I’ve spent more than 50 years fighting cannabis prohibition in the United States. Now I’m taking what I’ve learned to India.
In 1961, 13 years after its independence, India was forced by the U.S. to sign the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, which included cannabis, or in India, ganja. However, as far as cannabis was concerned, there were some problems.
A little background. India is one of the most religious countries I have ever visited. Although its population includes one of the world’s largest Muslim populations, around 200 million, most Indians are Hindus. Simplifying the Hindu religion, there are three main gods that are worshipped. The beloved god Shiva uses cannabis in the form of bhang, a drink made by concentrating leaves. On holy days honoring him, people who are generally non-users partake in bhang, a concoction made by boiling a concentration of marijuana. At many times, many people all over the country use cannabis as either bud or charas, a hand-rubbed hash. Only now it’s illegal.
The beloved god Shiva. Photo by Ed Rosenthal.
The government signed the UN treaty with a caveat: it would have 25 years to clean up its act, so ganja would become illegal in 1986, years after the present government would become history. Perhaps they thought that the world would also come to its senses and reverse the treaty. It was criminalized in 1986.
I’ve gone back to India periodically, but the situation regarding cannabis has gotten worse.
Also read: Ed Rosenthal: Nepal’s Cannabis Laws Are ‘an Insult to Shiva.’ Nixon’s War on Drugs Forced Them.
In 2025, I published a small photo book of my 1980 trip, when I documented a large legal government-regulated harvest. “Ganja in India” is available on my site.
That lit a spark in me. It was legal for …
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Author: Ed Rosenthal / High Times
