Pubdate: Sat, 10 Nov 2012 Source: Times of India, The (India) Copyright: Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. 2012 Contact: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/453 OF HIGHS AND LAWS India Never Saw Eye-To-Eye With the US-Led Drive to Outlaw Recreational Use of Cannabis Across the World The referendum passed by two US states approving the recreational use of marijuana for adults is fraught with irony for India. Whether it can prevail over the stringent federal law or not, the referendum adopted by Colorado and Washington vindicates the reservations expressed by India 50 years ago to a global prohibition on hard as well as soft drugs. The 1961 "single convention on narcotic drugs" was the first ever international treaty to have clubbed cannabis (or marijuana) with hard drugs and imposed a blanket ban on their production and supply except for medicinal and research purposes. During the negotiations for the UN treaty signed in New York, a group of cannabis and opium producing countries, led by India, opposed its intolerance to the sociocultural use of organic drugs. They were however overwhelmed by the US and other western countries which espoused tight controls on the production of organic raw material and on illicit trafficking. The sharp divergences between the caucuses led by India and the US emanated from their contrasting domestic policies, particularly on cannabis. While most of the states in the US had banned all narcotic drugs by the '40s, India had a more pragmatic approach since its colonial days: its restrictions were focused on harder substances like opium. The Indian hemp drug commission appointed in 1893, far from finding it addictive, hailed cannabis for the "mild euphoria" and "pleasant relaxation" caused by it. The dominant view on cannabis in the UN deliberations leading to the 1961 treaty could not have been more different. However, in the compromises that followed to hammer out a consensus, the final draft of the treaty defined cannabis in such a manner that it left scope for India to carry on, for instance, with the tradition of bhang being consumed on a large scale on Holi. The treaty clarified that the cannabis forbidden by it was only "the flowering or fruiting tops of the cannabis plant", specifically "excluding the seeds and leaves when not accompanied by the tops". In deference to the scale of traditional consumption in India, the 1961 treaty also gave it a reprieve of 25 years to clamp down on recreational drugs derived from the tops. It was towards the end of this exemption period that the Rajiv Gandhi government came up with a law in 1985 conforming to the 1961 treaty: the narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances Act (NDPS). Accordingly, NDPS replicated the loophole provided in the treaty's definition of cannabis, whereby its leaves and seeds have been spared the stigma of contraband. Besides, NDPS specified that cannabis meant charas (the resin extracted from the plant), ganja (the flowering or fruiting tops of the plant) and any mixture or drink prepared from either of the two permitted forms of marijuana. Thus, NDPS allows people to smoke pot or drink bhang so long as they can prove that they had consumed only the leaves and seeds of the cannabis plant. Conversely, since marijuana grows wild across the country as a hardy weed, it is difficult for the Narcotic Control Bureau, set up under NDPS, or the local police to check people from imbibing the forbidden tops. The vagueness of the provision on marijuana is the closest India has been able to come to acknowledging what Colorado and Washington are now seeking to achieve through their referendum: recreational use of the weed. The obligation to toe the US sponsored treaty did not however stop India from distinguishing marijuana from hard drugs when it came to prescribing penalties. Consistent with its scheme of determining the punishment according to the potency of the drug, NDPS prescribes a maximum sentence of six months for somebody found in possession of ganja up to one kilogram. In the case of a hard drug such as cocaine, the offender can get the same six-month sentence even for possessing two grams of it. [sidebar] ALCOHOLICS FACE A GREATER RISK THAN MARIJUANA USERS,DOCTORS INSIST NEW DELHI: The medical fraternity here is viewing Colorado and Washington's decision to legalise recreational marijuana with interest. Doctors dealing with deaddiction say cases of marijuana addiction are rare, if not nonexistent , but feel its use might become a "gateway" for harder drugs like smack, heroin and cocaine, which really create the drugs problem among people. Dr R C Jiloha, director and head of psychiatry at G B Pant Hospital and in-charge of de-addiction says: "Very few patients come to us for marijuana de-addiction . The drug is less addictive compared to heroine, crack cocaine or even alcohol. It doesn't cause bodyache, abdominal pain and other physical symptoms. Overuse of marijuana - like excessive drinking - may lead to some disorders." Occasional use does not have any long-term effect. "The adverse health effects of marijuana are limited and much less as compared to crack cocaine or heroin. Nevertheless, as a doctor I cannot say it should be legalized as it is a type of addiction," said Dr Sudhir Gupta, associate professor, forensic medicine at AIIMS. Psychiatrist & psychotherapist, Max Hospital, Saket, Dr Sameer Malhotra says marijuana use in Delhi is mostly among adults. "Despite the ban, marijuana is a common drug,. easily available in the black market. It doesn't have any serious health risks but legalizing it may not be a good idea as it could be the gateway for other substance abuse." Another doctor added: "Those addicted to alcohol face a greater risk than marijuana users." A decade after NDPS Act came into force, AIIMS called for a repeal of the cannabis ban saying the plant was used in the Indian system of medicine and that its stigmatization was impeding research. A 1997 AIIMS publication quoted Lancet saying: "The smoking of cannabis, even long term, isn't harmful." The current churn in the US, the country that forced India to ban cannabis, provides an opportunity to make NDPS more liberal. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom