FlippED is an ED Original style wherein two bloggers come together and share their opposing or orthogonal perspectives on an interesting subject.
A very common recreational activity amongst youngsters nowadays is called smoking up.
Smoking up involves the use of marijuana or Cannabis, also known as charas, gaanja or weed in India. Much embraced by the youth today, marijuana is considered illegal in India.
It wasn’t illegal until the 1980s but due to the undying pressure put on by the USA because of the exploitation of the drug by the hippies; India also decided to ban it under the Narcotic Drugs & Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
Blogger Yameena’s View- For
I think that the ban imposed on the herbal drug is baseless as Marijuana is a harmless drug and instead possessES remedial values
It has been proved that the chemicals in these cannabis plants called Cannabinoids are capable of treating symptoms of many chronic diseases and disorders.
Let’s have a look as to why I think that Marijuana is a good drug and should be legalized in India.-
Medicinal Value
As per a research by Harvard, the Cannabis plant is said to carry a lot of medicinal values and was also used as a remedy in ancient days.
It has been found influential in treating several disorders and has been effective in holding seizures. Apart from that, it has been widely used as a pain controller or reliever. According to research at Harvard, it was concluded that this herbal drug can also be used in regulating or preventing diabetes.
It can also help you improve your lung capacity, treat you of depression, helps with ADHD/PTSD and has also shown a promising response in autism treatment. Evidently, does more good than harm. Thus, there’s no point in making depriving people of such a remedy.
Less Harmful Than Alcohol
It has been proven that marijuana is far less harmful than alcohol as it does not make the person violent, rash or uncontrollable as does alcohol.
It makes a person calmer and more pleasant and does not inhibit him from his ethical senses. Moreover, contrary to popular myths, marijuana addiction is rare and only 9% of people are seen to be a victim of the same. This percentage is far lesser when compared to alcohol addiction.
If alcohol selling is legalized in the country, then marijuana also stands a fair chance for the same.
It Will Eliminate Crime And Increase Revenue
Although marijuana is banned in India yet it is sold openly in the black market. Legalizing the drug with rules and regulations will decriminalize the overboard production and the profit can be made directly by the government, administration, farmers, clerks, etc. instead of the drug dealers.
This will not only open more options for trading but also increase the revenue earned by the government under the selling of taxed marijuana.
With this said, I believe there is no harm in legalizing the wonder drug and banning of the same is pointless pertaining to the myriad of benefits the drug holds.
Also Read: FlippED: Alcohol Vs Marijuana: Which Is The Better Substance: Our Bloggers Fight It Out
Blogger Vidya’s View- Against
I Don’t think India Is Equipped Enough To Handle This Change
India has a long way to go, and I’m always in support of any kind of measures taken as progressive steps for this country. Because progress means liberty – the liberty to knowledge, experiences and things are what will naturally shape a person to his or her best self.
On that note, India has come a long way in the past few years with the decriminalization of Section 377 and stronger nation-wide public and government advocacy for women’s rights (like banning dowry, protecting divorcees, etc.)
But one thing I’m still a little skeptical about is how Indians would handle the legalization of recreational drugs – notably marijuana. Even though legalizing weed will serve as a huge step towards a more free India, there are still certain hindrances that will make this more of a chaos than a modern country.
We Are Not Educated Enough:
This does not only applies to a certain section of the population that lives in poverty, thus not having access to proper education. Indian education is a standard throughout the country and no amount of fees that you pay to the high end public schools is going to redefine the nature of what your child is being taught overall.
As with the talks of menstruation and sex, drugs are also a tabooed topic to bring up. From childhood, I’ve been surrounded by these posters put up by my school that read “Say No To Abusing Drugs” and even as a late teen, I had no idea what “drugs” consisted of and what “abusing” them meant.
Without the internet, I would have been the same naive person I used to be. I’m able to know the difference between medicinal and recreational ones and learn the proper usage of the latter. But as for people who were as uneducated as the teen-me, plus without any exposure to the right side of the internet – are going to learn about this through the dangerous routes (mainly as a form of socializing). They will end up getting addicted and ruin their life.
The Law Doesn’t Uphold Well Here:
India reeks of corruption in every corner. So even if marijuana did get legalized and that our people are properly educated on this matter, no amount of education will save the day. If the existing level of corruption continues, especially with sensitive items like these, it can be a little life-threatening.
Bribing the government officials who come for routine checks to ensure if the quality of the drug production is kept to a set standard, will just take everything downhill.
If it doesn’t go to that extreme, there will still be some form of politics involved. Growing marijuana is going to be limited to a few people who are close to the ruling party and powerful politicians in different states, such as family and friends. In this case, the market is controlled by the supply, and not demand.
Take the case of TASMAC, the Tamil Nadu government body that regulates the supply of alcohol, being openly biased to certain brands. Mind you, Tamil Nadu has the highest consumption of alcohol in India, and the “free will” of buying the drinks you want is a giant misconception.
Thus, I am not against legalizing marijuana but for India this is like providing weed rights to a toddler with no concept of health and addiction, surrounded by unbothered adults.
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: Bloggers’ own views
Find the Bloggers: @ZehraYameena and @PoppyDotWot
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