India is possibly the country that has used cannabis for the longest time. Ganja isn’t a Jamaican slang term for weed, it is an old Hindi word meaning marijuana.

There are strong ties between cannabis and Hinduism as well as a widespread traditional use throughout the country. For these reasons, India only managed to ban cannabis in 1985. The sacred plant became illegal in India more than 40 years after most western countries outlawed it. Furthermore, The country has such a strong cannabis culture that even prohibition hasn’t stopped Indians from cultivating and consuming the plant.