India recently voted in favour of the United Nations Drugs Commission dropping marijuana from the 'most dangerous' drug category, In wake of the incident, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor took to social media on Saturday and took a dig at critics who had slammed him for supporting legalisation of cannabis two years ago.
"Though I’ve never consumed cannabis myself, I was attacked for a policy recommendation to legalise it 2 years ago. Now, even as the NCB arrests Bollywood stars for cannabis possession, India has joined a majority in the United Nations Drugs Commission to delist it as a dangerous drug. Ah well!," Tharoor wrote on his Facebook page.
In October 2018, Tharoor had written a spirited op-ed for The Print in which he had advocated for the legalisation of weed. "...I am convinced that legally regulating the production, supply, and use of cannabis in India will reduce the potential harms of the drug’s use, put a dent in corruption and crime, and provide our country with an economic boost," Tharoor had written.
Now, in the wake of the Narcotics Control Bureau investigating celebrities and Bollywood actors for possession or use of marijuana,. While the growing and sale of cannabis, its flowers and leaves is banned, bhang is legal.
India's support for UN's move to delist marijuana from the 'most dangerous' category has raised many eyebrows. Many took to social media to point out the double standard of India's attitude toward marijuana.
So our India just voted in the UN to remove cannabis from being listed alongside drugs like cocaine, heroin & others and accepted it’s medicinal value, properties & usage. It is still banned to consume for non medicinal purposes.
— Tehseen Poonawalla Official (@tehseenp) December 5, 2020
India has voted with majority of countries at UN to remove cannabis from the list of most dangerous substances in the international convention of narcotic drugs.In India : “Mere liye Ganja lao....Bollywood’s Drug chats exposed....Justice for Sushant”
— Anubhav Singh (@lucifer_damned) December 4, 2020
Weeks after Bollywood drug arrests, India votes to have cannabis de-barred from UN convention https://t.co/LyONO6M7Ah via @ThePrintIndia
— PRATEEP ROY (@Prateep06) December 4, 2020
But it's surreal given that just a few months back there was a high profile national drama over possession and consumption of a few grams of weed, and an actress smoking a spliff was viewed as handler of drug cartels, Narco terrorism, foreign funding, internal subversion.(2)
— Aditya Chaturvedi (@ACphenomen) December 4, 2020
Wonder what changes if any they’ll make back home. https://t.co/p01p541LUO
— Deepti Menon ദീപ്തി മേനോൻ (@deeptijmenon) December 5, 2020
he U.N. Commission on Narcotic Drugs voted Wednesday to remove cannabis and cannabis resin from a category of the world’s most dangerous drugs, which could impact the global medical marijuana industry.
The Vienna-based U.N. agency said in a statement that it had voted 27-25, with one abstention, to follow the World Health Organization’s recommendation to remove cannabis and cannabis resin from Schedule IV of the 1961 Convention on Narcotic Drugs, where it was listed with heroin and several other opioids. India voted in favour of the move.
READ: Is Weed Legal in India? A Look at India's Tryst with Cannabis and When it Was Banned
The move comes in the wake of several high profile arrests such as that of actress Rhea Chakraborty who was arrested on drug charges related to the death by suicide of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. The arrest had led to several debates about the status of India's drug laws, especially those that deal with the sale and consumption of marijuana.