Skip to main content

Covid-19 pandemic a golden opportunity to 'move away' from tobacco to marijuana

By Rit Nanda* 
Every year, on the last day of May, the United Nations member states observe the World No-Tobacco Day. It encourages people to give up tobacco and informs them of its health hazards. This day has been observed since 1987 and yet we find the ubiquity of chewing and smoking tobacco across our society. So, where has this push failed? 
Let us take a hypothesis, that as a smoking or chewing form, tobacco has found such wide popularity despite its known negative effects on health because as an addictive substance, which is mildly intoxicating, it contributes to a sense of euphoria and happiness in an otherwise dreary life.
Emotional comfort often therefore overpowers any sense of momentary physical discomfort and when the physical degradation manifests on a grand scale, it is almost always irreversible. Tobacco as a substance is also easy to carry and does not alter the outward behaviour of a person as certain other substances like alcohol do.
Unless consumed it huge quantities, a person can remain in possession of his or her faculties even after consuming tobacco while enjoying the mild and momentary high that comes with it. Hence, it remains such a popular substance of consumption across the world. Therefore, despite many people knowing the associated risks with tobacco consumption, they continue to keep taking it.
Tobacco is widely available in India. From figures taken last year, more than one third of the adult population in India consumes tobacco. Tobacco is a leading cause for non-communicable diseases such as cancer and heart disease in India, which account for over half of all deaths in the country. Smoking itself accounts for a million deaths in India annually out of a total of more than seven million globally.
This paints a grim picture of the reality confronting us as it relates to smoking tobacco consumption in India. And while smoking tobacco is more harmful than smokeless tobacco, the chemicals from chewing tobacco can also contribute to oral cancer. So, from a public health perspective, the imperatives to move away from tobacco are strong.
Furthermore, the pandemic has further exacerbated this situation. Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan requested all states and union territories to curb the spread of tobacco during the pandemic. He highlighted multiple problems that were posed due to the sale of tobacco. He said that tobacco products increase saliva output which increases the urge to spit and spitting in public can increase the risk of contagion in diseases like the novel coronavirus, tuberculosis, or swine flu.
In addition, retail outlets that sell tobacco can also become large gathering places which can contribute to the spread of the disease during a pandemic such as this. So, in the immediate future too, it remains a hazard to return to selling tobacco.
But tobacco remains a widely popular drug. It would also be remiss to forget that many farmers and small business owners, like your own local betel leaf shop, are dependent on the income generated from the sale of tobacco products. To bring a ban would decimate their livelihoods.
Source: PRNewswire
Just banning tobacco would create too big a disruption in the livelihood of people who depend upon it for economic survival. Yet, not banning it creates a huge economic loss, as measured by the spending on healthcare due to this. This is where the importance of cannabis (marijuana) comes in. 
Research has found that medicinal cannabis (marijuana) can have a positive effect against the spread of the novel coronavirus
It is a milder drug compared to tobacco, as determined by its effects on cumulative global human health, and if it replaces tobacco throughout the entire supply chain, it gives those dependent upon tobacco currently for sustenance, a chance to switch over. Exports can be switched over as per demand in foreign markets as well, while creating a supply side push for cannabis from the Indian market.
Cannabis has always been part of Indian society. In fact, as early as 2000 BC, the Atharvaveda, one of the guiding books of Hinduism mentioned smoking in the form of cannabis. Tobacco, on the other hand, was introduced only in the 17th century in India; a gap of approximately 3700 years!
Yet, the one introduced recently has become more prevalent in our culture than the substance we always used to smoke. Use of cannabis, especially in the form of a drink called Bhang, is also popular across religions in India: Hindus and Sikhs consume it during Holi and Hindu Sadhus and Muslims Sufis consume it to achieve transcendental states.
Furthermore, during this pandemic, research has also found that medicinal cannabis can have a positive effect against the spread of the novel coronavirus. It is important to note that nicotine has also been shown to have the same effect, though the latter causes cancer while the former is being researched to alleviate cancer.
Again, research is on-going in this field, and as a non-medical professional, the writer does not prescribe medical use of the drug, but this is just an effort to highlight how cannabis is now being seen in a positive light.
Additionally, psychoactive properties of this drug apart, it works on the assumption that adults are personally responsible for their choices and therefore, just as those who consume tobacco recreationally do it within a certain limit so as to not impair regular bodily or mental functions, the same wisdom would enable them to consume cannabis responsibly.
Cannabis was banned in India after independence due to many reasons including our commitment to international treaties. Various states banned them further and even some states which allowed some forms put in place various license requirements.
Setting aside any discussion or debate on politics of those laws, from a purely financial and supply chain point of view, our country is struggling with tobacco as a cash crop vis-à-vis the cost it places on society due to its consumption. It is here that cannabis as a replacement can be researched and seen whether it can minimise disruption to growers, sellers and users while lessening the burden on the health system.
---
*M.Sc. energy, trade and finance, City University, London; procurement, logistics and human resource supervisor and consultant

Comments

TRENDING

Andhra team joins Gandhians to protest against 'bulldozer action' in Varanasi

By Rosamma Thomas*  November 1 marked the 52nd day of the 100-day relay fast at the satyagraha site of Rajghat in Varanasi, seeking the restoration of the 12 acres of land to the Sarva Seva Sangh, the Gandhian organization that was evicted from the banks of the river. Twelve buildings were demolished as the site was abruptly taken over by the government after “bulldozer” action in August 2023, even as the matter was pending in court.  

Right-arm fast bowler who helped West Indies shape arguably greatest Test team in cricket history

By Harsh Thakor*  Malcolm Marshall redefined what it meant to be a right-arm fast bowler, challenging the traditional laws of biomechanics with his unique skill. As we remember his 25th death anniversary on November 4th, we reflect on the legacy he left behind after his untimely death from colon cancer. For a significant part of his career, Marshall was considered one of the fastest and most formidable bowlers in the world, helping to shape the West Indies into arguably the greatest Test team in cricket history.

Loktantra Bachao Abhiyan raises concerns over Jharkhand Adivasis' plight in Assam, BJP policies

By Our Representative  The Loktantra Bachao Abhiyan (Save Democracy Campaign) has issued a pressing call to protect Adivasi rights in Jharkhand, highlighting serious concerns over the treatment of Jharkhandi Adivasis in Assam. During a press conference in Ranchi on November 9, representatives from Assam, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh criticized the current approach of BJP-led governments in these states, arguing it has exacerbated Adivasi struggles for rights, land, and cultural preservation.

Outreach programme in medical education: Band-aids for compound fractures

By Amitav Banerjee, MD*  Recently, the National Medical Commission (NMC) of India, introduced two curricular changes in medical education, both at the undergraduate and the postgraduate levels, ostensibly to offer opportunities for quality medical education and to improve health care accessibility among the underserved rural and urban population.

Promoting love or instilling hate and fear: Why is RSS seeking a meeting with Rahul Gandhi?

By Ram Puniyani*  India's anti-colonial struggle was marked by a diverse range of social movements, one of the most significant being Hindu-Muslim unity and the emergence of a unified Indian identity among people of all religions. The nationalist, anti-colonial movement championed this unity, best embodied by Mahatma Gandhi, who ultimately gave his life for this cause. Gandhi once wrote, “The union that we want is not a patched-up thing but a union of hearts... Swaraj (self-rule) for India must be an impossible dream without an indissoluble union between the Hindus and Muslims of India. It must not be a mere truce... It must be a partnership between equals, each respecting the religion of the other.”

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah  The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Will Left victory in Sri Lanka deliver economic sovereignty plan, go beyond 'tired' IMF agenda?

By Atul Chandra, Vijay Prashad*  On September 22, 2024, the Sri Lankan election authority announced that Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)-led National People’s Power (NPP) alliance won the presidential election. Dissanayake, who has been the leader of the left-wing JVP since 2014, defeated 37 other candidates, including the incumbent president Ranil Wickremesinghe of the United National Party (UNP) and his closest challenger Sajith Premadasa of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya. 

Will Bangladesh go Egypt way, where military ruler is in power for a decade?

By Vijay Prashad*  The day after former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina left Dhaka, I was on the phone with a friend who had spent some time on the streets that day. He told me about the atmosphere in Dhaka, how people with little previous political experience had joined in the large protests alongside the students—who seemed to be leading the agitation. I asked him about the political infrastructure of the students and about their political orientation. He said that the protests seemed well-organized and that the students had escalated their demands from an end to certain quotas for government jobs to an end to the government of Sheikh Hasina. Even hours before she left the country, it did not seem that this would be the outcome.