ABSTRACT:
Marijuana has been utilised in India since at least the year 2000 BCE. Common terminology for marijuana preparations in Indian society include charas (resin), ganja (flower), and bhang (seeds and leaves), with bhang-based drinks like bhang lassi and bhang thandai being one of the most popular legal uses. Marijuana has been entirely lawful for much of human history. Marijuana has been prohibited in the United States for less than 1% of its history. Marijuana and its derivatives (marijuana, hashish/charas, and bhang) are the most popular and traditional narcotics taken by teenagers. Some marijuana users begin using the drug during their adolescent, although some stop after a period of experimenting, while others develop abuse or dependence. Since the 1930s, possession of marijuana and its derivatives has been illegal in most countries; however, in many countries, such as the Netherlands, Uruguay, which was the first country in the world to legalise the sale, cultivation, and distribution of marijuana, and the US states of Colorado, Oregon, Alaska, and Washington, possession of small amounts of the drug is legal and decriminalised. Some countries, including as Canada and the Czech Republic, have legalised marijuana for medical use. The India Hemp Drugs Commission Report, commissioned by the UK Secretary of State and the Indian government in 1894, played a key role in the decision not to outlaw hemp in those nations.
Legalization of marijuana in India:
In India, legalising marijuana will raise taxation and revenue for the government while also providing an extra source of income for thousands of growers. Because drug traffickers on the illicit market tend to offer the drugs at very high or arbitrary prices, the cash generated by legalising and taxing marijuana will ultimately lower the costs of purchasing for the end user. It will aid in the abolition of black market manufacture. If the selling and consuming processes are authorised, there will be quality control as well.
Alcohol consumption is more hazardous than marijuana use. The public health consequences of modern patterns of marijuana use are minor when compared to those of other illicit drugs (such as opiates) or alcohol, according to research commissioned by impartial British think tank the Beckley Substratum in 2008. This reflects the absence of a deadly overdose danger from marijuana in the first case. In the latter situation, it reflects the fact that marijuana has a considerably lower risk of death than alcohol, as well as impaired driving and less negative health impacts.
It will become a valuable source of money for the people who live in areas where marijuana plants are grown, and where marijuana is the only source of income, resulting in a rise in the Indian economy. Because unauthorised sellers do not ask for identification and offer the unregulated and impure substance, consumers are at risk of being exposed to it. Legalization will result in the establishment of rules and regulations for the manufacturing and sale of marijuana, which will improve the quality of the drug provided to consumers.
Brief History Of The Narcotic Drugs And Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985:
The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act of 1985 has a brief history. The Opium Act of 1857 and the Dangerous Narcotics Act of 1930 established statutory control over narcotic drugs in the early days. At both the national and international levels, it lacked insufficient measures in the field of illicit drug trafficking and drug misuse. A comprehensive legislation, the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Bill, 1985, was introduced in the Loksabha on August 23, 1985, to consolidate and alter the current laws dealing to narcotic drugs. Both Houses of Parliament enacted the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Bill, 1985, and the President signed it on September 16, 1985. The NARCOTIC DRUGS AND PSYCHOTROPIC SUBSTANCES ACT, 1985 went into effect on November 14, 1985.
Producing, selling, manufacturing, cultivating, possessing, selling, purchasing, transporting, storing, and/or consuming any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance is banned under the NDPS Act. Anyone who violates the NDPS Act shall be punished according to the amount of the prohibited substance they possess.
These huge shifts in attitudes contrast sharply with India’s Narcotics Control Board’s zealous attempts to investigate, interrogate, and arrest people in possession of little amounts of marijuana. If they remain on this pace, they’ll need a lot more policemen to apprehend the 30 million Indians who admitted to consuming marijuana in 2019. Given the risk of being imprisoned or, more likely, extorted into paying a bribe if you admit to such behaviour in a government-sponsored poll, even this large amount must be seen as a conservative estimate. While the NCB has taken up the patriotic mission of protecting India’s moral purity from outside influences, it may benefit from a history lesson: Marijuana has a rich and colourful history in India, extending back at least two millennia, and the laws criminalising its use were imposed by foreigners.
The British were the first to try to ban the substance on several occasions, eventually giving up when their own commission declared that “moderate use of these drugs is the rule” and that “the injury is not clearly marked” even among “exceptional” excessive users, and that “the effect on society is rarely appreciable.” These astute findings have endured the test of time, with hundreds of studies supporting them over the last century.
After independence, India continued to defy international pressure by opposing the inclusion of marijuana in the Convention on Narcotic Drugs in 1961, noting its place in Indian social and religious rituals. India was granted a reprieve by the world world on the condition that the government would not export marijuana and that it would be criminalised in 25 years. Thus, in 1985, India enacted its own Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, which, while criminalising marijuana, maintained to allow the use of bhang (equivalent to banning cigarettes, but allowing beedis).
Marijuana usage, like all other brain-altering substances, comes with its own set of hazards. With the legalisation of marijuana in affluent countries, emerging hybrid strains of marijuana containing significantly higher percentages of the active component (THC) are beginning to flood the market. There is evidence that these more potent forms of the substance are dangerous for young people who are vulnerable to developing mental health illnesses, which is why any policy to legalise marijuana must include rigorous rules. Only legalisation allows for effective harm minimization strategies to be implemented, as the huge, criminalised systems of production and sale are beyond the reach of any regulation.
The winds of change are blowing, reassuringly, as a motley crew of politicians, like-minded cops, an array of sadhus, and civil society organisations, such as the Great Legalisation Movement (an appropriately psychedelic name! ), join a chorus to urge legislative amendments.
Invoking our old texts and renouncing colonial preconceptions may be an effective argument for our times if science and plain sense aren’t enough. It won’t be long before millions across the country will lustily sing Dum maro dum, or Bob Marley’s renowned lines, “I feel so high, I almost touch the sky, so here I am again,” the talisman of marijuana aficionados from Kingston to Candolim. I’m sure many of you will be singing along with the rest of the song.
MODERN USE:
Marijuana, sometimes known as bhang, is still widely used in India. It’s also used to make thandai, a milkshake-like dish. Between Mahashivaratri and Holi (February–March), Bhang is popularly consumed as Shiva’s Prasad. Bhang is popular among Sikh Nihangs, especially during Hola Mohalla. Sufis in India believe that the spirit of Khidr is contained within the marijuana plant, and they drink bhang.
Thousands of people use marijuana during the Ambubachi Mela, despite the fact that it has been illegal in Assam since 1958. The authorities did not prohibit worshippers from ingesting bhang in 2015, despite fining two persons under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act for smoking tobacco in public areas.
Uttarakhand allowed marijuana production for industrial purposes in November 2015. Pillares EXIM LLP, situated in Vapi, Gujarat, made a step toward Marijuana Legalization in June 2016 when it launched HERBBOX as a one-stop shop for smoking accessories in India. In February 2018, Patanjali Ayurveda CEO Balkrishna announced that his business had begun exploring the benefits of marijuana and its extracts for use in the business’s medications and other goods at its research and development facility in Haridwar. On November 20, 2019, Madhya Pradesh’s Law Minister, P.C. Sharma, indicated that the state was contemplating legalising marijuana cultivation for medical and industrial use.
In 2016, Indian authorities captured a total of 182,622 kg of ganja and 2,489 kg of hashish. In 2018, law enforcement agencies destroyed 1,980 hectares of illegal marijuana growing, down from 3,446 hectares in 2017. “India is among those countries globally with the biggest extent of illicit marijuana cultivation and manufacturing,” according to the International Narcotics Control Board’s 2019 annual report.
According to the “Magnitude of Substance Use in India 2019” survey conducted by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, 2.83 per cent of Indians aged 10-75 years (or 31 million people) were current users of marijuana products, with 0.66 per cent of the population using marijuana “in a dependent pattern.” According to the poll, 2.02% of the population used bhang and 1.21 per cent used charas or ganja. It was also discovered that the majority of marijuana users were men, with 5% of the male population and 0.6 per cent of the female population using the drug.
Marijuana use was found to be most frequent in Sikkim, where 7.3 per cent of the population said they had used it, followed by Nagaland (4.7 per cent), Odisha (4.7 per cent), Arunachal Pradesh (4.2 per cent), and Delhi (4.2 per cent) (3.8 per cent). Puducherry, Kerala, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Lakshadweep, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Gujarat, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands had the lowest rates of marijuana use, with roughly 0.1 per cent of the population using the drug. According to a report by the German data firm ABCD, New Delhi and Mumbai were the world’s third and sixth largest marijuana consumers in 2018, with 38.2 tonnes and 32.4 tonnes of marijuana consumed, respectively.
In some places of India, there is evidence that Naxalites are involved in the illegal manufacture of marijuana.
LEGAL STATUS:
In British India, attempts to criminalise marijuana were made and discussed in 1838, 1871, and 1877. Marijuana was classified as a hard drug in the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. During the negotiations, the Indian delegation spoke out against the United States’ intolerance of India’s social and religious practises. As a result, bhang, which is made from leaves, was excluded from the definition of “marijuana.” This allowed India to continue its Holi custom of large-scale bhang drinking. India was also given 25 years to crack down on recreational drugs as part of the deal. In 1985, the Indian government passed the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, which ended the exemption period.
The NDPS outlawed the manufacturing and sale of marijuana resin and flowers, but allowed for the use of leaves and seeds, which states might control. Though the NDPS Act makes no mention of smoking paraphernalia, it is perfectly lawful to acquire or sell smoking accessories such as Rolling Papers, Smoking Pipes, and other similar items. Marijuana cultivation for industrial reasons, such as industrial hemp, or for horticulture use is permitted in India. Marijuana is recognised as a source of biomass, fibre, and high-value oil by the National Policy on Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances. The Indian government promotes marijuana study and cultivation with low THC levels.
Regional bans on marijuana:
Although the NDPS permits the use of bhang, some states have passed legislation prohibiting or restricting its usage. Only authorised dealers are authorised to sell bhang in some states. Some states also have laws governing the maximum amount of bhang a person can carry and the buyer’s minimum age.
The Assam Ganja and Bhang Prohibition Act, 1958, makes it illegal to sell, buy, possess, or consume ganja and bhang. The Bombay Prohibition (BP) Act, 1949, prohibits the manufacture, possession, and consumption of bhang and bhang-containing compounds without a licence in Maharashtra.
Gujarat decriminalised bhang on February 21, 2017, when it was removed from the list of “intoxicating narcotics” prohibited by section 23 of the Gujarat Prohibition Act. Pradipsinh Jadeja, Gujarat’s Minister of State for Home and Prohibition, remarked, “Bhang is only ingested as Lord Shiva’s Prasad. The state administration has received complaints about people who have been caught ingesting bhang being prosecuted under the Prohibition Act. As a result, the government has decided to omit bhang from the scope of the Gujarat Prohibition Amendment Act, taking into account public reaction. In comparison to ganja, bhang is less intoxicating.”
REFORM:
The Great Legalisation Movement India held medicinal marijuana conferences in Bangalore, Pune, Mumbai, and Delhi in 2015, marking the beginning of organised attempts to re-legalize marijuana in India. Many articles and shows in the mainstream media have begun to advocate for a change in marijuana regulations. Tathagata Satpathy, the Lok Sabha MP for Dhenkanal, revealed during a Reddit AMA in March 2015 that he supported marijuana legalisation and admitting to using the substance many times while in college. Later, he repeated his remarks on television and in interviews with the press.
Dharamvir Gandhi, a Lok Sabha MP, declared on November 2, 2016, that he had gained Parliament’s permission to introduce a Private Member’s Bill to amend the NDPS Act to allow for the legal, controlled, and medically supervised supply of “non-synthetic” intoxicants such as marijuana and opium. At the second meeting of the group of ministers to examine the draught Cabinet note for the National Drug Demand Reduction Policy in July 2017, Union Minister of Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi proposed the legalisation of medical marijuana on the grounds that it would reduce drug abuse and help cancer patients.
The Union Government, in partnership with the Bombay Hemp Company, gave the first-ever permission to grow marijuana for research purposes to the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) about a week following the minister’s remark (BOHECO). Viki Vaurora, the founder of the Great Legalisation Movement India, wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and all members of Parliament on December 12, 2017, urging them to legalise marijuana and hemp cultivation for medical and industrial use.
The Prime Minister’s Office sent a notification to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in February 2018, instructing the ministry to investigate the possible advantages of marijuana and respond to the letter. On June 5, 2018, Shashi Tharoor, a Lok Sabha MP from Thiruvananthapuram, wrote an opinion piece in which he expressed support for marijuana legalisation and concluded that it was “high time for India to embrace the health, business, and broader societal benefits that legally regulating marijuana can bring.”
The Delhi High Court accepted in July 2019 to hear a plea brought by the Great Legalisation Movement Trust challenging the marijuana prohibition. The public interest lawsuit claims that the NDPS Act’s classification of marijuana as a chemical drug is “arbitrary, unscientific, and unjustified.”
On December 9, 2020, the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) voted in favour of removing marijuana and marijuana resin from Schedule IV of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. The resolution was approved with 27 votes in favour, 25 votes against, and one abstention.