This story is from August 6, 2017

Marijuana on high ground

Before drugs were abused, they were part of everyday life as a good health fix.This side of drugs, specifically marijuana, is being revisited in the land of its origin, Himachal Pradesh.
Marijuana on high ground
CHANDIGARH: Before drugs were abused, they were part of everyday life as a good health fix. This side of drugs, specifically marijuana, is being revisited in the land of its origin, Himachal Pradesh.
The demand for medical marijuana has been gaining ground in Himachal Pradesh's Kullu district, home to the world's best-quality "weed".
Cannabis is grown on thousands of bighas of land in the upper reaches of Kullu, Manali, Parbati valley, Banjar and Anni areas, making the district the largest producer of hashish in the country.

Though illegal, cannabis is the only source of income for scores of villages. In the last about two decades, thousands of people, including foreign nationals have been arrested for smuggling of hashish.
But for the last few years, local residents, who are tired of the drug mafia and also sense an economic opportunity, have been raising the demand for legalisation of medical marijuana.
According to area residents and politicians, legalisation of medical marijuana will strengthen the local economy and break local drug cartels.
Kullu MLA Maheshwar Singh, an ardent supporter of cannabis legalisation for medical use, told TOI he would move a proposal to lift the ban on medical cannabis.

"The government should legalise cannabis cultivation for medical use. It will help farmers whose only source of income is the cannabis crop. It will also boost the local economy by spurring on a whole new industry on cannabis and research on its medical benefits," said Singh.
Listing the benefits of cannabis, he said its fiber is used to make clothes and slippers. "I am going to propose to the government to make cannabis cultivation legal," Singh added.
Tsering Dorje, a local historian who has written books on Malana, feels legalisation of cannabis would stop drug dealers from buying the potentially beneficial drug cheap from the villagers who grow it.
"Legalising cannabis would come as a boon to residents of villages like Malana, who presently sell their produce to drug dealers at low rates as cannabis is illegal. Legalisation would bring more profits to such villagers."
Pro-medical marijuana supporters are of the view that since Kullu produces best quality cannabis, it can be transported outside for medical use after legalisation.
Patiala MP Dharambira Gandhi, who last year introduced a private bill in Parliament to legalise cannabis, said legalising medical cannabis would make it a cash crop in the real sense and it would also mean the end of the drug mafia.
"Legalisation would mean people can take license to grow cannabis and sell it to government agencies at good prices, just like any other crop. Legal cannabis can also be supplied to international markets, fetching higher rates for farmers," said Gandhi.
Besides leading to job creation, legalisation of medical marijuana would sound the death knell for the black market and drug mafia, he said.
Over the decades, abundance of cannabis in the valley has spawned an illicit drug industry which earns crores by smuggling out thousands of kilos of hashish annually.
Police have been carrying out special operations to destroy cannabis for the last over a decade but prohibition and police action have failed to curb the illicit trade.
Last year, police removed cannabis from 5,000 bighas of land in the valley.
O P Sharma, who served with the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and headed many operations to root out cannabis in Kullu, says cannabis destruction is the tip of the iceberg.
"Production of hashish and other cannabis products like oil and marijuana are much higher in the valley. It is produced at a much higher scale annually and smuggled outside as well as consumed locally," said Sharma.
After years of experience fighting the drug trade, Sharma feels the solution lies in legalising cannabis for medical use.
"If cultivation is legalised, it will help the local economy by opening up a whole new market of research. But the ban should be lifted strictly for medical use," he warned.
A number of villages in Kullu including Malana are completely dependent on cannabis cultivation for a living and according to Maheshwar Singh legalising cannabis could be one way of supporting thousands of villagers.
"The government should also promote alternative farming in these villages so that dependence on cannabis as a cash crop ends," he added.
Back in Malana, the small village in Parbati valley of Kullu, whose name has become synonymous with the best hashish, residents support legalisation of cannabis.
"We have been wrongly branded as smugglers. Villagers here are forced to cultivate cannabis to make a living as we don't have any other option. Legalising cannabis will remove the stigma. It will be a good step," said Bhagi Ram, pardhan (head) of the Malana Panchayat.
What is medical cannabis?
Medical cannabis or medical marijuana is the use of any part of the cannabis plant to treat health problems and not for a high. Medical use of cannabis has been legalised in countries like Finland, Belgium, Chile, Canada, Colombia, Czech Republic, Israel, Netherlands, Austria, Spain, Mexico, the UK and a few states in the US.
Medical Cannabis use:
Many research works suggest medical cannabis may help ease pain, nausea and loss of appetite in people who have cancer and HIV. It may also cut down seizures in people with epilepsy. Some studies show it also may ease multiple sclerosis symptoms like muscle stiffness and spasms.
How is medical cannabis accessed?
In USA, most eligible consumers grow their own crop or buy it from marijuana dispensaries on the basis of medical prescriptions. They can also use vending machines.
Box: California takes the lead
California was the first state in the US to legalise medical marijuana in 1996. Here, patients can grow, possess and use marijuana for medical purposes but only after a doctor's recommendation.
Box: 'Marijuana less harmful than liquor'
Patiala MP Dharambir Gandhi said he also supports legalising marijuana for recreational use as it is less harmful.
"Marijuana is less harmful than any other drug and has so many medical benefits. If the sale of alcohol, which is more dangerous, is legal then why not marijuana? I believe marijuana should be legalized for recreational use as well," said Gandhi.
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