he found nothing anti-democratic or anti-rights in Parliament’s decision not to make allowances for the religious or recreational use of marijuana.

....

The judge accepted that the failure to make provision for the religious use of marijuana amounted to an interference with Stubbs’ rights to observe and manifest his religion.

“I also find that there is sufficient evidence and other material before the court to establish that the impugned provisions of the Dangerous Drugs Act (DDA) are reasonably required to attain public policy objectives, whether for public health or safety.

“Furthermore, in my judgment, the applicant has not provided any evidence or other material to satisfy the court that the failure to make an exemption for religious use is not justifiable in a democratic society, or that the legislative measures in the DDA are disproportionate to their objectives,” the judge noted.

https://ewnews.com/judge-marijuana-religious-exemption-for-parliament-to-decide

Police seized 1,723 kg of ganja, 55.8 kg of opium, 40 grams of heroin, 1.02 kg of hashish oil, 467 grams of charas, 570 grams of cocaine, 3.19 kg of MDMA, 43 LSD strips, and 572 different types of tablets.

.....

Additionally, under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003 (COTPA), 24 cases were registered for selling tobacco products within a 100-metre radius of educational institutions. A total of 3,588 petty cases have been registered and Rs 5.9 lakh has been collected as fines.

https://www.deccanherald.com/city/bengaluru-crime/bengaluru-police-seize-drugs-worth-rs-18-cr-in-july-487-arrests-1242673.html

'Large hauls of cannabis seized post-lockdown is proof that bans and over legislation don’t work, especially when there is public demand. In 2018, a whopping four lakh kgs of ganja was seized. Such massive production is surely not a sign of deterrence. Besides, over 60% narcotics cases involve personal use rather than trafficking or production. Instead of choking overburdened police and courts with thousands of cannabis cases, there is a strong case for cash strapped governments regulating cannabis production, sale and use. In two years after legalisation in January 2018, California has netted $1 billion in revenue receipts from marijuana. With a nationalist government mindful of traditional cultures and strongly betting on ease of doing business, it is time to let go of overzealous, impractical, ineffective policies.'

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/toi-editorials/legalise-cannabis-government-wrongly-banned-an-age-old-indian-habit-now-it-must-correct-that-mistake/

'Speaking to the media on Wednesday evening, Sawant said that “the Goa government is not interested in going ahead with this proposal”.

“The Indian Institute of Integrative medicine, a premier Government of India agency, had sent us a proposal... We had sent it for examination to different departments. It does not mean we are going for cannabis cultivation,” Sawant said.

The proposal was vetted by the Goa law department, with law minister Nilesh Cabral saying that he was in favour of legalising cannabis for medicinal purposes only. '

https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/not-interested-goa-cm-scuttles-proposal-to-allow-cannabis-cultivation/story-dEj7HKMDQwtJPep99HSgmL.html

'The issue has gained traction recently after India voted with the majority of member states at the United Nations to remove cannabis and cannabis resin from the list of most dangerous substances in the International Convention on narcotic drugs. The move by India hinted that the government was in favour of doing away with the criminalisation of recreational and medicinal use of cannabis.'

https://www.indiatoday.in/mood-of-the-nation/story/india-cannabis-consumption-legal-drug-abuse-mood-of-the-nation-poll-1761743-2021-01-22

'What's more, although the cultivation of cannabis is prohibited under India's Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropics Substances (NDPS) Act, there are provisions within the law that permit state governments to allow regulated cultivation of hemp for industrial or horticultural purposes.

The clamour for the legalisation of cannabis has been growing louder in India, particularly in view of the increasing number of health and medicinal properties it is reported to have. Hemp can also be used as a building material. CM Thakur has himself stated previously that the cannabis seeds may also be used in the production of paint, biofuel and ink.

But the revival of the state's shelved plans to legalise cannabis is also a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Himachal Pradesh relies extensively on its burgeoning tourism sector to generate state revenues. But with the intra and inter-state restrictions necessitated by the COVID-19 outbreak, the state's coffers have been struck hard.'

https://www.timesnownews.com/india/article/himachal-mulling-legalising-cannabis-for-med-use-whats-prompted-the-hill-state-to-consider-the-proposal-now/730073

'More than 120 million doses have been administered, mostly of an Indian-produced version of the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine called Covishield. But that’s less than 10% of India’s population, so there is still a long way to go. In particular, India needs to ramp up vaccinations in the hardest-hit regions, says Kang.

Some people might have become infected while getting vaccines, says Udwadia, because crowds often share clinic waiting areas with ill people who are waiting to be seen.'

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01059-y

'Anyway, what about the vaccines? Surely they’ll save us? Isn’t India a vaccine powerhouse? In fact, the Indian government is entirely dependent on two manufacturers, the Serum Institute of India (SII) and Bharat Biotech. Both are being allowed to roll out two of the most expensive vaccines in the world, to the poorest people in the world. This week they announced that they will sell to private hospitals at a slightly elevated price, and to state governments at a somewhat lower price. Back-of-the-envelope calculations show the vaccine companies are likely to make obscene profits.'

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2021/apr/28/crime-against-humanity-arundhati-roy-india-covid-catastrophe

'They drove 20 minutes to the village of Karandi, slowing to pass caravans of migrant sugarcane cutters in ox carts. They spent more than 1 hour taking blood samples at a cluster of houses shared by three generations of one family. Later, the team would scour the blood for antibodies that indicate past run-ins with COVID-19.

Girish Dayma, who helps oversee this research program run by a satellite of King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital in Pune, says the team’s surveys to date show that up to 40% of these villagers have antibodies for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. “When we started this serosurveillance, it was thought that the rural area was not much affected,” Dayma says. “The data are very much important to convince the policymakers that we need interventions in rural areas.”'

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/04/will-india-s-devastating-covid-19-surge-provide-data-clear-its-death-paradox

'The Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, K. VijayRaghavan, released a note the next day acknowledging the problems and promising to increase access. “Our broader research community needs to be much more facilitated by our research agencies,” the letter said. But some scientists are skeptical that the situation will improve quickly; the note was low on details and previous requests for data from government agencies have often gone unanswered, they say. Why the Indian government is so reticent to share data is unclear.'

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/05/there-are-so-many-hurdles-indian-scientists-plead-government-unlock-covid-19-data

'Doctors believe mucormycosis, which has an overall mortality rate of 50%, may be being triggered by the use of steroids, a life-saving treatment for severe and critically ill Covid-19 patients.

Steroids reduce inflammation in the lungs for Covid-19 and appear to help stop some of the damage that can happen when the body's immune system goes into overdrive to fight off coronavirus. But they also reduce immunity and push up blood sugar levels in both diabetics and non-diabetic Covid-19 patients.

It's thought that this drop in immunity could be triggering these cases of mucormycosis.'

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-57027829

'Ranked by the change in newly recorded infections in the past month over the previous month, Laos came first with a 22,000% increase, followed by Nepal and Thailand, both of which saw fresh caseload skyrocketing more than 1,000% on a month-over-month basis.

Also on top of the list are Bhutan, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Cambodia and Fiji, as they witnessed the epidemic erupt at a high triple-digit pace.'

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-03/it-s-not-just-india-new-virus-waves-deluge-developing-countries

'While India has supported waiving the patents on foreign-made vaccines, it has made no move to suspend it for Covaxin.

Contrary to its international position, it has opposed suggestions from opposition leaders to invoke compulsory licensing and allow other pharma companies to manufacture the approved vaccines, saying these measures would prove "counterproductive".'

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-57007004

'A group of medical experts have submitted a report to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, warning that mass, incomplete, and indiscriminate vaccination can stimulate the emergence of mutant viral strains of COVID-19.

The public health specialists belonging to Indian Public Health Association (IPHA), Indian Association of Preventive and Social Medicine, and Indian Association of Epidemiologists have also suggested that there is no requirement of vaccinating individuals who have previously recovered from COVID-19, as per a PTI report.'

https://in.yahoo.com/news/unplanned-vaccination-foster-mutant-strains-034534842.html

https://scroll.in/article/1002315/how-the-system-broke-stan-swamy-a-cell-mate-recalls-the-activists-last-days-in-prison

'Thus, the genetic evidence makes it clear that Dravidian languages spread from the Indus Valley Civilisation to South India after the entry of Sanskrit-speaking Steppe pastoralists (who were earlier called “Aryans”) into India.'

https://scroll.in/article/1002571/how-the-mesopotamian-word-for-elephant-proves-dravidian-language-existed-in-indus-civilisation

'The United States is committed to working together with the countries of the Western Hemisphere as neighbors and partners to meet our shared challenges of drug trafficking and use. My Administration will seek to expand cooperation with key partners, such as Mexico and Colombia, to shape a collective and comprehensive response and expand efforts to address the production and trafficking of dangerous synthetic drugs that are responsible for many of our overdose deaths, particularly fentanyl, fentanyl analogues, and methamphetamine. In Mexico, we must continue to work together to intensify efforts to dismantle transnational criminal organizations and their networks, increase prosecutions of criminal leaders and facilitators, and strengthen efforts to seize illicit assets. In Bolivia, I encourage the government to take additional steps to safeguard the country’s licit coca markets from criminal exploitation and reduce illicit coca cultivation that continues to exceed legal limits under Bolivia’s domestic laws for medicinal and traditional use. In addition, the United States will look to expand cooperation with China, India, and other chemical source countries in order to disrupt the global flow of synthetic drugs and their precursor chemicals. '

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/09/15/a-memorandum-for-the-secretary-of-state-on-presidential-determination-on-major-drug-transit-or-major-illicit-drug-producing-countries-for-fiscal-year-2022/

'The urgency of Punjab’s alcohol problem is under-recognised – it is one of three states where, a survey found, more than half the male population consumed alcohol. While Punjab’s drug abuse problem has drawn wide attention, the survey, done in 2019 by India’s social justice ministry along with the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and the National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre, suggested the state also had an alcohol dependence problem.'

https://scroll.in/article/1005888/the-dark-underbelly-of-punjabs-liquor-problem

'The drug haul is considered to be one of the biggest in the world with the value of the seized heroin estimated to be Rs 21,000 crore in the international markets. One kg of the drug sells at Rs 5 to 7 crore. "A total of eight persons including four ...'

Read more at: https://www.deccanherald.com/national/west/ed-to-launch-probe-into-mundra-heroin-haul-under-pmla-1033395.html

'But recent studies paint a grim picture of the impact of the extended school closures. Students from rural areas, where a majority of the country’s population resides, and those from marginalized communities, faced multiple barriers to continuing their education even before the pandemic.

A survey in August spanning 15 states found that 37 percent of children in grades one through eight in rural areas were not studying at all, and nearly 50 percent could not read more than a few words. Results in urban areas were only marginally better. The survey of nearly 1,400 children focused on students from underprivileged backgrounds who studied in public schools.'

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/10/02/coronavirus-india-school-closures/

https://www.firstpost.com/india/what-aryan-khan-supporters-need-to-know-about-ndps-act-and-indias-drug-war-10078911.html

'The current suggestions respond to two ideas. One, it highlights the loopholes with the NDPS and its unbridled usage under the NCB. Senior Advocate Rebecca John told The Federal the real “mischief” lies in arresting persons with small quantities of drugs. “These are bailable offenses, but in order to justify the arrest, they routinely talk of international conspiracies, funding, etc that gives them time to convert a bailable offense to a non-bailable one and extend the period of detention – which is clearly illegal,” she noted. Most NDPS cases (97.3% in 2018) in Mumbai, for instance, dealt with “possession [of drugs] for personal consumption,” according to a study. The study noted this usage has led to the law exploiting people it sought to protect.

Secondly, it lacks nuanced distinctions between recreational users and addicts. “There is a deep lack of sophistication and nuance in the understanding of addiction in India – either on the level of society, or the law – and our laws are a reflection of our collective ignorance and bias,” writer Ronny Sen noted in Akademi Mag.'

https://theswaddle.com/dont-imprison-recreational-drug-users-states-social-justice-body/

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'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

'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/

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

'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

'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 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

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

'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

'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, artst 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

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

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 activity and 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

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

' 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

Legalize ganja aka marijuana aka cannabis aka bhang aka hashish. Make it legal for 21 years and above if you're really concerned about the youth who will probably be better off with ganja than with tobacco or alcohol or pharmaceutical drugs. For you money hungry businessmen make it your business and earn beyond your wildest dreams. Researchers and pharma companies, please research the topic, it may make you jobless however as you are probably well aware. The number of people in India facing persecution because of ganja especially young people and poor farmers is terrible. Police and law makers please educate yourself on the subject first and foremost rather than harassing the young and economically weak while the real criminals in their cars, coats and ties are glorified. I suspect that at least half the prisoners and court cases in this country are linked to the useless misdirected expenditure of legal energy towards controlling the herb. Society will be much better off if this energy is directed towards removing and banning all kinds of arms and weaponry from the country. The links below to articles in the media archives shows our general attitude at a time when there is increasing awareness and maturity in the rest of the world. This is ironic considering it is one of our most ancient indigenous herbs and medications. If you think Indians love sex but act in public like its the worst sin then check out the attitude towards ganja... Indian hypocrisy and ignorance at its best.. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Cannabis-Marijuana-Ganja http://www.deccanherald.com/search.php?cx=partner-pub-6098511427863223%3A4rvf9i-8j92&cof=FORID%3A10&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=cannabis&sa=Search&siteurl=www.deccanherald.com%2F&ref=www.google.co.in%2F&ss=3387j2895471j8 http://www.deccanherald.com/search.php?cx=partner-pub-6098511427863223%3A4rvf9i-8j92&cof=FORID%3A10&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=ganja&sa=Search&siteurl=www.deccanherald.com%2F&ref=www.google.co.in%2F&ss=1312j583578j5 http://www.deccanherald.com/search.php?cx=partner-pub-6098511427863223%3A4rvf9i-8j92&cof=FORID%3A10&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=marijuana&sa=Search&siteurl=www.deccanherald.com%2F&ref=www.google.co.in%2F&ss=1812j673664j9 http://indianexpress.com/?s=ganja http://indianexpress.com/?s=cannabis http://indianexpress.com/?s=marijuana

Updated May 19, 2021 2:04:11pm

"A typical prescription for Covid-9 in India includes azithromycin, doxycyline, ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, vitamin C, vitamin D, zinc, acetylcysteine, and inhaled budesonide, or dexamethasone. The antiviral favipiravir became the top-selling drug in India in April 2021, despite not being recommended for Covid-9 by any major guidelines," researchers from the George Institute of Medical Sciences wrote recently in a commentary in the Lancet.' - today's DH.

Jun 07, 2021 9:42:12pm

With demands for ex-gratia compensation for Covid deaths increasing, we should now see the reported cause of death as Covid rapidly dropping, and the real causes of death such as liver, kidney, heart and lung failure due to the excessive administering of synthetic pharma drugs once again rising to the real levels currently obscured behind the smokescreen of this man-made charade...It will be interesting to see how many death certificates issued with Covid as cause of death will be honored by the government in releasing compensation...

Jul 13, 2021 10:36:55am

In these trying times, the Karnataka government appears to be doing its bit for the homeless and hungry. If you are finding it difficult to find accommodation or food, wherever you are, and don't mind what you eat or where you stay, all you need to do is catch a train coming from Maharashtra or Kerala to Bengaluru and alight at the city railway station. Make sure you don't have an RT-PCR test negative certificate. When you alight, hopefully you will be stopped and asked for a certificate. When you say no, according to the news reports, you will be asked to do a RT-PCR test. Refuse to do the test. The government has arranged for eight hotels to accommodate you for two weeks. During these two weeks, refuse to take the RT-PCR test and there is the chance that you may even get an extended stay deal. The bill will be footed by the government. Isn't that wonderful? Please don't take any of the medications that you may be given or be asked to take during your stay...

Aug 10, 2021 9:43:31pm

It is 150 years since cannabis was prohibited in India. Even though the colonial rulers who imposed the prohibition left 75 years ago, the imprisonment of the sacred herb of India, and its people, continues to this day. The new rulers, big unsustainable businesses and elitist authoritarian governments, continue the oppression of India's poorest people, its indigenous persons, its working and laboring classes, and its minorities. The ruling classes indiscriminately destroy the herb, sacred to all religions, also called the beloved of the great god Mahadev. Cannabis prohibition is used as a weapon of unjust law enforcement action, to target and to imprison the most marginalized communities. Gandhi may have spun cotton, symbolizing the revolution to free the country. But today, cotton contributes significantly to unsustainable agriculture. Hemp would have been the better choice, more deeply rooted in India's cultural, social and religious fabric. It is even more so today. The new revolution is much more urgent, because at stake is the sustainability and future of both this country and nature, brought to its knees by human greed...Free the cannabis plant and its people now...Without it, the freedom that is flaunted is discriminatory and incomplete, an elitist freedom, a shallow freedom that does not acknowledge the cannabis plant, and its people, as part of the essence of this nation for thousands of years...The country's majority remains oblivious to this fact...lulled by the synthetic haze it lives in and the false gods it worships...

Aug 15, 2021 4:48:17pm

Koo...here's Mu...come on, come on...let's increase the vaccine coverage and see how many new variants of concern we can culture in the human population...there are so many pharma companies waiting in the wings to develop vaccines...we need to create the markets for them, don't we?

Damage to public health, society and environment? Who cares...

Sep 07, 2021 9:03:41pm

Gandhi brought into focus the untouchability that existed in society with regard to humans, calling the social outcasts Harijan or people of god...150 years ago society did the unthinkable and made a plant an untouchable...it was cast out of society and still remains so...the plant is called Shivapatre, Shivji ka buti and Siddi among other names...When will society remove this discrimination against the plant, a creation of nature that came into existence 28 million years ago when man was a primate living in the trees?

Oct 02, 2021 8:51:46pm

Two years after the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir, the much touted progress and development appear to have been achieved in the following areas - increased use of heroin in the local population, increased cross border trade of heroin with Pakistan, continuing curbs on internet usage, increased likelihood of the local population taking up arms against the uninvited authorities, increased disruption of education and tourism, increased likelihood that Pakistan and the Taliban will join forces, with local support, to make a grab for Kashmir (especially funded with the new money flowing from India to Pakistan and Afghanistan for heroin purchases that the ruling party in India appears to be complicit in), etc, etc...Another feather in the government's cap...

Oct 12, 2021 10:12:41pm

India has justified its current global rankings in the areas of human development index, protection of human rights, achievement of sustainable development goals and emission of greenhouse gases by setting a target of 2070 to reach net zero emissions. 2070 is probably the time frame, envisioned by India's ruling dispensation of heroin addicted crooks, within which they, and their offspring, would have sucked the country dry of everything, leaving these leeches with very little motivation to live any longer...

Nov 05, 2021 2:48:43pm

Colds, cough and chest congestion are common in winter in Bengaluru. This winter, it is even more prevalent, thanks to the record vaccinations achievement of Bengaluru's herd for the greater glory of the supreme leader, Mai-Baap, so as to cling on to comforts now conditional to vaccination. If you have a cold, cough or chest congestion, do the following - drink warm water, gargle with salt water and/or drink milk with turmeric for the cough; do steam inhalations for the chest congestion; take plenty of rest and try to eat simple food for the general cold. There is no need to run to do a RT-PCR test to find out if your cold has the name of a Greek alphabet. The only people who benefit from knowing the Greek alphabetical name of your cold are the crooks who have laid out the trap and wait with open beds, test kits and stockpiles of dangerous synthetic medicines, with their eyes on your money, hoping that the herd continue playing that game till it is milked to the last drop, and the vitality of this planet is sucked out completely...

Jan 11, 2022 10:14:14pm

In the last two years humans have witnessed, and been a part of, biological warfare against the world's people by its rulers - the autocrats, pharma companies and petrochemical companies, on a scale unprecedented in the known history of humans...What became first visible as China's attack on its people's attempt at democracy, soon revealed itself on a global scale. The US, under Donald Trump, Russia, India and Britain quickly ramped up their attack on their own people as well as the people of the world. The ingenuity of this biological warfare was that it was disguised as a cure for illness. Never before has humanity queued up to voluntarily get itself dosed by biological weapons as enthusiastically as this. No genocide in the world's history even comes close to this. The short terms effects that can now be seen of this war are tremendous growth in the wealth and power of the autocrats, pharma and petrochemical companies while the world's people experience fevers, colds, lung infections and body pain that have become chronic on a global scale. Our water, food and air are now completely contaminated by the assault while deaths due the adverse effects of this attack have been swept under the carpet. Children's education is disrupted like never before as is the livelihoods and health care of hundreds of millions. Now the same entities, with Biden in place of Trump in the US, play out war games to distract the world's people while continuing to exhort them to further dose themselves with these biological poisons...The long term effects of this war on humans is only starting to unravel...Humanity, by and large, remains completely oblivious of what it is experiencing and witnessing...

Feb 06, 2022 3:16:30pm

When will ganja - the spiritual herb of millions of India's sadhus of all religions, the herb that was medicine and healthy intoxicant for the tens of millions of India's working classes, indigenous communities and poor - become free? The herb was imprisoned 150 years ago by India's British rulers with the help of India's ruling and upper classes. The British left, but the ruling and upper classes who make up a minority of the Indian population, continue to keep the herb illegal, destroying it wherever it is found, and imprisoning all those who believe in it, while promoting all the harmful substitutes that were left in its place - alcohol, tobacco, opium, synthetic pharma drugs and synthetic petrochemical based products. Today, as I look around me, I see hordes of Indians carrying synthetic flags on PVC pipes to celebrate their idea of freedom, with each flag and PVC pipe contributing to the coffers of the petrochemical companies that have laid the nation's environment to waste, and to the coffers of the corrupt and authoritarian ruling and upper classes who keep India's herb banned and its users chained. Today, even the khadi that Gandhi advocated is not sustainable anymore. Its creation damages the land. The bhang fibre is a more appropriate material for the fabric of India, healing the land and the people wherever it can be grown and used...We, the people, do not even think about what goes into the making of our flag, blindly following the ruling class's grandstanding for its own benefit...what chance then of understanding what ganja is to India and the freedoms we have lost?

Aug 14, 2022 11:40:30pm

You say that Siva, the eternal spirit, is Mahadeva - the great god, and you acknowledge that ganja is his favorite herb, and you know that his people have used the herb as a means of holy communion with the divine spirit from time immemorial...So, are you trying to test what the eternal spirit, the great god, is capable of by banning and destroying his herb wherever you find it and locking up the people who grow and use the herb? Or is it that you yourself, in fact, do not truly believe the things you say, or say the things you truly believe in?

Sep 20, 2022 1:55:13pm

Ever wondered how all the potential serious competition, within the party, for the supreme leader have very conveniently died or disappeared, leaving behind a bunch of slobbering idiots? Divine intervention?

Sep 21, 2022 2:55:50pm

World news update: 22 Sep 2022.

Trump and Johnson, two of the architects of Covid-19, the world's biggest scam ever, have cashed in and settled down to enjoy their rich pickings. Three more from this abominable group still remain - Modi, Putin and Xi. Modi has managed to catapult his two petrochemical bosses into the world's top 10 richest men rankings as a result, and funds his election campaigns even better with his earnings; Putin uses his earnings from the scam to fund his Ukraine war and give impetus to his petrochemical and defence industry bosses; Xi has managed to stifle almost all internal dissent having locked up all who oppose him, along with himself, in the name of the scam. The petrochemical and pharma industries now sit pretty on their plunder reaped from the world, while the arms industry is thriving. The world is fighting climate change with more petrochemicals, fossil fuels, synthetic pharmaceuticals and arms...The herd, glued to its smartphone, is eager to see how its ass will be taken this time...sanitized, vaccinated, unmasked and ready...

Sep 22, 2022 12:53:20pm

Authoritarian - stand down, stand by...ab ki baar, ganja sarkaar....

Oct 01, 2020 1:00:47pm

For prohibiting ganja, now, in addition to the violations against the right to practice one's religion, the right to equality, and the right to life by choosing one's preferred medicine and intoxicant, the country's lawmakers must also be booked under the new Religious Anti-Conversion law for forcing those who wish to have spiritual communion with their chosen god through ganja to follow the rituals and practices of other sects and religions...

Oct 03, 2022 10:53:11am

I believe that you can gauge the personality of a human by the dog that lives with him...Looks like the Malayalis need to grow and smoke more ganja once again like they did in the past...even dogs love it...smoking ganja will bring down stress, anxiety, aggression all around...no, I'm serious...besides, the use of hemp based bio-degradable products, instead of petrochemical based plastics, will enable better waste management in Kerala where in most parts waste segregation and recycling is almost non-existent...today, the preferred drug of Malayalis is alcohol, which is the biggest coontributor to violence world wide, according to UNODC, though I believe in India TV serials come a close second...don't blame the dogs...

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-62949005

A good way to get a country to legalize ganja would be for its immediate neighbour to legalize. There is usually such competition between neighbouring countries that the idea that one's immediate neighbour may stand to gain immensely from legalization could be a very good motivation for one's own country to legalize. Keeping up with the Joneses i mean the Mary Janes..Canada/USA, Australia/New Zealand, England/Germany, Israel/Iran, China/Japan, North Korea/South Korea...hey Pakistan, I think you guys should legalize because that would surely wake up India too...it's the perfect healthy competition and a win-win for all...gun competition is so uncool...not to mention fatal for the majority...

Updated Oct 30, 2022 2:32:29pm

Now, now...you should know that if you feed the eternal spirit alcohol - or payee thanni (as the Tamils call it) or fire water (as the Native Indians call it) - instead of ganja, then the form that will manifest is that of Bhairava, the fearsome one, and not Siva, the peaceful one...It does not make any difference either way to the eternal spirit, but if you, who see yourself as separate from the eternal spirit, happen to be around, it could mean the difference between hell and heaven...

Nov 03, 2022 2:51:55pm

In India, even though religion went by various names, for those who assumed the roles of the ruling classes and upper castes in the last 3000 years or so it was essentially the exploitation of everybody and everything for money and power, while establishing their own superiority.

Today's Hindutva brigade still attempts to convert all to this stunted and corrupt idea of religion. The one religion that the Hindutva brigade propagates is essentially the class and caste system, in which it forms the upper castes and classes, and rules over all others; where ganja, toddy and the consumption of cattle meat is illegal. In that sense it is identical with orthodox Islam and Christianity world wide, only the type of banned meat varies. It is not the true Hinduism of India, which is essentially so diverse that it covers all possible religious and philosophical ways of thought imaginable, and goes by all names. One of the main reasons why the Hindutva brigade is such a staunch opponent of ganja is because it is the herb of spirituality, the path to God realization no matter which direction you come from...the herb that makes one realize that all beings are essentially god in various manifestations...the herb that destroys the delusional world of money and power...

Nov 07, 2022 3:07:44pm

Narendra Modi and his number two...Two strategies to fund his poll campaigns - demonetization and Covid; the two bosses he works for - Adani and Ambani; his two strategies to win the mindless masses - Ayodhya and Kashmir abrogation; his two favorites things - money and power; his two legacies - statues and useless toilets; his two key attributes - double speak and mass hypnotism; his two favorite enemies - Muslims and Nehru; his two biggest allies - thugs and sycophants; his two favorite drugs - opium and synthetic pharmaceuticals; his two greatest achievements - making the rich richer and destroying democracy; his two old buddies - Trump and Johnson; his two new pals - Putin and Xi; his two former loves - Sardar Vallabhai Pant and Savarkar; his two current loves - Amit Shah and another term as PM; his two servants - the people of India and the BJP...Two terms starting with showing his two ass cheeks to the nation to begin the journey of two-timing the country...Looking at India's current political landscape, there is no worthy individual to be the political leader of this country today...Politically, the country has reached its nadir...

Jan 21, 2023 1:35:00pm

All teams playing India may request the BCCI to include Narendra Modi, in his golfcart chariot doing a circumambulation of the playing field, before any game, as it appears to inspire opposition teams. There is no need to even waste money making a portrait of him before each match...Just give him a mirror to keep staring at his own mug...

Mar 10, 2023 4:50:20pm

India's public suffers from severe attention deficiency syndrome and collective amnesia. All political crimes are forgiven and forgotten as long as it serves the interests of the elitists, upper classes and upper castes; the poor are thrown straws to clutch on...The harbinger of good days, prime minister Narendra Modi, is the most corrupt, bigoted, criminal and fascist leader - bar none - that India has ever had in its entire history, including all the Mughal rulers and the kings before them. Only a nation of fools, petty criminals and fascists - in a pharmaceutical drug stupor with delusions of caste, religious, and national superiority - would be proud of such a criminal as its leader...In most other countries, a fraction of these crimes would have seen him booted out and put behind bars a long, long time ago. As we gear up once again to re-elect this repulsive, money-thirsty and power-hungry monster, here's a list of Narendra Modi's crimes committed over the last nine years, not exhaustive and in no particular order, to jog the public memory:

Kashmir abrogation; NRC-CAA; demonetization; enforcement of Aadhar resulting in poor losing out on essentials; anti-same-sex stance despite Supreme Court ruling; splurging of public funds on central vista; use of central agencies such as ED, CBI and drug enforcement to target opposition; parliament disruption to silence opposition; passing of bills in parliament without debate; Pegasus to snoop on opponents; telecom monopoly to Reliance; contracts across country to Adani ports to petrochemicals; convenient deaths of senior party members who posed leadership threat to Modi; attempt at Muslim population control; ban on loudspeaker use by mosques; weakening of Wildlife Act to enable land grab; African cheetah introduction instead of Asiatic lion protection; support for Putin in Ukraine war; close ties with and and open support for Trump; lucrative postings for judges post retirement from judiciary; Agniveer scheme to weaken army; farm laws; UP law and order nightmare; biased Ayodhya verdict; release of Bilkis Bano rapists; ban on BBC documentary on Godhra; government promotion of Kashmir Files movie; attack on Muslims with bulldozers; religious-anti-conversion bill; appointment of partisan governors in non-BJP states; governor interference in state government formation; GST disruption of small and medium businesses; MLA Rahul Gandhi disqualification; leading global arms purchaser; anti-cattle-slaughter bill; attacks on reputation of India's freedom icons; increase in wealth concentration among top 1 percent; fake pandemic Covid used to quell opposition and increase wealth of pharma and petrochemical industries; setting of 2070 target for urgent climate action; bottom of global rankings on human development, poverty, democracy, criminal justice, media freedom; promotion of Hindutva over all other religions; use of anti-sedition laws to harass political activists; media control and intimidation; attack on prominent universities for liberal ideals; labeling of all critics as anti-nationals; hijab ban; use of external loans to address budget deficits; increase in wages and pensions to personnel of all government entities; staged Pakistan attacks; non-transparent electoral bonds; MLA poaching; Dalit atrocities; citizen surveillance; doublespeak on global stage; bad loans to financial criminals; budget cuts for education and health; voter list culling to remove minorities; blocking of RTI through biased appointments and vacancies in NIC; CEC appointments that favor ruling party; attempt to rewrite history in favor of ruling dispensation; degradation of national morals and ethics with criminal prime minister as role model; financial non-accountability of political parties; criminals in parliament; unsustainable infrastructure development....

Mar 30, 2023 9:07:10pm

'"Hey, Judge," I called out. "I never got my card back."

"Don't worry," he said. "It's in my room - come on."

I was right behind him when he opened the door to his room, and I caught a glimpse of a naked woman dancing. As soon as the door opened, the woman lunged for the Judge's throat. She pushed him back outside and slammed the door in his face.

"Forget that credit card - we'll get some cash," the Judge said. "Let's go down to the Commercial Hotel. My friends are there, and they have plenty of money."

We stopped for a six-pack on the way. The Judge went into a sleazy liquor store that turned out to be a front for kinky marital aids. I offered him money for the beer, but he grabbed my whole wallet.

Ten minutes later, the Judge came out with $400 worth of booze and a bagful of triple-X-rated movies. "My buddies will like this stuff," he said. "And don't worry about the money. I told you I'm good for it. These guys carry serious cash."'

- Fear and Loathing in Elko, January 23, 1992, Fear and Loathing at the Rolling Stone, The Essential Writing of Hunter S. Thompson

One of the strengths of the American people is that they respond relatively quickly to internal adversities, and correct course before complete disaster befalls...so far at least...Louts like Nixon, the Bushes, and Trump were carted out of the office in relatively quick time - Nixon in about five years, the Bushes and Trump in four. Ganja, which was prohibited in 1937 in the US, looks likely to be federally legalized within the next five years, making it about ninety years of overall prohibition.

The Indian people, on the other hand, show a very slow response time to internal threats and adversities. It has been nearly ten years of that trashbag Modi, and all the signs are that he will be around for even longer. He will most probably end his political career by going to jail, when he takes that one step too far, making it unavoidable for even his most ardent devotees to act against him. In terms of ganja prohibition, India was the first country (ignoring Turkey where ganja was not as prevalent) to have prohibition. India was essentially the ganja country of the world, with the deepest ganja traditions, usage and connections. It is 150 years since ganja prohibition began in India. The level of ignorance regarding ganja, among the people today, makes it look likely that ganja prohibition will end in 2070, yes, the same year set by Narendra Modi to meet India's climate goals. By that time, it is most likely that there will not be a single Indian left to enjoy the climate or ganja...

What seems to differentiate the US and India, in these matters, appears to be the level of alertness and wakefulness of the American people. Strong activism, an intellectual community with sound morals and ethics, a relatively independent media, a relatively clean judiciary, and an overall desire among the general public to constantly learn, stay informed and be up to date with not just local, but national and global affairs seem to drive this quick response to threats...India's public shows a general apathy, a disregard for morals and ethics, a mental laziness and a fanatical obsession to get rich at all costs. The acquiring of knowledge appears to be only to further one's own material wealth, and not for spiritual enrichment...Interestingly, ganja is the medicine for the Indian public's mental illnesses, as well as its leadership problems. Once ganja permeates the Indian mentality sufficiently, the nation as a whole will be better prepared - to think beyond getting rich at all costs; to think sustainably; and to be able to keep dangerous people, like Modi, away from the gates of power. With a fertile mental space, the likelihood of good leaders emerging will also increase...

Apr 06, 2023 9:14:01pm

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?

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.

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 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

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

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

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?

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.

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

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.

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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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.

 

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. 

 

 As a part of India's religious and social customs, nearly every person is said to have partaken of bhang during festive occasions. Vast numbers of Indian sadhus across all religions, Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Jain and Buddhist, were habitual moderate to excessive smokers of ganja.  In spite of such widespread historical use, with minimal evidence of danger to the health of the individual and to society, cannabis was systematically prohibited by the government, going against the recommendations of the Hemp Commission. Prohibition of cannabis helped increase sales of western alcohol, tobacco and opium, and aided these emerging industries. Opium would eventually form the backbone of the future pharmaceutical industry worldwide. The persons who supported the prohibition consisted of the British colonial rulers and the people they employed in the Indian administrative set up, mostly persons who considered themselves as the elite crust of Indian society, a privileged class removed from the common man. These people considered cannabis users as the lowest classes, without wealth, voice or social standing, who though strongly opposed to the prohibition and the hardships it would bring on them, would not have the collective will to organize public opposition. They would have no choice but to live with the ban and seek out the more expensive and harmful, but highly taxable, alcohol, tobacco and opium if they sought relief from fatigue and pain and needed recreation, as did every single human being on the planet.

 

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. 

 

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.

 

India's lawmakers appear to be totally ignorant of all this or deliberately choose to ignore it while they continue to focus on unsustainable economic growth and lining their pockets through the funding from unsustainable big businesses opposed to cannabis rather than on public health and sustainable development. A few lawmakers have spoken briefly about cannabis legalization but their voices have been drowned in the political melee of winning elections, securing seats and maximizing the term in office. Compounding the problem are vast sets of ignorant people who still live in a world of imagined elite and lower castes. Worldwide cannabis prohibition has always been a covert attempt at protecting the selfish interests of the 'upper castes' while keeping the 'other castes' under economic control and exploitation. Boasting that cannabis is as Indian as Shiva while continuing to keep it prohibited is one of India's special forms of hypocrisy. When it comes to facts and actions to justify these claims, India stands exposed as most of the countries undergoing cannabis reforms are following scientific, industrial, medical and historical research to understand their own connections with the plant and to support their own claims.

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. 

 

 

It must be noted that in most places where cannabis legalization has happened it took the efforts of the people who mobilized themselves through grassroots level movements to bring about this change. Left to lawmakers legalization would have been impossible, as the main interests of lawmakers concern the protection of the big industries opposed to cannabis such as pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals, medical, alcohol and tobacco. For something that truly benefits the people, the people themselves have had to make the change.

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://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

'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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https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-economics-of-cannabis.html

The Legality of Cannabis
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-legality-of-cannabis.html

The Politics of Cannabis
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-politics-of-cannabis.html

The Social Usage of Cannabis
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-social-usage-of-cannabis.html

No medicinal value?
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/02/no-medicinal-value.html

Cannabis as Universal Medicine
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-as-universal-medicine.html

Cannabis for Animals
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-for-animals.html

Cannabis Patients
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-patients.html

Cannabis and the Elderly
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-and-elderly.html

Cannabis and Alcohol
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-and-alcohol.html

Cannabis and Tobacco
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-and-tobacco.html

Cannabis and Methamphetamine
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-and-methamphetamine.html

Cannabis and Opioids
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-and-opioids.html

Cannabis and Harm Reduction
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-and-harm-reduction.html

Cannabis and Synthetic Cannabinoids
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-and-synthetic-cannabinoids.html

The Recreational Cannabis Consumer
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/05/the-recreational-cannabis-consumer.html

The History of Cannabis
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/the-history-of-cannabis.html

Cannabis and Social Consumption Areas
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-and-social-consumption-areas.html

Cannabis and Politicians
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-and-politicians.html

Cannabis and the Film Industry
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-and-film-industry.html

Cannabis Tourism
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-and-tourism.html

Cannabis and Cooking
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-and-cooking.html

Cannabis Events
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-and-public-events.html

Cannabis in the Workplace
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-in-workplace.html

Cannabis and California
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/05/cannabis-and-california.html

Cannabis and Colorado
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/05/cannabis-and-colorado.html

Cannabis and Nevada
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/05/cannabis-and-nevada.html

 

Cannabis and the Medical Industry

https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/11/cannabis-and-medical-industry.html

 

With no scientific basis global drug laws are invalid
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/06/with-no-scientific-basis-global-drug.html

A Look At The NDPS Act 1985 From A Cannabis Perspective
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/08/a-look-at-ndps-act-1985-from-cannabis.html  

Cannabis usage in 19th century treatment of infectious diseases
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/03/cannabis-usage-in-19th-century.html

19th Century usage of cannabis as medicine by Indian physicians
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/03/19th-century-usage-of-cannabis-as.html

Cannabis and Sickle Cell Disease
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/11/cannabis-and-sickle-cell-disease.html

Cannabis and Nausea
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/11/cannabis-and-nausea.html

Cannabis and Insanity
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/11/cannabis-and-insanity.html

References to medicinal cannabis in ancient texts
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/03/references-to-medicinal-cannabis-in.html

Cannabis and the Digestive System
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/03/cannabis-and-digestive-system.html

Cannabis and Cocaine
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/11/cannabis-and-cocaine.html

Cannabis and Benzodiazepines
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/11/cannabis-and-benzodiazepines.html

 

Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in Tonk State 1894
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/06/memorandum-on-hemp-drugs-in-tonk-state.html

Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in Sind 1894
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/06/memorandum-on-hemp-drugs-in-sind-1894.html

Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in Shahpura State 1894
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/06/memorandum-on-hemp-drugs-in-shahpura.html

Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in the Punjab 1894
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/06/memorandum-on-hemp-drugs-in-punjab-1894.html

Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in Hyderabad State 1894
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/06/memorandum-on-hemp-drugs-in-hyderabad.html

Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in Gwalior State 1894
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/06/memorandum-on-hemp-drugs-in-gwalior.html

Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in the North-Western Provinces and Oudh 1894
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/06/memorandum-on-hemp-drugs-in-north.html

Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in Nepal 1894
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/06/memorandum-on-hemp-drugs-in-nepal-1894.html

Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in Mysore State 1894
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/06/memorandum-on-hemp-drugs-in-mysore.html

Memorandum of Hemp Drugs in Madras Presidency 1894
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/06/memorandum-of-hemp-drugs-in-madras.html

Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in Kotah State 1894
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/06/memorandum-on-hemp-drugs-in-kotah-state.html

Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in Kishengarh State 1894
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/06/memorandum-on-hemp-drugs-in-kishengarh.html

Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in Kashmir State 1894
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/06/memorandum-on-hemp-drugs-in-kashmir.html

Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in Karauli State 1894
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/06/memorandum-on-hemp-drugs-in-karauli.html

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