What is cannabis?
Cannabis: A plant used to produce hemp, fiber, and also as a mild psychotropic drug.
Charas/Marijuana: A mild psychotropic drug
Cannabis is a weed, in the literal sense a weed. It grows wild and all over the hillsides. It hampers cultivation of other crops. It is thrown away and burnt in regular places where other crops need to be cultivated.

USES OF CANNABIS
One can derive several benefits from the various parts of a cannabis plant. The help from the stem is used to make strong ropes, shoes known as pulas and paper. From the seed, one can extract oil, make medicine or use it in local cuisine. The resin from the cannabis leaves can be rubbed to get Marijuana that is charas. Each of these derivatives has a commercial value and the locals have been selling these extensively. The livelihood for many depends on selling these derivatives.

Ban on cannabis:
In 1985, the US has pressurized us into following its footsteps and banning cannabis cultivation in India. The result of which was the NDPS act.
Narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances act: has constitutionally banned cannabis cultivation and consumption since 14th November, 1985. It brings mild drugs such as charas and marijuana under the same category of hard drugs such as cocaine, heroin and LSD. Reasons for the ban and expected outcomes…
The resin from Cannabis leaves were being extracted to get marijuana. People started associating cannabis synonymously with marijuana when actually marijuana is just one part of cannabis. The youth of the country were falling prey to this addiction of marijuana and were excessively consuming this on a daily basis. Thanks to the easy availability of cannabis. The education in Himachal was getting hampered and there were many school dropouts because of this issue. The govt. thus took cue from the US govt who also happened to ban cannabis in their state, to ban it in India too. This was mainly done to safeguard the youth of the country. They wanted to cut the easy availability of cannabis because the police and the govt. believed that it is easier to cut the supply rather than cutting the demand. So they cut the cultivation because they could not do much about the consumption.
The police have found one way out to curtail cultivation. They go out into the fields with a stick and baton and destroy all the cannabis crops and leave them useless. The people are rendered helpless as they see their field being destroyed. The police expected to thus wipe out every field and leave no traces of cannabis. They intended to repeat this every season. The govt. believed that this will reduce the consumption of marijuana and the youth would thus engage themselves in more constructive activities.
The govt. also thought about giving alternatives like apples and hydro electric plants for gaining livelihood. While these are being implemented too successfully, nothing was as commercially viable as cannabis for the Himachalis.
They tried promoting the picturesque Himachal as a tourist destination and they succeeded in getting many foreigners along with Indians to visit their state. This did bring extra revenue for the state but the locals who were poor and who had nothing to do with tourism were still disconnected with this style of earning a livelihood.

UNEXPECTED RESULTS/ WHY IS THE OUTCOME KNOWN AS A COUNTER INTUITIVE OUTCOME?
The police and the government set out to wipe out cannabis completely from the state, reduce dependence of the livelihood of locals on cannabis, to help the youth of the country to engage in other activities and get de-addicted to marijuana. However, neither of these fell in place. Instead the exact antithesis occurred. The aftermath is listed in the following pointers: a. Loss of livelihood: The first and the biggest impact of the ban on cannabis cultivation was on the livelihood of the people in HP. The locals in Himachal were highly dependent on cannabis for making ropes and shoes called pullas which they would sell in the local market. The locals who made oil and medicines with cannabis too were rendered unemployed.

b. Hurt religious and cultural sentiments of the locals: In Himachal Pradesh, cannabis seeds are offered to Lord Shiva (who was known for his love for Marijuana) on the day of Mahashivratri as prasad and this is a ritual that the locals didn’t like breaking.

c. Illegal cultivation: Illegal cultivation thrived even after the ban. The police didn’t ensure a foolproof plan. The police could not reach the higher reaches of the Himalayan hills everytime they set out to wipe out the fields. The police moreover have been given a very limited budget and they do not have the resources to destroy these fields with any machinery. Plus transportation of the machinery to higher reaches of the hill is difficult. So even the ban is being proved futile because neither all the cannabis fields are being successfully destroyed and nor are the public fearing the laws in Himachal Pradesh. The locals would purposely move up to the peaks of the hill to cultivate cannabis there because they knew those places would be inaccessible for the police. The methods employed by the police were obsolete and not well thought through.

d. Youth becoming rebellious: The youth of the country now had all the more reason to rebel against the government. The youth who were addicted to cannabis found other illegal ways of procuring Marijuana. The youth would take to charas addiction even after the ban, this time, with more aggression and frustration. Now that cannabis crops could not be successfully destroyed completely, the supply of the crop still existed.

e. Influx of foreigners who taught Indians the commercial value of cannabis: The state encouraged foreign tourists into their state. All the while the locals kept using cannabis for domestic and sale purposes in HP. But after the advent of the foreigners, things changed. The foreigners who form the basis of the tourism industry in HP, made the locals realise the commercial value of Marijuana and its demand in metrocities in India and abroad. This form of making easy money lured the youth more into such activities.

f. Smuggling and growing mafia: There is a nexus formed in HP today. Malana cream has shot to international fame. Basically, the market is outside. The percentage profit is very good. Couriers are used. Couriers are carriers. They are the local, unemployed youth who are used for transportation of the drug illegally. The smuggler won’t get involved himself. Locally the cost is 30,000 per kg. In Delhi, it builds to 1,00,000 per kg, in Mumbai, 2,00,000 per kg and beyond India in abroad it becomes 1 crore per kg. It is not a local issue anymore. Time has progressed and landed this 900 cr trade into the waiting hands of the foreigners. These visitors have started establishing business routes in HP, and form a major part of both the buyer’s and the seller’s mkt. A sizeable chunk in this is formed by the Israelis.

g. Loss of revenue: The smuggling and the ban led to severe loss of revenue. The issue had assumed alarming proportions. Had cannabis cultivation and selling legal in India, India would have all the money that it is now losing because of the smuggling activities. Going by the demand for malana cream among foreigners, exporting marijuana from India would be a major source of revenue from India.

Conclusion:
Perhaps we need to find a middle path and a solution that justifies both sides. The situation demands complete analysed legislation and critical enforcement of the legislation. Netherlands earns around 400 million euros on an average every year from tax revenues on cannabis which is legal there. On the other hand in Singapore, even possession of cannabis can lead to the death penalty. Two countries with two extreme systems. Both right and both wrong. Both different from India. India has a choice between these two systems but cannabis will always remain an issue unless whichever system we choose, we implement effectively. It is extremely imperative for the govt. to come up with a fool proof and a well thought out plan. It is important for them to forsee the consequences of any law or act implemented and be ready for any exigencies.

Based and extracted from a documentary called- Goonj-An Empty Call which was a documentary made by media students of K.C College, Mumbai