There are very few subjects on which we display as much ignorance and hypocrisy as cannabis. Yes, cannabis: The plant that gives us the bhang we consume at Holi, regarding it as part of our tradition.

For some reason we rarely make the connection between bhang and what is often called marijuana in the West and which we associate with hippies and rock musicians. In fact they come from exactly the same plant.

Though we think of western cannabis users as only smoking the stuff in joints (marijuana cigarettes), while we consume our bhang in thandai and other liquids, that view is now outdated. The current global boom in cannabis includes other forms of consumption: Edibles, oils etc.

Our ignorance about cannabis allows motivated campaigns to be launched against individuals who are portrayed as dangerous druggies because they may have consumed cannabis.

One example came only a few years ago when Sameer Wankhede who headed the Mumbai office of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) launched a so-called campaign against drug use in Bollywood with the active encouragement of many TV channels.

The framing and imprisonment of Shahrukh Khan’s son (on whose person no cannabis was ever found anyway ) was just one part of it. Stars were summoned by the NCB and it was made out that they were depraved drug addicts because they may have smoked the odd joint. The TV channels also told us that Rhea Chakraborty may have had something to do with actor Sushant Singh’s death because she had discussed CBD oil – which we were told was a dangerous drug – with a friend.

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