Marijuana pardons
Signifying a vital shift in US policy on marijuana, President Joe Biden recently pardoned around 6,500 people who were convicted of simple possession of marijuana under federal laws and were serving time in jails. While the pardon paves the way for these people to smoothly reintegrate into the society and pursue gainful activities, including work and education, what is more significant is the President’s promise of looking into the possibility of separating marijuana from the legal category of dangerous semi-synthetic drugs like heroin, Ecstasy and LSD. This revisiting of the decades-old rule is remarkable, for it sets right a wrong by addressing the long-brewing tussle between culture and policing over the recreational use of substances. Central to the clash is the prevalence of cannabis as a traditionally grown and consumed plant by many communities and its growing acceptance worldwide.
India should take the lead from the US and step up efforts to decriminalise marijuana. This will help reduce the dependence of addicts on such lethal drugs as chitta that are destroying lakhs of lives and families in the region and, in turn, aid the states in their ongoing uphill battles against the menace of drugs. Excluding marijuana from the purview of the harsh Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act-1985 would be in alignment with the stance that India took at the UN in 2020, when, along with the majority of the nations, it voted for removing cannabis from the list of most dangerous substances, like the deadly and addictive opioids.
Pushed for by advocates, around 50 countries now allow medicinal cannabis programmes. Encouragingly, in the past few years, some states of India too have climbed down from the draconian stand on the matter. Uttarakhand has regularised cannabis cultivation, while Gujarat has removed bhang from the list of intoxicating drugs; UP and MP have similar policies. Earlier this year, Himachal Pradesh cleared the decks for cannabis farming for the medicinal value and industrial use of hemp. A balanced approach to keeping up the fight against psychotropic substances, drug trafficking and narco-terror and realising the benefits of traditional, organic alternatives is the need of the hour.
