MEERUT: Wild overgrowth of cannabis on both sides of roads all along the kanwar yatra route ensures that the pilgrims are on a high during the month-long affair. The Meerut district administration is in a fix as to how to control them. “It is a wild overgrowth found extensively everywhere. It is impossible to destroy it,” an official told TOI. Kanwarias, however, are not complaining: they say the weed is a gift of Lord Shiva which they accept humbly.

Consumption of weed which is found in abundance on the roadsides of west Uttar Pradesh increases manifold during Kanwar yatra. Since the pilgrimage is for Lord Shiva, devotees do not shy away from smoking it frequently and getting on a high. A large number of them told TOI that they use cannabis after processing it in various forms. Ramesh Kashyap, a kanwaria, said he smoked pot as it brought him “closer to Bhole Baba”. “Its usage also helps one cover long distances from Haridwar to Meerut on foot, as it keeps the body’s energy intact,” said the devotee who has already made five trips to Haridwar this year itself.

Shambhu Nath said smoking weed was an intrinsic part of the religious ceremony. “Without weed, the yatra remains incomplete,” he said.

The local administration, however, is facing a legal dilemma. According to the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs & Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, wild growth of cannabis should be destroyed by the state government officials. However, the officials expresses its helplessness in doing so. “It has grown almost everywhere. How do we destroy it?” asks one official who did not wish to be named.

Former narcotics commissioner of India Romesh Bhattacharji told TOI, “Wild growth of cannabis is found in entire north India, northeastern and southern states. It is so much widespread that law is ineffective in destroying it. Instead I feel, now it should be de-criminalized so that people are not unnecessarily penalized for using it.”

Medical fraternity is divided over its ill-effects. Dr Bhupender Chaudhary, a senior neurologist in Meerut, said, “Over the years, there has been a steady rise in number of young patients who come to me after Kanwar yatra. They often complain of abnormalities like behavioral abnormality, insomnia, distraction, slow reflex action, etc. His claims, however, were contested by another city-based doctor who wished anonymity. “Cannabis is much safer as compared to alcohol. Firstly, it is not addictive; secondly, it depresses the nervous system unlike alcohol that evokes aggression in humans; thirdly, it has no long-term side-effects. Besides, a recent study has indicated that smoking cannabis can reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s,” he said.

Bhattacharji echoed similar view. “In a recent research, it has been established that cannabis is 100 times safer than alcohol and also has medicinal properties.”

