While some people still depend on local peddlers to score weed or ganja, this 35-year-old neurologist from Hyderabad took the ‘scoring’ game to a whole new level by putting the social media to use for buying and selling of marijuana. Identified as Mohd Sujath Ali Khan, this doctor was arrested for allegedly selling marijuana-infused chocolates on the internet for the past two years. Wow, either he is a pure genius or we are too naïve to not have any knowledge of this online market. The inspector of the special operations team, handling this case, K Narsing Rao said, “He was making chocolates mixed with marijuana and selling them to his customers online through his Instagram account.” If we look at the past instances, Hyderabad seems to have a deep connection with marijuana.

“Is marijuana addictive? Yes, in the sense that most of the really pleasant things in life are worth endlessly repeating.” ― Richard Neville

Nothing is truly hidden from anyone. All one has to do is seek it out earnestly enough. Such is the case with weed. It’s only a matter of looking and you don’t even have to look that hard, in order to find it. Yes, it’s supposed to be illegal. But, the measures and the nature of the illegalities of Cannabis in our country are, interestingly, quite relative.  

How often do you come across urban, educated 20-somethings taking up farming as a full-time gig? Rarely, correct? Meet Chirag Tekchandaney, Jahan Peston Jamas, Sanvar Oberoi, Delzaad Deolaliwala Yash Kotak, Avnish Pandya and Sumit Shah, all friends from the same batch from the commerce stream of HR College of Commerce and Economics, Mumbai, who took up agriculture to turn it into a ‘sexy’ and lucrative business opportunity.

The Bombay Hemp Company (Boheco), which came about in 2013, is India’s first industrial and medicinal hemp (cannabis) company. Located in Mumbai the company works with Union and State governments to assist farmers to improve their socio-economic standards by utilising cultivation of cannabis for industrial, construction, and pharmaceutical purposes.

On November 2, 2016, Lok Sabha MP Dharamvir Gandhi announced that he had received clearance from Parliament to table a Private Member's Bill seeking to amend the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 to allow for the legalised, regulated, and medically supervised supply of "non- synthetic" intoxicants including cannabis and opium. India is one of the countries where marijuana is easily available, but is not entirely legalised. In fact, during a United Nations (UN) convention in 1961, India had actually lobbied against a carpet-ban on naturally grown-substances like cannabis or opium. This was also because these substances are used for religious and cultural purposes, in our country.

The Dutch scientist, who was in Delhi recently, speaks to Harikrishnan Nair on the relevance of medical cannabis and present status of research in the field.

What is the latest and most exciting development in medicinal cannabis research?
A very exciting development is that more and more countries are allowing medicinal cannabis to be used by patients. As a result, research becomes easy and more sources of high-quality cannabis and allied products like oil are available to scientists. Until recently, it was almost impossible to deal in legal scientific research in most countries.

For hundreds of years, the tiny village of Malana was just a speck lost amid the grandiose mountains of the Indian Himalayas.

Nestled high in the higher reaches of the lush Kullu Valley, Malana used to be a four-day hike from the nearest road. Its laws, tradition says, were laid down by the village god Jamlu. People elected their own parliament and disputes were settled in their own court. Villagers would run in terror if an outsider showed up. 

But Malana is hidden no more. For centuries, the villagers have been growing the plant that has made Malana one of the world's top stoner destinations, and a battleground —at least symbolically — for India's haphazard fight against "charas," the black and sticky hashish that has made the village famous.