Cannabis in India

Antiquity

Bhanga is mentioned in several Indian texts dated before 1000 CE. However, there is philological debate among Sanskrit scholars as to whether this bhanga can be identified with modern bhang or cannabis.

Cannabis sativa is one of the candidates for the identity of the plant that was used to prepare soma in Vedic period. Soma was an intoxicating ritual drink that has been highly praised in the Rigveda (c. 1700–1100 BCE).

Atharvaveda (c. 1500-1000 BCE) mentions bhanga as one of the five sacred plants that relieve anxiety. Sayana interpreted bhanga as a type of wild grass, but many scholars identify bhanga with cannabis. The relevant verse:

To the five kingdoms of the plants which Soma rules as Lord we speak.

darbha, hemp, barley, mighty power: may these deliver us from woe,

The five kingdoms of plants, having Soma as their chief, we address;

the darbha, hemp, barley, saha — let them free us from distress.

Sushruta Samhita (c. 600 BCE) again mentions bhanga, as a medicinal plant, and recommends it for treating catarrh, phlegm and diarrhea.

According to Gerrit Jan Meulenbeld and Dominik Wujastyk, Chikitsa-sara-sangraha (c. late 11th century) by Vangasena is the earliest extant Indian text that features an uncontested mention of cannabis. Vangasena mentions bhanga as an appetiser and a digestive, and suggests it in two recipes for a long and happy life. Narayan Sarma's Dhanvantariya Nighantu, a contemporary text, mentions a narcotic of the plant.

Nagarjuna's Yogaratnamala (c. 12th-13th century) suggests that cannabis (mdtuldni) smoke can be used to make one's enemies feel possessed by spirits. Sharngadhara Samhita (13th century) also gives medicinal uses of cannabis, and along with ahiphena (opium poppy), mentions it as one of the drugs which act very quickly in the body.

Cannabis also finds its mention in other historic scriptures like Dhanvantari Nighantu, Sarngandhara Samhita and Kayyadeva Nighantu. It is also referred in Ayurveda as an ingredient in various recipes of pain relievers and aphrodisiacs, but in small quantities. It is noted that large quantity or long time consumption can be addictive and that it is more dangerous than tobacco for lungs and liver. Ayurveda however does not use cannabis for smoking recipes.

The Hindu god Shiva is said to have chosen cannabis as his favorite food, after having spent one night sleeping under the plant's leaves and when eating of it in the morning refreshed him. Another legend suggests that when the poison Halahala came out from the Samudra manthan, Shiva drank it to protect everyone from it. Later, bhang was used to cool him down. Shiva Purana suggests offering bhang to Shiva during the summer months. But not all devotees offer bhang to Shiva.

Many Ayurvedic texts mention cannabis as vijaya, while tantric texts mention it as samvid.

British India

In 1894, the British Indian government completed a wide-ranging study of cannabis in India. The report's findings stated:

Portuguese India

Following the Portuguese seizure of Goa in 1510, the Portuguese became familiar with the cannabis customs and trade in India. Garcia da Orta, a botanist and doctor, wrote about the uses of cannabis in his 1534 work Colloquies on the Simples and Drugs and Medicinal Matters of India and of a Few Fruits. Fifteen years later Cristobal Acosta produced the work A Tract about the Drugs and Medicines of the East Indies, outlining recipes for bhang.

The 1919 work Glossário luso-asiatico noted the use of cannabis in Portugal's Indian colony of Goa:

O bangue é formado por folhas secas e hastes tentras de cânhamo (Canabis sativa, Lin.) que se fumam o mascam e que embriaga como o ópio.
(Bangue is made of dry leaves and tender stemps of hemp, which they smoke or chew, and it intoxicates like opium.)

Modern use

As bhang, cannabis is still popular in India. It is also mixed in thandai, a milkshake-like preparation. Bhang is consumed as prasad of Lord Shiva, and is popular between Mahashivaratri and Holi (February–March). Among Sikh Nihangs, bhang is popular, especially during Hola Mohalla. Muslim Indian Sufis place the spirit of Khidr within the cannabis plant, and consume bhang.

In Odisha, cannabis consumption is legal, and it is common to see people smoking chillums.

Even in Assam, where bhang has been explicitly banned since 1958, it is consumed by thousands during the Ambubachi Mela. In 2015, the police did not stop devotees from consuming bhang, although they fined two people for smoking tobacco in public places, under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act.

Legal status

Attempts at criminalising cannabis in British India were made, and mooted, in 1838, 1871, and 1877.

The 1961 international treaty Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs clubbed cannabis with hard drugs. During the negotiations, the Indian delegation opposed its intolerance to the social and religious customs of India. As a compromise, the Indian Government promised to limit the export of Indian hemp, and the final draft of the treaty defined cannabis as:

"Cannabis" means the flowering or fruiting tops of the cannabis plant (excluding the seeds and leaves when not accompanied by the tops) from which the resin has not been extracted, by whatever name they may be designated.

Bhang was thus left out from the definition of "cannabis". This allowed India to carry on the tradition of large-scale consumption of bhang during Holi. The treaty also gave India 25 years to clamp down on recreational drugs. Towards the end of this exemption period, the Indian government passed the Narcotic Drugs and Psychtotropic Substances Act in 1985.

The NDPS maintained the same definition of "cannabis", excluding bhang from its purview:

"cannabis (hemp)" means:

(a) charas, that is, the separated resin, in whatever form, whether crude or purified, obtained from the cannabis plant and also includes concentrated preparation and resin known as hashish oil or liquid hashish;
(b) ganja, that is, the flowering or fruiting tops of the cannabis plant (excluding the seeds and leaves when not accompanied by the tops), by whatever name they may be known or designated; and

NDPS banned the production and sale of cannabis resin and flowers, but permitted the use of the leaves and seeds, allowing the states to regulate the latter.

Regional bans on bhang

Although NDPS allows consumption of bhang, various states have their own laws banning or restricting its use. In some states, only authorised dealers are allowed to sell bhang. Some states also have rules about the maximum amount of bhang one person can carry and the minimum age of the buyer.

In Assam, The Assam Ganja and Bhang Prohibition Act, 1958, prohibits sale, purchase, possession and consumption of ganja and bhang.

In Maharashtra, Section 66(1)(b) of the Bombay Prohibition (BP) Act, 1949, bans manufacture, possession and consumption of bhang and bhang-containing substances without a license.

Reform

In 2015, the first organised efforts to re-legalise cannabis in India appeared, with the holding of medical marijuana conferences in Bengaluru, Pune, Mumbai and Delhi by the Great Legalisation Movement India.

In March 2015, Lok Sabha MP Tathagata Satpathy stated on a Reddit AMA that he supported the legalisation of cannabis, and also admitted to having consumed the drug on several occasions when he was in college. He later repeated his comments on television and during interactions with the media. On 2 November 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 NDPS Act to allow for the legalised, regulated, and medically supervised supply of "non-synthetic" intoxicants including cannabis and opium. Many articles and programs in the popular media have also begun to appear pushing for a change in cannabis laws.