Ramdev Baba’s Patanjali wants to legalise ‘marijuana’

Well as the news breaks it’s kind of hard to digest when Ramdev Baba’s Patanjali wants to legalise marijuana. We never imagined we would hear ‘Patanjali’ and ‘marijuana’ in a single sentence. But here we are, Acharya Balkrishna, the CEO of Patanjali revealed how the company has already started working to derive new formulations to make the best use of cannabis.

Balakrishna in an interview to Quartz said, that marijuana has been used for medicinal purposes and it should be legalised. “In Ayurveda, since ancient times, parts of cannabis (hemp), for instance, have been used for medicinal purposes. So, we are looking at various formulations. We should ponder over the benefits and positive uses of the cannabis plant,” he said in the interview.

In India, where even mentioning weed or cannabis makes people feel awkward, the legalisation of marijuana is still a dream. But Patanjali is already making efforts for making it legalised, at its research and development centre in Haridwar, scientists are looking into the benefits of various indigenous Indian plant species and their extracts for use in medicines and other products and cannabis is one of them.

Balakrishna also talked about its benefits in the interview, “In western markets, parts of the cannabis plants are being used for fibre for cloth or some kinds of oils. Similarly, we are doing some research to see that the harmful or intoxicating properties (of cannabis) are removed and then it is used.”

But don’t get excited with the thought that we can soon get hands on Patanjali’s marijuana, Balakrishna also clarified that the plant will be cleansed of its intoxicating property before use. ”Research is already on. It has been found that much of it (cannabis plant) is good for health. But, toxic parts, like THC, need to be removed from cannabis oil,” he said in the interview.

Well even the thought of legalising marijauna makes some people happy, but at least somebody like Ramdev baba’s Patanjali is making the efforts.