‘High time’ to follow US? Examining cannabis’ legal status in India

In India, cannabis remains prohibited under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985. Someone convicted for possessing a small quantities of charas, hashish, and ganja can be fined Rs 10,000 and sentenced to a jail term ranging from six months to a year Thousands in America are breathing easier today after President Joe Biden announced federal pardons for those convicted of simple marijuana possession. As per The Hindu, the NCB, filing its charges, said, “Rhea Chakraborty received many deliveries of ganja from Samuel Miranda, Showik Chakroborty, Dipesh Sawant and others and handed over those deliveries to actor late Sushant Singh Rajput and made payments for those deliveries at the instance of Showik and Sushant Singh Rajput during the period from March 2020 to September 2020.” Aryan Khan, ultimately given a clean chit in the Mumbai ‘drugs-on-cruise’ case, was arrested under the NDPS Act. Though many including Congress’ Shashi Tharoor and BJD’s Tathagata Satpathy have argued it is ‘high time’ India followed in the footsteps of US and others, this is not likely anytime soon.