Dope As A Drug

More than 18 countries across the world have legalised the use of marijuana for medical use. India may soon join the club.

- Angarika Gogoi

TWO DEVELOPMENTS provide fresh impetus to the fact that the use of marijuana (Cannabis) for medical purposes may be legalised in India. Last year, Member of Parliament (MP), Dharamvir Gandhi, moved a private member’s bill in the Lok Sabha to legalise marijuana. Union Minister of Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi also suggested legalising marijuana at a meeting of a group of ministers, which was examining the draft cabinet note on the National Drug Demand Reduction Policy. At present, possession, trade, transport and consumption of marijuana is banned under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, and is a criminal offence.

Medical prescription

Though the World Health Organization has listed a number of diseases associated with the consumption of marijuana, including impairment in cognitive functioning, airway injury, bronchitis and lung inflammation, it also says that several studies have demonstrated its therapeutic effects to treat diseases such as cancer, aids, asthma and glaucoma. But it has called for more research to establish its medical usage.

Over the years, research has tried to establish the health benefits of marijuana. Studies have shown that Cannabidiol (CBD), a component of marijuana, has been successful in providing relief to chronic pain without causing major psychoactive side effects. Naveen Salins, editor of the Indian Journal of Palliative Care and associate professor at Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai, says CBD attaches itself to receptors in the body to produce positive results.

CBD therapies have been administered to epilepsy patients. A study published in