January 27th 2011-Chandigarh
India has captivated me, and its cultural and medicinal use of marijuana is extensive, perhaps the most intergraded with daily life like I’ve never seen anywhere else before. I’ve discovered that cannabis has a long history here, veiled in legends and religion. The earliest mention of cannabis has been found in The Vedas, or sacred Hindu texts, which I was granted access to after a gift of cannabis to the local Hindu leader Krishna das Babaji. These writings may have been compiled as early as 2000 to 1400 B.C. According to The Vedas, cannabis was one of five sacred plants and a guardian angel lived in its leaves. The Vedas list cannabis a source of happiness, joy-giver, liberator that was compassionately given to humans to help us attain delight and lose fear. Marijuana is attributed to the release of anxiety. It would also appear that the god, Shiva is frequently associated with cannabis, called bhang in India. According to Indian legend, Shiva wandered off into the fields after an angry discourse with his family. Drained from the family conflict and the hot sun, he fell asleep under a leafy plant. When he awoke, his curiosity led him to sample the leaves of the plant. Instantly rejuvenated, Shiva made the plant his favorite food and he became known as the Lord of Bhang.
During the Middle Ages, soldiers often took a drink of bhang before entering battle, just as Westerners took a swig of whiskey. One story tells of the Sikh leader, Gobind Singhs's soldiers being scared by an attacking elephant with a sword in his trunk. Terrified, the men nearly mutinied until Singh gave one courageous man a mixture of bhang and opium. The herbs are recorded to have given him the strength and agility to slip under the elephant from below and kill him without endangering himself. This act of courage led Singh's men to victory over the enemy.
February 23th 2011-Malana
It would appear that cannabis has been popular in India since the beginning of recorded history and is often taken as a drink. Nuts and spices, like almonds, pistachios, poppy seeds, pepper, ginger and sugar are combined with cannabis and boiled with milk. Yogurt is also used instead of milk.
Bhang is also rolled and eaten in small balls. Bhang is about the strength of Western marijuana. Because milk contains fat, mixing cannabis with milk is an effective means of extracting THC but ingesting marijuana takes longer to feel the effects and is less consistent.
Other preparations: Indians are inclined to use cannabis as ganja and charas. Stronger than bhang, ganja is made from the cured flowers and upper leaves of the female plant, and typically smoked. Charas is the strongest preparation and is made from blooming flowers. I had the pleasure of getting to watch a local farmer make charas. He picked the bud started trimming a few of the leaves off while leaving a portion as well as a decent part of the stem. He then rubbed the bud in his hand until resin and oil from the cannabis began to stick to his hand. Using his thumbs, he pressed firmly on the oils and made it stick to his thumb so that it created a hash blob on his thumb. Basically, he did this till the bud stopped secreting oils on his hand. Similar in strength to hashish, charas contains a lot of resin. Both ganja and charas are smoked in an earthenware pipe called a chillum. The pipe is usually shared among 2 to 5 people, making smoking a communal activity.
April 13th 2011-New Delhi
The hustle and bustle of this city rivals that of New York. But the vast number and size of their libraries is astounding and has aided in my research greatly. I’ve stumbled across some documentation that in the 1890’s the British found the use of cannabis so extensive in colonial India, that they commissioned a large-scale study. They were evidently concerned that the abuse of cannabis was endangering the health of the native people and driving them “insane.” The British government asked the government of India to appoint a commission to look into the cultivation of the hemp plant, preparation of drugs from it, trade in those drugs, the social and moral impact of its consumption, and possible prohibition. It would appear that over 1,000 standardized interviews were conducted throughout India by both eminent British and Indian medical experts. The commission appears to be systematic and thorough, even compared to current studies. It sampled a large and diverse group of people in a range of situations, from farmers to hospital psychiatrists. After years of detailed work, The Indian Hemp Drugs Commission Report produced six volumes of data and conclusions. The commissioners were particularly concerned with whether or not cannabis caused psychoses. After years of thorough and well conducted research, The Commission concluded that suppressing the use of herbal cannabis (bhang) would be totally unjustifiable. They concluded that its use is very ancient, has some religious sanction among Hindus, and is harmless in moderation.
In fact, the study concluded more harm was done to society by alcohol. Furthermore, prohibition would be difficult to enforce, encourage outcries by religious clerics, and possibly lead to the use of more dangerous narcotics. Findings of The Indian Hemp Drugs Commission Report of 1894, conducted over 100 years ago, are surprisingly relevant today.
May 28th 2011- Mumbai
Cannabis continues to be available in India of the 20th and 21st centuries. In the mid 1950’s Chopra and Chopra conducted a follow up review of marijuana in their nation and found little has changed since the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission Report of 1894. I’ve observed construction workers, which there are plenty of in this ever expanding and growing city, use bhang to feel refreshed at the end of the day and to fight fatigue. Hindus use bhang for religious ceremonies like Holi and ascetics use it to seek divinity. Sadhus are Indian ascetics who have shunned material life and use cannabis to seek spiritual freedom. They live simply in the forest and wear ragged clothing. By emphasizing physical austerity through celibacy and fasting, cannabis helps sadhus transcend ordinary reality and achieve transcendence.
Today, bhang is so common in some parts of India that it can be found in government licensed street stands. In sum, the herbal plant, cannabis, has a long and continuous history in India. It has lived for thousands of years in stories of gods and warriors and it continues to live today in religious ceremonies and street stands.
I’m lucky that the Indians are almost as diligent about preserving their written history as China, even more lucky that getting access to ancient documents is much easier. I’ve been able to gather info and conduct my research in an 1/8 of the time it took me in China. It would appear that my research here is directing me next to the middle east. Not the friendliest of places for an outsider to be nosing around. But I think I might be able to keen something from a place westerner’s are still openly welcome. I’m taking the place to Dubai tomorrow.
It would appear that cannabis has been popular in India since the beginning of recorded history and is often taken as a drink. Nuts and spices, like almonds, pistachios, poppy seeds, pepper, ginger and sugar are combined with cannabis and boiled with milk. Yogurt is also used instead of milk. 
