Tripura opposition leader bats for legalisation of ganja cultivation
AGARTALA: Senior Opposition leader in Tripura Animesh Debbarma has batted for legalisation of ganja (marijuana or cannabis) cultivation in the Northeast state.
Debbarma said that legalisation of ganja cultivation would boost the income of cultivators and contribute to the revenue of Tripura.
This proposal from the senior opposition leader in Tripura came after the state government announced its plans to curb ganja cultivation in the state.
While, speaking to media-persons in Agartala, Animesh Debbarma highlighted the potential benefits of legalising ganja cultivation in Tripura.
He said that ganja cultivation would serve both medical purposes and also improve the economic development of Tripura.
The Tripura opposition leader also called for a discussion on the matter in the state’s assembly.
WHAT IS GANJA OR MARIJUANA OR CANNABIS?
Ganja, also known as marijuana or weed or cannabis among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant.
Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various traditional medicines for centuries.
Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the main psychoactive component of cannabis, which is one of the 483 known compounds in the plant, including at least 65 other cannabinoids, such as cannabidiol (CBD).
Cannabis can be used by smoking, vaporizing, within food or as an extract.
Cannabis is mostly used recreationally or as a medicinal drug, although it may also be used for spiritual purposes.
Cannabis has held sacred status in several religions and has served as an entheogen – a chemical substance used in religious, shamanic or spiritual contexts – in the Indian subcontinent since the Vedic period.
The earliest known reports regarding the sacred status of cannabis in the Indian subcontinent come from the Atharva Veda, estimated to have been composed sometime around 1400 BCE.
The Hindu god Shiva is described as a cannabis user, known as the “Lord of bhang”.
