Source: bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com
Cannabis use is banned in India, but its medicinal value is gradually finding space across the world. Now, a city-based Supreme Court advocate joins the growing movement for its legalisation in India, giving teeth to the crusade
Arpan Peter (31) barely drinks, and doesn’t smoke. He is a recreational marijuana smoker. It helps him sleep better and has helped give him a routine, he says. “Otherwise I was turning into an insomniac. I had erratic sleep habits and would be really cranky at work. Not anymore.” A firm believer in the holistic properties of the cannabis plant, he recounts how use of cannabis oil helped speed up his father’s recovery from a damaged nerve in his neck, which had impaired his speech. This was last year. “We had tried everything, and then I suggested cannabis oil to my parents. Initially there was some resistance, but after some reading and research, they came around,” he says. And soon enough, his father started sleeping better and his immunity improved, which hastened his recovery from the illness.
Peter was one of the attendees of The Great Legalisation Movement – India, held in January at Cubbon Park. GLM is a campaign to legalise the use of cannabis for medical and recreational purposes in India, founded in November 2014 by Viki Vaurora. The campaign has held several meets across the country – the biggest being the Medical Cannabis Conference held in Bengaluru in 2015 with Rick Simpson, a Canadian who has been using cannabis oil to treat medical conditions such as cancer. January’s meet was held across 16 cities – from Mumbai to Kochi and even Indore and Ahmedabad – to propound the benefits of cannabis, and the need to legalise its use and cultivation. And while this has been an ongoing demand by supporters of cannabis use, the Bengaluru meeting stood out because it was attended by Supreme Court advocate KV Dhananjay, who has taken it upon himself to take the legalisation battle to the judiciary.
The city-based advocate, who practices at the SC and the Karnataka HC, says his association with the movement happened a year and a half ago, after he started hearing from “leading doctors and surgeons” in Bengaluru and Delhi about the benefits of cannabis oil, especially for the cure and treatment of cancer. “Anecdotally, they started telling me about the number of cancer patients that it has helped – whether for palliative care at a terminal stage or even curative. Often, cancer patients in India start looking out for medical marijuana at the terminal stage, when their misery becomes unbearable. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Many doctors have spoken to me about patients returning to them with their cancer in remission after taking cannabis oil at an earlier stage,” Dhananjay says.
Intrigued, Dhananjay started reading about the benefits of cannabis. Ayurvedic doctors too contacted him and told him how it is prescribed as ‘Vijaya’ in the Ayurveda stream. Finally, a reading of the 1894 report of The Indian Hemp Commission sealed the deal for him. “It was a commission set up to find out if cannabis was hurting the Indian population, and had testimonies from people that it was, in fact, helping them. The report concluded that cannabis was part of the culture and tradition of India, and that any negative fallout was practically non-existent. That made it clear to me that cannabis needed to be regularised,” he says. Plus, use of cannabis has been legalised in various places across the world – “California, Portugal, Colorado – they’ve all regularised it. It’s sad that we have to ape the West. We had Yoga, but didn’t realise its value until the West did. Unfortunately, it’s going to be the same story with cannabis”, he says.
There is no basis for the criminalisation of cannabis, believes Vaurora.
A vocal advocate for the use of cannabis, he has spoken often and vociferously of his personal experience of “curing” Leela, a patient of stomach cancer he met in 2014. While chemotherapy ravaged her body, not allowing her to eat, talk, walk or sleep well, administration of cannabis oil, concentrated with cannabis compounds (THC and CBD), in small doses, cured her in two months.
The website of GLM India itself is packed with information that supports his belief – studies, medical terminology, the use of cannabis oil in ayurveda, research and anecdotes from users. Today, Vaurora, helped by his family, makes cannabis oil for people who need it. Ask him what makes him so sure of the need for legalisation and he launches into a passionate explanation: “It relaxes people and helps them deal with stress, which is huge in people’s lives today. Cannabis is not really addictive, unlike nicotine or opium, in which brain receptors start craving more of the drug. It doesn’t even have withdrawal symptoms. Problems occur only when people abuse it – but isn’t that the case when you overuse anything? People who use it naturally (not synthetically, and without mixing) only report positive effects – a calming down of the mind, better sleep, less pain. Criminalising it is a big scam, only because if people are allowed to
grow it in their balconies, pharmaceutical companies will lose out on revenue.” They will not talk for fear of the law, Vaurora says, but both medical practitioners and users have spoken to him about the benefits of cannabis, and have even requested he make it for them.
A reputed cardiologist in Mangaluru (he requested his name be withheld), known for his push for alternative medicine, agrees wholeheartedly with Vaurora and Dhananjay. “Cannabis is particularly effective in the treatment of cancer,” he says. “In Mexico and South America there are clinics that treat cancer only with marijuana. Cannabis doesn’t even have any ill effects. In fact, alcohol and tobacco, which are legal, are far more harmful than cannabis can be.”
The Internet is filled with pages of such anecdotal evidence, although comprehensive studies are still being conducted – something Vaurora hopes to remedy with the establishment of the Indian Hemp Research Institute, for which even land arrangements have been made in Mysore and Karwar. “We have the hemp seeds, scientists and farmers on board, and we’re just awaiting a license.”
Currently, cannabis is classified as a Schedule 1 drug in the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances in India Act 1985, which makes its use and sale illegal. Vaurora is vehement that this needs to change. “We’re trying to make sure that cannabis doesn’t go the way of opioids. It needs to be able to be grown freely by farmers, and people in their balconies and backyards. Regularisation will give control back to the people. And, it’ll help keep a check on the quality and purity of the substance because you’ll buy it at dispensaries instead of from questionable sources.” Dhananjay adds that making it available as something that is prescribed by doctors will make it accessible to everyone. “And there will be regulations to streamline its use. Once we convince the courts to strike down prohibition, regulation will ensure that there is no exploitation or mislabelling. It will revolutionise medicine.”
While GLM has already sent a petition to PM Narendra Modi in this regard, Dhananjay is confident that he has a winning case on his hands when he files a Public Interest Litigation in the court in March. “My legal learning tells me this is a case 100 per cent fit for victory. The law criminalising cannabis is impractical, while the Indian Hemp Commission report is unimpeachable. In addition, for an Ayurvedic doctor to not have access to cannabis is infringement of his/ her professional licence. So practically, there is no argument against it. We need to build a meaningful scientific co nsensus into this matter, and that can only happen when people keep an open mind and read the literature.”
Arpan Peter (31) barely drinks, and doesn’t smoke. He is a recreational marijuana smoker. It helps him sleep better and has helped give him a routine, he says. “Otherwise I was turning into an insomniac. I had erratic sleep habits and would be really cranky at work. Not anymore.” A firm believer in the holistic properties of the cannabis plant, he recounts how use of cannabis oil helped speed up his father’s recovery from a damaged nerve in his neck, which had impaired his speech. This was last year. “We had tried everything, and then I suggested cannabis oil to my parents. Initially there was some resistance, but after some reading and research, they came around,” he says. And soon enough, his father started sleeping better and his immunity improved, which hastened his recovery from the illness.
Peter was one of the attendees of The Great Legalisation Movement – India, held in January at Cubbon Park. GLM is a campaign to legalise the use of cannabis for medical and recreational purposes in India, founded in November 2014 by Viki Vaurora. The campaign has held several meets across the country – the biggest being the Medical Cannabis Conference held in Bengaluru in 2015 with Rick Simpson, a Canadian who has been using cannabis oil to treat medical conditions such as cancer. January’s meet was held across 16 cities – from Mumbai to Kochi and even Indore and Ahmedabad – to propound the benefits of cannabis, and the need to legalise its use and cultivation. And while this has been an ongoing demand by supporters of cannabis use, the Bengaluru meeting stood out because it was attended by Supreme Court advocate KV Dhananjay, who has taken it upon himself to take the legalisation battle to the judiciary.
The city-based advocate, who practices at the SC and the Karnataka HC, says his association with the movement happened a year and a half ago, after he started hearing from “leading doctors and surgeons” in Bengaluru and Delhi about the benefits of cannabis oil, especially for the cure and treatment of cancer. “Anecdotally, they started telling me about the number of cancer patients that it has helped – whether for palliative care at a terminal stage or even curative. Often, cancer patients in India start looking out for medical marijuana at the terminal stage, when their misery becomes unbearable. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Many doctors have spoken to me about patients returning to them with their cancer in remission after taking cannabis oil at an earlier stage,” Dhananjay says.
Intrigued, Dhananjay started reading about the benefits of cannabis. Ayurvedic doctors too contacted him and told him how it is prescribed as ‘Vijaya’ in the Ayurveda stream. Finally, a reading of the 1894 report of The Indian Hemp Commission sealed the deal for him. “It was a commission set up to find out if cannabis was hurting the Indian population, and had testimonies from people that it was, in fact, helping them. The report concluded that cannabis was part of the culture and tradition of India, and that any negative fallout was practically non-existent. That made it clear to me that cannabis needed to be regularised,” he says. Plus, use of cannabis has been legalised in various places across the world – “California, Portugal, Colorado – they’ve all regularised it. It’s sad that we have to ape the West. We had Yoga, but didn’t realise its value until the West did. Unfortunately, it’s going to be the same story with cannabis”, he says.
There is no basis for the criminalisation of cannabis, believes Vaurora.
A vocal advocate for the use of cannabis, he has spoken often and vociferously of his personal experience of “curing” Leela, a patient of stomach cancer he met in 2014. While chemotherapy ravaged her body, not allowing her to eat, talk, walk or sleep well, administration of cannabis oil, concentrated with cannabis compounds (THC and CBD), in small doses, cured her in two months.
The website of GLM India itself is packed with information that supports his belief – studies, medical terminology, the use of cannabis oil in ayurveda, research and anecdotes from users. Today, Vaurora, helped by his family, makes cannabis oil for people who need it. Ask him what makes him so sure of the need for legalisation and he launches into a passionate explanation: “It relaxes people and helps them deal with stress, which is huge in people’s lives today. Cannabis is not really addictive, unlike nicotine or opium, in which brain receptors start craving more of the drug. It doesn’t even have withdrawal symptoms. Problems occur only when people abuse it – but isn’t that the case when you overuse anything? People who use it naturally (not synthetically, and without mixing) only report positive effects – a calming down of the mind, better sleep, less pain. Criminalising it is a big scam, only because if people are allowed to
grow it in their balconies, pharmaceutical companies will lose out on revenue.” They will not talk for fear of the law, Vaurora says, but both medical practitioners and users have spoken to him about the benefits of cannabis, and have even requested he make it for them.
A reputed cardiologist in Mangaluru (he requested his name be withheld), known for his push for alternative medicine, agrees wholeheartedly with Vaurora and Dhananjay. “Cannabis is particularly effective in the treatment of cancer,” he says. “In Mexico and South America there are clinics that treat cancer only with marijuana. Cannabis doesn’t even have any ill effects. In fact, alcohol and tobacco, which are legal, are far more harmful than cannabis can be.”
The Internet is filled with pages of such anecdotal evidence, although comprehensive studies are still being conducted – something Vaurora hopes to remedy with the establishment of the Indian Hemp Research Institute, for which even land arrangements have been made in Mysore and Karwar. “We have the hemp seeds, scientists and farmers on board, and we’re just awaiting a license.”
Currently, cannabis is classified as a Schedule 1 drug in the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances in India Act 1985, which makes its use and sale illegal. Vaurora is vehement that this needs to change. “We’re trying to make sure that cannabis doesn’t go the way of opioids. It needs to be able to be grown freely by farmers, and people in their balconies and backyards. Regularisation will give control back to the people. And, it’ll help keep a check on the quality and purity of the substance because you’ll buy it at dispensaries instead of from questionable sources.” Dhananjay adds that making it available as something that is prescribed by doctors will make it accessible to everyone. “And there will be regulations to streamline its use. Once we convince the courts to strike down prohibition, regulation will ensure that there is no exploitation or mislabelling. It will revolutionise medicine.”
While GLM has already sent a petition to PM Narendra Modi in this regard, Dhananjay is confident that he has a winning case on his hands when he files a Public Interest Litigation in the court in March. “My legal learning tells me this is a case 100 per cent fit for victory. The law criminalising cannabis is impractical, while the Indian Hemp Commission report is unimpeachable. In addition, for an Ayurvedic doctor to not have access to cannabis is infringement of his/ her professional licence. So practically, there is no argument against it. We need to build a meaningful scientific co nsensus into this matter, and that can only happen when people keep an open mind and read the literature.”
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