In a new beginning, a collaboration of the district administration, Forest and Excise departments and the State Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) destroyed about 10 tonnes of illegally cultivated cannabis also known as marijuana, spread across five hectares of land at Laitlulong, Sohiong under East Khasi Hills district. This is for the first time that authorities decided to conduct an operation should this psychoactive drug turn into a lucrative business in the State.
Already the Sohiong area has a long tradition of producing home-brewed alcohol and the issue of illicit liquor is a concern for local law enforcement. Growing cannabis for recreational use is illegal in India and can result in severe penalties. The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act of 1985 prohibits the cultivation of cannabis. Village authorities claim that weed was not planted but grew spontaneously on potato fields where farmers would then use cut cannabis as compost. If growers chose to be wilfully ignorant or illiterate, ignorance of the law is no excuse. If illiterate, the State has to step in to promote legal literacy and may need to consider providing alternative livelihood options for those currently involved in cannabis cultivation.
Like alcohol, marijuana is a gateway drug. Studies have shown that the vast majority of heroin users have used marijuana (and many other drugs) not only long before they used heroin but while they are using heroin. Like nearly all people with substance abuse problems, most heroin users initiated their drug use early in their teens, usually beginning with alcohol and marijuana. Therefore it is vital to reduce adolescent use of alcohol, tobacco and marijuana to reduce addiction in this country.
If marijuana is indeed a gateway drug, then Meghalaya is in deep trouble already as it ranked 12th among the high weed consuming states of India. This ranking was done by a national study in 2019. It does grow wild but because of its illicit business potential people now tend to prefer cultivating it to say, potatoes. From time to time huge consignments of ganja have been intercepted and seized by the Meghalaya police on the highways and inner roads of the state. Though the amount is big, law enforcement channels themselves feel that it is just the tip of the iceberg. Its trade seems to have grown side by side with the heroin trade, which is a dangerous trend, as experts point out; cannabis is used alongside all other addictive substances. For this very reason, the tendency to be lenient towards ganja issues has to be curbed at all levels. It is as harmful as any of the other additives and Meghalaya’s youngsters need to be made aware of this fact.
The multi-departmental operation serves as a warning to those involved in the cultivation of cannabis and a significant step in the state’s efforts to curb the drug trade.
