LEGALIZATION OF MARIJUANA
Author – PRACHI SHUKLA, STUDENT AT S. S. KHANNA GIRL’S DEGREE COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY OF ALLAHABD
Best Citation – PRACHI SHUKLA, LEGALIZATION OF MARIJUANA, ILE Monthly Review, 1 (5) of 2023, Pg. 49-53, ISBN – 978-81-961828-8-5
ABSTRACT
Marijuana, also known as cannabis and by many other names, which comes from the cannabis plant, is a psychoactive drug. The cannabis plant is native to Central or South Asia and its use has originated in Central Asia or Western China. The cannabis plant has been used since millennia as a drug for both purposes i.e., recreational and medicinal. Also, it has been in use for enteogenic purposes since centuries. Following alcohol and tobacco, marijuana or the cannabis has been among one of the most used psychoactive drugs worldwide since the late 20th century. Composed of more than a hundred compounds called- cannabinoids in the cannabis plant, the compounds contain “Tetrahydrocannabinol” (THC), and also consist of “Cannabidiol” (CBD) repectively. There are various mental and physical effects of cannabis or marijuana such as- changed state of mind, increase in appetite, euphoria, trouble in concentrating, and loss of sense of time, feeling light and relaxed, lack of normal movement of the body, short-term memory loss, and many more. The effects of marijuana differ depending on the amount consumed, the strength and the medium in which it is taken, and the user’s experience. It is to be noted that the international trade in marijuana under the control took place under control for the first time during the International Opium Convention of 1925. It was in the late 1960s that most of the countries by that time had enforced several limitations on the use and trafficking of marijuana including the imposition of severe penalties in case of possession, or sale, or supply depending on the quantity of the same. In this article, we will go through the various aspects about the legalization of marijuana, especially in the Indian context.
KEY WORDS:- Marijuana, India’s legal framework, global position, recreational/ medicinal use, scope of legalizing.