This article is an overview of marijuana. It talks about the history of cannabis, the present problem of banning the substance in India and other variables that influence the ban on marijuana. Furthermore, it ruminates whether the issue of marijuana can be decided freely without giving preference to foreign variables.
The History Of Marijuana
Mexican revolution embarked on the journey of marijuana from 1910 to 1920. In America, the word Marijuana did not exist. However, cannabis was used in medicine.
From 1910 to 1920, Mexicans legally immigrated to America for refuge during the civil war. Smoking was part of American culture; however, smoking Weed or Cannabis was not. This trend was started by Mexicans who embarked on this new method of smoking in American culture.
In the 1930s, America was going through heady days and the great depression. As a result, cannabis consumption in America increased. It was stated at several places that the increased consumption of cannabis harmed Americans’ health and America wanted to wash its hands. They blamed immigrants who came to America for refuge and labelled “Cannabis” as a product of Black Americans and Mexicans.
In addition, this led to the criminalisation of the plant and 29 states independently imposed a ban on the herb.
The word “Marijuana” is a mixture of two lexicons of Mexican-Spanish origin. The word, known as “marihuana” in some places, was replaced with the American lexicon “Cannabis” in the nineteenth century.
More precisely, if we go back to 500 BC, we will find that marijuana has a long history and is not a new term. In primitive times people used to grow this plant for medicinal purposes. In America, they grow the hem of the herb to make rope and for use in the textile business.
Cannabis or marijuana originated in central Asia and later spread overseas in Africa, Europe, and fortunately or unfortunately, America. The prime reason for the spread of this herb is its nature—the Cannabis plant is fast-growing, easy to cultivate, and multipurpose.
Interestingly the usage of marijuana as a medicinal plant started much earlier in the 1800s. Sir Williams Brooke O’ Shaughnessy, an Irish doctor studying in India, found that Cannabis extracts could help lessen stomach aches and cholera. Subsequently, Cannabis extracts were sold for medicinal purposes at pharmacies.
In addition, the recreational smoking pattern changed because of immigrants. The ancient Greek historian Herodotus described that nomads of large groups in Iran in Central Asia introduced a new method of smoking weed to get high. They used cannabis seeds and flowers.
The Marijuana Tax Act, 1937 passed and 58-year-old farmer Samuel Caldwell was the first person incarcerated for 4 years of hard labour in the U.S.
According to several reports and articles, it was believed that Harry Anslinger was the first person who termed the word Cannabis or Marijuana as taboo and stigmatised and succeeded. The present situation is the proof of Cannabis or Marijuana being overlooked for decades.
Harry Anslinger was the first director of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics in 1930. He gave statements regarding marijuana: “It is the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind. In addition, most marijuana smokers were Negros, Hispanics, Filipinos, and entertainers. Their satanic music, jazz, and swing result from marijuana usage.”
Furthermore, he stated, “Reefer makes darkies think they’re as good as white men, the primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races.”
The Use Of Cannabis In India
Interestingly, Cannabis was novel in India and chiefly used for social and spiritual purposes. However, commercially it is illegal in India. However, “bhang” is not incorporated under the NDPS law of India; treated spiritually because “bhang” has spiritual value in Indian culture and is prominently known as “Lord of Bhang”.
According to the research paper by geographer Barney Warf, High Points: An Historical Geography of Cannabis, the Cannabis plant was likely introduced to India through Aryan invasions. He mentioned, “India developed a continuing tradition of psychoactive Cannabis cultivation, often with medicinal and religious overtones” and “in India, local farmers often consulted with specialist Poddar or Parakdar, known as ganja doctors”.
Moreover, Indian Vedic literature or Atharva Veda also praised the usage of cannabis as an antidote. In Scared bliss: A spiritual history of Cannabis, Mark S Ferrara noted that “practitioners of this ancient religious tradition utilised cannabis as a medicinal herb, and because of its centrality to charms and spells, Cannabis was regarded a ‘sacred grass’ for its power to vanquish sickness, despair, and calamity”.
Sociologist Theodore M Godlaski robustly pointed in his article. Shiva, Lord of Bhang, the fascination with cannabis. “When the gods stirred the heavenly ocean with the peak of mount Mandara, a drop of amrita (sacred nectar) fell from the sky. Where it landed, the first Cannabis plant sprouted. Lord Shiva brought the plant down from mount Mandara for the benefit of mankind.”
He also found that in India, the ritual of chillum smoking has significance, especially during Shivratri or Kumbh Mela.
Furthermore, the criminalisation of Cannabis in India embarked when Europeans landed on Indian soil and observed our frequent consumption of Bhang. Britishers were flabbergast by the usage of Cannabis in India, and during colonisation, the British passed the law related to the imposition of tax on Bhang, ganja and charas. In addition, the rationale behind this tax was to prevent health issues.
Subsequently, the legal framework of the NDPS Act was the result of the U.S. convention.
Moreover, according to the report of Vidhi centre for legal policy in A Case for De-Criminalisation of Cannabis Use in India mentioned, “The U.S. war on drugs started as patently racist propaganda against the African-American and the Hispanic population, this racial bias in drug regulation has resulted in a disproportionate number of arrests of African Americans for cannabis consumption, which has become central to major policy reform in the U.S.”
Subsequently, when NDPS Act 1985 was enacted, the term bhang was excluded from the legal definition of cannabis. However, ganja, charas, and weed were criminalised.
Why Only Ban Marijuana?
Interestingly, the history of the word marijuana is not in American lexicon, they replaced it with cannabis, and marijuana is still considered a Mexican and African-American product, depicting the picture of racism, making marijuana xenophobic.
In India, marijuana was banned by the Rajiv Gandhi government because of America’s pressure. However, Bhang was excluded only because of spiritual usage. This is a fact that Bhang is also part of cannabis but because it has spiritual usage. It wasn’t banned since Lord Shiva used to drink it and people from the primordial period followed this ritual.
Therefore, the question is, why only marijuana? It is normal nowadays to create a buzz and before coming to deduce, it is crucial to understand why we suddenly change our visions. Hence, we need to mull again why India is still a follower of draconian laws even when the founder of the draconian laws has slowly decriminalised marijuana. The criminalisation of marijuana is the outcome of the U.S. convention.
By and large, discussed above, the bottom line of this article is to revamp the laws, decode the meaning of marijuana, and perusal its nature.
We as human beings change our perceptions because we are fetter with emotions, spirituality, dharma, karma, deeds, and sin. Everything in this world has a double-edged sword. If something is precarious, we can’t stop. We find solutions for it rather than making it a buzzword to churn and stigmatise.
We need to discern and weigh all variables. Marijuana is not just banned because of its nature, however, umpteen other aspects are involved, such as diplomatic interest, foreign relations, domestic interest, political interest, moral interest, etc.
The question is whether it is essential or required to do so. Well, I leave this question to the analysts.
I feel it is time to normalise the substance with reasonable restrictions and revamp the draconian law of the NDPS Act.
I want to note that national sovereignty does not come with economic, social and political development. However, I believe a nation’s law and policy are the mirror of national sovereignty, and any draconian word, sentence, para and page are sufficient to reflect the nation’s freedom, not just physically but mentally.
References
- Anna Wilcox, The Origin of the Word Marijuana, Leafly
- Meredith Clark, Marijuana isn’t just a word, THE NEWS HOUSE
- Jacquie Miller, Here’s why you shouldn’t use the word marijuana anymore, OTTAWA CITIZEN
- Alex Halperin, Marijuana: is it time to stop using a word with racist roots? The Guardian
- Marijuana, History
- Piyush Sharma, The Complete Story Behind Why Marijuana Was Banned In India, mensxp
- Adrija Roychowdhury, Cannabis in India: A rather long story, with its highs and lows, The Indian Express
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