Hello,
How are you doing? Patient? Is life teaching us patience? Or is it making us more restless through Lockdown? So many questions, so few answers. 🙂
The things happening around us currently are disturbing for a few, and entertaining for some. Let’s look around the globe and try to relate the effect of the corona, with the social and geopolitical turmoil that we all are witnessing around us. And, before we look out and talk about others, we should introspect ourselves first. We lost a great soul, and with all my sincerity I wish my best wishes to his journey afterwards, if it exists, of course. Sushant was a hustler, a fighter. I hope we all soon get the truth about that day.
We are going too hard on Rhea, especially when a thorough investigation is going on. Let’s not.
Regarding the drugs, as per a report published by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, USA. Around 62.5 million people use alcohol, 8.75 million use cannabis, two million use opiates, and 0.6 million use sedatives or hypnotics. These are the figures from 2004, and the consumption was not confined to urban areas, or high society people, it was there in the rural parts of India as well. Just like Sex, it is socially embarrassing to talk about Cannabis, in INDIA. That is how the culture had been for a long time.
If our country is suffering from a drug problem, I think we all can decide as per our experiences, but there are a few countries that definitely fought wars against drugs, such as Colombia, and they came up with a way to control the chaotic drug problem and turn it into a safe and prosperous business model.
Decriminalizing Cannabis.
Not only Colombia, countries like Australia, Spain, The CZECH REPUBLIC, Croatia, Switzerland, Netherland, Belgium, Uruguay, Argentina, Jamaica, Costa Rica, Mexico, Canada, etc. are some of the names in the list which also has the USA and North Korea. I know the above list might sound to you like a Football World Cup qualifying nations, but they in some way or another have legalized use of marijuana for medicinal and recreational purposes.
If we again talk about our country, Cannabis was legal in India till 1985 and was banned out of American Pressure, that itself have multiple states who have legalized medicinal and recreational use of Cannabis. In Atharva Veda Cannabis is included in the list of sacred plants.
Book 11, Hymn 6, Verse 15 of Atharva Veda-Samhita
पञ्च राज्यानि वीरुधां सोमश्रेष्ठानि ब्रूमः।
दर्भो भङ्गो यवः सह ते नो मुञ्चन्त्व् अंहसः॥
“To the five kingdoms of the plants which Soma rules as Lord we speak.
Darbha, hemp, barley, mighty power: may these deliver us from woe.”
‘भङ्ग’ (bhang) /Hemp refers to the cannabis plant. You can have a look at The Economic Times article on Dr Uma Dhanabajan, a Masters in Public Health from Harvard University, where she talks about her journey in educating people about the therapeutic benefits of Cannabis. Or look at an article from INDEPENDENT about How Weed is 114 times less deadly than alcohol.
If it is written in Vedas than who are we judging? I think it is time for the government to look into the possible revenue opportunities that can arise by structuring the distribution system of Cannabis. Some people call it the ‘Entry Drug” some call it the ‘Exit Drug’ everyone has their stories. We are yet to hear any fatalities by the consumption of Cannabis from around the world.
Anyways.
Lets’ look at the USA another country with a high number of Coronavirus cases, like INDIA. Man things are in turmoil there. The flame to kill racism is burning hard, the temperament of the society is at its brim. People are acting like, ‘Enough is Enough!’ And, it is true for so many things happening in our life, due to a sudden break our world went through. Today, a relative of mine was telling me that Corona has stopped the world, trapped our life. Indeed it did.
Hence, people are filled with emotions they gathered in the last few months while they were quarantined in their home. They want to come out and express. Did you notice those big gathering in the USA recently to protest against the death of George Floyd in Minnesota? That too, at the time when the cases of Coronavirus were highest in the world in the US. Why there are no conversations going on to understand the effect of Quarantine on the attitude of humans? The changes which happened when we all were hiding in our holes.
In any case, I think it is time for us to come out of them, by staying alert and cautious.
We all have been hit, our plans took a brief detour, and everyone is struggling in some way or another. I think it is time to take our hopes up again and restart. My best wishes, All the Best with your plans, if any, if not chill. 🙂
I think we are not going off track instead, we have got much more serious towards things that are important to us, such as equality and mental health. But, let’s not develop bitterness out of different perspectives. This lockdown will go, and memories will fade but relationships are getting strained, that is bad.
Whether it is Climate Change, Equality, Just World, Humanitarian crisis in the Middle East, among many others, are some of the key issues pointed out by the United Nations Foundation that are facing humans, and demand our immediate attention.
Let’s set the priorities.
I have included many links in this blog, do consider visiting them, if you want to dwell deeper. I try to say what I have to say, while taking care of the credibility of the sources I research from, and then add my twist, of course. *Haha.
Keep going, best wishes.
~R
An Observer 