VOLUME 3 ISSUE 2 DECEMBER 2019 ISSN: 2456-9666 THE CONTROLLED LAW OF UNCOVERD HEMP: LEGALIZATION OF MARIJUANA IN INDIA -SHIVANI VYAS1 ABSTRACT: More and more states have passed laws that allow individuals to use marijuana for medical purposes. There is an ongoing, heated policy debate over whether these laws have increased marijuana use among non-patients.Medical marijuana laws generate significant debates regarding drug policy. For one thing, if marijuana is a complement to hard drugs, then these laws would increase the usage not only of marijuana but also of hard drugs. Legalization of marijuana has always been a debatable topic after the enforcement of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 illegalizing sale and possession of marijuana all over India. This paper aims at drawing a strict analysis of usage of marijuana followed with a comparative study with the rest of the world pin-pointing whether India should legalise marijuana or not. I think people need to be educated to the fact that marijuana is not a drug. Marijuana is an herb and a flower. God put it here. If he put it here and he wants it to grow, what gives the government the right to say that god is wrong? —Willie Nelson I. INTRODUCTION The idea that marijuana is a complement to hard drugs such as cocaine and heroin, or even a gateway to them, is an important but controversial justification for marijuana prohibition that has had a strong influence on India policy.Some empirical evidence suggests that marijuana consumption has increased after medical marijuana legalization. For example, Anderson, Hansen, and Rees (2013) find that the price of high-quality marijuana decreases over time after legalization. Chu (2014) shows that medical marijuana laws are associated with a 10–20% increase in marijuana possession arrests and treatment admissions.2There are places famous for it: Kerala, Meghalaya, Manipur, Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Mysore, even Bihar. It’s illegal and yet its use is widespread. In Odisha, it is relatively more acceptable and easier to procure.Cannabis is has more than two hundred street names amongst which hashih, ganja, weed, pot, grass etc are the popular ones.Regardless of whether it's babas puffing chillums on the roadside, smoky Shiva sanctuaries concealed away from the fundamental drag, impactful wild cannabis developing in the mountains, or bhang lassis (legitimately) sold from grungy openings 1 STUDENT, 2ND YEAR {3RD SEMESTER } B.A.LL.B{HONS.}MANIPAL UNIVERSTY JAIPUR 2Chu, Yu-Wei Luke, Do Medical Marijuana Laws Increase Hard Drug Use? (September 15, 2014). Journal of Law and Economics, Vol. 58, No. 2, 2015. Available at http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2283525 JUS IMPERATOR www.jusimperator.org Page 1 VOLUME 3 ISSUE 2 DECEMBER 2019 ISSN: 2456-9666 in the dividers, weed is a necessary piece of India, attempt as the legislature does to deny it. It's no fortuitous event that the Hindu Kush mountains enlivened the name of the well-knownstrain. Cannabis has a long history in India, hidden in legends and religion. The most punctual notice of cannabis has been found in The Vedas, or consecrated Hindu writings. These compositions may have been ordered as ahead of schedule as 2000 to 1400 B.C. As indicated by The Vedas, cannabis was one of five sacrosanct plants and a guardian angel blessed messenger lived in its leaves.Cannabis has been popular in India since the beginning of recorded history and is often taken as a drink. Nuts and spices, like almonds, pistachios, poppy seeds, pepper, ginger and sugar are combined with cannabis and boiled with milk. Yogurt is also used instead of milk.Cannabis or ganja is associated with worship of the Hindu deity Shiva. Bhang is offered to Shiva images, especially on Shivratri festival, a practice still prevailing in majority of the temples in India. 3 In Buddhism, the Fifth Precept is to "abstain from wines, liquors and intoxicants that cause heedlessness, how this applies to cannabis is variously interpreted4 II. USES AND EFFECTS OF CANNABIS Cannabis sativa, otherwise called hemp, is a types of the Cannabinaceae group of plants. Cannabis contains the substance compound THC (delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol), which is accepted to be in charge of a large portion of the trademark psychoactive impacts of cannabis that prompts the "high" that is experienced when cannabis is expended. Be that as it may, not all parts of cannabis are psychoactive.According to the United Nations, 158.8 million people around the world use marijuana—more than 3.8% of the planet’s population.According to the 2007 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 2.1 million people in the US abused marijuana for the first time that year5The effects of inhaled cannabis are felt within minutes, reach their peak in 10 to 30 minutes, and may linger for two or three hours. However, edible cannabis, which may contain higher amount of THC, can take a longer period of time to reach full effect as it must be absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. The effect of edible cannabis can last up to 12 hours.THC is highly lipid soluble and can be stored in fat cells possibly for several months. Stored THC is released very slowly, and unevenly, back into the bloodstream.Since the early 20th century cannabis has been subject to legal restrictions with the possession, use, and sale of cannabispreparations containing psychoactive cannabinoids currently illegal in most countries of the world especially in India; the United Nations has said that cannabis is the most-used illicit drug in the world.The most common uses for medical cannabis include for severe or long-term pain, nausea and vomiting due to chemotherapy (cancer treatments), and painful muscle spasms. However, there are several medical conditions for which patients can use medical marijuana, 3Report of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission, India: Government Central Printing House. 1894.http://www.druglibrary.net/schaffer/Library/studies/inhemp/4chapt9.htm. Chapter IX: Social and Religious Custo ms 4Stablein WG. The Mahākālatantra: A Theory of Ritual Blessings and Tantric Medicine. Doctoral Dissertation, Columbia University. 1976 5https://www.marijuana-statistics.com/TitleMarijuana Statistics JUS IMPERATOR www.jusimperator.org Page 2 VOLUME 3 ISSUE 2 DECEMBER 2019 ISSN: 2456-9666 such as amyotrophic, lateral sclerosis, huntington's disease ,inflammatory , bowel disease and multiple sclerosis.6When taken by mouth ,cannabis is possibly unsafe when taken by mouth, long-term and in large amounts. regularly taking large amounts of cannabis over a long period of time might cause a disorder called cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome.Gateway to drugs theory- This theory states that the use of less deleterious drugs may lead to a future risk of using more dangerous drugs. Cannabis, alcohol and tobacco are attributed to this theory. Some scientific studies show that the consumption of cannabis can possibly predict a significant higher risk for the subsequent use of "harder" illicit drugs, while other studies show that it cannot7In 2006 a counter-study was conducted on rats, in Sweden, which examined the brains of the rats after dosing them with cannabis and found that THC alters the opioid system that is associated with positive emotions, which lessens that effects of opiates on rat’s brain and thus causes them to use more heroin8.A 2012 study conducted by Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) in corroboration with other studies25 showed that there is no significant relationship between marijuana exposure and impairment of lung function9 III. INDIAN LEGISLATIONS RELATED TO MARIJUANA The greater part of the state restorative weed laws go before 2007 don't legitimately permit pot dispensaries so as to comply with government guidelines in which weed remains. Be that as it may, these laws enable patients to develop weed for their own utilization, and they likewise permit "guardians" (a large portion of whom are patients also) to develop and give weed. to patients on a not-for-profit basis. Some marijuana dispensaries with grey legal status exist, but how prevalent they are largely depends on the attitude of the local government (often at the city level) and the actions of local law enforcement, which could change from time to time. Throwing light in past history of marijuana in India .I t already was legal before 1985 - the growing, selling and smoking all were legal. A whole community used to benefit from growing and selling it just like any other agricultural farmer.Post-1985 India followed the United States and classified the Plant as a Class A narcotics and till date has been harsh with cracking down on big time sellers.On July 27th, 1956, a proposal to control Hindu sadhus and sannyasis was brought to the Indian Lok Sabha (the Lower House of the Indian parliament). The rationale behind this legislation was that the behavior of sadhus and sannyasis was becoming more sinful, and that their life style was becoming more contrary to the interests of society at large.The 1961 international treaty Single Convention on 6Drugs.com. (2019). Cannabis: Uses (Medical), Effects & Warnings - Drugs.com. [online] Available at: https://www.drugs.com/illicit/cannabis.html [Accessed 21 Aug. 2019] 7Srikameswaran, Anita (2006-12-05). "Researchers say smoking pot not always path to hard drugs drug use". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 8Ellgren, Maria; Spano, Sabrina M; Hurd, Yasmin L (2006)."Adolescent Cannabis Exposure Alters Opiate Intake and Opioid Limbic Neuronal Populations in Adult Rats".Neuropsychopharmacology 32 (3): 607–15. 9 "Study finds no cancer-marijuana connection". Washingtonpost.com. 2006-05-25. JUS IMPERATOR www.jusimperator.org Page 3 VOLUME 3 ISSUE 2 DECEMBER 2019 ISSN: 2456-9666 Narcotic Drugs clubbed cannabis with hard drugs. During the negotiations, the Indian delegation opposed its intolerance to the social and religious customs of India ,and the final draft of the treaty defined cannabis10 Bhang was in this manner forgotten about from the meaning of "cannabis".