Cannabis and Culture: Impact of Drug Policy on Drug Use and Drug Trade
Molly Charles
Thesis is submitted for the degree in Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology to
University of Pune.
Under the guidance of Dr. K.S. Nair
Department of Anthropology
University of Pune
Pune –411007
October 2004
Declaration
I, Molly Charles, solemnly declare that this thesis entitled Cannabis and
Culture: Impact of Drug Policy on Drug Use and Trade, which I am submitting to
the University of Pune, Pune, for Ph.D. Degree has been entirely prepared by me.
All the information, data, analysis and other materials included in my thesis
are mine. Whenever I have borrowed from other sources through review of
literature, the same has been acknowledged as per the required format of
referencing. In case any plagiarized material including data, information and
analysis is found in the thesis I am solely responsible for the same. Dr. Nair,
my guide/supervisor bears no responsibility in this regard.
I also declare that, this thesis is a product of the research work carried out
by me and that no part of this thesis has been presented earlier for any degree,
diploma, or similar title to any University
Dr. K.S. Nair
Molly Charles
Deputy Director General-Research
Research Student
Supervisor.
Date:
Place: Pune
Certificate
This is to certify that this Ph.D. Thesis entitled Cannabis and Culture: Impact
of Drug Policy on Drug Use and Trade is the research work of Molly Charles and
that it has been carried out by her under my supervision
YASHADA,
PUNE
Table of Contents
1. Cannabis and
Culture: Impact of Drug Policy on Drug Use / Abuse
management
Problem
29
Theoretical Perspective
35
Conclusion
55
2. Methodology
Approach Selected
57
Research Sites
61
Rapport Building
68
Methods of Interviewing
71
Limitation
73
Relevance
74
Selection of Informants
74
Data Analysis and Presentation
74
Conclusion
75
3. Role of Psychoactive Substances
in Religion and Asceticism
Saivite Samnyasis
and Asceticism
78
Locale
84
Use of Psychoactive
substances in Religious Context
88
The
group under study –saivite samnyasis
89
Role of Psychoactive substances in Asceticism
94
Role of Drugs in Spiritual Search
102
Pattern of Drug Use among samnyasi community
105
Transference of Religious Use to general public
115
Conclusion
120
4. Socio-cultural use of
Psychoactive Plant Products
Psychoactive Plant
Products and their Non-Psychoactive Uses 124
Socioal context of Cannabis use
126
Social context for consumption of Poppy Plant Products
130
Psychoactive Plant Products as a Relaxant
132
Use of Psychoactive substances in Traditional Systems of
Medicine
137
Medicinal Use of Psychoactive Plants
142
Practitioners of Traditional Systems of Medicine
146
Use of Psychoactive Plants by Traditional Practitioners
147
Source of Psychoactive Plant Products
148
Conclusion
153
5. Impact of Criminalisation on Drug Use and Drug Trade
Creation of New Norms through Criminalisation
155
Transferring the criminal Approach to Society
165
Religious Use and Criminalisation
174
Socio-Cultural Use and Criminalisation
182
Impact of Criminalisation on Drug Trade in the Urban Context
186
Criminalisation and its Impact on Urban Context of Drug Use
198
Criminalisation and Graduation in Drug Use
201
Marginalisation and Entrenchment in Crime
209
Conclusion
219
6.
Impact of Drug Policy on Cultural
Use Management
Presence of Use Management and its disintegration
223
Creation
of Deviants and resultant Alienation
230
Increasing
Scope of trade through alienation
234
Expanding
drug trade and criminalisation of social fabric
236
Conclusion
238
List of Illustrations/Tables
Title
Page Number
1.
Schema of Drug Effects
44
2.
Adapted version of De Rios Schema
46
3.
Map of Junagadh district in Gujarat
state
63
4.
Map of Kullu district in Himachal Pradesh
65
5.
Mumbai city Map in Maharashtra
67
6.
Use of Psychoactive Plant Products for common ailments
148
7.
Punishment under NDPS Act based on
quantity
seized
164
8.
Schema of Drug Effects within the Indian context
240
Abbreviation (Key)
Expanded Form
Abbreviation
Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome
AIDS
Human Immunodeficiency Virus
HIV
Mind Altering Substances
MAS
Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic
NDPS, Act 1985
Substances Act, 1985
Non- Governmental Organisation
NGO
National Institute of Social Defence
NISD
Traditional Systems of Medicine
TSM
World Health Organisation
WHO
World Trade Organisation
WTO
Acknowledgement
The journey to arrive at this thesis has
been long and an enriching experience. It began even prior to my registration as
a Ph.D. candidate. It is my interaction with Dr. K.S. Nair in the capacity of a
research advisor to National Addiction Research Centre (NARC), where I worked
earlier the prompted me to do a Ph.D. research. His critical inputs facilitated
in understanding the relevance of the present drug policy and bring forth some
suggestions so has to address the contradictions in the drug policy. I would
like to thank Dr. K.S. Nair for his active support at all stages of the study.
In addition to his analytical input, it is his emotional support during stages
of crisis, where I felt that the thesis would never come to an end that has been
crucial in completing the study.
I would also like to thank Dr. Ram
Gambhir, Head of the Department of Anthropology, Pune University for his support
in facilitating the successful completion of this research study. I thank Pune
University for providing me an opportunity to do academic research and hope the
opportunity has been constructively used towards some benefit for society at
large and drug users in particular.
In addition to the present research,
years of work in the area of Drug Addiction as part of National Addiction
Research centre facilitated this thesis for it provided an understanding of the
complex drug situation in Indian and role of International drug policies on the
same. I thank the input provided by Gabriel Britto, Director NARC, Mumbai, for
he provided critical input and opportunity to explore various aspects of Drug
Abuse Management with regard to different issues related to drug use and in the
area of drug trade. Opportunity to do research was provided by International
Federation of Catholic Universities (Paris) and UNESCO-MOST (Paris). Research
undertaken as part of NARC was facilitated both by Dr. K.S. Nair and Gabriel
Britto and that has contributed towards the present research.
The present study
that focussed on collecting information on sensitive issues was made possible
because of the willingness of samnyasis, practitioners of traditional systems of
medicine, drug users and individuals in criminal activities to share
information. Their magnanimity has been crucial for the data collection process.
This was further facilitated by the support A.A. Das, Dr. Masihi, Mr. Bhaskar,
Mr. Muthu who provided the connecting link with different groups. Dr. Udaya
Mehta, J, P. Vijayakumar, and Daniel Pinto supported the process by giving their
insights on specific issues.
Access to research
material is crucial to sharpen any search and at times resource materials are
not easily accessible within India. Besides, it is difficult and expensive to
purchase them at the personal level. Laurent Laniel (DRUGSTRAT, Paris) suggested
relevant books, provided the material, gave space to go through them and our
discussion facilitated in arriving at a better understanding- - thank you!
For their
unconditional support and encouragement I thank my parents, P.A. Charles and
Daisy Charles. I thank my siblings Vimal Charles and Andrew Mohan, my sister-in
law Grace Andrew for their support. Thanks is very much due to my nephew Quentin
and niece Gale for their tolerance when I occupied the computer on continuous
basis interfering with their time for computer games. The support of Muneera and
her children and Ishwar Desai and family facilitated me to go through tough
times in Mumbai while struggling to complete the thesis.
Glossary
Addas : Drug dens where brown sugar (crude form of
heroin) and other
synthetic drugs are sold.
Akhada: The word though translated as
monastery, must be distinguished
from it for Akhada is a centre where only Naga
samnyasis are inmates. It is only those Naga Samnyasis
who are attached to the particular
akhada’s who can be the inmate
of the respective akhada.
Amal
The local name for opium, which means rule or control.
Ashram: Religious
residential place
Augharas or Aghoripanithi:A
practitioner of Aghora, which means `non-terrifying’. It is one of the
extreme among various sects of ascetics.
Ayurveda: A branch of
traditional system of medicine, it is a Sanskrit word meaning `science of life’
or `longevity’.
Bairagis: Samnyasis
who worship Lord Vishnu
Barella: filled in, here
referring to cigarettes filled with brown sugar or crude heroin.
Bhagats: Devotees of
samnyasis.
Bhajans: religious songs
Bhang
: A drink or paste
made from tender leaves of cannabis plant
Brahmins: The upper caste
members who also belong to the priestly caste
Brown Sugar: Adulterated
crude form of heroin sold in Mumbai
Chandukhannas: A place where
opium was sold and where there was space for smoking as well. At times cannabis
was sold along with opium.
Charan : A member of
the Bardic caste, who composed verses during
dayaro session held by Rajputs in Gujarat.
Charas:Hashish, which is
made from the resin of the cannabis
plant and it is the most potent of cannabis products.
Chella
A devoted disciple, who gives himself/herself totally to the teacher
Chillum:
A pipe used to
smoke marijuana or hashish mixed with tobacco. It is three to six inches long,
and straight with the width tapering from a wide
bowl to a thin mouth.
Corex: A brand name for a
cough syrup, which also contains codeine.
Danda: A staff carried by
student samnyasis who also belong to the upper caste.
Dandis: Means one who has a
staff, usually a Brahmin initiate. He or she carries always carried the staff
and discarded it on leaving the house of the teacher.
Darsana: The flat ear ring
worn by Kanphata Jogis.
Darshan: Go to worship at
the temple
Dasnami: The school of
saivite samnyasis who has ten orders as organised by Sankaracarya.
Datura: Thorn apple, it is
rich in delirium and delusion producing tropane alkaloids.
Dayaro: Group gathering held
among Rajputs in Gujarat during which opium
drinks are consumed.
Dhunni: The fire tended by a
samnyasi. A samnyasi is said to
sit
`on’ his dhunni, meaning close to it, concentrating on it,
Dhyana: Meditation
Digambara
Signifies Lord Siva in his
naked form, it means `He who is clothed with space (naked).
Diksha: Initiation into
savite smanyais sects
Diwali: Festival of Lights
Doda Pani Drink made by soaking
poppy pods overnight in water.
Durga Puja The festival celebrated
predominantly in Bengal to worship Goddess Durga, the consort of Lord Siva. She
got her name Durga for she slew an asura named Durga
Duseera: Festival
celebrating victory of good over evil, it is same festival as Druga Puja
celebrated in West Bengal.
Ganja: The local name for marijuana
which consists of the flower tops and leaves of cannabis plant.
Gard: Local name for brown
sugar or crude heroin.
Gardulla: Local name for
brown sugar users, used in a derogative manner.
Guru: The teacher who is
crucial for sadhana and
he/she dispels darkness
Gurugadhi: The place where
the Guru sits and it also represents the power attached to the position. This
position is handed over to the disciple, chosen by the Guru.
Hakims: Practitioners of traditional systems of
medicine
Holi: Festival of colours
Jains: They are followers of Mahavir, the last
and best known of all saints among Jains. It is said that Parswanatha, who is
blue in colour with a snake is the founder of Jain sect. He was an ascetic born
in Benares.
Janmashtami: The birthday of
Lord Krishna who is the reincarnation of Lord Vishnu.
Japa: Systematic repetition of a mantra of
sacred name.
Kamandalu: Water pot,
carried by Lord Siva
Kanpata Jogi: Kanpata Jogis stands out
marked from other Nathpanthis by the large earrings or ear discs which
they wear in the hollow of the ear. At the last stage of initiation
Kasumba Pani:
A
drink made from opium, it also contains saffron and cardamom
Kumbha Mela: Mela meaning
getting together in mood of festivity. Kumbha
refers to pot. Kumbha mela is supposed to represent the celebration of
the occasion when nectar of immortality was obtained.
Kund: Pond
Kundala: The round earrings worn by Kanpatta
Jogis
Lambanis: A community in
Karnataka which has cultural use of
cannabis.
Linga: Male
generative organ worshipped as a phallic symbol. Linga is the symbol of
Lord Shiva.
Madak : It is raw opium that
has been obtained through recurrent washing filtering.
Mahabag: Is a cocktail of different types of drugs ganja, charas, datura, pincers of scorpion, skin of cobra, english liquor, Mauva liquor
Mahachillum : Is a
chillum containing five
different drugs to be smoked together by
saivite samnyasis
Mahadev: Another name for Lord Siva which means
the great deity of Lord Siva.
Maharaja: A term of respect
often used to address a religious person.
Mahashivaratri: The great festival of Lord Siva
and it occurs on the night before the new moon during the lunar month of
Magaha (February or early March).
Mahtama: An enlightened soul
Mal: Stuff, here
representing brown sugar
Mandir: Temple
Moksha: Salvation or
nirvana
Naga
Samnyasis: The class of samnyasis who
received their name after their chief characteristic - nakedness. Naga means
naked or snake. They are
worshippers of Lord Siva.
Naisthika Brahmacaris: A person who confirms to life long Celibacy.
Nasha: High
Nathpanthis
samnyasis:
Ascetics who are followers of Lord Siva
and also worship Gorakhnatha and describe themselves as
Gorakhapanthis. They are known for their expertise in physical exercise and
exercise of mental control leading to total concentration.
Pani: Silver foil used for chasing brown sugar
or crude heroin.
Paramahamsas: An
ascetic or a person who having realised the identity of the individual soul with
the supreme soul could be called the supreme discriminator.
Prasad: Any substance,
usually food but includes psychoactive substances, which has been offered to a
deity or saint, or to the image of the deity or saint, and which is then
partaken by a disciple or devotee.
Pudis: The unit in which
brown sugar is sold on the streets of Mumbai it is supposed to contain 250mgms.
It also means small packet.
Puja: `Ritual adoration’, especially of a deity
or guru with objects symbolic of purity, divinity or grace such as flowers,
incense, sweet fruit, coconut etc.
However puja can also be performed mentally
Rig Veda/Rg Veda:
Path of Jhan or Knowledge
Rishis: Means Seer, anything a Rishi sees or
experiences becomes a reality,
because a Rishi is an
ethereal being of highest class, one who is almost totally unlimited, one who
can travel anywhere in the cosmos and do
anything at all.
Rogu: Local name for opium
granules
Sadhana: Any spiritual
exercise.
Saili: The sacred thread worn by Nathpanthi
Saivite Samnyasis: Ascetic who are disciples of Lord Siva
Sam Veda :
Path of Bhakthi or devotion
Shankranthi :Harvest
Festival
Shivaratri: Festival of Lord
Shiva.
Siddh: Having miraculous
powers
Siddhi : Is a Sanskrit word for `perfect
abilities’ or `miraculous powers’ that must inevitably be
renounced and overcome it to attain Samadhi or union with Absolute.
Siddhar: An `accomplished one’. Anyone who has
obtained Siddhi or supernatural accomplishment, is a siddhi.
Siddha: Traditonal system of medicine that
originated from Dravidian civilisation and practised in Southern part of India.
Siddha Sangam: Sangam means academies
that originally existed before 1000 BC, the first known member being Agastiya,
who is the known member of Siddha medicine. At present the term is used
to represent the academic council of Siddha practitioners.
Singanada: A whistle made of buck of a
rhinoceros, worn by Nathpanthi on the sacred thread around the neck.
Soma: Is the drink of the Gods, the God of the intoxicating juice who resides in the plant itself.
Tantric Samnyasis : The Yogi or Jogi who practice appellation Consisting of a number of postures, exercises and certain mental control leading on through meditation to absolute concentration. This group of saivite ascetics can also be known as Tantric Samnyais. It is also said to represent Siddhas in North.
Tapas :`Heat, austerities penance’. Kamas
(desire/passion) are burned away by tapas. Tapas
etymologically means heat and significantly its practice is described in
Sanskrit in terms of root `tap’ to get heated.
Tibbi :Traditional system of
medicine originating from Tibet.
Tilak: Religiously
significant marks made on the forehead or other parts of body, with different
powders, sandalwood and ashes.
Tulsi: Holy
basil.
Udasin: A reformist sect of
saivite samnyasis who also initiate members of the lower castes and Muslims to their sect.
Unani: The Arab system of
traditional form health care
Vaidhyans/Vaids:
Practitioners of traditional systems of
medicine.
Vedas: Sacred knowledge or wisdom
Yajur Veda: Path of Karma or action
Yogi: One who is given to the practice of Yoga
and in Northern part of India Yogis are also known as Jogis.
Yoga: Disciplining the body for various
purposes, physical, mental and spiritual and meditation.
Abstract
The use of psychoactive substances for various purposes within a given
socio-cultural context has been documented in different societies across the
globe. The present approach to drug abuse management assumes that all forms of
drug consumption are deviant or criminal behaviour and ignores the
socio-cultural context of drug use.
It is this contradiction that formed the basis for this research study on
cannabis and culture with specific emphasis on the impact of drug policy on drug
use and trade. In order to explore various forms of use that exists within
India, the study utilised the qualitative approach with data collected through
field observation and interviews with informants.
For providing a theoretical base to the inquiry, the schema of Drug Effects put
forward by De Rios (1975) was used and the same adapted to explore drug use
within religious context of India. Data collected on religious and
socio-cultural context of drug intake is contrasted with the data obtained on
use of hard drugs within the context of the punitive approach to drug control.
The study focussed on presenting another schema for Drug Effects within India
context.
The first two chapters of thesis present a broad outline of the study and
elaborate on the methodology of the study undertaken. The religious context of
consumption has been explored with regard to specific sect of saivites
samnyasis (ascetic followers of Lord Siva) and their interaction with others
in society. Within the religious sect data was specifically collected with
regard to understanding the role of psychoactive substances in the life of the
ascetic and the process through which they are oriented to group ideology with
regard to psychoactive substances and how they internalise the same. Analysis of
various antecedent factors was done to explore the role it plays in evolving
drug effects within the religious context.
Consumption of psychoactive substances in the socio-cultural context explored
different forms of use both for psychoactive and non-psychoactive purposes. With
regard to consumption for psychoactive properties the role of drugs as a
relaxant during a social get together, festivals were examined, in addition to
its use merely as a relaxant in daily life. The medicinal use of psychoactive
plant products within the traditional system of medicine is another issue
focussed upon. The basic emphasis was also to explore how within the context of
punitive approach these forms of consumption continue to survive and the hurdles
faced in the process. Data on different forms of religious and socio-cultural
context of use presents the existence of cultural use management.
Data collected on the use of hard drugs within the context of criminalisation
address the impact of the drug abuse policy on the drug use situation and its
implication for patterns of use and impact on the lives of drug users. It is the
process of marginalisation of drug users that is starkly different from the
social acceptance given within the religious and socio-cultural forms of
consumption.
In addition, the impact of drug policy on drug trade was explored, for the
stated goal of drug abuse control has been to eradicate drugs. The study explores how the process of
making drugs into contraband has led to the introduction of new forms of hard
drugs for marketing at the street level.
It is profit and the possibility of being able to evade the law that
plays a crucial role in the choice of drug for marketing.
The entire process of criminalisation has led to a spread of drug use and the
entrenchment of drug trade within society though there is a variation between
rural and urban areas. The outcome of policy intervention by and large has been
that cultural use management get transformed into drug abuse management.
CHAPTER - 1
Cannabis and Culture: Impact of Drug Policy on Drug Use/Abuse Management
INTRODUCTION
This study focuses on the role of culture in shaping various facets of drug use
within India and changes brought about in them through the criminalisation of
drug use and trade. The issues addressed here include the use of cannabis and
opium for religious, social and medicinal purposes and the culturally embedded
regulatory mechanisms that evolved through centuries. It then further elaborates
on the impact of the national drug policy on both cultural and non-cultural
patterns of use in rural and urban settings.
A review of global literature looking at prehistoric artefacts and historical
drug use indicate that the use of mind altering substances has existed across
cultures for many centuries. Studies undertaken in different societies,
illustrate the use of cannabis, opium, coca and peyote for religious, social,
medicinal and mind-altering purposes (Rubin (a) 1975; Palgi 1975; Codere 1975;
Wilbert 1975; Rubin (b) 1975; Chopra et. al. 1990). An indepth understanding of
drug use in history within different settings is hampered by the limited
artefacts that created the basis for diverse claims and thereby, conflicting
views on the issue. Overall, there has been no dispute regarding the cultural
use of psychoactive substances and about its functional role being determined by
socio-cultural reality. This in turn has led to diversity in the use of
mind-altering substances and opportunities for cultural diffusion have not
eradicated the diversity in drug use pattern (Blum 1969).
The role of socio-cultural factors in shaping the use of psychoactive substances
has been studied within the Indian context by social scientists (Hasan 1975;
Chopra 1990; Herer 1991; Masihi et. al. 1994; Shrivastava 1989; Masihi et. al.
2001; Machado et. al. 1994 and Hasan 1975).
In order to illustrate the role of socio-cultural factors, some of these studies
are elaborated here. A study of drug use in Jhodpur (Rajasthan) indicated:
“Traditionally, use of opium had been closely integrated with
social, economic and cultural infrastructure of the society. It was intimately
related to the social rituals, religious beliefs and social and economic
conditions of the region” (Shrivastava 1989:135).
Another study on the use of cannabis in Karnataka, (Rao 1994:3) pointed out,
“Distribution of ganja (marijuana) occurs (in a
particular community of Lambanis) during the ceremony of marriage. It has been
also found that such distribution of ganja is related to the prestige of
the family. If it were not performed, the families would be looked down upon”. In this area, another cultural sanction for drug use is
indicated, during the festival of Saint Shishunal (considered a reincarnation of
God), every devotee considers ganja smoking, a religious obligation
(Machado 1994).
The cultural use of psychoactive substances provide a certain socio-cultural
context for drug use specifying the profile of the community members granted the
sanction to consume the substance/s. Regulations with regard to the use of mind
altering substances encompass the type of substance, the form sanctioned for
intake, the quantity consumed, mode of consumption, the setting for its use and
the profile of users.
The study of opium use in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, (Shrivastava 1989:135) indicates
the presence of cultural regulation with regard to use of the substance,
“Culture and tradition have a role not only in contributing
to the drug use pattern but also in screening and limiting the potential drug
user, as well as specifying the occasions on which the drug should be used. This
is the reason, why, by and large, the problem of opium abuse had been
traditionally confined to the adult male population of the region”.
Norms with regard to the use of psychoactive substances within the
socio-cultural context; in addition to regulating pattern of the use, they
provided space for members to be enculturated to specific forms of use.
Deviation from the sanctioned forms of use was restricted by group pressure
either through disciplinary measures by senior members of the community or by
ridicule. This is so in the case of cannabis use in Karnataka (Machado 1994) and
opium use in Rajasthan. With regard to opium use in Rajasthan, (Shrivastava
1989:135),
“Culture and social tradition limited the frequency and
quantity of opium use in the region. Opium taking behaviour had to confirm to
social expectations any violation of these norms, or its use in excess amount
constituted deviant behaviour”.
In Gujarat opium use occurs in a group setting (Charles et. al. 1994:72-73),
“Opium was consumed as a drink in gatherings called dayaro.
Usually these gatherings were attended by men of the same or similar status.
Opium was provided by the host and it could not be refused by the members of the
gathering, for it would be considered an insult to the host. When Kasumba
Pani[1]
(drink made from opium) was served in the cup of ones palm, the person to whom
it was given allowed some liquid to flow out with the help of his finger, so
that he did not get an overdose of it, as opium drink was served more than once
during the sitting”.
Unlike norms based on socio-cultural reality, introduction of hard drugs
(derivatives) led to an initiative aimed at creating universal norms of control
that focused on the criminal approach to restrict drug use and trade. Studies
have explored the creation of present criminal approach that exists in most
countries (Brunn et. al. 1975; MacAllister 2000; Nadelmann 1990). The initial
momentum for adopting the criminal approach came from America, where the
rationale for alcohol prohibition lost ground but drug control continued to
focus on abstinence. This approach to drug control emerged in America, more, out
of concern for the intermingling of races rather than a concern over drug use
itself. Cannabis and opium was seen
as creating a setting for intermingling of races. The American approach
subsequently became the basis for international drug policy and thereby affected
all countries, including India.
“Groups in the medical community, reformers in the progressive
movement, moralistic anti-vice crusaders, muckraking journalists, and racist and
nativist groups who feared that America would be mongrelized and contaminated by
drug consuming `inferior people’
were all intent on establishing some kind of regimen for drug control. Their
various struggles merged in the early decades of the century to forge a new
public judgement on drug use” (Bertram et. al. 1996:62-67).
At the international level it was trade interests that dictated American policy,
for though United States had a trade potential, its world position was minor to
the Colonial empires and it is through a strong anti drug policy that it managed
to win the china market. (Musto1972,cited in Cohen 1990).
“The efforts led to the creation of Pure Food and Drug Act,
1906, The Harrison Act, 1914 and later to a punitive approach to drug control.
As the prohibitionist approach gained support, the Narcotic Control Act in 1956
raised the mandatory minimum penalties (five to twenty years for second offence,
ten to forty years for the third offence) and permitted juries to impose the
death penalty on any adult who sold heroin to a minor (Bertram et. al. 1996:
83-84).
The rationale for the harsh legislation of the in United Sates was that it was
meant to eradicate drug use and trade, but that was not achieved. Instead the
law became a tool whereby the marginalised and excluded could be put behind
bars. As drug crime is a felony, it gave a momentum to the process of making the
excluded population powerless. This trend is seen from a profile of individuals
likely to be arrested for drug crime.
In United States the number of prisoners in State and Federal prisons doubled
from the year 1973 to 1983, it reached 1,408.685 in 2003. It has been indicated
that crime in the United States has decreased but drug related arrests have been
climbing steadily. Since 1980 the number of drug prisoners has increased
sevenfold, and the chance of a black Americans being caught for the crime is
higher. Data indicates that an American born in 1999 has about one chance in
twenty to spending some of his or her life in a correctional facility. At the
same time for black Americans, the chance increases to about one in four (Gray
2001)
The shift towards a punitive approach to drug control attains significance
because of the impact seen on drug users and those from marginalized segments of
the society.
“The
development of a market in private prison showing that ‘zero tolerance’ policy
can be profitable, brings on an unexpected twist to the debate about
discriminating drug use. The
spectacular growth of the American Prison population, largely due to the anti
drug laws enacted during the last 20 years, has resulted in the creation of
private firms specialising in building and managing prisons. These’ correctional
corporations’ are paid
between US $50 to $150 per day per inmate from the budgets of states, counties
or cities in order to manage the prison on their behalf” (Laniel 2001:55).
The changes that occurred in international drug policy also affected Indian drug
policy.
“In India, for centuries, Cannabis sativa has
been used for various social, religious and medicinal purposes. The Narcotics
Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) 1985, placed cannabis and opium
among illicit drugs. When the Government of India, signed the Single Convention,
1964, it accepted the international decision to phase out the cultural and
non-medicinal use of cannabis and opium in twenty-five years, but then did
nothing about it (Charles et. al. 1999:68-69).
The criminalisation of drug use through drug policy and concurrent legislation
is an attempt to create uniform formal norms for drug abuse management across
the globe. The attempt aimed at creating a cultural convergence at controlling
drug use, whereby cultural differences could be done away with, through
legislation. But, both at the national and the international levels, it created
a situation where different cultures have had to adapt to or resist change with
regard to the use of psychoactive substances. Culture is dynamic and flexible,
and it offers scope for its members to modify conduct by changing guide, rules
or plans. Change is a slow process, but culture is not always adjustable to
change, it can resist or adapt to change.
There have been hurdles in this attempt at cultural convergence, be it a result
of the economic obligations involved in the adaptation or the resistance to
change, or the tendency to conserve cultural norms because of the extent of
existing integration and emotional attachment to customs. The attempt at
cultural convergence at the global level, by powerful nations led to other
countries, even those with a history of cultural mechanisms of control, passing
legislation for drug abuse management at the national level contradictory to
evolved local wisdom with regard to drug use/abuse management. This is clearly
seen in the Indian context with regard to its drug control policy.
The new legislation created a need for appropriate social constructs to
facilitate the implementation of the law, the creation of the concept of
addiction with its criminal, moral and disease dimensions. The presence of
harder drugs with pharmacological properties, quite capable of creating physical
dependence, gave further ground to strengthening the concept of addiction and
addicted personalities.
At present, the term put forward by World Health Organisation (WHO),
‘dependence’ is gaining acceptance over the term 'addiction'[2].
Along with the concept of addiction there emerged theories on addiction that
fell short because of their monocausal approach to the issue and failure to
establish correlation between cause and effect. Theories focused on the
pharmacological properties of the drug or personality deficiencies or
dysfunctional family relationships to explain away the use of psychoactive
substances. Some of these theories focussed on drug use and environmental
deficits. The failure to explain drugs in terms of a monocausal approach led to
the trend of presenting multidimensionality in drug taking behaviour.
In countries with a socio-cultural acceptance of the use of psychoactive
substances, new formal norms based on criminalisation of drug use created a
complicated situation; it diverged from the norms that existed within the
cultural context. In India, there
existed informal norms of cultural control (though now criminalized by present
legislation) that followed, by and large, formal guidelines. These cultural
mechanisms of control that emerged through the years was ignored by National
drug policy based on international policies focused on a punitive approach to
drug control; whereas cultural forms of control had created a cultural framework
for drug use management which emerged from within the socio-cultural reality of
the community.
The base for criminalisation of drug use
was to control drug intake within the given society. At the same time, studies
undertaken in countries without a cultural base for use showed that the absence
of realistic formal norms and the presence of unclear informal norms made it
difficult to establish regulatory measures for drug control (Zinberg 1984).
According to him rules formulated by legislation and institutions are all part
of formal norms and it is informal norms that act as guides for interaction
between friends or siblings in non-formal situations. It is this informal
interaction that governs drug use probability in varied contexts.
The present research, studies the role of culture in drug use management as it
existed within traditional societies and as it exists today among cultural
groups in different parts of India. In order to understand drug effects and its
management within the cultural context, the conceptual schema forwarded by De
Rios (1975) has been used. According to the schema put forwarded by De Rios, the
impact of drug effects is an interaction between antecedent factors and
consequent variables. Under antecedent factors, De Rios has included
socio-cultural, biological, psychological and cultural aspects identifying
consequent variables as being the physiological impact of the drug. This study
additionally focuses on the impact of the drug policy on ground reality, to look
at whether it has changed cultural mechanisms of control. In case there has been
a change, its implication on the socio-cultural regulatory mechanisms and
process of drug use management. On
the other hand, if the impact of legislation on cultural norms has been
restricted; the manner in which the impact of criminalisation of drugs covered
by cultural norms has been dealt with and the implications of the drug policy on
cultural use of drugs?
The study also addresses; issues of persistence of cultural forms of use and the
continuation of cultural mechanisms of control with regard to drug use in
religious and other social-cultural contexts. It also looks at the effects of
criminalisation of cultural use and the role of the punitive approach in
strengthening a networking of criminals and drug users of both traditional and
synthetic/derivative drugs.
Change in behaviour is facilitated by economic viability, relevant when the
social situation is in a flux and cultural norms of control do not have a strong
hold over its members. Besides, adaptation is not a matter of choosing the most
efficient alternative, but may be a compromise between limitations imposed by
the pre-existing culture and the opportunities presented by new conditions
(Barrett 1991).
It is common to find societies making piecemeal or makeshift adjustments that
allow them, to preserve familiar institutions and to take advantage of new
opportunities simultaneously (Barrett 1991). Elements from the past that persist
will inevitably set limits to future flexibility.
The very act of criminalisation made drug trade a viable commercial activity,
and being a criminal activity it slowly established links with the existing
criminal networks. The trade came to be dictated by the profit margin of the
commodity, the quality of the drug and strategies to corrupt the government
machinery for drug control. This was not in line with transactions that existed
prior to the period, where the sale of psychoactive substances was but a part of
other economic ventures undertaken by the dealer.
The present study therefore, also looks at the growth of drug trade and the
changes that occurred after the introduction of the NDPS Act, the process
through which the trade has been reintegrated into or grown with the support of
the system. The entire process of criminalisation of drug use and drug trade and
its relevance in controlling the drug situation is elaborated upon here to
understand in its totality the impact of the present drug policy.
I. THE PROBLEM
The study analyses the role of culture in drug use management, with regard to
cannabis/opium plant products and the impact of the present drug policy on drug
use management. In addition, it focuses on the impact of drug policy on
consumption and trade of derivatives and synthetic drugs within the Indian
context. For this purpose it
focuses on the norms that existed to regulate drug consumption in the cultural
context and the relevance of this strategy of control in the present legislation
and policy, especially given the use of and trade in, hard forms of drugs.
Research questions that facilitate this search are presented below.
To understand the role of culture in drug use management in India, the study
focuses on cultural use of cannabis/opium in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. Gujarat was selected as a site for
studying religious use, as it is an important pilgrimage centre for followers of
Lord Siva[3]
and the meeting place for all saivite samnyasis[4]
to celebrate Mahashivaratri[5]. The researcher has conducted a study on
drug trade in Himachal Pradesh, which brought forth the relevance of looking at
the socio-cultural context of use in the case of cannabis and opium in the
Himachal Pradesh (Charles (a) 2001). The role of psychoactive substances within
the traditional health care system in India is also looked at, focussing on the
practice of traditional systems of medicine.
The broad research question focuses on three areas (1) Socio-cultural use of
drugs within the religious community of saivite samnyasis (2)
Socio-cultural use of drugs outside the religious community in India and (3)
Impact of criminalisation through the present drug policy on drug use and trade
within and outside the cultural context.
1.
Use of drugs in any form has been criminalized by the present drug policy.
However, there exist cultural sanctions for consumption of drugs in the
religious context. While the legislation views all forms of drug use in a
negative manner, in the case of culturally sanctioned religious use, the
concerned psychoactive substance is worshipped as a gift to mankind. Through the
process of cultural sanction there evolved norms with regard to type of drugs
consumed, forms of consumption and setting for drug intake. Against this
background there evolved a process to orient its members to group ideology or
norms and on its role in their search for enlightenment. Unlike this, existing
literature on drug abuse management focuses on the adverse impact of drug use in
all forms and present methods to abstain from drug use. While religious use
considers psychoactive plant products to be a means to facilitate attainment of
spiritual goals, drug abuse control programmes consider any form of use as a
step towards becoming addicted.
Specific research questions are
·
What are the normative practices of drug consumption among religious community?
·
What are the underlying concepts, which contribute to religious use of drugs?
·
What are the regulatory mechanisms and rituals that surround drug consumption?
·
What are the ways in which the religiously sanctioned drug use orient its
members to group ideology and norms?
·
What is the role of drugs in the search for spiritual goals among saivite
community?
·
What is the process through which normative practice of drug consumption among
religious community is communicated to the rest of the society,
2.
To understand the role of norms in regulating drug use within the socio-cultural
context, but outside the religious community; the study focuses on social,
religious and medicinal use of psychoactive plant products. The present approach
to drug control provides no scope for the rational social or religious use of
psychoactive plants. At the same time cultural sanction provided scope for a
normative manner of drug consumption within the religious and social context.
Besides, the consumption of psychoactive plant products for religious reasons,
as a means for celebration and as a relaxant; culture also evolved ways of
utilising its medicinal properties as part of the Indian Traditional Systems of
Medicine (TSM). Other uses of psychoactive plant products have been for
production of fibre, fabric and as a means to deal with extreme climatic
conditions.
Specific questions for research are
·
What have been the non-psychoactive uses of psychoactive plant products?
·
What are the social cultural contexts for consumption of psychoactive plant
products?
·
Is there sanctioned use of psychoactive plant products as a relaxant or for its
mind altering capacity?
3.
To understand the relevance of present drug policy the study focuses on the
impact of criminalisation on, drug use and trade within and outside the cultural
context. In order to put in place a criminal approach to a culturally sanctioned
behaviour, the policy had to implement a legislation that put forward new
constructs as to: What is a drug? Who is a drug user? What activities can be
considered to be part of drug trade? In order to ensure compliance the present
legislation introduced punishment for non-compliance. As legislation and its
enforcement are not adequate to erase cultural sanction; the system put in place
institutional infrastructure at the national level, and through its programmes
transferred this new understanding or body of knowledge about drug abuse and its
management. The criminal approach for management of all forms of drug
consumption and the mechanisms of use management that evolved within cultural
framework were criminalised. The
attempt of the present drug policy
was to eradicate all forms of drug use and trade both within and outside
cultural context.
Specific questions for research are:
·
What are the mechanisms put in place in order to ensure that a criminal approach
to drug abuse management is implemented?
·
What has been the impact of present criminal approach to cultural forms of drug
consumption?
·
What has been the impact of criminalisation on drug trade in the urban context?
·
What has been the impact of criminalisation on drug use in the urban context?
·
Has the approach of criminalisation been able to control drug use?
·
What has been the impact of criminalisation on the drug user?
II. Theoretical Perspective
Studies undertaken in different settings have documented the use of psychoactive
substances within the religious, social, functional and medicinal context. The
religious use of cannabis has been documented in Nepal (Fisher 1975), in Jamaica
(Comitas 1975), and in Mexico (Garcia 1975).
Mexican Indians use Psilocybin which is derived from a sacred mushroom known to
them as tenonanacatl
`the flesh of God’; this cult which has come to be named `cult of the sacred
mushroom’ still exists in Oxxaca. Another
psychoactive plant used by Indians of the
southwest and Mexico for communication with divine world is peyote cactus. The
active substance that has been identified from the cactus is mescaline, a
chemical of the amini group which is quite easily synthesised. Eating of the
dried button of the plant is the principal sacrament of the Indian church known
as Native American Church of the United States (Watts 1962).
Based on his study on cannabis in Nepal (Fisher 1975: 249-250) said:
“Many of the holy men use cannabis, claiming that it helps
them to overlook the discomfort of living in conditions alien to them - such as
cold weather- so that they can concentrate on higher matters…
Lord Siva is frequently depicted with a bowl filled with herbs under his arm as
one of the emblems of the mendicant and there is a traditional association
between Lord Shiva and cannabis. For saivites, smoking cannabis is a way
of offering it to Lord Siva. But in interviews with samnyasis at
Pashupatinath the holiest Hindu shrine in Kathmandu, it became apparent that
cannabis use is by no means confined to members of saivite sect. On the
contrary, samnyasis who used cannabis belonged to a wide spectrum of
Hindu sects. It is the combination of the general austerity of asceticism, the
unaccustomed climatic rigor, religious belief which produces conditions in which
the use of cannabis is almost a professional technique”.
The social use of opium has been documented in Gujarat (Charles et. al. 1994: 72-73)
“Opium as a drug found a very fertile soil in the region.
Opium forms part of
the lifestyles of various segments of Saurashtra society. In the local language
opium was called ‘Amal’,
which in other words means rule or control. There were two ways in which opium
was consumed. One was the popular upper-caste method of consuming it in a liquid
form. Individuals, who earn their daily bread, chew granules of opium, known as
rogu.”
In India, traditional systems of medicine use both cannabis and opium products
as ingredients in medicinal preparations, for human and cattle, Medicinal use of
cannabis (Chopra et. al. 1990:168) has been described as follows:
“Cannabis is used in Ayurveda and Tibbi
medicines as an anodyne, hypnotic, analgesic, and as antispasmodic. In rural
areas it is the remedy in prophylaxis and treatment of dyspepsia, pain,
rheumatism, dysentery and diarrhoea, hysteria, gonorrhoea and cholera”. He further
elaborated on opium use, “Opium is prescribed by
Tibbi physicians for relief of pain in the head, eyes, ear, teeth and
joints; drying of catarrh, allaying of cough, asthma and hiccup; treatment of
maniac delirium and inflammatory conditions of the brain; treating diarrhoea and
dysentery; treatment of paralysis, facial paralysis, epilepsy and similar
nervous conditions, and curing intermittent fevers”
(Chopra et. al. 1990:185).
According to a study undertaken among practitioners of traditional systems of
medicine (Masihi et. al. 2001:43),
“In the month prior to the interview 52 vaids and
hakims had together treated 989 patients (an average of 19 patients per
practitioner). In the medicines that they gave 802 patients, 81% contained
either opium or ganja or their combinations in various forms.”
It is through the process of enculturation that the individual as a member of
society imbibes customs, values and moral precepts with regard to different
human behaviour including drug use. Culture can be defined as the system of
agreed upon meaning that serve as a recipe or guidelines, for behaviour in any
particular society. The agreed upon meaning is transferred both through overt
learning and subtle learning, the latter through unconscious imitation by the
transmission of cues from one individual to another or from symbols expressed in
myth, art, literature and rituals. Subtle learning of cultural use of cannabis
can be seen from religious texts, songs on cannabis and also religious idols,
which have either cannabis leaves or the smoking pipe as part of the idol. A
clear example, of this association is seen in the worship of the idol of
Parappaswamy, a holy man, who used cannabis to enhance his religious
insight. In his idol, he is shown smoking cannabis and this is worshipped by
people in a village in Karnataka (Machado 1994).
The relevance of the socio-cultural environment in understanding drug use has
been highlighted by other scientists. Weil (1972) pointed out
that drug taking is a complex phenomenon and understanding it requires knowledge
of more than drugs. Every drug experience reflects a user’s expectations and
experiences with regard to a chemical substance, as well as the setting
where a chemical substance is used, with whom, when and why; and the entire
socio-cultural environment and its repository of meanings.
In addition to this
“Social construction of drugs and drug users have powerful
influences on how people act, and these social constructions are flexible and
ever changing. The transformation of the usage of cocaine use from a harmless
recreational activity to a dangerous, if not deadly, addiction was accompanied
by shifts in the symbolization of both cocaine and its users” (Scheibe 1994, cited in Curra 2000:162).
In order to understand the role of culture in determining drug effects and
settings or pattern of use within the context of use management in India, we
utilise here the schema put forth by De Rios (1975).
III. The Schema of Drug effects
De Rios (1975) has put forth the schema for understanding drug effects within
the cultural context, according to her, antecedent factors interact with
consequent effect of the drug, which are previously established as per the local
wisdom of the society. It is based on the interaction between antecedent and
consequent factors that one can attempt to predict new or not yet verified
relation and obtain useful theory of drug effects. According to De Rios (1975)
antecedent factors occur in four general areas, biological, psychological,
social-interact ional and cultural.
III.1.
Biological Antecedents
Studies undertaken in different locations within Africa and South America,
document the role of biological antecedents in determining
drug effects. In the African continent, among Shagana-Tsonga of the northern
Transval, the use of hallucinogens is crucial to achieve a religious experience
during female initiation at puberty.
At a girl’s puberty rite the plant
Datura
fatuosa is administered to young women ceremonially in order to ensure
communication with an ancestor God who grants fertility (Johnson 1973, cited in
De Rios 1975)
Myerhoff (1975) elaborated on how peyote is used among Huichol Indians. He
showed how the cultural expectation from their hallucinogenic experience along
with the recurrent possibly pan-cultural mystic vision that provided a
touchstone for their world view and facilitated the participant’s
attainment of a spiritual state whereby the person achieves a communion of sorts
with deities. The ritualised pilgrimage lasts for several weeks. During this
period pilgrims endure many privations to attain a spiritual state. They forego
or minimise human physiological needs as much as possible- sleep, sexual
relations, excretion, eating and drinking are actually or ritually foresworn.
III.2. Psychological Antecedents
Among Shagana-Tsonga, the initiation rite for a girl at puberty involves ritual
activities prior to the ingestion of the datura plant in order to
condition the attitudes, expectation and motivation of the initiates towards
achieving certain culturally valued goals- namely fertility by worshiping the
specific God. During the ritual, an initiate at first lies in a quasi-foetal
position on a palm-leaf mat, during a dance which simulates childbirth.
Stereotype visions as well as auditory hallucinations are important to the young
women. Hearing ancestral voices, while under the effects of drug use is a
cultural goal highlighted during the symbolic ceremonial activity. This is the
part of the life cycle emphasised by the puberty school in preparing initiates
for marriage (Johnson 1973, cited in De Rios 1975).
III.3. Social-Interactional
The structure of the group, the relationships of the members present and their
role interactions, will affect the impact of the drug. The ritual performance
itself and the presence of a guide skilled in the use of the drug are important
factors to consider in any attempt to predict drug effects. Group use in the
presence of a skilled guide facilitates the person to learn the ways of the
animals they hunt, to understand the divine future and to be able to communicate
with the supernatural (De Rios 1975). The rain forest group, the Amahuaca, use
hallucinogen ayahuasa[6]
for culturally specified goals namely, to obtain insights into the habits and
peculiarities of the animals they hunted, as well as to facilitate inter-group
relations and aid them in achieving political harmony (Cordova 1971, cited in De
Rios 1975). Among Shagnana-Taanga when the plant is administered to the
initiates, the females leader officiating suggests to the girls that they will
hear the voice of the ancestor God (Johnson 1973, cited in De Rios 1975).
III.4. Cultural Antecedents
Shared enculturation in belief systems is crucial to success in guiding an
experience. A shared symbolic system guides individuals through a particular
drug experience in order to achieve culturally valued goals. Expectations of the
visionary experience that
surrounds drug use are often the raison d’être
for non-western drug experience, for which prior socialisation in this area is
crucial to shamanic success. In certain cultures, adjuncts are used to
strengthen the drug effects. Among the Shagana-Tsanga along with drumming and
special music each initiate in turn is wrapped in a multi-coloured blanket to
facilitate drug experience of hearing ancestral voices. The initiate during
puberty rites see mavalavala
–bluish green coloured patterns, which is similar to
the common house snake in this area and which is believed to be reincarnation of
the ancestors. This vision is believed to hasten the hearing of ancestral voices
which assure the initiates of fertility (Johnson 1973, cited in De Rios 1975).
An ethnomusicologist’s
analysis of tropical rain forest music from
ayahuasca
session found that music can play a crucial role in bridging ordinary and
non-ordinary realms of consciousness (Fred 1971 cited in De Rios 1975).
Schema No: 1
Schema of Drug Effects
Antecedent Factors
An anthropological Schema of drug–induced hallucinations (De Rios 1975:413).
IV. Schema of Drug Effects- within Indian context.
This is a point of departure from De Rios schema (1975) for it is used to create
an adapted version, which considers the religious, social and economic aspects
of cultural use and mechanisms of use management within the Indian context.
The present study provides the adapted schema of De Rios which has been used in
order to understand cultural use within the Indian context and limited to
understanding drug use within the religious context.
Given the punitive approach to drug abuse management within the Indian context,
the legislation put in place has criminalised all forms use including culturally
sanctioned consumption. It is based
on the changes that have occurred through criminalisation that a new schema of
Drug effects within the Indian context is put forward. The schema presents the
impact of punitive approach on cultural use management in Indian context and
resultant impact of drug policy on drug use and trade both within and outside
the religious context.
Schema No 2
Adapted Version of De Rios Schema
Antecedent Factors
V. CONCEPTS USED
V. 1. Culture
Culture is defined as systems of agreed upon meaning that serve as recipes or
guidelines for behaviour in any particular society (Barett 1991). To say ‘agreed
upon’ is equivalent to saying symbolic since a symbol is something whose meaning
is bestowed by those
who use it (White1940:453). This symbolic capacity is a distinguishing
characteristic of all human beings, whereby they are able to bestow meanings on
things and acts and then to live according to them.
V.2. Enculturation
It is the process through which an individual as a member of society imbibes a
set of customs, values and moral precepts with regard to different behaviours
including drug use.
V.3. Traditional Drugs
Psychoactive plants and their natural products which are used in cultural
context are termed as traditional drugs. The main substances referred to are
cannabis, charas (hashish), poppy plant, opium, poppy straw and datura.
V.4. Hard Drugs
It refers to derivative drugs of psychoactive plants products and synthetic
drugs that are chemically processed based on the molecular structure of
derivative drugs or its manipulation.
V.5. Addiction
It is the progressive disease of consuming alcohol or psychoactive substances,
where the causal agent is the substance and drug use is a compulsive behaviour.
The only cure is total abstinence.
Addiction is a cluster of physiological,
behavioural
and cognitive phenomena of variable intensity, in which the use of the
psychoactive drug (or drugs) takes on a high priority. The necessary descriptive
characteristics are preoccupation with a desire to obtain and take drug and
persistent drug-seeking
behaviour.
Determinants and problematic consequences of drug dependence may be biological,
psychological or social and usually they interact (UNIDCP 1997).
V.6. Social Constructs
Transformation in social thought grounded in fundamental changes to social life,
structure and ideological conditions in society.
Social construction is an on-going process of building worldviews by the
individual in a dialectical interaction with society at any time.
V.7. Formal Norms
Zinberg (1984) defined rules formulated by legislation and institutions as part
of formal norms.
V.8. Cultural Norms
The norms which are not institutionalised and govern use of psychoactive
substances within the cultural context.
V.9. Cultural Use Management
This refers to the process through which cultural norms have put in place
regulatory mechanisms that restrict drug use.
V.10. Drug Use Management
It is a cultural guide of control consisting of informal norms and adaptation of
formal or legislative measures towards restricting the use of psychoactive
substances.
V.11. Drug Abuse Management
Programme focussing on control over the use of and trade in drugs based on the
assumption that drug use is a disease and a criminal act; and drug trade is a
crime.
V.12. Drug Laws
Legislative measures created at the national level in accordance with the
international treaties and conventions with regard to drug use and trade. In
India it is called Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985.
V.13. Deviance
“Deviance is a social construction that emerges from social
differentiation, social conflict, and social disagreement” (Curra 2000:16)
According to Becker deviance is not a quality that lies in the behaviour itself,
but in the interaction between the person who commits an act and those who
respond to it. Once a person is labelled as a deviant with reference to a
certain rule, people automatically assume that the person possesses other
undesirable traits too. Deviance is created by making rules whose violation
qualifies as deviance, and involves the identification of rule breakers, and
treating them as outsiders (Becker 1963:9).
VI. Broad Descriptive Hypothesis
Consumption of drugs within the cultural context restricts the quantity consumed
and type of drug/s taken. It provides functional reasons for use and a social
construct for the drug user within the cultural context and restricts the
marginalisation of drug users.
With criminalisation of drug use through the present day drug policy traditional
and derivative/ synthetic drug users have to interact with criminal networks.
The criminalisation of drug use increases the market for drugs and the illegal
drug trade becomes a lucrative enterprise.
VII. Scheme of the Thesis
The thesis has been divided into six major chapters. The first chapter deals
with the research question and theoretical framework. It provides a review of
literature (Blum 1969; Chopra et.
al. 1990; Comitas 1975; Charles et. al. 1999; De Rios 1975; Fisher 1975; Garcia
1975; Herer 1991; Hasan 1975;
Masihi et. al. 1994; Machado 1994; Meyerhoff 1975; Masihi et. al. 2001; Rubin
(a) 1975; and Shrivastava 1989) on the use of psychoactive substances within the
cultural context and provides information on the influence of the drug setting on drug consumption,
the purpose of use, forms of use the type of drugs consumed and regulation of
drug consumption. The problem statement for the present research and schema for
understanding drug effects is as put forward by De Rios and forms a part of the
chapter.
The second chapter focuses on methodology, research sites, rapport building,
techniques, tools used in the study, the process of data analysis, and the
relevance and limitation of the study. Relevant background information on the
sites selected for the study has been presented, and the coverage includes a
larger geographical area than the locales selected.
The third chapter presents data on the religious use of psychoactive substances
by the samnyasis community. It further presents information on the
initiation into drug use, the graduation and gaining mastery over it. By
analysing the process it presents cultural mechanisms of control that evolved
with regard to drug use.
Based on the data collected, it was found that traditional drugs were consumed
in a controlled manner that included the quantity of drug, type of drug, context
of use, restrictions arising from expectation related to the physiological
impact of drug use and the adherence to a power structure when consumed in a
group setting. As a result the
social construct of drug, drug user and addiction presented here are different
from present mainstream literature on drug abuse management, which considers
regular use a disease/addiction.
Chapter four presents the socio-culture use of cannabis and opium in different
social contexts based on data collected from Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat and Tamil
Nadu. The data focuses on religious, social and medicinal use of cannabis and
opium. The choice of location for the study was based on the presence of groups
to be studied and accessibility to the groups concerned.
The use of cannabis is more extensive in Himachal Pradesh because of the
superior quality of the locally produced charas and the growth of tourism in the
State (Charles (b) 2001). For studying the use of traditional drugs for
medicinal purposes data were collected from Tamil Nadu as use of traditional
systems of medicine is extensive here and for the ease of access to
practitioners of traditional systems of medicine.
Based on data collected the schema of drug effects was adapted to the Indian
context and it was found that consumption of traditional drugs within the
cultural context did control drug use with regard to type of drug, quantity
consumed, the setting for use and profile of users. It was found that
traditional drugs have been used and continue to be used in medicinal of
traditional systems of medicine.
Chapter five utilises the data
on non-cultural drug use and drug trade to present the impact of criminalisation
on traditional drugs and hard drugs. It focuses on present day legislative
measure, the NDPs Act, 1985 and it’s implication on local wisdom with regard to
drug use management.
Adaptation of cultural use to new formal norms, introduction of hard drugs and
the strengthening of a new body of knowledge with regard to cultural use, the
changes in the social context of drug use and the impact of criminalisation on
drug use, these issues are considered here on the basis of data from drug users.
Changes in the social context of drug trade, the emergence of new socio-economic
activities, initiation into crime and entrenchment of criminal networks are
focussed upon and based on data from informants in the drug trade and drug users
involved in criminal activities.
Based on data collected, the chapter adapts the schema of De Rios to the Indian
context whereby the changes in antecedent and consequent factors brought about
through criminalisation, are integrated to understand drug effects in the
changed socio-cultural context.
Utilising the data collected from various groups from different settings, the
chapter addresses the issue of criminalisation of drugs and presents the impact
of criminalisation process on drug use and drug trade. It presents the process
through which the present day drug policy has created a situation where there is scope for the introduction of new types
of drugs without a cultural base, along with new forms of use that evolve in a
sub-cultural setting which lead to marginalisation, stigmatisation and
criminalisation of the user.
Chapter Six presents the conclusion of the study; the implications of
criminalisation on drug use and drug trade which is presented through an adapted
schema of drug effects called schema of Drug Effects within the Indian context.
VIII. Conclusion
Drug use management exists in different socio-cultural contexts across the globe
it consists of regulatory mechanisms for use within the religious, social and
medicinal context. A review of literature presents this reality within and
outside India. With the enforcement of legislation that focussed on the criminal
approach for drug control, a different social context evolved with regard to
drug use and trade control, it led to the marginalisation of users and created
scope for the selective implementation of justice based on class and race
differences.
Against this background information based on a review of literature, the Schema
of Drug Effects put forward by De Rios, 1975, is presented for analysing the
data collected from within the Indian context and facilitating the process,
definition of concepts used is also presented. The problem statement presents
research queries on issues linked to drug use and abuse management.
The last section of this chapter focuses on the schema of the thesis and a brief
description is given on the contents of various chapters in the thesis.
Chapter-2
Methodology
Introduction
The chapter presents details on the data collection process. It focuses on the
method selected for the study and provides details on the research sites
included for collecting data on drug use and trade. Along with an elaboration on
the rapport building process, the focus here is on the methods of interviewing,
the limitation and relevance of the study and the process of analysis of data
collected.
I. Approach
Selected
The choice of methodology appropriate to the research study depends on the
target group focussed upon and also on past research and accessibility to the
group. When a social issue is explored for the first time there arise
circumstantial limitations that lead to an adaptation of the tools used for data
collection and also determine the preference for one methodology over another.
The question of the value of qualitative and quantitative research designs and
techniques has been a point of dispute among scientists. They have argued over
their merits and demerits from their individual/professional perspective. The
quantitative research design is highly useful when researching a known
population and in dealing with phenomena on which some scientific knowledge
already exists. When the area of inquiry is one on which little or no scientific
knowledge exists, an exploratory study, primarily qualitative in design, might
be more appropriate.
Working with a hidden population about whom little is known makes it difficult
to use standard random sampling techniques. According to Wiebel (1990) the use
of illicit intoxicants is largely a covert activity in our society and it is not
possible to identify the number of individuals who engage in such behaviour.
Representative sampling irrespective of its scientific merits is quite simply
impossible to employ with the varied phenomena at hand.
The situation is further complicated when members of the group under study are
involved in criminal activities and live in isolation or hide their deviation
from accepted dominant norms of the society.
Drug use other than use of bhang (cannabis leaf) has been
criminalized with the implementation of NDPS Act, 1985. Though the consumption
of bhang is sanctioned there is no provision for licit cultivation of the
cannabis plant as in case of opium, and so the only source for bhang is
illicit cultivation and criminal networks. According to the existing legislation
drug use and drug trade are punishable, the period of imprisonment varies with
the nature of the drug and quantity seized. This makes it extremely difficult to
collect data on drug and drug trade, except when data is collected from the
institutional setting or through agencies involved in outreach activities.
The groups selected for the study limited the tools for data collection. Agar
(1997) stated that there are two settings, from which data can be collected, one
from the institutional setting, which include treatment centres and prison
settings, and the other from community settings. In this study data were
collected from both settings, institutional and community. For the research
group of samnyasis, the akada (institutional setting) was the
primary place of contact other than the community setting or their temporary
residence in isolated places close to forests and other remote places. With
those involved in crime it was basically the community setting and the drug
peddling areas that provided a source for data collection.
Data about drug users in Himachal Pradesh and Mumbai city were collected from
different settings. In the case of drug users from Himachal Pradesh, data were
collected from the community setting; this included data from restaurants where
cannabis is smoked in a manner similar to the cafes in Amsterdam. Data from drug
users in Bombay city were collected from both the institutional (treatment
centres/outreach setting) and community settings. Unlike the case of
samnyasis and drug users of Himachal Pradesh, data in Mumbai City were
collected only from hard drug users, especially marginalized street level drug
users.
Data from drug peddlers and those involved in organised crime required contact
with informants who had an excellent rapport with the study group, and an
extended period of time was spent to strengthen the relationship. For confirming
reliability, data were collected from different informants in the community. Data from this group were collected both
from Himachal Pradesh and Mumbai City. The role of contact persons who had close
links with informants was crucial at both these research sites. This was also
the case with data collected from samnyasis, as they lead an isolated
life avoiding contact with worldly persons expect for brief religious
ritualistic interaction.
In addition to the complications and difficulties that arose from the choice of
study groups, the gender of the researcher posed another problem. A female was
not expected to be involved in activities that required close interaction with
males involved in criminal activities or belonging to isolated groups of
samnyasis, especially since they were ones that preferred the use minimal
clothing, if any. These
aspects limited the researcher’s role as a participant observer.
Along with the quasi-participant observation, data were collected from
informants and research groups through interview guides. Data were crosschecked
through observation and group discussions for reliability.
II. Research Sites
Different sites were selected for collecting data from samnyasis, drug
users and practitioners of traditional medicine in Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh,
Tamil Nadu and Mumbai. The same was also the case for data collected from those
involved in different activities related to drug trade in Himachal Pradesh and
Mumbai. Here research sites refer
to geographical area larger than the locale of the study.
The locale selected for different groups depended on its relevance to observing
the phenomenon under study and the extent to which it represented the reality of
the issue focussed upon.
II.1 Junagadh – The Religious Community
In the case of religious use of psychoactive substances the samnyasi
community who gathered for Mahashivaratri at the town of Junagadh in Junagadh district of - the state Gujarat
was selected for inquiry. Junagadh is an important pilgrimage site in India,
where samnyasis meet every year to pay obeisance to Lord Siva. Data were
collected from different sites in the district, where samnyasis had a
temporary institutional base in their wandering lives or had their permanent
residence.
The town of Junagadh is situated on the foothills of the sacred hill of Girnar
and occupies a special place in the history of Gujarat. According to Hindu
mythology, Lord Siva resides at the temple of Bhavanath and Narayana as
Damodarrai near Damodar Kund (pond). Mount Girnar, to the east of
Junagadh city, is an important pilgrim centre for Hindus. It has five peaks, the
first being Ambamata (or the Girnar Goddess) which is visited by married
couples to ensure wedded bliss, the second is Gorakhnath the highest peak, the
third is Oghad Shikhar, the fourth Guru Dattatraya peak has a shrine dedicated
to Goraknath, and the fifth peak, Kalika peak which is a resort to Aghoris[7]
(Rajyagor 1975)
Map No 1
Location of Gujarat in India
Map
of Junagadh in Gujarat
II.2. Cannabis Users in Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh situated in the western Himalayas is dominated by mountains and
associated rivers. It has a total population of 5.6 million within its 55,673
sq.km of area. Its capital is
Shimla, and the main languages are Hindi and Pahari or language of the hills.
Agriculture is the main source of income for the people of the state. As
traditional crops have limited growth potential, the emphasis has been on high
value cash crops, mainly fruits and off-season vegetables. These efforts have
had a limited outcome as deforestation and quarrying for slate have caused
ecological damage and resulted in harsh climatic conditions unfit for crops.
The tourism industry has become an important source of income for the local
people, especially given the limited impact of development programmes in the
State. The local people lease out their land to others from nearby States to
build hotels and cater to the tourists. Another easy way of making money
identified by the youth is to provide drugs of choice to the tourists (Charles
(a) 2001; Charles (b) 2001).
Map No: 2
Map of Kullu District in Himachal Pradesh
Location of Himachal Pradesh in India
II.3. Hard Drug users and Drug trade in Mumbai
An important metropolitan city on the mid-western coast of India, it is the
capital of the state of Maharashtra. It is densely populated with a population
of 9,908,547. It is an important centre for drug trade and also has users of
different types of drugs. The drug is sold in different localities across the
city and its suburbs. These outlets are near railway stations or bus stations
and at times near the highways, main roads or in specified localities. The
research sites were selected based on existing data collected from outreach work
undertaken by a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO). For further inquiry in
these sites, specific addas (locations in the city where the drug is sold
and users sit and consume drugs) were selected for observation and to conduct
in-depth interviews of users when possible.
Map
No: 3
Location of Maharashtra in India
Map of Mumbai City in Maharashtra State
III. Rapport Building
Whatever the methodology adopted the crucial issue in this study is rapport
building, to obtain relevant sensitive information especially from a hidden
population and isolated groups. It is a long term interaction that began even
prior to undertaking the present research study that facilitated rapport
building.
It was extremely difficult to establish contact and collect information on
samnyasis, especially Naga[8]
and Aghori samnyasis, for whom cannabis use is an integral part of
their meditation and quest for spiritual insight. In spite of working in the field of drug
abuse management for over a decade, the researcher found minimal information on
the use of mind-altering substances by the samnyasis. This availability
of limited information was also reflected in the viewpoints of professionals on
the use of cannabis by samnyasis sometimes this pattern of use was
mentioned in passing while addressing the issue of cannabis use within the
socio-cultural context of India or Nepal. It is this absence of information that
motivated the researcher to study drug use by the samnyasis community.
There was a religious meet of samnyasis for Shivaratri in
Junagadh, which the researcher decided to attend as the starting point to the
investigation. There were few who could help in the inquiry, as they or their
families did not welcome the idea of close interaction with the samnyasis
from the Naga and Aghori sects.
At the hotel, the researcher met an ex-member of naga samnyasi who
had married, as custom required that the only son get married to carry on the
family lineage. It is with the help of this person that she managed to interact
with Naga and Aghori samnyasis. Quite unlike the perception
of laypersons, these religious personalities were extremely kind and
forthcoming. They stated that they were happy to meet an Indian interested in
understanding their way of life, though they were surprised it was a woman.
During her interaction with these samnyasis she noticed that there was
only one widowed older woman, who came anywhere near them to take their
blessing. The male members of the area who came to take the blessings of the
samnyasis, at times for their small children, were surprised or
rather shocked to find the researcher sitting next to the Naga
samnyasis, and so insisted that she must be a hippie, otherwise she would
not be interacting with them in this manner.
Rapport building for data collection from individuals involved in the drug trade
and criminal activities was possible because of contact persons who acted as
facilitators. It is the trust of this group on these individuals that
facilitated the researcher collect information on this sensitive issue. These contact persons vouched for her
credibility and also stated that she would not act as informer to the police. In
spite of their involvement in illegal activities, it was far easier to collect
data from this group than establish contact and collect information from the
samnyasis.
As the subject of inquiry was sensitive,
access to
primary data was time consuming. The detailed case histories undertaken depended
on the contact person’s relationship with the interviewee, especially the extent
of trust and the process of establishing a rapport. The study on the growth of organised crime
undertaken in Mumbai (Charles et. al. 2002) by the researcher gave scope for
strengthening links with individuals involved in criminal activities and
collecting data for the present research.
Rapport building with drug users was made easy by the close interaction with the
drug using population, especially in Mumbai as the researcher had worked in the
area with street level drug users. In the case of drug users from Himachal
Pradesh, it was the presence of contact persons that facilitated the process.
Interacting with these groups who in many ways live away from the set path of
society left the researcher with a richer understanding of the varying shades of
human life. It also highlighted the process through which individuals get
moulded into different careers. In the case of samnyasis, however it was
an individual choice made at a very young age and the secluded lifestyle that
led them to live life on a plane totally different from that of their worldly
brethren.
IV. Methods of Interviewing
Interview guides were developed for collecting information from different
categories of individuals by first selecting a few individuals from the group to
be studied who were then interviewed in depth, and in a free floating manner.
Through the process the broad issues to be focussed upon by the interview guide
were evolved. The interview guide
was used to collect information on samnyasis, drug users in Himachal
Pradesh and Mumbai, and those involved in the drug trade in Mumbai and Himachal
Pradesh.
The data were crosschecked through interaction with different informants and
observation. During informal discussions with samnyasis in a group, some
of the information collected was rechecked. This approach was also used in case
of data collected from drug users, but never used for the group involved in drug
dealing, as interviews were conducted in isolation.
The detailed indepth interviews focussed on the following issues:
Religious use of mind-altering substances among samnyasis, with specific
focus on initiation, graduation, mastery and the moving out of drug use.
Interaction between religious personalities and laypersons with regard to
drug use.
The role of the drug setting on drug use by samnyasis.
The role of beliefs, myths and guide on consumption of drugs by samnyasis.
Impact of the punitive approach to drug abuse management on drug use by
samnyasis.
Cultural use of mind altering substances.
The role of psychological expectation, social interaction and beliefs on
cultural use of drugs.
Impact of the punitive approach to drug abuse management on the use of
traditional drugs.
Initiation into criminal activities and drug trade.
Impact of criminalisation on drug users and drug dealers.
IV.1. Observation
Quasi- participant observation was used to collect data on samnyasis,
drug use and drug dealers.
Besides this additional data were collected from leaflets, newspaper articles
and documentaries. Photographs were also used to document the activities of the
samnyasis.
V. Limitation
The choice of the groups restricted the data collection process, in the case of
religious community limited to samnyasis from certain sects. The present
data is still relevant as there is at present limited information on drug use by
samnyasis in the Indian context, though there are many studies that focus
on samnyasis, their way of life, their perception, their understanding
and use of psychic powers. These studies focus on drug use in passing. This
absence of adequate information is also seen in the case of drug trade.
The study is limited by the restriction of the data collection to drug use and
drug trade in Mumbai city and some parts of Himachal Pradesh.
VI. Relevance
The relevance of this study is that it highlights important issues to be
considered in the national drug policy and it identifies issues for further
research. It brings forth a need to evaluate the existing drug abuse management
programmes and the need to consider the role of culture in drug use/abuse
management as part of the harm
minimisation programme.
VII. Selection of Informants
To study the religious use of psychoactive substances 19 samnyasis were
interviewed and photographs taken. For understanding drug use outside the
religious group data was collected from 10 traditional drug users and to present
the impact of criminalisation on hard drug users 22 users were interviewed. In
addition to this data was collected from 27 traditional practitioners of
medicine. For presenting various aspects of drug trade 15 informants were
interviewed.
VIII. Data Analysis and Presentation
The data were analysed based on topics such as initiation into drug use,
graduation, mastery and the impact of criminalisation of drug use. Data of drug
users were also categorised into sections such as the process of
marginalisation, the impact of criminalisation and involvement in criminal
activities. The role of ritualisation as a means of controlling drug use in
different settings was also focused upon.
In the case of data on medicinal use the focus was to present the use of
psychoactive plant products in medicinal preparations and to see whether
medicinal properties of psychoactive plants is utilised to deal with common
ailments.
Data from hard drug users and those involved in criminal activities were used to
present the impact of criminalisation on the social context of drug use, and on
indulgence in criminal activities among drug users. In addition, data were used
to understand the street level drug peddlers and their related activities. It involved collation of data in terms
of changes in social constructs such as drug, drug use, drug user, drug dealer
and drug addiction.
IX. Conclusion
Given the hidden nature of the issue under study elaboration is made on the
preference for qualitative research inquiry especially when the behaviour under
investigation is criminal. Against the details on approach selected the process
of rapport building with isolated group of samnyasis, drug user and traders is
presented. Details of the research sites selected for the groups investigated
are presented along with methods of interviewing. The section further presents
the limitation and relevance of the study along with the analysis of the data
collected
Chapter – 3
Role of Psychoactive Substances in Religion and Asceticism
Introduction
To present the religious aspect in culturally embedded drug use patterns this
chapter focuses on the use of psychoactive substances among saivite
samnyasis along with transference of their knowledge on use management to
the general public. The elaboration here on the religious form of drug
consumption and the related social constructs is based on data collected through
observation and informant interviews conducted in Junaghad district of Gujarat and Kullu and
Kangra districts of Himachal Pradesh. For providing a background to religious
use of psychoactive substances and on the life of saivite samnyasis
data from the scriptures are used along with other studies. The aspects covered
under these sections include norms adhered to during preparation of the drug, at
the time of consumption and on the pattern of use. To present the link between religious
use within saivite samnyasi community and outside the religious
group, data on social interaction between the saivite samnyasis
and general public is provided. All these aspects of drug consumption contribute
towards creating a normative pattern of use, which forms a base for use
management within the religious community.
I. Saivite Samnyasis and Asceticism
Mount Girnar is an important pilgrimage place for Saivite Samnyasis and
devotees for celebrating Mahashivaratri. The area considered to be sacred
begins at the Girnar gate, lying at the base of Mount Girnar. The importance of
Mount Girnar is brought forth in hymns that praise its relevance.
( Sivananda 1957)
At the foot of Mount Girnar is the famous Bhavanath Mandir[9],
an important religious site, there are numerous saivite samnyasis
from varied sects who come to pay homage to Lord Siva. This place is also
significant because it is where the foot print of Dattatreya (an ascetic) is
considered embedded in the rock.
Dattatreya is the tutelary deity of Naga samnyasis along with
Bhairava.[10]
Saivite Samnyasis are distinguished by their ochre coloured robes, the place is
filled with various shades of this attire, the uniformity broken by some
samnyasis wearing black or white attire. Though after the festival
the number of samnyasis reduces drastically, there are to be found
samnyasis with black attire, who look different in their appearance
especially as they carry a human skull along with them. Besides the attire of
the samnyasis, it is the ornaments that adorn their neck, ears, hands and
waist that indicate their sectarian affiliation, as does the specific sect name
suffixed to their samnyasi name. In the case of those who have gone
beyond these differences and become a Paramahamsa[11]
it is difficult to place their sectarian membership.
The temporary sheds found on the lanes of Mount Girnar have pictures of Lord
Siva and Datttatreya kept in great reverence. The homage paid to them by the
Saivite Samnyasis and devotees is an indication of respect given to
ascetic life in Hindu tradition. The form of the Lord Siva worshipped here is
that of an ascetic, though he is generally worshipped in the form of Linga[12].
Lord Siva has been represented in many forms. In one he is represented as living
in the human form in the Himalayas with
Parvati, at times in the act of destroying demons, with a serpent around his
neck and a necklace made of skulls.
He is also shown as riding a white bull, with a trident in his hands, wearing a
tiger’s skin or elephants’ skin. He has three eyes the significant
third eye is in the middle on his forehead. The third eye is used to distinguish
truth from illusion and to destroy lust that reduced man into samsara
(worldly person) (Wilklins 2000; Ghurye 1953)
He is also known as Mahadev, in the form of an austere ascetic, living in
the forest with matted hair and teaching his disciples the virtues of penance (tapas),
mortification of body, suppression of human passions and abstract meditation.
Lord Siva covers himself with ash, thus rejecting symbolically the material
world, he also carries Kamandalu (water pot), a bowl made of human skull
to drink and a chillum[13]
(pipe). It is believed that such living leads to the loftiest spiritual
knowledge and ultimately union with the Great Spirit of the Universe. Some of
the other names for Lord Siva are Digambara
(‘He who is clothed with space or is naked),
Bhuteswara
[Lord of Bhuts (ghosts or golbins)]
(Wilklins 2000; Ghurye 1953).
The behaviour patterns of ascetics are associated more with certain specific
incarnations of Lord Siva, the tutelary deity of the Pasupat sect. The
Indus valley civilisation cultivated yoga[14]
and meditative techniques along with its cult of Lord Siva as Pasupati
(divine herdsman) and Yogi. There is the representation of the Udhra-medhara[15]
god on one of the seal-amulets discovered at Mohen-jo-daro, a centre of the
Indus Valley civilisation. On a seal is seen a prototype Siva, as a three-faced
person seated in an attitude of Yoga, and with urdha-medhra
clearly exhibited (Ghurye 1953;
Pandey 1987).
It is to follow the footsteps of Lord Siva, that Saivite Samnyasis
who come to mount Girnar wear only a stitched or
unstitched piece of ochre coloured garment. They also wear horizontal tilak
(marks) on their forehead to show their sectarian affiliation. These tilaks
of with ash are also known as vibuthi power. Some of them wear a spot on
the centre to represent the third eye of Lord Siva. These specifications have
been also mentioned by Ghurye (1953), who noted the use of necklaces made by
Rudraksha[16],
tulsi[17]
beads or crystals and the pattern of carrying Kamandellu by some sect.
Images of saivite samnyasis enjoying the chillum while
interacting with other samnyasis or bhagats (devotees) in their
sheds, and when alone, fill the lanes and corners of Mount Girnar. This is a far
cry from the criminalisation perspective that considers drug use to be a
criminal act capable of evoking a punishment of six months behind bars.
Confronted by this contrast it is difficult not to recollect the passages from
scriptures that dwell on the pleasures of Soma[18].
“This Soma is a god; he cures
The sharpest ills that man endures
He heals the sick, the sad he cheers,
He nerves the weak dispels the fears; …
We’ve quaffed the Soma bright
And are immortal grown
We’ve entered into light,
And all the gods have known.
( From The Rig Veda as cited in Wilkins, 2000,
pg 70-71)
The description of soma as recorded in the Vedas[19],
the Rigveda[20],
the Samaveda[21]
and the Yajuraveda[22] show the position given to it within the
religion. Soma, according to the Vedic
hymns, is the God who ‘represents and animates the juice of the
soma
plant. In some of the hymns, he is exalted as the Creator, the Father of Gods.
In the verses and songs in praise of soma, there is no distinction made
between the actual juice and the God who is supposed to dwell in it. All the
Gods drink it; and soma, the God in the juice, is said to clothe the
naked and heal the sick[23]
(Wilkins 2000; Kishore (a) 1998 and Kishore (b) 1998). The Vedas
described soma as the drink of the Gods, and there
has been frequent reference to Lord Indira’s fondness for it[24].
One such instance from the Samaveda is given below:
“Indira, O mighty Lord, may we continue praising, Thy fame,
fame of one like Thee. O Hero, may we realise Thee in our meditation. O Indira, at daybreak accept our oblation
of Soma mixed with roasted corn-flour, with cake, curds, and eulogies.
Indira, Thou overcomest all the demons and evil forces, with Thy all conquering
might. Thine are all these pleasures of the Soma juice, Lord Indira.
Enjoy them and be pleased, Lord of royal wealth. For Thee, Lord of Light, Soma
Juice is pressed, and sacred grass-seat is spread. Indira be gracious to Thy
worshippers” (Kishore (b) 1998:35).
Another Lord known for his fondness for Soma is Lord Siva, and he is also
known as Somnath or the guardian of the sacred herb, soma. In the
Hindu Epics and
Puranas’,
Lord Siva plays an important part, and several books have been written in his
praise. Lord Siva is not mentioned as a God in the Vedas, he is declared to be
Rudra[25]
of the Vedas (Singh, 1990). In Yajuraveda, Rudra is
addressed,
“Salutation be to him, the blue throated[26]
the thousand eyed, the beautiful to look on, and also to his ministers, to them
be our homage (Kishore (c) 1998: 83).
II. Locale
The area covering the base of Mount Girnar has many religious sites, and one of
them is Damodhar Kund. It is
situated beyond the Girnar Gate, it is here that the cremated remains of the
deceased are immersed by relatives and a puja is performed. Ahead of
Damodar Kund is the Bhavanath mandir, which holds a significant
place in the religious rites on Mahashivratri especially for the samnyasis
and their devotees. Near to Bhavanath mandir, is the Murgi Kund,
where samnyasis take a dip at midnight on Mahashivratri. The next day,
devotees drench themselves in the water that is flushed out of the kund,
which they consider to be blessed.
Ahead of the Bhavanth Mandir is a cross road, marked by a huge tree at
the junction of the diversion. Samnyasis of different sects sit on either
side of the lane under temporary sheds or below trees. These rectangular
temporary structures are made of bamboo and cloth covering an area of around
10ft by 7ft. The structures utilise the walls on either side of the lanes to
support their roof. The walls, a part of the akhadas or monastic centres
on the side of these lanes.
The area within the temporary shed is kept clean and neat, the flooring is
plastered with a mixture of mud and water. The portion outside the shed is kept
clean by sprinkling water to settle the dust. Inside the shed, close to the
wall, the flooring is raised to make a small platform, which forms the seat for
the samnyasis and his favourite chelas (disciples). The devotees
and other visitors sit at a lower level. Even when they sit in a circle to smoke
chillum, the power structure between samnyasis, disciples and
devotees is maintained.
The visible symbol in these temporary sheds is the dhunni
[27]
or fireplace. There is no fixed size for the dhunni, which is a circular
heap with a hollow portion in the middle. This heap is called Brahma Kunda,
and the entire dhunni is made of mud. Mud from burrows inhabited by
snakes is used to make the dhunni, and among certain sects, such as
aghoris, the ash from the cremation ground is also used and such dhunni is
considered siddh. The other items used in the preparation of the
dhunni
are cow dung, cow’s urine and water.
Dhunni
is considered sacred and worshipped daily, and flowers are placed outside the
Brahma Kund and prayers are said after water is sprinkled on the flowers.
A person can touch the dhunni only after having a bath. Waste materials
such as matchsticks cannot be thrown inside the dhunni. Some of the
samnyasis picked the money given by people with pincers and at times threw
it inside the dhunni. Depending on the type of dhunni, it is
either kept lit throughout the year in the same place or a part of the dhunni
is carried by the samnyasis from one place to another.
At the Akhada when everyone leaves one person stays behind to ensure that
it is kept lit. When the dhunni, is maintained in this manner for years
(over 12 years) the dhunni itself is considered to be siddh
(enlightened) and have miraculous powers, it is used for medicinal purposes.
At the Juna or Purana Akhada samnyasis from different sects
come together during Mahashivratri. The power structures between
samnyasis are maintained. One can glean this from the sitting arrangement;
some of them sit on raised platforms and others on lower levels. From the gate
of the Akhada the lane leads to a big structure where a picture of Lord
Shankar is placed in a prominent position. On one side of the Akhada is
the dhunni. It is considered to be very old and it is enclosed by walls
on all three sides. After the dhunni on one side is a small mandir
for Guru Dattatreya Bhagwan.
Next to it is a raised platform, which is a gurugadi[28]
and behind it on one side is the bathroom, which has a piece of cloth that acts
as a door. The top of the gurugadi has a roof, which is supported on a
beam. On the lower portion there are different seating places for the
samnyasis and there are different dhunnis around which they sit. When
samnyasis are there they light the dhunni. On one part of this
area, the aghoris sit together. The samnyasis who come to the
Akhada leave some gifts at the feet of the Guru and pay homage to him. From
this collection, money is also provided to samnyasis who come from
distant places, to facilitate their travel.
III. Use of psychoactive substances in religious context.
Psychoactive substances have been used for religious and magico-religious rites
by different communities across the globe (Guiley 1993). The changes that
occurred in our association with mind altering substances for religious purposes
can be far more related to the difficulty of this realm being understood in a
scientific manner (Charles et. al. 1999). Cannabis was used among Scythian in
Atian in mid-Asia, during funeral rites (Emoden 1972) and in another culture it
was used
to experience ‘great vision’ and thereby ascertain the smoker’s role in
ganja
subculture (Rubin (b) 1975). Cannabis occupied a pride of position in the
religious ceremony of tribals near Gulf of Mexico (Garcia, 1975). In a similar
manner other substances to be used in the religious context included
hallucinogens (Blum 1969; De Rios 1975), Datura fatuosa[29]
(De Rios 1975) and Nicotine (Wilbert 1975).
Studies have shown that cannabis use is common across various sects and that it
is linked to Lord Siva for Soma is considered to be a gift from Lord Siva
(Hasan 1975, Chopra et. al. 1990). At the same time there is lack of clarity as
to the botanical nomenclature of the soma mentioned in the Vedas.
It has been considered to be Asclepias acide, which is a creeper
plant almost destitute of leaves. It yields a milky juice which is mild and
acidic in nature (Wilkins 2000; Wasson 1971). According to Mckeena (1993)
soma is Strophoria cubensis. He based his conclusion on the
climatic requirement for the plant and its psychotropic properties. Whatever may
be the botanical nomenclature of soma, early documentation cites
Rishis as being permitted to perform sacrifice involving the use of soma,
and in the case of scarcity, using another plant as substitute (Pandey 1987).
Since the soma plant is rare, the abundantly available cannabis must have
been associated with it.
IV. The group under study – Saivite Samnyasis
The decision to focus on use of psychoactive plant products among saivite
samnyasis emerged from a limited availability of literature on their
pattern of drug use; at the same time there are a number of publications on
their life style, religious beliefs and their remarkable achievement on physical
abilities and understanding and information on developing mental skills
that focus on psychic energy. Hence
the focus of this study is on their role of psychoactive substances in their
lives as perceived by them and mechanisms that have evolved in order to sustain
the functions of these substances.
Data presented here is based on in depth interaction and observation of
saivite samnyasis in both Junaghad and Himachal Pradesh, with a
majority of the cases being from the former site. In the context of samnyasi
community, based on the data collected it the place of stay or study does not
seem to hold any relevance. For, from the time of their initiation, which occurs
during early adolescent years the recruit has to travel with his/her guru or
alone to different pilgrimage sites in India, as the focus is to keep moving so
that the possibility of developing attachment to place or people is restricted.
The focus is also to visit all the important pilgrimage sites of Lord Siva in
different corners of the country.
The
researcher’s
interaction with them took place within their akhada in Junagahad town
area and in matts. These are structures set up by samnyasis who
after years of wandering set up rough structures in a spot where they feel they
can pursue their spiritual goals. Often the selected locations are isolated
areas near rivers, forests or hills.
Among the 19 samnyasis interviewed, many of them were temporarily
staying in the akhada and others had their own matts. One
Udasin samnyasi with a small
ashram close to the Gir forest area, near a small village had the villagers
visit him for his services.
Akhada
are institutional structures, found in different parts of the country, unlike
monastic centres the membership of akhada is dependent on the mantra that
the guru has whispered into his/her ears when the samnyasin was initiated
into the sect. In this study the data were collected from Juna Akhada.
It has a huge open ground, the area on the left was cemented and a structure
raised with four pillars and roof. On the side there are a few trees. On entry
to the akhada, to the right is the enclosed dhunni of the
akahada in front of which there is always a samnyasi attending to the
dhunni. People come here to pay obeisance to the dhunni, for it is
considered to become siddh or (to be endowed with miraculous powers)
after it has been maintained for many years.
All saivite samnyaisis use cannabis. However, it is not restricted
only to saivite samnyais.
Consumption is far more among the Naga and Nathpanthi
samanyasis and this is the reason why more respondents were selected from
these sects. Members of the Udasin sect have also been included in this
study as they are reformist groups and their membership is open to women as
well. In addition to their use of psychoactive substances, both Naga and
Nathpanthis are known for their skill in using weapons and staff and also
for their psychic abilities. This is a clear indication that the continuous use
of cannabis products does not automatically lead to addiction or is associated
with a dysfunctional life style as portrayed by the drug abuse management
approach.
One of the Naga samnyasi who displayed his skills that was
photographed by the researcher said
“it is a means to show the world that the mind is more
powerful than what is understood by people”. He then
used the staff around which his penis was wrapped in such a relaxed manner that
it was difficult for anyone to conceive that a sensitive organ can be so
desensitised. His penis also hung low to the ground, when he sat in a squatting
position and according to the informant this is known as Sama-nicamedhra.
This has been also indicated by Ghurye (1953).
Another characteristic of both
Naga’s
and Nathpanthis has been their skill with weapons, this was displayed by
the Nagas and Nathpanthis as they walked towards the murgi
kund where they take their annual bath. The entire process was visually
documented by a videographer a copy of which, was given by one of the
samnyasis to the researcher. Their display of skills included samnyasis
pulling a vehicle tied to their penis and also having their penis wrapped around
a sword. All the while all of them were walking towards the murgi kund[30].
Unlike the
Naga’s
who received their name based on their chief characteristic; nakedness, the
Nathpanthis use an ochre coloured single stitched robe. They receive their
name because they worship Gorakhnatha, they also call themselves
Gorakhapanthis. There are two
divisions among them the Augharas (Aghoripanthis) and
Nathpanthis. The difference between them being the latter has their ears
pierced and wear huge earrings while the former wear no earrings. Augharas do not have this
difference and they wear black attire instead of ochre coloured robes. A
Nathpanthi samnyasi from Kanpata[31]
sect showed his round earrings called Kundala, as he explained his
sectarian affiliation. Among the members of this sect there are others with flat
earrings which are known as Darsana.
According to Ghurye (1953), the importance of the ring in the perforated
ear is so great that if by chance the ear is torn the ascetic is excommunicated.
The other ornaments worn by Nathpanthi include the sacred thread around
the neck, called saili. It consists of a Rudraksha bead and
whistle made of horn either of a buck or a rhinoceros, called singanada.
The samnyasis who were part of the study, were totally enculturated into the group
ideology. All of them, except for two, entered the group in a very early age
leaving their families behind and following the guru wherever he went. Such a
practice creates a sense of total submission to the ways of the guru and
acceptance of the group identity.
This study focused basically on the use of psychoactive substances. In order to
identify the specific issues to be focused on, three case histories were
initially taken. Additional cases were purposive efforts at collection of
information on consuming different types of drugs in larger quantities. Among the samnyasis who were
informants to the study, an Aughara, who
later became a paramahamsa, wore a white attire said once a person
becomes a paramahamsa he goes beyond sectarian differences. He further
said
“ ...though I have taken all forms of drugs, now I have gone
even beyond the need for drugs, as my body produces what it needs by itself to
facilitate my spiritual journey. Only occasionally in a group setting do I take
puffs of ganja chillum, as that is a gift from our Lord”.
V. Role of Psychoactive Substances In Asceticism
A review of literature on Hinduism shows the important traits of asceticism as
celibacy, austerity, concentration and ecstasy. Asceticism, in general insists
on aspirants being Naisthika Brahmacari. In an ascetic’s
life austerity or tapas come in different forms such as sacrifice, being silent
and fasting. Concentration refers to a last stage in yoga system, it is also
referred to as
dharana
or continued concentration. The other stages in yoga are dhyana
(meditation) and citta (control of mind, or consciousness). The focus of
this process is the control of senses, mind and intellect and it is known as
Indriyadharana. Ecstasy refers to the feeling on consumption of soma,
and it facilitates the realisation of the supreme soul and union with Brahma.
Within this context the use of cannabis and other substances by samnyasis
is an interesting inquiry that brings forth a different perspective to drug use
management. Literature shows that Nathpanthis have been known to consume
cannabis in large quantities as their tutelary deity Bhairava is fond of the
same. The mastery of yoga and the consumption of psychoactive substances are
part of their ascetic life. It is against this background the present research
will focus on the role of psychoactive substance among the religious community
and resultant use management.
Towards this end data is presented on the use of bhang and cannabis by
the community and the manner of its preparation. The latter is significant as
the setting for preparation is often a religious place and it is done in an open
manner, this is different from the use and preparation of substances that occurs in a criminal setting, where
the emphasis is to hide the habit and restrict the number of people who have
access to such information.
V. 1. Consumption of psychoactive substances
V.1.1.
Bhang
Drinking
The small group of three Aghoripanths whom the researcher met, wore black
robes and had a large vessel of bhang on their side. They offered the
drink to all the people who came to meet them; it was done in a casual manner as
if offering a cup of tea. Aghoripanths strive to attain mystical powers
and show their utter distain for mundane conventions and feelings this is
expressed by eating anything without any demur. They believe anything created by
their Lord cannot be dirty. Unlike other saivite sects who abhor drinking
alcohol, Aghoripanths take pleasure in doing so and consider it an
important part
of their religious rites. They don’t live a life of celibacy and have a female
partner; one of the members in the group is a
sadhvik,
who joined the sect ten years ago.
Speaking of bhang, the informant from the saivite samnyasi
sect said: `It is a lengthy process and it is prepared from the tender leaves of
ganja, datura seeds, black pepper, tulsi
[32]
leaves and water. This mixture is ground with a stone and a little water is
added to it. Then it is placed in a thamba (bronze) vessel, the mixture
is again stirred to make it thick and it is kept in the vessel overnight, after
which other ingredients, such as powdered cashew, kismis[33],
pista, aniseed, ajowan, cloves, saffron, cardamom and musk
are added to the mixture. Milk is also added to the mixture and it is boiled.
The liquid is then cooled before consumption, for it is supposed to increase its
potency. When a noviciate enters the samnyasi community s/he may be given
at first bhang in small quantities, before s/he is introduced to
chillium
smoking’. Study done by (Chopra
et. al. 1990) have mentioned a similar process of preparation of bhang
V.1.2.
Chillum
Smoking
On a visit to the akhada for discussion with samnyasis, the
samnyasis, sat on a raised platform forming a circle and the researcher was
asked to join them. It is
considered to be a privilege to be asked to do so, especially for a woman. The
informant had earlier instructed the researcher to either sit cross legged or
with feet tucked under, for sitting with feet outstretched is considered
disrespectful. The samnyasis
sat either on their haunches or cross-legged. Afterwards the Guru offered
tea in small glasses. During the discussions, they decided to have a chillum
and the samnyasi sitting next to the Guru prepared the chillum. At first the chillum, kakri[34]
and safi[35]
were washed and kept for drying. Then the samnyasi took a piece of
charas, which was handed over to him by another samnyasi from the
group. As he proceeded to heat the charas
with a match stick, he remarked that
‘It is good quality charas’. He crushed the warm charas with
his thumb and forefinger and made it a fine powder by kneading it against his
palm. The powder was mixed with
tobacco before filling the chillum. The filled pipe was wrapped with
safi, and held for the Guru to light.
Each samnyasi before taking a puff praised Lord Siva and passed on
the chillum to the person sitting on his right; this order was not
broken.
Before ganja is smoked it is cleaned by removing the seeds/stems. It is
then soaked in a few drops of water and crushed between two palms to drain off
the excess water. Some samnyasis wash ganja twice or more, for it
is believed that the process increases its potency. Sometimes, a lit matchstick
is used to warm the wet mixture slightly.
The ganja mixture is then added to tobacco prior to filling up the
chillum, which already has the kakri fixed on one end of the pipe
of the chillum. When smoking, a safi acts as a filter and stains
collect on it. Each samnyasi keeps his own cloth. After smoking the
chillum, the ash that remains is applied on as tilak on the forehead,
thereby expressing respect to the chillum. Both, the psychoactive
substance and chillum are considered gifts of Lord Siva. Unlike ganja
that is washed, charas is heated by attaching a small ball of charas
to one end of a matchstick and heating it with another lit matchstick. To
preserve its psychoactive properties care is taken not to burn the charas.
An informant from Dasnami Naga sect, who has been an ascetic for
fifty years, spoke about chillum smoking. He left worldly life at a very
early age for he enjoyed the company of samnyasis and sants, as he
spent a lot of time with them especially singing bhajans. Later, in his
adolescent years he met his Guru and became a part of the samnyasi
community and left worldly life.
`Every fresh chillum is lit by an experienced samnyasi, his
chela (disciple) prepares the chillum and gives it to the senior
samnyasi sitting next to him, who then lights it. At that time any Guru-mantra
(mantra given by the guru) is recited and after which the
chillum is smoked. Words like 'Jai Girnari (Victory of
Girnari) or Alakh Niranjan (fearless God), Jai ho Datttatreya
(Victory to the sovereign King of Girnar) are uttered first. Only after such an
utterance does one start inhaling the drugs filled in the chillum’.
`Whenever a member of the samnyasi community visits us, we smoke a
chillum
together. This is a way in which we show respect and courtesy’.
`When smoking we sit in a circle, samnyasis mostly sit on their haunches.
The chillum is passed on from one member to the other in a clockwise
direction and it is passed only after it has been smoked. The samnyasis are not allowed to
cough or clear the throat when smoking, as it is considered a sign of disrespect
to the Lord. After smoking chillum only religious topics are discussed,
mainly mantras, the life of sadhana or what one has achieved spiritually.
Discussions also focused
on the opinions of different gurus’.
He further elaborated
“Now at my ashram[36],
I have chelas whom I teach how to take drugs, I focus on the process of taking
drugs gradually and its purpose’.
To present the difference in the preparation and consumption of psychoactive
substances; the information provided by an Agoripanthi informant is
given. He is in his early fifties
and believes that he is an Aghori from birth. He was trained by his
father for many years and after
this father’s death, he inherited his father’s position.
`There are no time restrictions for Aghori, we take drugs twenty hours a
day. We collect drugs and liquor in
Bhaira Khapur (skull), some of that is offered to the God and the
remaining is drunk as prasadi. Ganja is smoked with tobacco in
chillum;
it is neither washed nor cleaned’.
`We sit together to smoke with other
members of our community. The Aghori does not give his chillum to
others because it is believed that if he does so his achievements become null
and void. Among us the only exception for sharing the drug is when Guru
and disciple smoke together’.
`When we go to the cemetery, we first offer drugs to Bhairava and only
then do we take them as prasad.
We bow down to the God and then take the drugs very respectfully and in a
disciplined way. This is our custom’.
Analysis
Observation data and informant interviews show that based on the norms of
sectarian regulation psychoactive substances are consumed by saivite
samnyasis. Adherence to a power structure is seen from the position of
privilege - for it is the guru who lights the chillum. While smoking care
is taken to show respect to the Lord who gifted cannabis by not clearing the
throat or coughing, it is also seen in that the left over ash in the chillum
is not discarded as waste. These acts, the manner of sitting or uttering the
Lords name all in all creates a setting where cannabis is seen as a link with
the Lord. As the conversation revolves around religious matters the entire
process makes cannabis another means for the samnyasis to relate to their
Lord within a religious setting where beliefs govern the process, from
preparation to the use of psychoactive substance.
VI. Role of Drugs in Spiritual Search
Among Samnyasis the use of mind altering substances for continuous
concentration is linked to gaining control over their sense organs, the mind,
for the practice of yoga and also to deal with adverse climatic
conditions. This was observed in the Himalayan region in winter, where some of
the data collection was done. The researcher came across samnyasi with
minimal clothing sitting comfortably outside in the cold winter.
“On one occasion, a samnyasi who came to the shop of
the devotee to collect prasad was scantily dressed and barefoot, with
only one significant possession, a samnyasi bag on his shoulder. After
having tea with his devotees and smoking chillum, he went out in the open
walking through the snow. He showed no discomfort, though his attire was more
appropriate for the summer heat.”
According to samnyasis, the consumption of drugs is believed to affect
other functions of the body in a positive manner. With increased drug
consumption, food intake reduces and it no longer hinders the search for
spiritual achievement that includes long hours of meditation and yoga,
especially in adverse conditions. In addition it helps them control sensual
desires which may come in the way of meditation[37].
According to samnyasis from Junna Akhada, it is this
experience after consumption of cannabis that facilitates their undertaking of
sadhana[38]
for long periods without taking a break.
As one of them said; `At times the sadhan goes on for weeks,
without food or drink. The skills
for sadhana are enhanced through consumption of drugs and thereby
the ability to concentrate and meditate even in adverse conditions’.
A Nanthpanthi samnyasi, who joined ascetic life from the age of
fifteen elaborated on the purpose of drug consumption:
`After consuming psychoactive substances mind and body remain calm and the mind
gets extremely focussed on jap.
The mind becomes blissful and no bad thoughts occur’.
`There is a link between drug use and sex, for through drug use one can fully
control ones sense organs so that a person can focus his mind on jap[39],
whereby one gets the highest knowledge. That is drugs + yoga + jap
= moksha[40]’.
`The mind becomes absolutely peaceful, disturbing thoughts are removed from the
mind. The user is filled with joy and gets absorbed in jap and
forgets all troubles and difficulties. Everything becomes calm and we experience
a rare type of joy. This can be considered the reason for taking drugs’.
Another informant form Udasin[41]
Sect, who became a part of samnyasi community in his adolescent years
after spending time with other samnyasis and being influenced by them;
spoke of the role of psychoactive substance in a samnyasi life.
`With the use of psychoactive substances
“mind became peaceful, the process of jap became
extremely enjoyable and the mind became absolutely calm. All
sense organs remain under one’s control after taking drugs. Spiritual processes
and drugs combine and the sense organs are controlled. They can be trained in
any direction that one wants and such a man alone (man with such control) can be
called a
samnyasi
or
samnyasi’
The analysis of informant information showed that, from their perspective, the
use of psychoactive substances facilitated their meditation and continued
concentration, the latter is considered
the last stage in the yoga system and crucial to attaining unity
with the Lord. This conception of the psychoactive substance is far different
from the negative perception of substance use that exists within the criminal or
punitive approach to drug abuse management. Here the capacity to use drugs in a
constructive manner during sadhana is valued by the samnyasi
community. There is no variation seen in this aspect across the sects of
saivite samnyasis among the informants interviewed.
VII. Pattern of drug use among Samnyasis community
Among the saivite samnyasis the use of psychoactive substances
plays a part in their ascetic life, especially in attaining a state of continued
concentration, where there is control over senses, mind and intellect. To
elaborate further on the process through which saivite samnyasis
are introduced to psychoactive substances as part of their ascetic life in order
to attain spiritual enlightenment; data are presented on their introduction to
psychoactive substances, the daily life of samnyasis, the use of
psychoactive substances, types of drugs consumed and graduation in the process
of taking drugs.
VII.1. Introduction to Drug Use
Study on the use of hard drugs in the urban context has shown that it occurred
either as an accidental event or as a conscious choice for an altered state of
consciousness or high (Charles et. al. 1999). On the contrary among samnyasis
community, the saivite ascetic is introduced to psychoactive substance by
his/her Guru and it occurs after s/he has been initiated to the specific
saivite sect.
A Naga samnyasi aged 65 who resides in Mount Girnar described his
initiation to the saivite sect and introduction to drug use. According to him a religious ascetic who
visited his village cured him of a blindness, which he suffered from for five
years, after an accident while working in the farm. This changed his life and he
decided to become a chela to the ascetic and
that’s how he became a
samnyasi.
`Prior to being a samnyasi, I had never taken any drug including
cannabis. After giving me diksha, my Guru gave me a little ganja,
at that time other members of samnyasi community were also present. After
taking cannabis, I felt happy and light. My Guru gave me ganja daily in
the same manner. He also gradually increased the quantity of ganja and so
did my capacity to take the substance. Since, my first introduction to ganja
I have continued
to take it and never stopped’.
All in all nineteen informants spoke of a gradual increase in the quantity of
cannabis taken. Among them four spoke of also taking other drugs to facilitate
their concentration and the Aghoripanthis spoke of use of liquor in
addition to cannabis and other drugs.
VII.2. Duration and quantity consumed
VII.2.1. Duration of Use
Studies among heroin and other hard drug users speak of attempts to control
their drug use or discontinue use through institutional or non-institutional
mechanisms. With increased consumption of hard drugs, users find it difficult to
lead a functional life and there is no purposeful attempt to increase quantity
of intake (Charles et. al. 1999). Unlike this within samnyasi communities
the emphasis is on the continued use of psychoactive substances with a gradual
rise in the quantity of consumption. Among the nineteen samnyasis
interviewed, all consumed psychoactive substances continuously for more than two
decades without facing any problem. Among them six had consumed drugs
continuously for more than three decades, and seven for more than four decades.
VII.2.2. Quantity of Consumption
The quantity consumed is not considered by them to be an issue of concern other
than in the context of being in control, in order to perform spiritual tasks.
This is evident from the response of all samnyasis that there are no
restrictions on the quantity of consumption and the time of consumption. It is
acceptable to the samnyasi community that a member may use drug
regularly.
Overall, the responses of the samnyasis indicate that they can smoke
around 17 chillum per day of one or different types of drugs. From field
observation, it has been noted that the most commonly smoked substance is
charas, though among nineteen samnyasis, four stated that they had
consumed substances other than ganja or charas. If one were to consider
that on an average a samnyasi consumed 17 chillums, then it would
mean s/he took more than 85 grams of charas a day. This considering 5gms
of charas being used for one chillum. In a month the quantity used
would be around 2550gm a month and 306Kgs a year. The computation for
consumption by samnyasis across the country brings forth an interesting
aspect on the impact of criminalisation on the traditional use of drugs. If one
were to consider the conservative figure of 100,000 for saivite
samnyasis in the county, their annual requirement for charas would be around
(306Kgs x 100,000= 3,06,00,000) 30,600 tonnes.
VII.3. Graduation in the process of drug use
Within the saivite community the focus is to gradually increase the
quantity of consumption with emphasis laid on not losing control. In addition to
increasing the quantity of cannabis consumed, four of the saivite
samnyasis spoke of taking different drugs in combination to enhance their
concentration and search for enlightenment. This process also occurred under the
guidance of the guru.
A saivite samnyasi from Giri order spoke about his introduction to
various forms of psychoactive substances as part of his ascetic life. He spoke
of the pain of losing his close family members having motivated him to join the
ascetic sect at an early age and he became a chella to a samnyasi
he met on the train.
`One day my guru decided to give me diksha and after that I was given
ganja,
which I consumed in his presence. Its intoxication was mild and pleasant, it
felt good’.
`After a few years I got accustomed to ganja and then I was introduced to
charas by the Mahatma and then began to take charas
regularly. I was similarly introduced to datura at the age of 25 and sometime
later to scorpion poison. I do not remember clearly when I began to take snake
venom for it was years ago and now I am over 60 years
old. I remember the first time I took any new drug it was always in front of my
guru and under his guidance’.
`I later came to Junaghad and decided to be here and it was here on a
Shivaratri
day that I (with my guru’s blessing) took
Mahachillum[42]
for the first time. Prior to taking the Mahachillum I have taken these
drugs separately and in combination of twos but never
together’.
Among a total of nineteen informants only four have taken different psychoactive
substances the rest have been life long users of cannabis products. Of the four
who used different drugs two consumed liquor and to illustrate the variation an
example of an Aghoripanthi is given below:
`I took liquor in my adolescence and later
charas
with hard drinks. At the age of 16, I took datura for one year and then started
on scorpion poison and later snake poison. After some years I visited a cemetery
with my father and there, for the first time I took
Mahabhag’.
`Mahabhag
is a cocktail of different types of drugs ganja, charas, datura,
pincers of scorpion, skin of cobra, english liquor, Mauva[43]
liquor. The drinks are mixed together and drugs are mixed in chillum and
offered to Bhairava. When my father expired, I took his place for by then I had
learnt most of the aghori rituals. I stay in Mount Abu and come to
Junaghad for Mahashivaratri.
I have never experienced a high, except when I took
Mahabhag’.
`We consider drugs to be prasadi from Bhairava and is part of our
sadhana for it helps to the control mind and sense organs thereby making
sadhana
a joyous experience’.
VII.4. Experimentation with hard drugs
Natural products of psychoactive plants have been accorded a cultural acceptance
but this does not apply to the derivative products of these plants. This has
been seen in the case of heroin, which in the eighties was considered to be a
foreign drug (Charles, et.al.1999) Even after heroin has become available for
years on the streets of Mumbai no
cultural acceptance has evolved for the same, though it is being marketed as
desi mal (literally
country stuff) on the streets of Mumbai. Desi mal refers to brown
sugar or crude heroin that is processed locally from raw opium. Given the
availability of the drug, the study inquired into the acceptance for hard drugs
among saivite samnyasis.
Queries on the use of derivative substances evoked a strong negative reaction
ranging from a strong non-verbal disapproval to the response ‘this is not a
question to be asked to a samnyasi’.
At the same time, five informants admitted having used hard drugs but
discontinued it for they did not find them conducive for their meditation and
spiritual search.
A Naga dasnami sadhvik,
who became an ascetic as she could not deal with the constant disharmony in her
parents’ relationship, said `I have smoked
gard
(brown sugar) in a chillum and sniffed cocaine on one occasion; these
substances
were brought by my devotees. I took them out of curiosity and found them to be
useless. One does not feel ecstasy, on the contrary the mind get disturbed’.
Another informant from the reformist group of Udasin samnyasis
said `A devotee brought gard and I took it once out of curiosity, It made
me forgetful and I found the experience disturbing and chaotic`.
All five informants found their experience with hard drugs to be negative; and
all had received the substance from the devotees and consumed it out of
curiosity.
Analysis
The pattern of drug consumption within the samnyasis community is moulded
by religious faith and it plays a crucial role in the process of meditation and
continued concentration. The religious dimension is clear in the entire process
of drug consumption that occurs in the samnyasis life. Introduction to
the use of psychoactive substances occurs in the religious context for religious
reasons. This aspect is emphasised by the setting and orientation provided to
the new entrant. There is no attempt to hide the habit but a display of
achievement is made in terms of the capacity to handle large quantities of drugs
and thereby enhance continued concentration. The discourse conducted in the
community while consuming the substance is on religion and gaining new
information on spiritual achievement.
The conceptual model adapted for the study
indicated that antecedent factors play a role in the `drug effect’ that is
experienced by members of religious
groups. Among the biological
factors, those that have relevance with a study of religious sects are age
(joining the sect at a young age) and gender (the saivite membership is
not open to women). Life long celibacy is important among members of all sects,
except among Augharas, who consider the sexual act a part of the
spiritual search or means of enhancing psychic energy. Use of psychoactive
substance facilitated control food of and the ability to deal with extreme
climatic conditions and continue uninterrupted sadhana.
The level of motivation is important from the point view of entry into the sect.
The decision occurs at an early age, but after having been enculturated to a
worldly life. Augharas are an exception because they are born into an
Aughara family. Continuation of
ascetic life also requires continued motivation to do so. It is this motivation
and resultant identification with the group that facilitates saivite
samnyasis to continue an ascetic way of life. Consumption of psychoactive
substances goes on to strengthen these expectations further.
The entire process instils a felling of respect towards the psychoactive
substance through the place selected for consumption, the power structure within
a group and norms to be adhered to while smoking. The rituals surrounding its
preparation, manner of sharing the chillum, lighting of the chillum
and the act of smoking etc. all of which
reinforce the role of psychoactive substances in an ascetic’s life. The presence
of a
guru
facilitates the resocialisation of the new recruit.
The presence of cultural factors such as myths, symbols, values, expectation and
beliefs surrounding the role of psychoactive substances in meditation
contributes to the enculturation process whereby a saivite samnyasi
begins to perceive the substances in a totally different way
from the manner in which drug abuse management does.
These antecedent factors in combination with the physiological impact of drugs
and spiritual activities create drugs effects such as concentration, altered
states of consciousness and belief in attaining moksa. The physiological
aspects of the drugs are considered important as seen from the avoidance of
derivative drugs. The negative experience with derivative drugs with regard to
reaching a state of continued concentration has only strengthened the decision
to avoid such drugs among smanyasis.
VIII. Transference of religious use to outside religious community.
The religious community has evolved its own rationale for consumption, based on
religious myths, beliefs and transferred its contextual use through
specifications on the forms of consumption, the role of psychoactive substances
in asceticism, the setting for use, and regulations based on individual reality
or pattern of use. This through the years has evolved as a form of use
management.
Transference of this form of use management to the general public was focused
upon through data on interaction between samnyasis and general public.
This occurs when these samnyasis interact with devotees and during the
celebration of Shivaratri.
VIII. 1. Interaction between samnyasis and bhagats
Both inside and outside the akhada, bhagat come to pay homage and
bring prasad for samnyasis. When devotees came to meet the dasnami
naga at the temporary shed, they brought with them ganja, charas
or money which they offered with great reverence. Money is given as a token
gesture. In the act of giving prasad to the samnyasis
the person is very submissive – the devotee bends over in a subordinate manner
and places the money before the
samnyasi.
When psychoactive substances are given the same procedure is followed.
Later, they sit at a distance from the samnyasi and often at a level
lower than the samnyasi. Chillum is prepared by the
samnyasi’s
chela which is then lit by the samnyasi, who takes the first puff,
before passing it to his chelas and devotees. Smoking is restricted to sharing
one chillum and samnyasis
don’t encourage devotees to smoke large quantities. Field observation did show
that on rare occasions the devotees did fall
asleep after smoking.
A dasnami samnyasi who chose to be an ascetic because of
difficultly in accepting worldly life and discord at home, spoke of his
interaction with bhagats
`From the prasad brought by the devotees I share a chillum with
them as prasad. There is nothing fixed about the visits from devotees, it ranges
from weekly visits to an annual visit by some. When we meet our interaction
revolves around problems at home and concerns about their children. I also
communicate to them about devotion and
religious concerns’.
`The parasadi (drug) that is given to devotees is based on their capacity
to tolerate drugs. Otherwise, we see them using ganja/bhang during
religious festivals like Shivaratri or Janasmashtami. Use by
worldly people is not encouraged
as it is not appropriate for worldly life’.
Unlike the various sects of saivite samnyasis, the
Aghoripanthis do not share their chillum with their devotees.
According to an informant from the Aghoripanthi sect
“Even if the devotee brings ganja or charas
as prasad we don’t share our
chillum
with them. If, they want, they bring their own chillum
and smoke with us. During their visit they speak about their troubles and ask us
about ways of making their sorrows less’.
VIII. 2. Shivaratri Celebration
Religious festivals like Shivaratri and Janmashtami are celebrated
with the consumption of cannabis, especially in the form of bhang. It is
taken by all, including women and children, who otherwise are not allowed to
take psychoactive substances as per cultural norms. This has been documented by
other studies (Chopra et. al. 1990, Hasan 1975 and Fisher 1975) and by the
present study as well.
On Shivaratri, inside the temple of Lord Siva the pujari gives
bhang as prasad to devotees who come to pray. For women and children small
quantities of bhang is given. In the case of infants a small drop is
given as a symbolic gesture of blessing from the Lord. In addition to this
outside the temple but within the temple precincts bhang, charas
and ganja are given to male devotees while women are given bhang.
Sometimes snacks and cakes made from bhang are also distributed.
As pointed out by Anand, a resident of Himachal Pradesh
“At the Shiva temple bhang is distributed during
Shivaratri. It is given in a glass outside the temple and is prepared by the
samnyasi. Bhang is distributed during bhajan sessions”.
Analysis
Transference of knowledge from the samnyasi community to the general
public occurs either during religious celebration or when devotees seek the help
or advice of the samnyasi they revere. The entire process of sharing
occurs with the samnyasis occupying a position of respect. The quantity
consumed is limited and the religious association with drug consumption is
strengthened through the
recital of the Lord’s name or the singing of
bhajans.
Excessive consumption is not encouraged among the devotees and in different ways
the idea is reinforced that cannabis and chillum are gifts from Lord Siva
and meant for ascetics.
There is a significant difference in the role played by psychoactive substances
in the lives of ascetics and that of people leading a worldly life. This
smanyasis emphasise the need to focus on increasing quantity and a
regularity of consumption, whereas the people living a worldly life, focus on restricting the use in both quantity
and regularity and to the adult male population who are allowed to smoke
chillum, whereas women and children are allowed to drink bhang or
have snacks made from bhang.
IX. Conclusion
Local wisdom, evolved through centuries is transferred through myths, symbols,
music and scriptures; which provide information on the ascetic life and the role
of psychotropic substances. After entry into the saivite life, the
cultural expectation is reinforced through a different mechanism that includes
the guidance provided by the guru and the strong power dynamics that
exist between guru and chela; that facilitates total acceptance on
the part of the chela. The process is strengthened by specifications on
the setting for use, the norms to be adhered to during consumption, the need for
group acceptance, the presence of a common goal granting acceptance for
psychoactive substances for a desire to control food intake and sensual
stimulation and thereby enhance the Jap. The specification on setting for
use refers to the religious context of use, where the place of consumption is
close to temple area or locations of religious sanctity. Norms adhered to during
consumption refers to process of preparing the substances for consumption, use
of sanctioned substances, recital of the Lords name prior to intake of the
substance, emphasis on showing respect to the substance as a gift from the Lord,
a restriction on those allowed to light a chillum when taken in a group
setting and the manner in which the chillum is passed around. The role of
psychoactive substances as facilitating spiritual advancement is adhered to by
the community creating group acceptance. The topics discussed during consumption
also emphasises the groups acceptance of a common goal with regard to the intake
of psychoactive substances. In addition to this the role play by the
psychoactive substances in controlling food intake and sensual desires is
focussed upon as a means to facilitate concentration and Jap
When psychoactive substances are consumed in a controlled manner along with an
orientation to local wisdom it creates the impact desired upon the user. It
includes facilitating continued concentration and thereby a synthesis of
different aspects of ascetic life such as tapas, celibacy and ecstasy.
The ability to graduate in drug consumption brings social mobility to the user/s
where only s/he is respected as privileged to be able to have mahachillum
or mahabhag. The entire experience for the samnyasi is a part of
the spiritual journey, going further ahead towards unity with the lord.
The entire framework for the consumption of psychoactive substances is based on
a belief system translated through different guidelines which creates an
expectation with regard to use, which when achieved only further strengthens
centuries old local wisdom. Through, the synthesis of the role of psychoactive
substance in ascetic life, a mechanism of use management is generated. This
mechanism of controlled use where religious links are emphasised is also
transferred to the rest of the society, Thereby a framework for use management
through non-formal norms is created- wherein psychoactive substance intake is
but a part of life.
CHAPTER 4
Socio-cultural use of Psychoactive Plant Products
Introduction
In this chapter, culturally embedded use of psychoactive plant products for
social, recreational and medicinal purposes are seen alongside its other role of
emphasising and furthering religious beliefs, both within and outside the
religious community.
To elaborate upon the use of psychoactive plant products outside the religious
context, data on the utilisation of psychoactive substances for various social,
medicinal, nutritional purposes and as a fibre are presented.
The data for the same were collected from users and also from practitioners of
traditional systems of medicine. Through secondary data on diverse forms of use
in certain tribes/castes or geographical location, the cultural mechanisms of
control that evolved are presented. Given the cultural context of use, data were
also collected to understand the impact of the criminal approach on the use of
psychoactive substances.
This chapter is divided into two sections. Section I presents non-psychoactive
use of psychoactive substance, drug use in social occasions and for its
psychoactive properties. Section II is devoted to medicinal use.
Section I
I.1 Psychoactive Plants and their Non-Psychoactive Use
A negative perception of psychoactive plant products becomes irrelevant when the
products are used for nutrition or as a source of raw material for providing non
psychoactive products. The cannabis plant has been an important source of fibre,
whereby families could produce cloth, shoes and bags to meet their requirement.
This practice continues to exist in parts of India and it was common in other
parts of the world, prior to invention of nylon. Herer (1951) has pointed out
that before the invention of synthetic fibre
around eighty percent of all of mankind’s need of fabrics for cloth, tents,
linen, rugs, drapes, quilts, bed sheets, towels etc came
from hemp. The replacement of hemp products softer, warmer and more durable than
cotton was not without resistance. Federal Bureau of investigation officials
were threatened by shotgun wielding Polish Americans, when attempts were made to
destroy the cannabis plant grown by them in their backyard for producing winter
clothing for the family.
In India, the cannabis plant was cultivated for its fibre in the state of Uttar
Pradesh (Chopra et. al. 1990). A recent study in Himachal Pradesh (Charles (b)
2001) indicated that the cannabis plant grown in Chamba and parts of Manali
provides fibre, used to make bags, shoes, ropes and jackets. The stem of the
cannabis plant is soaked in water for hours to separate the fibre to weave the
fabric. These products were made for family members, and only under rare
circumstances sold in the market for additional income.
The use of psychoactive plants produce as a source of nutrition is another age
old practice. Cannabis seeds are consumed by local people in Himachal Pradesh as
a source of energy, during winter- while out in the hills they eat it along with
seeds of poppy to keep warm. They
also use the seeds to produce cooking oil (Charles (b) 2002), this practice has
also been documented in Nepal (Hasan 1975). In other countries cannabis seeds
were used to prepare porridge, soups and gruel (Herer 1991).
Recent findings indicate that cannabis seeds have a nutritional value a reason
for its use in treating the wasting disease among AIDS patients. In addition to
being an important source for vegetable protein, it is the composition of the
protein in the hemp plant that makes it easily edible to the human body. It is
this unique property of cannabis that make it possible even for individuals
infected with nutrition blocking tuberculosis to benefit from the vegetable
protein in hemp plant (Herer 1991). This is an important issue in the Indian
context, as tuberculosis is a major concern for India and, fieldwork in slums in
Mumbai indicates that infected persons are rendered vulnerable by the lack of
adequate nutrition[44].
Poppy seeds from the opium capsule are a part of the Indian cuisine and this is
collected from the leftovers of the capsule after the latex has been taken.
Thus, both cannabis and poppy plant products have been used for non-
psychoactive purposes. Under the circumstances there is in existence a clear
absence of a negative perception towards psychoactive plant products in the
Indian cultural context.
I.2. Social Context of Cannabis Use
Products of the cannabis plant have been used for socio-cultural purposes in
different parts of the country. Traditionally in certain regions of India
different items were sent by the bride’s family to the groom’s family, one of
them being
bhang
during marriage celebrations. The practice was seen among Gujaratis of various
sects, including Jains and Brahmins. Non-adherence to such a practice evoked
contempt. After the marriage celebrations,
held at the bride’s home for the bridegroom and his friends, included the
distribution of richly spiced
bhang (Indian Hemp Commission 1984).
Culturally accepted use of cannabis was not restricted to the Hindu community of
Gujarat nor was it the only state to have the practice. Among the Muslims of
Gujarat the bride, both before and after marriage, drinks a preparation of
bhang. The north Indians in Mumbai used to give bhang to visitors and
those who failed to do so were considered miserly and mean by others in the
community (Indian Hemp Commission 1984). The distribution of cannabis during
marriage is considered important among Lambani community in Karnataka (Rao
1994), for it is a matter of prestige.
Besides its consumption as part of celebration, cannabis played a part in
preparing for warfare, prior to a battle and during it; the Linga of
Mahadev (Lord Siva) is bathed with bhang. It is believed that bhang
drives away panic and warriors are able to fight away fear and weariness. A
Rajput in battle, when faced with defeat, would shave his hair and then have
bhang before rushing to his enemy to complete his self-sacrifice. It is this
quality of bhang that gave it the name Vijaya or victorious.
Bhang
is used to celebrate festivals in the country. In West-Bengal it was customary,
on the last day of Durga Puja[45],
to offer bhang to every guest and members of the family. Drunk as a token
gesture, along with the sweetmeats also prepared of bhang. Other
festivals for which bhang is used are Holi[46],
Shankranti[47],
Diwali
[48]and
Duseera[49].
During these occasions women and
youngsters are allowed to have drinks and snacks made with bhang. The use
of bhang during Holi exists in many parts of the country, both in
rural areas and in the cities. According to Vikram, an informant from Uttar
Pradesh, use of bhang on a daily basis is common in many part of the
State. Women and youngsters are allowed to consume bhang during Holi
celebrations and the bhang is prepared as a family or community affair
with women playing a major role”. This form of consumption is practised even when individuals from
Uttar Pradesh migrate to other cities. In Mumbai, of bhang during
celebration of Holi continues to be practiced, Ritesh, who lives in the
central part of Mumbai said “During Holi the families
from Uttar Pradesh are involved in preparation of bhang drink. I have
been involved in their celebration for the last ten years. Bhang is made
in the night and kept for hours before consuming it. During the other time of
year, bhang is not used by the community. Bhang prepared by the
family is shared with anyone who wants to participate”.
In northern part of India, there is another festival Bhagoriah which is
celebrated prior to festival of colours. It is held for the selection of
spouses. During this week long festival
the assemblage shifts from
one place to another, adjusting with the market days of the other villages of
the region. Old men and women stay in the camp itself, allowing the unmarried
boys and girls to participate in the festival.
The youth separate in groups and move to and fro in the market carrying with
them gulal, a red coloured powder. The boy express his feeling for the
girl by applying gulal on her forehead, to reciprocate the girl also has
to apply the powder on his forehead. The girl is also given to eat 'majoom'
(mixture of molasses, bhang and green colour). If the girl swallows
majoom, she automatically becomes his property. Later their decision is
conveyed to their parents and if they agree steps are taken to arrange their
nuptials.
In addition to religious use and as part of social function, cannabis has also
been a part of process of protesting against caste system in India. In the
temple town of Puri, in Orissa this has been explored. The town is dominated by priests and
persons attached to the temple. Nearly half of the population is dependent on
the temple either as priests/ wardens of the temple or as pilgrim guides. All of
them are known as sevakas.
The
lower caste people started worshipping a deity of their own, popularly known as
‘Trinath Mela’ consisting of three deities, Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwar. This
was done to bring both
Saivites
(followers of Lord Siva) and Vaishanavites (followers of Lord Vishnu)
under one fold and to eliminate the role of Brahmins in performing the puja
(Hindu religious ceremony). To worship Trinath Mela, three ingredients are
required: oil, betel nut and ganja. Ganja is used as prasad to be
inhaled through a clay or wooden pipe by each participant (Ray 1989; NISD 1992)
I.3 Social Context for consumption of Poppy Plant Products
The culturally embedded use of Opium drink or Kasumba pani has
been present among Rajputs in Gujarat and Rajasthan. In Gujarat a study on use
of Kasumba Pani (Mashi el al 1994) pointed that it was taken in a
group setting, known as dayaro. Organized at the residence of a chieftain
or person of high social standing - the participants (often from the elite
class) are given tea and snacks along with the opium drink during the group
gathering.
To create a sense of identification among the participants, members of the
Rajput and Kanthi community, verses were recited to praise
the valour of Rajputs who fought on behalf of the leaders or lords. In these
gatherings the ‘Charan’
a person from the upper caste who recited verses was given the freedom to bring
out the negative aspects of the regime or ruling class - this acted as a form of
ventilation, for any form of criticism was not tolerated otherwise. (Mashi et.
al. 1994)
In Rajasthan, the opium drink is integral to the culture, playing a part in many
social gatherings. Opium is given in celebration, to express solidarity, to
greet or confirm an agreement of marriage, to seal a business transaction
agreement or to greet a guest. It is a token gesture, and excessive drinking is
not encouraged. The user gets to decide the quantity he would consume, as the
drink is poured into open palms the individual is permitted to widen the gap
between fingers to take in just the amount he wants to consume.
In these forms of use, consumption was regulated as it was taken in a group
setting and the substance shared. Custom regulated the quantity consumed and the
setting for use. As an accepted practice the consumption of drugs formed a part
of many activities or get-togethers, the focus was just not on the drug use
alone. The presence of elders in the group gathering, during social functions,
facilitated intervention in case youth used the substance excessively. The
regulation also prevented young children and women from participating. (Charles
(c) 2001). Besides these, people in
Rajashan used to deal with extreme climate of the desert by opium intake. Opium
is also given to camels to enable it to travel long distances through the hot
desert.
I.4. Psychoactive Plant Products as Relaxant /Mind Altering Substance
The use of psychoactive plant products for relaxation and as a mind altering
substance exists in many parts of India, even today. The impact of western
culture is seen in the manner of use of psychoactive substances, as well.
Earlier, the consumption of alcohol was taboo to upper caste members (Fisher
1975) unlike opium and cannabis. But, at present flourishing expensive liquor
outlets in most states (other than Gujarat where there is prohibition) catering
to members of all castes and class show a shift in perception.
During a interview on drug trade and use with an eminent lawyer in Delhi, he
pointed out:
“In urban areas there is a high social status accorded to
alcohol”, and illustrated; “an
assistant to an advocate would take pride in announcing to a visitor that his
boss is enjoying scotch with his friends; but would not dream of doing so in the
case of opium. The stigma attached to opium and cannabis is seen in some urban
cities but not in rural areas, where acceptance of controlled use continues”.
In Punjab poppy straw is used to make tea, as a common practice (Charles 2004).
The use of cannabis and opium in different forms as a relaxant or for altered
states of consciousness exists in Uttar Pradesh and there is social acceptance
as indicated by cannabis users. The legal sanction for such consumption for the
present is limited to bhang and it is used in Uttar Pradesh without
creating cause for concern (Tripathi 1989).
To present the social acceptance for use of traditional drugs in Himachal
Pradesh data based on observation and interviews with informants is presented.
I.4.1.Place of consumption and Social Acceptance
The place of consumption of cannabis and absence of alienation of cannabis users
is an indication of social acceptance for cannabis consumption in Himachal
Pradesh. In a village in Kullu district the local people share their cannabis
filled chillum out in the open with their friends; whether along the
lanes or at the bus-stop waiting to board a bus. Unlike this whenever heroin
users consumed their drug there is systematic planning to ensure that it is not
seen by their families or members in their community. Even when consumed out in
the open it is the marginalised street level drug users who chase their drug in
the open. Their locations for use are places that are avoided by the public,
next to garbage bins, close to open toilets or along unused railway tracks.
Besides, the public treat these heroin users with disgust and also use
derogatory terms to refer to them (Charles et. al. 1999).
This form of negative reaction from community is absent with regard to cannabis
users in Himcahal Pradesh. To illustrate the same the observation of cannabis
use by a manager of book store is given. Nitesh, in his mid thirties manages a
book shop that provides library facility and also sells books to the tourist and
the local people in the area. It is not rare for Nitesh and his friends to smoke
cannabis inside the book store, while they fill their cigarette and smoke it the
customers and others who visit the store see nothing amiss.
All the ten cannabis users interviewed said they had not been alienation or
differentiated against because of cannabis use. One of the informants, Vikas
aged 30 spoke about cannabis consumption. He discontinued his schooling as he
was not interested in academics. His father has a small shop and at present
Vikas is involved in helping his father with his business
“I have been taking cannabis for years without facing
problems. The first time I took cannabis was in the form of bhang during
Shivaratri. It was prepared at my
friend’s residence, with women and children
participating in the process. It
was later in my early teens that I began to smoke chillum with my
friends. Prior to this I have seen my father smoke charas in the
chillum with his friends. In all these years of smoking I have never felt
the need to give up my habit, nor have any of my family or others approached me
asking me to give up cannabis use”.
I.4.2.Community action against derivative drugs and not cannabis
The efforts made by people in the Kullu district, is a clear indication of the
difference in community reaction to cannabis and derivative drugs, such as
heroin. In the mid eighties, through the Afghans local shopkeepers got oriented
to trading in brown sugar. Clients were canvassed by first giving the drug to
youth (who used cannabis) for safekeeping or giving it free for testing the new
drug. Once the local youth became addicted to brown sugar, they began to go to
any extremes to get money to buy the drug. Since, the dealers after the initial
period of free dispersal began to charge exorbitant prices from users who by
then had become dependent on the drug and it led to the youth selling whatever
assets they could lay their hands on, including immovable assets for a meagre
amount. Such action angered the near relatives of users who came together along
with other members of the affected families and decided to intervene with or
without police support. The important people of the locality, with the indirect
support of police officials, caught hold of the dealers and paraded them on
donkeys after blackening their faces and making them wear garlands of slippers.
In addition to this they caught hold of the Afghans and put them in vehicles
leaving from Himachal Pradesh. They also ensured that no Afghan was allowed to
come and trade in Kullu district.
Through the years the spread of brown sugar among users have been negligible. Data from the Kullu district of Himachal
Pradesh, in the year 1999 shows the seizure of brown sugar was 58gms and for the
year 2000, 83 gms. The users, who became addicted to brown sugar in the
eighties, were kept locked in rooms, but this did not help, and some of them
later sought treatment in Delhi while others continued to take brown sugar. In
spite of the strong protest on the part of the public, brown sugar continues to
trickle in via Delhi, but never in large quantities (Charles, (b) 2001). The
absence of the use of derivative drugs has been also indicated by another study
based on data collected from clients visiting treatment centres for drug users
(Siddiqui 2002).
Section II
II.1 Use of Psychoactive Substances in Traditional Systems of Medicine
The important traditional systems of medicine in India are Siddha,
Ayurveda, Unani and Tibbi. The Siddha system of
medicine developed in Tamil Nadu and owes its origin to the
Dravidian culture. The word Siddha is a Tamil word derived from its root `chit’
which means perfection of life or heavenly bliss.
Siddhars
are enlightened souls with supernatural powers who in their search for truth
developed knowledge whereby man could gain mastery over nature. Among
Siddhars, Agathiyar is the most prominent and he wrote many volumes on
medicine, yoga and philosophy.
Siddha
considers man and nature to be essentially one and the focus is on the five
elements, earth, water, fire, air and ether. It is a suitable proportion of
these elements in combination with each other that produces a healthy person.
The human body consists of three humours, vatha (air), pitta
(bile) and kapha (phlegm) and these are activated by the five elements
and an imbalance in humours may cause disease.
The pharmacopoeia of the Siddha tradition uses mercury, sulphur, iron,
copper, gold, bituman, white, yellow and red arsenic, vegetable poisons and
psychoactive plant products. Siddhars caution the use of metals and
minerals as unless they be well oxidised they could cause trouble. Advice to
patients on diet restrictions and treatment depended on age, climate and the
land itself.
In the early period Siddhars have accounted for a total of 4448 diseases
that occur among human beings. These diseases were mentioned along with their
symptoms and the medicines prescribed. This knowledge was transferred to their
disciples coded as poems. At present it is intelligible only to only those who
have access to the writings who are ones who have received the information
handed down by an earlier generation trained in the field. This form of medicine
is practised in the southern states of India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Singapore
(Shanmugavelan 1963).
Ayurveda
is a Sanskrit word which means `Science of Life’ or `Longevity’, this knowledge
has been
handed over from generations and it is mentioned as a subsection in
Atharvaveda. It is basically delineated into two schools- Atreya- The
school of Physcians and Dhanvantri- The school of surgeons. Later Charaka
authored Charaka Samhita by revising and supplementing the texts
written by Atreya. In a similar manner Susruta who followed
Dhanvantri School of thought wrote Susruta Samhita. Besides
these two treatises on Ayurveda, Vagbhatt compiled the third major
treatise- Astanga Hridyaya comprising of knowledge from the two schools
of Ayurveda. Unlike the other treatise Astanga Hridyan
emphasises the physiological aspect of the body rather than the spiritual
aspect.
The basic emphasis of Ayurveda is akin to Siddha, being on the
five elements and three humours, vatha, pitta and kapha. It
is their interaction that ensures a healthy body and mind. Charaka
Samhita focuses on healing the body, mind and soul of the patient in a
manner that is least invasive and hence great emphasis in placed on the
diagnosis of disease.
Susruta is renowned as the father of surgery and his Samhita discussed in
minute detail how to perform prosthetic surgery to replace limbs, cosmetic
surgery on the nose and other parts of the body, caesarean operations, the
setting of compound fractures and even brain surgery. This body of knowledge
evolved from a need to deal with the aftermath of war. In his work Susruta
details 125 surgical instruments used by him which were made of natural
materials. He was the first surgeon to systematically elaborate on the
anatomical structure of the eye. He discussed 72 diseases of the eye and
mentioned drug therapy for conjunctivitis, glaucoma, surgical procedure for
removal of cataract, diseases of the ear, nose and throat.
Ayurveda
was passed on to other countries, the Egyptians learnt about it through its sea
trade with India, before the great invasion of Alexander. Around 323 BC,
Nagarjuna, the great monastic of Mahayana Buddhism and an authority on
Ayurveda wrote a review on Susrata Samhita. It is through
Buddhism that Ayurveda influenced Tibetian and Chinese medicine.
Unani
or Unani-tibbor- Arab medicine is a system of Greek medicine that
developed with Arab civilisation. It did borrow and adapt therapies from
Ayurveda system of medicine and with Muslim rule it came back to India and
its interaction with Ayurveda increased. At present this stream of
traditional medicine is practised in India and Pakistan. The Unani system
of medicine focuses on the four humours of the human body; blood, phlegm, yellow
bile and black bile. The Unani system of medicine emphasises on the
physician being able to activate human nature and follow its powers without
antagonising it. In the case of Tibbi, the basic philosophy is that the
human body consists of mind and matter and it is when they are in balance that
harmony is possible. Drugs used for treatment should not serve as a quick remedy
which in the end can generate serious side effects (Robert 1983).
In addition to the classical stream of medicine (Siddha, Ayurveda,
Unani-Tibbi), there is also the oral tradition practised by the rural
villagers (Tewari 2000). The carriers of this tradition are housewives,
traditional birth attendants, bone setters, village practitioners skilled in
acupressure, eye treatment, treatment of snake poison, traditional village
healers or herbal healers, the vaidyas or tribal physicians. These health
practitioners largely meet the primary health care needs of rural India and it
runs parallel to the state supported modern health care systems. Their service
goes largely unnoticed and their potential not fully utilised.
The rural people who constitute 70 to 75% of the Indian population live in about
5,76,000 villages located in different climatic conditions. These village people have their own
diverse systems of health management.
While most of the common ailments were managed in the house by home
remedies which included many species and condiments like pepper, ginger,
turmeric, coriander, cumin, tamarind, fenugreek, tulsi, etc., more
complicated cases were attended to by traditional physicians who use a large
number of plants from the ambient vegetation and some products of animal or
mineral origin to deal with the local diseases and ailments. These are indeed community managed
systems independent of official or government system. The traditional village physicians of
India are using about 4500 to 5000 species of plants for medicinal purpose.
There is however no systematic, inventory and documentation of folk remedies of
India. There is urgent need to document this fast disappearing precious
knowledge system. The oral tradition of the villagers uses about 5000 plants for
medicinal purposes. India is also
inhabited by a large number of tribal communities who also posses a precious and
unique knowledge about the use of wild plants for treating human ailments. A survey conducted by the All India
Coordinated Research Project on Ethnobiology (AICRPE) during the last decade
recorded over 8000 species of wild plants used by the various tribal population
and other traditional communities in India for treating various health problems.
It is against this background that data from traditional practitioners of
medicine as informants are presented here. It is to be noted that traditional
practitioners of medicine with and without institutional training, continue to
exist in India.
II.2. Medicinal Use of Psychoactive Substances
Psychoactive plant products are a part of traditional systems of medicines, such
as Ayurveda, Unani, Tibbi and Sidha. Opium and
cannabis have both been employed as therapeutic agents for over ten centuries.
Prior to the 8th century there was no reference to the medicinal
properties of cannabis or opium in the Ayurvedic medicinal classics. The
Ayurveda system appears to have adapted cannabis and opium from Unani
medicine brought to India in the 9th century by the Muslims and it
came to be known as Unani Tibbi (Dwarawanath 1965; Chopra et. al.
1990)
Folk medicine in India had been using cannabis and opium from the 4th
to 5th century BC. Ayurvedic works of materia medica such as
Dhanwantari nighantu (8th century AD), Madanpala nighantu
(1374 AD) and Rajanighantu (1450 AD) have described the properties,
actions and indications of both cannabis and opium. It is probably the
interaction between the two systems of knowledge that led to many preparations
containing cannabis and opium entering Ayurveda.
Chopra (1990) and Dwarakanath (1965) have elaborated on use of psychoactive
plants in Traditional system of medicine. According to them among Ayurvedic
formulations 48 contain cannabis, of them four are for dyspepsia (such as
Ajirnai rasa, Jwalanala rasa, Vijaya rasa), eight are preparations for
diarrhoea, fourteen for chronic diarrhoea, three for nervous system diseases,
and two preparations for diseases of the head, one for Phlegmogenous disorders,
another to vitalise the body and fifteen as aphrodisiacs.
With regard to opium in Ayurvedic formulations, there are eighteen
preparations that contain opium; seven are for diarrhoea, seven for chronic
diarrhoea, one for insomnia and three as aphrodisiacs.
Arabic and Persian medical works such as Firdous ul-Hikmat and
Mujardat Gunan that describe the properties of cannabis and opium
have also included a number of formulations containing cannabis and opium. The
potion containing cannabis and linctus containing opium were popular in Arabia
and this influence was also seen in Unani Tibbi (Chopra et. al. 1990).
In Unani Tibbi medicine, of eight preparations containing cannabis - six
are aphrodisiacs; one is used for diarrhoea and another for nocturnal emissions.
Of nine opium containing preparations in Unani Tibbi, three are
aphrodisiacs, three used for catarrh and the remaining are one each for
dysentery, hemicranias and acute conjunctivitis.
Dwarakanath (1965) prepared a national level status paper on the use of
psychoactive plant products in traditional systems of medicine. According to him
the access to psychoactive plant products by practitioners of traditional
systems of medicine continued to be important. It is required to meet the
medical needs of traditional practitioners who cater to health care needs of
80%of the rural population. Otherwise it can create a vacuum.
A large percentage of practitioners of
traditional systems of medicine are not institutionally trained, from a total of
500,000 practitioners only 30,000 practitioners were institutionally qualified.
The situation has not changed drastically in the last four decades. The present
status paper written for the government (Tewari 2000) has addressed the need to
strengthen the traditional systems of health care, as the institutionally
qualified are rarely interested in practicing in rural areas.
In an attempt to modernise the traditional systems of medicine, institutionally
trained persons were provided further training, by the government as part of an
attempt to organise the health care system in India, to prescribe sedatives,
hypnotics, analgesics, sulfa drugs and antibiotics. All the same this did not
affect rural health care, as the rural areas depended on non-institutionally
trained traditional practitioners and therefore there continued a need for
providing traditional psychoactive plant products to these practitioners
(Dwarakanath 1965).
The focus of the government strategy then was, interestingly, to replace the
traditional system of medicine by western medicine and not retain evolved local
wisdom even when at instances they are far more appropriate than western
medicine. The issue will become crucial as World Trade Organisation (WTO)
regulations on pharmaceutical products in India may lead to increased prices,
taking it beyond the reach of many. At present the government has created
special schemes to facilitate existing traditional systems of medicine, though
in the major part it is to but export medicinal plants to other countries.
II.3. Practitioners of Traditional systems Of Medicine
Practitioners of traditional systems of medicine, especially the institutionally
trained, variedly utilise company manufactured drugs. Interviews with those
institutionally trained in Ayurveda and Siddha indicate a majority
do depend on manufactured drugs and prescribe the same. They spoke of having
learnt about the use of cannabis and poppy plant products and having seen
specimens in labs on being trained as doctors but never of having personally
prepared medicines with cannabis or poppy plant products.
As pointed out by Dr. Ashok a practitioner of three years standing
“though the text books speak of the medicinal preparation of
bhang, in my practice the drugs prescribed are manufactured by companies,
and substitute drugs are often used. This does affect the effectiveness of the
medicine”. Others expressed the same opinion even
though they did prescribe preparations containing cannabis or opium, when of
company manufacture.
Practitioners trained by a guru (family member) and oriented to treatment
practices at an early age form a large part of the non-institutionally trained
traditional practitioners in India. They cater to the poor and the rural
population though not exclusively. To elaborate further on the implication of
NDPS Act, 1985, the use of cannabis, poppy and datura plant products in their
practice was documented.
Data were collected from practitioners of traditional systems of medicine,
especially siddha practitioners and herbal practitioners, who form part
of the folk stream and are also known as vaidyas, from a district in Tamil Nadu.
The area was selected as the presence of siddha practitioners and herbal
practitioners are significant here.
II.4. Use of Psychoactive Plant Products by Traditional Practitioners
Observation and data collected from key informants indicate that traditional
practitioners of medicine who received their training from a guru
continue to prepare their own medicine for treatment of patients. Among the
medicinal preparation made by them some contain cannabis, poppy and dhataru
plant products. Data from 27 practitioners who use at least one of these plants
for healthcare is collected and presented below:
Table No: 1
Use of Psychoactive Plant Products for common ailments data summary on basis of
27 informants
|
Sr.No |
Disease/Ailment |
Plant Product |
No Of Practitioners Using
it |
|
1 |
Treating burns |
Cannabis products |
1 |
|
2 |
Boils
on the body |
Datura |
1 |
|
3 |
Stomach ailments |
Poppy plant products, cannabis and Poppy plant, datura |
4 1 1 |
|
4 |
For healthy skin |
Poppy plant |
2 |
|
5 |
Stomach pain |
Datura |
1 |
|
6 |
Crack
in the heel |
Cannabis products |
1 |
|
7 |
Asthma |
Datura |
1 |
|
8 |
Skin diseases |
Poppy plant products |
1 |
|
9 |
For scars |
Poppy plant products |
1 |
|
10 |
Abdomen swelling |
Datura |
1 |
|
11 |
Blackhead on face |
Poppy plant products |
1 |
|
12 |
Insect bite |
Poppy plant products |
1 |
|
13 |
Body odour |
Cannabis plant products |
1 |
|
14 |
Poisonous insect bite |
Oil from datura |
1 |
|
15 |
Earache |
Datura |
1 |
|
16 |
Swelling on neck of animals |
Datura |
1 |
|
17 |
Fever |
Cannabis |
1 |
|
18 |
Piles |
Poppy plant products |
1 |
|
19 |
Menstrual pain |
|
1 |
|
20 |
Build
immune system |
Poppy plant products |
1 |
|
21 |
Hemorrhoids |
Poppy plant products |
1 |
II.5. Source of Psychoactive Plant Products
India signed the single convention 1961 which required it to put in place
mechanisms for the control of use and trade in psychoactive substances that
altered consciousness, thereby it had to gradually reduce the number of legal
outlets for bhang, ganja, charas and opium meant for
socio-cultural and medicinal use (Chopra et. al. 1990; Charles 2004)
With the present refusal of the government to address the issues concerning
health care through traditional systems of medicines and the enforcement of
legislation banning certain psychoactive plants and animal products there has
been a change in the practice of traditional system of medicine.
An institutionally trained practitioner of traditional medicine said,
“The regulations of the state slowly reduced the options
available for medical care by non-institutionally and institutionally trained
practitioners and this is changing traditional health care.
Among the medicinal preparations sold in pharmacies of traditional medicine
organised on modern lines one can see preparations that are a mixture of legally
approved herbs and derivate products.
Even the use of pure herbs that are fast acting being sold is a trend away from
the earlier traditional practice.”
Interviews with informants from traditional systems of medicine indicate that a
continuing reduction of legal outlets for psychoactive substances ignored the
existence of a socio-cultural and medicinal need and pushed the problem
underground. The consequent increase in prices adversely affected quality and
made access to these substances for medicinal use difficult.
Practitioners unlike users are unwilling to visit drug dens or set up close
links with criminal networks, so there is layering from the main sources. As a
result of layering there are individuals willing to provide psychoactive
substances at a place of convenience for a higher price.
Some informants spoke on the impact of legislation as follows `We have had to
find alternative means as opium is very expensive and difficult to get without
adulteration. Hence we use products made of Kaskasa,
which is legal’.
`We do not believe in providing
individuals with manufactured products, we prepare substances that are
appropriate to their body constitution and so in the case of psychoactive substances
and of animal products we face difficulty in accessing them’.
One of the siddha practitioners, in his mid thirties, is from a family of
traditional medicinal practitioners. He has undergone institutional training, in
addition to being trained by his father who is also a siddha
practitioner. He said
“The problem arises as sidha practitioners prepare
medicine based on the need of the patient and their requirement is immediate. It
is then that they try to obtain various substances and as they are not willing
to establish direct links with the illegal sources for obtaining psychoactive
substances, the process becomes difficult.
Their source for psychoactive substances is at times not contactable in an
emergency and even if contacted the substance may be adulterated. This has led
to use of alternate substances, including the use of alternative opium. This
option is preferred as original opium costs Rs.15,000 per Kg and alternate opium
can be bought for Rs.1000 per Kilogram. Unlike this in the case of cannabis,
criminalisation has only affected the quality to some extent and the fluctuation
in price is minimal”.
“Artificial opium is prepared using different ingredients and
the process takes six months. The ingredients used are Neem oil, palm
sugar, juice of nutmeg and Khasakhasi[50]
in large quantity. To this mustard oil is added and then kept in pot that is
subsequently sealed air tight. A pit is made in the ground and it is covered
with cow dung, charcoal and paddy hay, and into this pit the pot is placed and
buried. The pot is kept underground for a period of six months and then removed
to obtain artificial opium. It is this artificial opium that is also being used
by traditional practitioners but the result is not very perfect and this affects
treatment”.
In addition to the hazards of procuring substances for treatment there is also
the threat of corrupt officials and fear of being considered a criminal for no
reason. Besides, unlike in Central and Northern States that are close to licit
cultivating States (Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan), access to
opium in Southern part of India is far less. Diversion from licit cultivation
areas (Charles 2004) has been indicated and it caters to part of the demand from
the southern parts of the country along with produce from illicit cultivating
areas.
Unless the government makes provision to address the concerns of traditional
practitioners both in terms of recognition of their service and access to
medicinal herbs, the traditional health care wisdom may disintegrate. It may
also lead to the use of synthetic products in place of natural products. A
trained siddha practitioner stated
“In an emergency to deal with certain ailments a few of the
non-institutionally trained traditional practitioners are using synthetic
opiates, though this is not common”. This shift seems
natural and it can lead to more complications and change the practice of
traditional system of medicine.
III. Conclusion
Culturally embedded use of psychoactive plant products have existed and
continues to exist in parts of India. Their non-psychoactive use was for
nutritional value and provided environment friendly, self sufficient options for
local people to deal with local needs. This along with use of these products in
Indian cuisine made it difficult to hold a unilateral negative perception of
psychoactive plant products. Besides, culture also provided scope for the use of
psychoactive plant products for social reasons and as a relaxant or for its mind
altering capacity. Socio- cultural sanctions for consumption of traditional
drugs does not leave room for negativism attached to these substances by the
punitive approach to drug abuse management. In India, intake of different
psychoactive plant products occurred during social functions and get together
which emphasised strengthening of group identity, as seen in case of opium by
Rajputs or cannabis in Puri. Consumption of cannabis during Holi,
Shivaratri and Bhagoriah also created occasions to strengthen group
intervention in a culturally appropriate manner. This acceptance does not offer
scope for a discriminatory reaction towards drug users.
The use of traditional medicines containing datura, cannabis and poppy plant
products in dealing with common ailments strengthened the cultural base for
these substances. A criminalisation of these products without considering the
cultural reality made it difficult to continue with cultural use because of
difficulty in accessing these substances. The process of criminalisation has not
eradicated cultural use, but has led to a creation of indirect links between
criminal networks and those who use traditional substances for cultural reasons.
In certain instances it has led to individuals identifying processes whereby the
available psychoactive substance can be processed to get maximum effect and also
to a replacement of the use of traditional substances by their more potent
derivative chemicals. The present drug policy has disturbed the practice of
traditional systems of medicine this is distressing as they are the only source
of care for a large percentage of the Indian population in rural areas.
Chapter 5
Impact of Criminalisation on Drug Use and Trade
International drug policy affected the national approach that till then largely
depended on the local socio-cultural reality to evolve drug use management
strategies. It led to the adoption of a criminal approach to drug control, which
put in place legislative measures that facilitated the enforcement of the new
drug policy. To understand the impact of criminalisation, the issues focussed
upon here are the creation of new norms, the implication of changes in
legislation on religious use, the socio-cultural context of consumption, the
drug trade situation, the marginalisation of drug users and introduction to new
drugs, the strengthening of links between criminal network and drug use. The
impact of criminalisation on the scope for drug use, trade and drug abuse
management programmes is further elaborated upon.
I. Creation of New Norms through Criminalisation
Prior to the introduction of the NDPS Act (1985) the control over psychoactive
substances was enforced through Central and State enactments. The main
legislations in place were the Opium Act 1857, the Opium Act 1878 and Dangerous
Drugs Act 1930; the emphasis of these legislations was to gain control over
trade as it was a source of excise.
Under the British, trade in opium with China was crucial and between 1716 and
1759 Britain paid China 268,333,614 pounds sterling in silver and gold for tea,
and only 9,248,306 pounds in goods. The British experimented with various
commodities to balance the trade from ginseng to seal skins. Unable to break the
Chinese resistance to a more balanced trade agreement, the British trader and
smuggler Jardine attacked the Chinese navy and started the opium wars, which led
to the opening up of opium trade with China (Charles et. al. 1999, Husain et.
al. 1983; Chopra et. al. 1990) and the accession of Hong Kong.
Later, the changed international scenario brought revisions in the opium trade
situation, but within the country the focus of British continued to be on the
collection of excise from the trade in opium and cannabis and to restrict the
otherwise illicit transaction of cannabis and opium. The Dangerous Drugs Act,
1930 also emphasised on the same.
After independence in 1945, India became a signatory to the Single Convention in
1961; there was no attempt to change the legislation controlling trade or use of
psychoactive substances. As per the Single Convention, India was granted a grace
period of 25 years to eradicate cultural forms of use; and thereby when the NDPS
Act was enacted, cultural forms of use management would have become irrelevant. It would have been naive for the
government to assume that a change in cultural links that existed for centuries
could be brought about in a two decades. As a result the government did nothing
about it, except to state that bhang would be legal for cultural reasons.
Consumption of all other forms of cannabis and opium products were clubbed
together with hard drugs and termed as narcotic drugs. This ignored the
extensive culturally sanctioned use of cannabis products and the poppy plant.
Even in the case of bhang consumption there existed a contradiction for
cannabis cultivation was made illegal, unlike the poppy plant legally cultivated
in three states, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh; for medicinal
reasons under license issued by the central government. As cannabis cultivation
in itself was illegal there was no legal source for bhang and wild growth
of cannabis and systematic illegal cultivation continued in many parts of India
to meet the cultural needs (Charles (a) 2001; Charles 2004).
Consumption of cannabis and opium products continued to be controlled by
non-formal norms that evolved based on the socio-cultural reality of the region.
Against this background when the NDPS Act, 1985 was enacted and enforced it
ignored the cultural use management that existed earlier and the sources for
these substances were made illegal. To understand the process in which
legislation affected cultural forms of use, relevant aspects of NDPS Act, 1985
are dealt with here in detail.
I.1. Social Constructs under NDPS Act
The translation of the new drug policy into reality depended on the NDPS Act and
its capacity to contradict or change the existing social constructs related to
drug use under religious, social and cultural realm. This required the creation
of new definitions about drug, drug use and drug trade.
I.1.1. Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances
The terms narcotics and psychotropic substances were meant to gain control the
over use and trade in various substances by placing them under the purview of
the law. The category narcotic drugs under the NDPS Act means cocoa leaf
cannabis (hemp)[51] opium[52]
poppy straw[53]
and all manufactured drugs[54].
The law also included the substances acetophene, di-acetyl-morphine (heroin),
dihydrodesocymorphine (Desomorphine),
etorphene, ketobemi-done, and their salts, preparations, admixtures, extracts
and other substances containing any of these drugs In addition to narcotic drugs, the law
added the category, psychotropic substances, which included any natural or
synthetic material or salt preparation of substances or material included in the
list which under the law in the 1990s consisted of 77 substances.
These terms are in total contradiction to what soma or cannabis means for
saivite samnyasis or to the sanction given to cannabis and opium use
within the cultural context. The creation of new terms affected consumption,
sharing of substances, the practice of giving prasad to saivite
smanyasis by the devotees; for all of these acts suddenly became criminal
acts.
I.1.2. Drug use
Consumption of any substance mentioned under the NDPS Act is a crime and user
can be imprisoned and fined based on the substance consumed. The punishment for
consumption, according to the legislation is:
·
Where, the narcotic drug or psychotropic substances consumed is cocaine,
morphine, diacetylmorphine or any other narcotic drug or any other psychotropic
substance specified by the Central Government or by notification in the official
Gazette, the punishment is rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to
one year, or with fine which may extend to twenty thousand rupees or with both,
and
·
where, the narcotic drug or psychotropic substance consumed is other than those
specified in or under clause (a) the punishment
imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine
which may extend to ten thousand rupees or with both. (NDPS Act, 1985).
By criminalising consumption and ensuring rigorous imprisonment for possession
of drugs within the minimum quantity or above, the NDPS Act ensured that all
forms of use were criminalised including traditional forms of use other than
medicinal use for which provisions were made but systematically reduced.
The only option for avoiding harsh punishment under NDPS Act is to never have
the drug in one’s possession, for under such circumstances other than during the
act of consumption, the burden of
obtaining proof of consumption was up to the prosecution. This was difficult
except when consumption occurred in traditional settings where the drug is
provided to the participant as part of group consumption. With the
classification of the drug as contraband, the legislation inadvertently made it
a profitable substance of trade. Access to the drug being difficult and a
consequent increase in price ensured that the free sharing of drugs became a
lost practice.
I.1.3. Drug Possession
Possession of the drug whether for personal consumption or otherwise is a crime
and leads to imprisonment. Till 2002, there was no differentiation made on basis
of the quantity seized and it led to users serving long period of time behind
bars, just as long as those arrested for trade. As per the law, any person
caught with heroin weighing 250 milligram or above was liable to imprisonment
for ten years or more, the quantity specified for other substances were:
charas/hashish 5gms, ganja 500gms, opium 5gms and cocaine 125mgs (Britto
1989; Charles et. al. 1999).
The enforcement of the law became complicated in the absence of differentiation
based on the quantity seized and the delay in the judicial process, which led to
individuals spending years behind bar as undertrials (Charles et. al. 1999;
Anuradha, 2001). Against this
background, there were demands from social scientists for a differentiation to
be made between traditional forms of drugs and other drugs; which led to an
amendment of the NDPS Act (1985) in 2002.
As per a study[55]
done in Tihar Jail, out of the 1910 individuals interviewed around 17% of them
were arrested under Section 27 of the NDPS Act. The particular section applies
to those caught in possession of small quantities of drugs meant for personal
consumption. As per the provision under the Act those convicted under this
section could opt for treatment instead of serving a sentence, but this was
rarely used (Setthi 2002). This made the Association for Scientific Research on
Addiction to appeal to the National Human Rights Commission to allow individuals
accused under Section 27 of the NDPS Act to be also given the option of seeking
treatment outside the prison setting.
The legislation created two broad classifications, small and commercial
quantity, with quantity varying based on the substance seized. As per the new
amendment punishment is to be determined based on whether the quantity seized
fall under small or commercial quantity classification. This is given in Table
No:2.
The punishment for contraventions in relation to the possession or trade in
poppy straw, coca plant/coca leaves, opium poppy, opium, cannabis plant and
cannabis, manufactured drug and preparation and psychotropic substances
according to NDPS Act is as follows:
·
when the contravention involves small quantity, punishment is rigorous
imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may
extend to ten thousand rupees or with both.
·
where the contravention involves quantity, lesser than commercial quantity but
greater than small quantity the punishment is rigorous imprisonment for a term
which may extend to ten years and with fine which may extend to one lakh rupees.
·
where the contravention involves commercial quantity, punishment is rigorous
imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than ten years but which may
extend to twenty years and shall be liable to fine which shall not be less than
one lakh[56]
rupees but may extend to two lakh rupees.
Table No: 2
Punishment under NDPS Act based on Quantity Seized
|
Name of the drug |
Chemical name |
Small Quantity
(in gms) |
Commercial Quantity (in gm/Kg) |
|
Cannabis and cannabis resin |
Extracts and tinctures of cannabis |
100
|
1
kg |
|
Ganja |
|
1000 |
20kg. |
|
Opium |
Any preparation containing opium |
25 |
2.5 kg. |
|
Opium derivatives
|
(other than heroin, morphine and those listed herein |
5 |
250gm |
|
Poppy straw |
|
1000 |
50kg |
|
Heroin |
Diacetyl-morphine |
5 |
250gm |
|
Codeine |
|
10 |
1kg |
|
Methadone |
|
2 |
50gm
|
|
Methaqualone |
|
20 |
500gm
|
|
Bupernorphine |
|
1 |
20gm |
|
Diazepam |
|
20 |
500gm |
|
Nitrazepam |
|
20 |
500gm |
|
Dextro-propoxyphene |
|
20 |
500gm |
|
Cocaine |
|
2 |
100gm. |
|
Coca derivatives |
(Excluding cocaine) and its salts |
2 |
50gms |
|
Coca leaf |
|
100 |
2kgs. |
|
Amphetamine |
|
2 |
50gms |
|
Methamphetamine |
|
2 |
50gms. |
( The NDPS Act, 2003: 7-21)
I.1.4. Illicit Traffic
The term illicit traffic includes the following activities:
·
cultivating any coca plant or gathering any portion of the coca plant/
·
cultivating the opium poppy plant or any
cannabis plant
·
engaging in the production[57],
manufacture[58],
possession, sale, purchase, transportation, ware-housing, concealment, use[59]
or consumption, import inter-state, export inter-state, import into India,
export from India or transhipment
of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances.
·
dealing in any activities in narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances ,other
than those referred to in sub clauses.
·
handing or letting out any premises for the carrying on of any activities
referred to here.
Other than these, the activities that are punishable are financing, directly or
indirectly, any of the aforementioned activities; abetting or conspiring in the
furtherance of or in support of doing any of the aforementioned activities and
harbouring of persons engaged in any of the aforementioned activities.
II. Transferring the criminal approach to society
An introduction of new social constructs with regard to drug use and trade was
undertaken through the national drug abuse management programme. It involved
counselling, detoxification, rehabilitation, prevention and out- reach
programmes. The interventions undertaken in the varied areas focussed on the
disease model and strengthened the tendency to club all psychoactive substances
under the category drug. When institutional care is offered to drug users, there
is no differentiation made on the basis of the substance used.
The basic focus of prevention programmes was to communicate the dangers related
to drug use, for which drug use was linked to death and one time drug use to
addiction. Posters clubbed all forms of psychoactive substances under one
category- drug. The images used to evoke danger included that of snakes, skull,
chains and coffin[60]
among others, the images skull and snake are interesting for they form symbols
that represent an ascetic as well.
The irrelevance of such posters in initiating change among users has been
pointed out a study on heroin consumption (Charles, et. al. 1999). The criticism
of these prevention programmes, and research findings in other countries that
indicated the limitations of the programme, did bring change and later messages
began to focus on making positive choices (participating
in sports, art or other forms of entertainment) and saying `no’ to drugs. At the
same time contradictions between the cultural forms of use and puritan approach
to drug abuse control continued to persist.
For transferring the disease model of drug abuse management at present the
government presently has a national infrastructure in place, the National Centre
for Drug Abuse Prevention. Under the Community Wide Demand Reduction approach it
has brought out many publications with the support of the Ministry of Social
Justice and Empowerment and United National International Drug Control
Programme, Regional Office for South Asia. These publications are used as
training manuals for transferring the specific knowledge base to agencies
working in the field of drug abuse management.
At present there are 361 NGOs, 68 counselling centres, 376 de-addiction
centres in the country and they form the base through which such knowledge is
transferred. As the drug programmes are actively undertaken with support of
concerned United Nations agency, they do have a role to play in the basic
approach to drug abuse management. It has been pointed out by exploring the
countries that fund United Nations and influence of various countries on United
Nations intervention strategies, that United States has a major role in
determining the basic foundation of interventions to be undertaken by United
Nation agency directly or other wise
(Drucker 2003; Fazey 2003). It is this that has facilitated the spread of
punitive approach to drug abuse management to other countries, including India.
Analysis of the programmes and organisational philosophy of national level drug
agencies[61]
shows that their interventions raise certain concerns.
·
They ignore the socio-cultural reality of India
The focus is to ignore the cultural base for controlled use of cannabis or opium
and to club all drugs as capable of creating addiction. This is done by
specifying that ganja like brown sugar has no medicinal value, and
therefore any form of use is abuse. With regard to action to be taken to control
drug use, it is clearly mentioned that there is a need to focus on initiation to
cannabis (Kumar 2002). It ignores the use of cannabis in traditional systems of
medicine and the socio-cultural sanction for cannabis and opium.
·
It ignores the limited scope given for culture within legislative measures put
in place to control drug use and trade in the country.
Though India has put in place a criminal policy for drug control, the NDPS Act
makes a clear distinction in the case of bhang and accepts its cultural
role and this is not indicated in the training material brought out by National
Centre for Drug Abuse Prevention. Such blatant contradiction between the
resource material and socio-cultural reality of the country raises queries about
the relevance of these approaches and their purpose. Cannabis has been used in
the country for centuries without ever becoming a major issue of concern as
there have been non-formal norms in place to control excessive use. Instead of
strengthening the regulatory mechanisms of culture, national level training
material ignore it.
·
It emphasises on the disease model of intervention as being the only solution
for drug control in the country and abstinence from all substances the ultimate
goal.
According to Ranganathan (2002:3)
“ when a drug is taken for reasons other than medical, in any amount, strength, frequency or
manner that causes damage to the physical or mental functioning of an
individual, it becomes “drug abuse”. It further
elaborates that drug abuse leads to drug addiction with development of tolerance
and dependence.
In defining drug abuse the resource material does focus on the relevance of the
adverse impact of the substance on the user and later the manual elaborates on
stages of addiction that occur in the lives of all users of different types of
drugs, including alcohol; thereby indicating a uniformity in impact in drug use
of any kind. The section on stages of addiction ends with the conclusion that,
as with other diseases the possibility of recovery is greater if intervention is
initiated at the early stage. Thereby the focus remains that all forms of drug
use in the end lead to addiction and even alcohol and tobacco are to be avoided
as they are gateway drugs.
The concept of gateway drugs has been disputed for years and discarded as
research did not substantiate the use of alcohol or cannabis as leading to the
use of hard drugs in all instances. The socio-cultural reality of India questions the rationality of such
assumptions, for if it is true that cannabis is a gateway drug, then there need
to be more hard drug users in India, than is seen from available data,
especially in rural India where cannabis continues to be used extensively. In
Himachal Pradesh it is largely restricted to cannabis and opium (Charles (b)
2001). This has also been indicated by data collected from 67 individuals
seeking help for drug use. The main substances of use were alcohol, cannabis and
opium. Besides, the national level data collected from drug treatment centres
indicate that cannabis use was far more frequently reported by respondents from
a rural background unlike heroin use from urban areas (Siddiqui 2002). A study
on drug trade indicates that the use of traditional drugs is far more common
than derivative drugs in rural India, except in certain instances, in areas
close to licit poppy cultivation (Charles 2004).
The role of culture in restricting drug consumption or the choice of the drug is
an important issue. It has been
indicated that the cultural use of cannabis in Costa Rica restricted social
problems that arise from alcohol which is evident from a cannabis free island
nearby (Herer 1991).
The existing approach under drug abuse management also refuses to acknowledge
the presence of harm minimisation methods that exist in the cultural context.
Opium is used in the cultural setting in different forms and based on local
reality cultural mechanisms have evolved to deal with excessive use. One of the
methods to deal with excessive use of madak (a form of opium) has been to
consume doda pani as a substitute. Doda Pani is a
drink made of powdered poppy pods, the pods are soaked in water for ten hours
and then filtered. The opium user takes doda pani in a regulated
manner and slowly weans himself off from doda pani as well
(Charles et. al. 1999).
This method of substitution is also used by brown sugar users, but there is
hardly any receptiveness for this among professionals. Ravi, is in his early
forties, and has been using brown sugar for years. His wife works in one of the
gulf countries and their marital life has been discordant because of his drug
use.
Ravi spoke about his drug use
“I used to take opium prior to shifting to brown sugar as
there was difficulty in getting opium as compared to the availability of brown
sugar. Use of brown sugar totally disrupted my life and I reached the streets,
and became a casual labourer. My wife who works abroad refused to give me money
because of my drug consumption”.
“It is during this stage in my life that I met an old friend
with whom I used to consume opium. He was taken aback to see my condition and
asked me to take doda pani instead of brown sugar. He said this
would help me to become functional”.
“With doda pani I found it easy to deal with
brown sugar withdrawals. I used to take it in the morning and night. Slowly I
was able to stand on my feet and got a regular job at a ration shop. This
improved my relationship with my wife and when she came back for holidays she
was happy to see the change”.
“During this period I continued to have doda pani
without her knowledge, this was difficult. One day she saw me soaking the
doda and asked me about it. Then I explained to her what happened. She was
very upset and insisted that I go for treatment and stop taking doda
pani”.
“Upon enrolling for treatment the doctor and other staff
oriented me to their programme. They said all forms of drugs are harmful and
abstinence is the only way. I realised doda pani is as harmful as
brown sugar and so decided never to use it again”.
“After the treatment I was clean for six months and then
relapsed I did try to shift to doda pani but the police had raided
the place and my source for doda pani was disrupted. Then I went
back to brown sugar use, soon I was unable to deal with my drug expenses. I
requested my wife or rather convinced her that I would become drug free after
undergoing treatment”.
This illustrates how treatment centres and professionals hamper the possibility
of utilising a culturally viable option for controlling drug use. Use of opium
by drug users to deal with addiction has been indicated by other users. As there
are a few unbiased studies on cultural use of drugs, it is easy for
professionals to adapt the western approach and there are innumerable books and
articles propagating the same.
Thus, the drug abuse management programme translated, more stringently, the
goals of the drug policy through different interventions which affected various
aspects of drug use and trade. To understand the affect of these interventions,
the impact of legislative measures and drug abuse management on religious,
socio-cultural forms of use is elaborated upon. Here, the focus is on the
counter transfer from society on cultural forms of consumption.
III. Religious Use and Criminalisation
In India, cannabis plant products have a strong association to the religious
context and prior to the implementation of the NDPS Act, 1985, there were legal
provisions made for the cultivation or collection of cannabis products from wild
growth and its distribution to different parts of the country.
In the nineteen fifties there were licenses issued in Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh
which facilitated the collection of bhang and its transportation the
process was carefully controlled. State wise figures for consumption of bhang
in 1956-1957, show that the highest consumption was in Uttar Pradesh with 136
tonnes and the next Rajasthan with 85 tonnes. In the case of ganja the
amount consumed in the same year was the highest for Bihar, 32 tonnes (Chopra
et. al. 1990). After the implementation of the NDPS Act, there were systematic
efforts to reduce the area under cultivation and the government outlets for sale
of cannabis and opium products (Husain et. al. 1983; Chopra et. al. 1990). At
the same time cultural sanction for the use of cannabis and opium products
continued this need being met by collection of produce from the wild growth of
cannabis plants or through illegal cultivation.
Cannabis grows wild or is cultivated illegally in many parts of India, which include the states of Himachal Pradesh
(Charles (a), 2001), Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Manipur, Maharashtra,
Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Jarkhand, Uttaranchal, Kerala and Jammu and Kashmir
(Britto 1989; Chopra et. al. 1999). Implementation of legislation against
cannabis cultivation and sale of its products other than for medicinal purposes
affected all forms of cultural use, including religious.
Substance use among ascetics has been isolated from substance use in society
because of their lifestyle and as a result the impact of legislation on drug use
among samnyasis has been limited. At the same time the samnyasis
community has not been immune to the change, for they are dependent on society
for their cannabis products, though at times they do grow some plants for their
own consumption.
A saivite samnyasi from Udasin sect who lives in the Gir
forest has a small ashram, which consists of a mandir at the centre, with
rooms on both sides where devotees are able to stay overnight. He provides
herbal health care to patients who visit him they receive information on his
skills from his devotees. During the
researcher’s visit to his ashram, in the evening, devotees came to meet the
samnyasi
and all of them brought ganja as prasad for him. Later, the samnyasi
said
“I have been growing some plants close by for personnel
consumption but then a few days ago some of the villagers plucked leaves and
flowers from the plants. I got very angry and burnt the entire cultivation. For
the plants were meant for samnyasis and not for worldly people.
After the incident I was not sure from where I would get ganja for my
personal consumption, but as my devotees heard of the incident they have been
bringing me prasad.
I do share a chillum with my devotees when they bring me prasad,
but regular consumption is not meant for them”
Another samnyasi from Das Nami Akhada, who joined
the samnyasis in his teens, was introduced to ganja consumption by
his Guru. Since then he has been smoking ganja daily for the last forty
years. He spoke on the criminalisation of drug use and trade
“Devotees bring cannabis as prasad for use. The police
do not harass the samnyasis, but our devotees have more trouble getting
good quality ganja. According to them the price has increased and they
have to be careful as police can arrest them. The quality of the substances
brought by our devotees has deteriorated drastically.”
Field observation showed that other than devotees, drug dealers also maintain a
close touch with samnyasis. Prior to major religious celebrations of
saivite samnyasi community, the samnyasis visit the devotees
who give them large quantities
of cannabis. The ascetic has no idea about their devotee’s profession, besides
they do not respect the approach of illegality being imposed upon cannabis by
the government. This form of interaction has its impact on the
samnyasi
community, for the dealers see no difference in drugs and would be interested in
marketing hard drugs as well
III.1. Counter transference from Society to Samnyasis
Mumbai city and it’s urbanised, fast lifestyle is in stark contrast to the rural
remote areas where ascetics
are held in revere. Here, the rush is towards a worldly life and there is no
space to treat samnyasis differently. The behaviour becomes clear when
dealers selling to users who stand in a queue to purchase brown sugar have
samnyasis join the queue, the elite users who come and purchase their
substance from their vehicle are given more respect.
A Naga smanyasin from Niranjani Akhada spoke about
his life in Mumbai city and introduction to brown sugar. His childhood was spent
in the city with his parents. One day on his way to school he met his guru and
that moment he decided to be a samnyasi and just followed him to his
ashram. He stayed with his guru at the ashram in the suburban area close to the
sea. After his guru passed away, the place and the position was handed over to
him as decided by his guru.
When he joined the ashram twenty years ago the area surrounding the ashram, was
vacant. Through the years the nearby places have all been taken over by sky
scrapers. Many builders contacted him to sell the land surrounding the temple
and tried to threaten him to sell the land at a cheap rate. He was not the least
interested, for he enjoyed his walk along the sea shore and did not want to sell
it for any amount. He then spoke about city life and his drug use.
`In recent times things have changed in the city and it is difficult to practice
all the rituals of being a samnyasi. I can no longer make a dhuni
at the ashram as the people ridicule this practice. Samnyasi can no
longer apply ash on their body and walk around
for people grumble that their clothes get spoilt’.
He recounted another incident to illustrate the difficulties faced by
samnyasis
“Once we were walking along the road. One samnyasi had
taken a vow to keep his right hand raised, as part of his tapas. A
drunkard saw this samnyasi and said “Why are
you walking with you hand raised, keep it down?” The
drunkard kept pulling his hand down. We do not say anything, for it is Mumbai and this is
Kaliyuga[62].
Besides, if we say anything people tell us; `You are samnyasi, you should
know better”
The samnyasi elaborated on drug use and changes that occurred:
“I have been taking ganja for years, in a group I
consume around 25 chillums a day, but alone it is only 5 chillums
a day. I began using brown sugar in 1997. It was given to me in a cigarette by a
user, who said that it was a different nasha (high) and that I should try
it. I used it with him and vomited once or twice. I continued to use it for four
days and then discontinued for a few days”.
“After a few days I went to meet the person who had given me
the barella cigarette, I saw him preparing a chillum and then
sprinkling white powder on top of charas. Then we both smoked the
chillum. After that I continued to use brown sugar. Gradually, I began to
use around 12 pudis[63]
a day”.
“This drug is very dirty and difficult to give up. One is
never satisfied. I had given it up for some months and then began to use it
again. To be physically away from brown sugar is easy, but one is mentally
thinking of it. To leave the drug is to be close to it, watching others use it
and still not consuming the drug”.
As pointed out by him the counter transference is not limited to a few
samnyasis for when the source for ganja is linked to the illegal
market it is natural that dealers would try to introduce other drugs which
offers a larger profit margin and as the samnyasis have to buy the drug
and there is scope for business. This is evident when he described his
introduction to smoking brown sugar in pani[64].
“I was introduced to use brown sugar in pani at
Hardwar Khumbhamela[65].
Other samnyasis who use brown sugar in pani taught me.”
The presence of brown sugar use among samnyasi community has also been indicated
by field observation at dealing areas, where samnyasis rush to buy their
drug and leave the place in a hurry.
As they wear their samnyasis attire it is easy to identify them.
Near the temples of Lord Siva in Himachal Pradesh there are tourists more
interested in using the cannabis chillum than understanding nuances of
Hindu philosophy or the role of cannabis in religion, whether within or outside
the samnyasis community. On
a visit to a temple after obtaining permission to interact with samnyasis,
the first encounter was with a dealer who wanted to make a sale. Later another visitor to the site bought
charas and gave it as prasad to the samnyasis.
In another locality, the temple was reached through the winding lanes behind the
market stalls. The road on the way to the temple was dirty where workers had
carelessly spilt garbage. The ground surrounding the small temple was neat and
clean and as it was after Shivratri there was hardly anybody around. To
the left of the temple, at a lower level lay the cremation ground, where
aghori samnyasis sat smoking chillum.
“This is not the situation during Shivaratri, a few
days prior to the event the place gets filled by samnyasis and their
disciples who do not come for the darshan but are around, for days,
smoking chillums and drinking bhang. Many of these devotees are
foreigners and their consumption of cannabis (through the chillum or as
bhang) is neither symbolic or as prasad. The place is filled with cannabis fumes
and people are seen under different stages of nasha. The religious
sanctity of the place has been disturbed” is what the
temple priest had to say about the Shivaratri celebrations.
IV. Socio-cultural use and Criminalisation
Changes in the traditional forms of use are not limited to the religious
context, but occur in social and other forms of use as well. This is seen from
the manner in which opium consumption in the form of Kasumba pani
has become a closed door affair and no longer done as a
way of displaying the host’s social status or power (Masihi
et. al. 1994).
In addition to the changed role of traditional substance at times new substances
replace earlier ones. Replacement of opium and cannabis by alcohol in Gujarat is
indicated from the large percentage of alcoholics seeking treatment at
detoxification centres for drug abuse management. Data from 237 users who came
to two treatment centres indicate that 59.5% used alcohol, 7.7% heroin and used
cannabis (Siddiqui 2002).
This shift was also noted in our field study.
Mr. M, a Rajput aged 60, who lives with his family in Gujarat consisting
of wife, children and grand children, said:
“I have been using opium for decades without any problem.
With the criminalisation of opium use, the substance has become difficult to
procure. At the same time, in spite of prohibition, cheap alcohol is easily
available. Now, I need to drink liquor daily and experience has taught me that
alcohol is far more harmful for my health than opium. Being old I find it
difficult to deal with the health problems created by alcohol use”.
The changes that occurred in opium use in Gujarat are reflected in the case of
Rajasthan as well, though a shift was seen towards the use of synthetic drugs
such as heroin. Data from 477 drug users who approached five treatment centres
indicated that 30.5% are heroin users, 39.8% opium users and 19.5 alcohol users
(Siddiqui 2002)
Cultural use of cannabis did also undergo changes, as per data available from
the fifties the use of cannabis was extensive in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar,
Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Delhi, Mumbai, Orissa and Kerala. Cultivation of cannabis was undertaken
in Bihar, Hyderabad, Madhya Pradesh, Mysore, Manipur, Orissa and West Bengal.
Unlike culture determining cultivation, in the use and trade of psychoactive
substances, the present focus is to expand it as a lucrative business.
The use of cannabis and opium has cultural sanction in Uttar Pradesh,
there is also the licit cultivation of the poppy plant for medicinal purposes in
parts of the State. With regulation on the opium trade there has been increase
in diversion from licit cultivation and there are instances of heroin processing
units being dismantled (Charles 2004) for trade in heroin is far more lucrative
than opium.
Interviews and field observation shows that cannabis cultivation, trade and use
is significant in Himachal Pradesh, through the traditional religious practice
is based on tribal gods, and Lord Siva is not one among them. The acceptance
given to cannabis is not in the religious sense as is evident from the presence
of cafes to smoke the drug. In the cultural context of use, cannabis consumption
occurred in places close to the temple or in the open spaces in the locality.
Though cannabis trade is noted here, there is a minimal use of hard drugs and it
is community action that has restricted the trade and use to cannabis or opium
(Charles (b) 2001).
IV.1.Use in Cafes
Cafes on the hills offer the pleasure of scenic beauty as customers sip their ‘chai’
or coffee. The silence is broken, only by the chirping of birds and the rare
vehicle that passes by. One such café
had many a lone Western tourist or couples and friends from within and outside
the country.
The one thing they seemed to have in common was the fact that all of them were
enjoying the pleasures that Himachal charas or malana cream had to
offer. None of them quite fitted in with the stereotype image held of the drug
addict. There were no dysfunctional personalities with unkempt appearance to be
found among them, as so often portrayed by the media. Though joints were at time
openly rolled or filled, the strong smell of charas pervaded the room.
Interestingly enough this was the place that the researcher met up with a new
recruit to the naga samnyasis community. In his words `My family
had been going through a financial crisis when a samnyasi came and said
that he was willing to help us get over the crisis, provided I became a
samnyasi... To help my family I joined the samnyasi community last
year, when I was seventeen. I did think the samnyasi wanted me to join
the samnyasi community because I am from the upper caste. Now I will go
to different places in India for the next some years. This is what I have been
asked to do, for survival I either beg for food or take whatever is offered to
me[66]’.
As he sat there with the danda (staff) in his hand along with a small
bowl for collecting alms, the café
worker came and gave him some tea to drink. He was also offered a cigarette
filled with charas by one of the people at the cafe. These cafes do act
as outlets for cannabis distribution and along with his/her order the client can
place an order for small quantities of charas.
V. Impact of Criminalisation on drug trade in the Urban Context
The enforcement of legislative measures to control drug use in urban Mumbai
brought about changes in drug use and trade situation. The drug trade and use
context offers a stark contrast to use within the cultural context be it in the
dynamics of drug trade areas, the setting for use, pattern of use,
marginalisation of users, links between users and criminal activities and the
nature of intervention programmes.
V.1. Drug trade and Changed Social Context
Initially in the early eighties there were places like ‘Chandhu
Khannas’
(opium dens) where users of cannabis and opium could purchase the substance and
consume it in a group (Charles et. al. 1999). With the introduction of heroin in
these places and attempts by the police to control the trade, the presence of
corruption in enforcement agencies led to a spread of dealers in heroin for it
had a larger profit margin. Dealers in cannabis because of its criminalisation
began to either market hard drugs or discontinued the trade and as a result
created scope for others to enter the trade (Charles et. al. 1999; Charles et.
al. 2002).
An informant Vivek, aged 40, explained the circumstance that led him to start
trading in drugs. He discontinued his education after his father passed away,
the situation became unbearable when his mother began a new relationship. To
deal with the situation he began to spend time with his friends and for survival
did odd jobs at the godown in the port area. Slowly he began to take part in
smuggling activities but later as the activity became unviable he had to look
for other options.
“When it is a lean period at the docks, I met a friend
Ramesh, who earlier worked in the docks with me. He was loaded with money and I
came to know from a common friend that Ramesh dealt with a white powder called
gard. Then I decided to renew my friendship with Ramesh.
At first to
learn about the trade I went with Ramesh to the place he purchased his stuff. During this period I also came in
contact with drug users who explained the drug to me. Then one day, I went to
Ramesh’s regular contact and used his name to purchase my first consignment
of drugs.
After getting the drug, I did not know what to do with it; my drug using friends
said they would help me set up the business in return for the drug. They made me
sit in a corner and they sent users to purchase the drug. Prior to selling the
drug, they taught me to make pudis and they tested the drug for quality.
I was able to expand the business as I established contact with African
nationals who dealt in better quality stuff.
This increased my clientele. By ensuring that I kept the law enforcement
on my side, I was able to shut down the business of others, including that of
Ramesh.
Another informant also spoke about his friend who began to trade in brown sugar,
“I know a person who smokes brown sugar and sells it as well. He began to use
brown sugar after his father passed away. His father sold ganja
and supported the family after his father’s death the situation at his home
changed. My friend lost his financial support and began to use brown sugar. When
his consumption increased his
wife began to sell brown sugar to support his habit and take care of family
expenses.”
“Often he spent time smoking or watching television. The stuff is given to
customers and the money is collected by his wife or kids. When I went to buy
brown sugar, his kids handed me the drug. It is only when no one is there at
home that he collects the money and gives the stuff. The timing of business is
from 6 am to 10pm”.
The changed circumstance through criminalisation of drugs created scope for
other activities in addition to handling the drug trade as it became far more
organised and the number of individuals involved in the business increased.
V.2. Drug dealing pockets
From the 1980’s different drug dealing spots came up in Mumbai and its suburban
areas. Through
the years the main change that occurred has been in number of drug dens in a
location and the extent of business.
Initially, in one location there were many competitors selling drugs, this
changed and there emerged one or two main dealers in many of the locations.
Fluctuation in the extent of drug trade in different localities has been
indicated by another study in Mumbai as well (Charles et. al. 2002). This change
is seen in many of the areas where drugs are sold; these locations lie along the
main railway routes of Mumbai and its suburbs. Some of them are Victoria
Terminus, Masjid, Rey Raod, Koliwada, Chembur, Kurla, Chunabati, Andheri,
Jogeshwari, Malad, Goregaon and Borivali.
Mumbai, the capital city of Maharshtra State has 33 districts, a total
population of 96,752,247 the urban population comprises of around 42.40% of the
total. When considering the population of Mumbai and the number of drug users in
Mumbai when estimated at the rate of .3% or .6% of male population below sixty
years, works out to around 61,534 or 1,23,068 users. From this estimation of quantity of
consumption per day in the city it would range between 60Kgs to 123Kgs per day.
This calculation considers the per day consumption of a brown sugar user to be
around 1-2gms of brown sugar (Charles 2004)
In addition to the total quantity of drug needed for meeting the demand of drug
users in Mumbai, the issue to be considered here is the purity of the drug
marketed (Charles 2004). The purity of the heroin at the point of entry to the
city is 30%. At the same time the purity level of heroin sold in the streets in
Mumbai is around 3%, this affects the quantum of drug needed daily and profit
margin per kilogram.
On considering purity, the quantum of daily drug trade is brought down to range
between 6Kgs to 12Kgs. This difference in purity affects the profit margin of
sale at the street level an important issue to consider when addressing the
control of the drug trade.
A kilogram of heroin is bought at Rs.1,80,000 to Rs.2,00,000, and when sold in
smaller quantities the money made is around Rs.12,00,000 to Rs.20,00,000. This
calculation is based on the sale price of pudi being between Rs.30-Rs.50.
Thus through the sale of pudis made from 6Kgs to 12Kgs heroin (at 30%
purity), the profit would be around Rs.7,20,000 to Rs.1,44,00,000.
The spread of drug outlets in Mumbai may have occurred because of the large
profit margin through sale of heroin or brown sugar at the street level. It has
created scope for the large extent of layering that occurs through the
involvement of many individuals for the same or related activities, it includes
couriers, agents, subagents and assistant peddlers. Such large scale business
cannot survive without support from powerful groups within and outside the
system.
The drug dealing areas in addition to the sale of heroin or brown sugar began to
provide other services as well. This shift has been noted through field
observation and data collected from informants. A drug user said; `In addition
to brown sugar other items are also sold to drug users at drug dens or in near
by areas. The beedi (Indian cigarettes) shops here sell a foil for 50p
and chaser for Rs.1. The foil is made of thicker material as the cigarette foil
used earlier by drug users got burnt when heated with a matchstick or lit
candle. At times these shops also sell nitravet[67]
at Rs.2 per tablet, they also sell other tablets”.
To elaborate further on the drug dealing area one location is described below:
·
Profile of an established drug dealing network
This site has evolved as an important trade outlet in the last five years not
only for drug users but also for other small time dealers from other parts of
Mumbai. As a result of new links
being set up with law enforcers and the community, a family of three siblings
has become the main dealer in the area with a small part of the business being
shared by another female peddler. Though the dealers or their assistants have
been placed under arrest for a year or two, the business carries on under the
supervision of one of the family members or a manager.
To cater to the different needs of users there emerged different pockets that
act as nodes carrying out specified activities in an organised manner. The
growth of new economic activities is evident from the group of workers, male and
female actively involved in preparing foils and chasers. While a person sorts
out foil papers to be cut, others close by prepare chasers or sort out different
chasers for sale. The presence of men, women and children reflect the
acceptances of these activities. The only shadow being that the location is
under a bridge, away from the prying eyes of the public.
A study on the drug trade in Mumbai (Charles et. al. 2002) had identified
additional functions that provide opportunities for those seeking to make fast
money, the activities include being an assistant to drug dealers, working as
courier, being a watchdog for the peddler keeping the dealer informed about any
threat and as packers who ensure that large lumps of brown sugar are made into
fine powder and packed in butter paper and sold in the streets in as pudis[68].
Close to the location, along the wall on one side of the railway track, is the
opening from where the users can cross over and purchase the drug from a female
peddler who sits on a cot with her assistants who hand over the drug. There are always watchdogs to ensure
that there are no hiccups in business transactions. Youth employed as watchdogs are found at
different spots on the railway station close by and surrounding area. They are
given mobile phones to ensure speedy communication and are provided with bikes
to keep circling the area and doing errands in case of an emergency.
After purchasing the stuff, the user either sits for his chase on the isolated
staircase connecting the top portion close to the railway station to the highway
below or at another spot on an elevated land close to the unused tracks with the
shrubs around offering cover from others. There is also the option of using the
residence of others in the locality for a small price. These arrangements for
use are similar to those in other places, except that this site caters to a
larger population. On an average they have a business of around two kilograms of
heroin per day according to informants.
Establishment of such sites are possible because there are others who are
willing to provide the drug in large-scale to the dealers. According to informants, earlier they
had to go to other places close to cultivating areas to purchase processed
stuff. The present arrangement is that the substance is delivered to them. To ensure proper functioning of the
business, community acceptance is created by meeting the financial needs of
those in the locality and in case there is protest the concerned individuals are
either bribed or dealt with accordingly.
With regard to law enforcement efforts, corruption in the different
branches of these agencies ensures that cases are registered either to break
competitors or new entrants or to meet the local political need of the hour. While the case studies of the users
claiming corruption among law enforcers can be viewed with suspicion,
observation of the harassment of users by the police who turn a blind eye to
trade, speaks volumes.
V.3. Pharmacies and Drug Trade
Another aspect of the drug trade that has to be considered is the sale of licit
drugs for illicit purposes. This is seen in case of use of psychotropic
substances by users where the outlets are pharmacies. The main substances abused
are Proxyvon, Phensedyl, Buprenorphine, Diazpam, Nitrazepam, Lorazepam,
amphetamine, barbiturates and Tidigesic. Though the government requires them to
maintain records, this is hardly complied with.
While drug control programmes can take immediate action against drug dens that
are visible, in the case of pharmacies there is a total mingling of legitimate
and illegitimate activities, thereby restricting the impact of intervention
efforts. In addition to this the
pharmaceutical industry is powerful which makes it difficult to bring about
strict control, though an inquiry into the yearly turnover of the manufacturer
and estimation of probable patients for the same products is not difficult. The
bias shown toward pharmaceutical industries has been pointed out by Reinarman
(2003). According to him the intention was never to prevent abuse of these
products but rather to open up new market possibilities.
The excessive use of regular medicinal products like cough syrup which contain
codeine (an alkaloid from opium) has been noted among drug users in Mumbai city.
This pattern of use has been cited by studies undertaken in north eastern part
of the country. Data from 233 drug users in three treatment centre in Mizoram,
shows that 19.8% abuse cough syrup (Siddiqui 2002).
Raghu, aged 27, lives with his parents and siblings. He is a professional dancer
and participates in programmes along with other artists. Their group is called
to perform at different functions and also to be a part of the film industry. In
addition to this he also works as a clerk on a part time basis. He spoke about
his introduction to the excessive use of cough syrup.
“I began to smoke cigarette with my college friends and
during that period I was interested in dance and was part of a professional
group. My friends and I used to spent lot of time in disco clubs.”
“While at a dance practice in a suburban area of Mumbai I saw two Nepalese sitting away from
others drinking Corex (cough syrup) in a small glass and having Indian sweets
along with it. They took cough syrup like others drink alcohol in small pegs. I
did not interact with them.”
“Later, I saw a friend from our locality who brought the
Corex to the terrace, where we were practising dance, drink it. Seeing him take
the substance I became very curious and asked him why he took it and wanted to
experiment with it myself. After consuming Corex, I smoked an entire half packet
of cigarettes at a stretch. Otherwise, I used to share one or two cigarettes
with my friends in a day. Even in my dance I had Josh (energy). I felt that if
there was a fight, I would be in the forefront, the substance made me very
active. After that experience I continued taking it...”
“When a sweet is taken with Corex it enhances the effect.
After consuming Corex, a glass of sweet tea or jeelabis are taken. I keep
a Corex bottle and a glass of sweet tea next to me then I take a sip of Corex
from the bottle followed by a sip of sweet tea. When I was working in the film
industry this was very convenient as cigarettes and tea is provided in plenty.”
VI. Criminalisation and its impact on the Urban context of Drug Use
The enforcement of the NDPS Act in Mumbai far from eradicating drug trade
facilitated its growth and its entrenchment in society. Besides trading in
heroin and brown sugar, the deterioration in quality of the substance provided
scope for the introduction of other pharmaceutical products, including synthetic
opiates. In addition to this the stigmatisation of drug users as diseased or
different individuals has created a marginalisation and alienation of the drug
users from society and strengthened their links with other drug users, peddling
areas and criminal networks.
The criminalisation of drug use ensured that the drug users had to interact with
criminal networks to obtain their drug of choice and this led them further into
the criminal setting. The alienation of users ensured that the drug using
population remained isolated and there was scope to introduce different types of
drugs and forms of use. It is this aspect of drug abuse management that the case
interviews of drug users are utilised to bring forth.
Criminalisation of drug use has led to a marginalisation of users, as is evident
from field visits in Mumbai.
“In one of our field visits, on one side of a railway
platform in broad daylight we found brown sugar users sitting huddled in a
corner chasing the drug. Their torn clothes and unkempt appearance merged with
the litter strewn near the garbage bin, completely lost to the world inhaling
the precious fumes without letting any escape, to avoid wastage. Suddenly there
were sniggers and catcalls from the passengers in a passing train. Hey,
Gradulla
(addict). They did not react to the
catcalls or sniggering ‘(Charles
et a 1999: 98).
The study further looked at the process of marginalisation and found `the
present association man has formed with Mind Altering Substances (MAS) can
marginalise the user which in turn can change his life style. Marginalisation
can only occur, when knowledge of consumption is available to individuals other
than immediate family’
(Charles et. al. 1999:130).
`After the initiation process, continuation of drug use leads to changes in the
lifestyles of the users in areas like- work pattern, family interaction,
sexuality, personal hygiene and food consumption. Their drug use also leads to
the formation of new social networks. The extent to which these become a
substitute for earlier support systems also indicates the extent to which the
user has deviated from society’
(Charles et. al. 1999 :147).
Drastic changes in the life style of the user is linked to continued excessive
use of drugs, this is not seen in the cultural use of drugs. Unlike the
use of traditional drugs, synthetic substance use rarely occurs in social
settings, under the watchful eye of elders, who discourage excessive use. With
criminalisation, the options available for users to interact on drug concerns
are limited to drug users, dealers and treatment professionals within treatment
centres. Acceptance is perceived to be greater within the user community and
drug dealing setting it is this experience that moulds the drug use pattern and
related life style. Case studies of 22 users were analysed to illustrate the
role of criminalisation of drug use.
Criminalisation of drug use and the availability of harder forms of drugs in the
local market have changed the factors associated with drug use management in the
cultural context. This has brought about changes with regard to antecedent
factors and the impact of drug use among users. The end result of this has been
a shift from drug use management to drug abuse management.
Cultural restrictions ensured that the age of initiation, except in the case of
cannabis within the religious context, occurred later in life. In Saurashtra,
the age of initiation of the individual into opium use was 35 years for 52% of
the drug users (Masihi et. al. 1994). In Rajasthan (Shrivastava 1989)
individuals are initiated into opium use between 26-35 years. Whereas in the
case of hard drugs initiation occurs at a very young age and among marginalised
street children, it can be prior to adolescent years. According to Siddiqui (2002) in Mizoram
37.9% of users began drug use before the age of twenty.
In order to present the changes brought about through criminalisation in pattern
of use and life style of drug users, data is presented under different
subsections.
VII. Criminalisation and graduation in drug use
Initiation to drug use occurs as a result of accident or as a part of conscious
choice made by the individual (Charles et. al. 1999). The former can occur as a
result of brown sugar being added on to the chillum of charas in an
adda (drug den) or a
‘barella’
(filled in) cigarette being given by a drug user. In the case of conscious
consumption it occurs as a part of the search of the users for a better high.
For which s/he may also experiment with new drugs or new modes of consumption.
Besides initiation to drugs the user is also oriented to the nuances of the
effect of drugs or the withdrawal from it through other users.
“Alienated from the family circle and friends who are
non-users, users try to strengthen their links with other users and peddlers in
their network in order to deal with their sense of isolation. Depending on the
extent of use and the time spent on it, the type of relationship established
with marginal groups varies (Charles, et. al., 1999:151)
Interviews with users pointed out that their information with regard to drugs
was received from other users or individuals in drug dealing areas. This was
seen among all users interviewed for the present study.
VII.1. Introduction to New Drugs
The use of brown sugar provides scope for experimenting with other drugs,
especially when the quality of brown sugar sold at the street level
deteriorates. This has been pointed out by users of brown sugar. Satish,
aged 29, a high school drop out lives with his mother and married brother. His
younger brother is working abroad and his youngest sister is married and lives
separately. His father expired three years ago because of a heart attack and his
mother suffers from oral cancer.
“I was told about nitravet tablets by other users. They told
me that when brown sugar is of poor quality, then consumption of nitravet
tablets increase the high. I have seen users who keep it in their mouth and
chase brown sugar, but I just swallow it”.
A study on pattern of use Bombay it was found that abuse of medicinal drugs
existed along with the use of brown sugar. From a total of 1,709 brown sugar
users, 658 (38.5%) use other pharmaceutical substances. Among them, nitravet was
used by the maximum number of users (496), followed by valium (112) (Shetty et.
al. 1996). Data from treatment centres in Nagaland and Mizoram indicate
propoxyphene is the main substance of abuse. For Nagaland data from 204 drug
users showed that 47.3% used propoxyphene, 16.2 % alcohol and 7.7 % heroin. In
Mizoram from 233 drug users, 25.2% used porpoxyohene, 24.9% alcohol and 19.8%
cough syrup (Siddiqui 2002).
VII.2. Introduction to new modes of consumption
The injecting mode of consumption started in the north eastern part of the
country around two decades ago, (Britto, 1989), through the years this mode of
consumption has been noted in different parts of main metropolitan states in
India, Mumbai being one of them. Unlike injecting becoming a common mode of
consumption in Manipur, Nagaland and Mizoram; in other parts of India chasing
continues to be the main mode of consumption.
Data from 620 drug users in Manipur, 233 drug users in Mizoram and 204
drug users in Nagaland; indicated that 75.5% of users in Manipur, 76% of users
in Mizoram and 51% of users in Nagaland have injected drugs (Siddiqui 2002)
Users are introduced to, newer drugs or mode of consumptions in informal
settings especially through sharing of information with other
users in a drug using setting. This exclusive interaction limits the type of
information they are exposed to and increases the possibility of indulgence in
`at risk behaviour’. Injecting behaviour can be far more risky when it occurs in
a sporadic manner
and the user has to depend on others for the equipment. This can expose user to
infections.
Ashok aged 24, has been using brown sugar for years and he chases the drug. He
has his family of parents, wife and a small child. He discontinued his education after he
failed in Standard XII. His father then opened a stationery shop for him. It ran
at a loss and he began a taxi service for tourists and employed a driver to
handle it.
Introduced to charas by his friends and later to brown sugar, he began to use
drugs as a form of experimentation and then took it regularly. He generally
chased the brown sugar after initially taking it in cigarettes. He was
introduced to injecting behaviour at the drug dealer’s house, where users were
provided space to consume drugs.
“At
the dealers’ den where we smoke brown sugar, I have seen people inject drugs. In
fact my friends who wanted to inject, would tell me how to prepare the drugs and
fill the syringe and also asked me to inject them, as they did not want inject
themselves.
One day while I was at the den, I felt like injecting and asked an errand boy to
get me a new syringe and needle. I enjoyed the high after injection; the
nasha was very good. I did not continue injecting for I had seen the
condition of the fixers who
had been injecting for long. It is very bad, at times, they can’t find their
veins and they inject anywhere, for example, even near the throat”.
It is this informal interaction between drug users within the drug subculture
away from society that initiate new patterns of use. This transference of
information can occur even within treatment centre where users come to be drug
free.
Siddhartha aged 30, began using charas in a chillum along with his
friends in the locality. He lives with his family, mother and four siblings. His
father who passed away years ago, used to work as a delivery man for an airline
and he spent very little time at home. In the absence of his father Siddharth
spent more time with his friends. Siddharth spoke about his drug use and the
process by which he began to use different types of drugs.
`I began using gard in the company of users with whom I took charas. One day in
the morning when we were using, an acquaintance came and put some white powder
on top of the charas in the chillum.
When we asked him what it was, he said that the high was better with this
substance. This person was a known courier for drugs in the area’.
`We smoked the chillum with the new stuff and enjoyed the high. In the
afternoon as usual we got together for another round of the chillum. This
time the person was not there and we had no white powder and we did not enjoy
the chillum as before. Then I went looking for the guy, he said
“I will give you the white powder provided you give me Rs.2
each”. So
we all came together at 4 pm and smoked the chillum
with the white powder. This continued for 1-2 months. Then one day the person
disappeared for the police was on the look out for him’.
`During this period we had that realised the substance was addictive and also
identified another regular user who was willing to purchase the drug for us in
return for free drug. The errand person introduced us to the dealer, so that in
case of emergency we could purchase our own drugs’.
`We were introduced to chasing and injecting by users. Smoking in pani
was taught to us by a user from the community. He told us that it was better and
“mal keeps running from here
to there”. He also showed us how to make the chaser
and pani
from cigarette paper’.
`We were introduced to injecting behaviour by another user who used to sit near
us and inject himself. When we asked him about it he showed us how he prepared
the injection, and how to inject. For preparing the injection, he mixed brown
sugar with the avil tablet and lime, and heated the
liquid. He used the cotton to strain and pull the solution into the syringe. He
said that injection was very good, as the substance went directly to the blood’.
`The first time, I was the only person who took the injection, and the user
injected me. I
enjoyed the high and so decided to do so the next day as well. When he injected
me the next time, my hands became swollen and I removed the needle, though the
user wanted me to try again. I decided never to inject myself again’.
`My friends who watched my high after taking the injection decided to try the
injection and they continued to inject since then. All of them chase after
injecting themselves and enjoy the process. Users who started drug on the
injecting mode continue to do so; others who are basically chasers do not shift
completely into
injecting drugs’.
`To deal with my addiction, I decided to go in for treatment, and it is from the
treatment centre that I got information on the use of Nitravet tablets. One of
the patients told me that Nitravet Tablets gave sound sleep. After the
treatment, I came home and was clean for three months. During that period, I
went to ex-users meetings, but, I did not a get sound sleep for many days. Then
I remembered what the user had told me about Nitravet tablets.
So I went and purchased a strip of Nitravet tablets and I consumed the entire
strip on and the next day, I repeated the same. Soon I began to use brown sugar
as well’.
Analysis
Initiation can occur out of choice or by accident but, often the decision to try
other drugs or on a mode of consumption is based upon information provided by
other users. This is seen in all the 20 cases of brown sugar users. Social
interaction with users form the base graduation in terms of quantity or mode of
consumption and variety in drugs consumed. Information sharing on dealing with
drug habit occurs as a result of deterioration in the quality of drugs, non
availability and from a desire for a better high.
Unless this social network for information gathering is influenced, changes in
behaviour or assumption/expectation about drugs would be difficult to bring
about. This would require an acceptance of drug users, encouragement and
unbiased interaction by non-users, so that users have other options, other than
an extensive dependence on an isolated knowledge base and support structure that
shape graduation into drug use.
VIII. Marginalisation and entrenchment in crime
With continuing drug use, the work pattern of the individuals get disturbed
either through absenteeism or unpunctuality at work. This leads to warnings and
later retrenchment of the individual leading to criminal activities unless the
individual corrects his erratic work pattern.
Users who find themselves out of work, start looking for any job that can bring
in quick money and do not demand long hours of work or fixed hours of duty. At
times, users manage their habit comfortably through a changed work style or
through support networks. In the absence of any support structure, the users
either seek treatment or take up petty stealing or enter the drug business to
deal with financial crisis. Another study on drug users indicated that drug
users may take part in petty crime to meet their drug expenses; it could include
activities like stealing metal from public places, stealing household items from
the home and stealing money (Charles et. al. 1999).
From a total of 20 case histories collected, eleven of the users were involved
in criminal activities which ranged from petty crime to medium scale drug
peddling at the street level. To present the process through which drug users
are oriented to petty criminal activities or drug trade some case histories are
presented.
Involvement in criminal activities may occur as the users support network in
times of financial crisis
are drug users who are already involved in criminal activities. This aspect of
the drug users’ reality is brought forth through the case histories of drug
users and Kumar’s experience is an example of the same.
Kumar spoke about his drug use and involvement in criminal activities. He is a
23 years old, his father left them when he and his siblings were very small and
their mother took care of them. After discontinuing his education, Kumar took up
driving to make a living.
“As people began to realise that
I was into drug use and was irresponsible and unreliable they stopped giving me
their vehicles to drive. I took money from friends under false pretext, but this
did not last for long. One day I took Rs. 200 from my elder brother’s pocket and
left the house.
I began to live outside on the terrace of an empty building.
There were other users who slept there and they gave me a few lines of their
drug when I was in physical discomfort. Then, one day I was woken up in the
middle of the night and told, if you want to make money come with us. In the
dark I followed them not knowing where we were going. We went to a company that
was closed and climbed over the wall using a pipe that ran along the wall.
Inside the godown there were a lot of metal pipes, we took some of them and
threw it over the wall on to the other side.
Some of the pipes were very heavy and removing them in the dark was a
group effort. Though we made a lot of noise, the watchman never bothered us.
Later we took the stolen metal in a rickshaw to the marwadi who bought the
stolen stuff at a very cheap rate. At night we received some advance payment and
later in the day the account was settled. This way I was able to manage my habit”.
Besides petty crime, drug users may take up criminal activities linked to the
drug trade, especially if the activities assure an easy procurement of drug in
return for work. While involvement in criminal activities continue till the
person becomes drug free, in some instances the family intervenes and support
the user to change his life.
Vikram comes from a middle class family and used to spend money on drugs from
the amount given by his father for his daily expense. Occasionally,
he spent time at his father’s shop, and one day
when he was desperate for money he saw his father leave some money behind to be
paid to a client. Vikram took some money and assumed that no body would notice
the difference. His father noticed it the next day and asked Vikram about the
missing amount, this frightened him and he left his home, for he could not face
his family.
Out on the streets, Vikram wanted a place where he could get money or his drug,
so he decided to seek help from a friend whose family was involved in the drug
trade.
`I went to a friend’s place who was involved in the drug
business, I helped in making pudis and selling, in the process I earned a
commission, which was paid in kind, as drug. I could smoke to my hearts content
and my other expenses were also taken care of. Soon my family heard that I was
there selling drugs,
they came and picked me up and ensured that I went for treatment’.
In most instances drug users decide to sell drugs on a small scale to continue
their habit, as it cuts the costs of their drug habit. They find a small niche
and as their scale of operation is not huge, they are not seen as competitors
but rather as useful street level dispensers.
Satish is a bachelor aged 40, he discontinued education after his mother died,
when he was 13, two years later, his father also expired. Soon after that, he
was on the streets as his cousin brother sold their home. He then took up a job
as a cleaner at a hotel for a short period and later worked as a loader at a
vegetable market and earned Rs. 5 to Rs. 25 per day.
“I used to take charas for 12 years and took no other drug.
Then my friend asked me to try brown sugar, I liked the taste and became
addicted to it. To sustain my habit I began to sell pudis. For the first
three months I began to buy 10 puddis from Area B Hill and sold five to
six puddis to others to cover my cost of drugs. I used to earn Rs. 50 per
day. As users came to know that stuff was from Area B Hill, and my clientele
increased. I did not face any problem as the dealers knew me to be an addict and
I did not buy too much only 50 pudis a day. Now, I make around Rs. 500
per day selling drugs, I do not save anything as most of my earnings are spent
on drugs”.
The general pattern noticed on the streets of Mumbai city is that the drug user
or his family take up small level peddling after years of drug use. There are
also instances of non-users who deal in medium level drug sale later becoming
drug users. Often the medium and large scale dealers are non users, who see it
as a viable business venture. To illustrate the various circumstances in which a
person is oriented to world of crime and drug use the case of Vishal is given
below.
Vishal aged 31 lived with his family of parents, three sisters and an older
brother. He being the youngest of the family; his sisters have all passed
Standard XII. His brother discontinued studies after Standard IX and joined a
car repair shop, after learning the trade he later set up his own business. Like
his brother, Vishal also decided to be a mechanic.
In his locality there was a group of thugs who collected money forcefully
from the residents (especially those who were businessmen). No one in the
locality dared to protest because they were scared of being killed. The members
of this gang used to come to his brother’s garage and take away expensive
vehicles for long drives.
His brother also had to fill the fuel tank for them. In addition to this when
the owner came his brother had to tell lies, and was harassed from both sides.
“One day when a member of the gang came to take a car, I
prevented him saying that the owners would get angry. Besides, we could not
afford to spend so much on petrol. The person got angry and hit me. In turn I
took a metal piece and hit him on his head. The person was badly injured and was
taken to a hospital. Then his gang came looking for me, and
the police did not interfere. They came at night with weapons and threatened my
family members. Unable to tolerate their continuous harassment, my friends and I
went to the gang members’ locality and attacked them. This they
did not expect and in the fight I killed the gang leader, by accident. This
happened because I was scared and wanted to settle the matter once for all.
The incident changed my life for good. On returning from jail, people in my
locality began to look at me with respect. For most of them had been harassed by
the gang members and were happy that someone had taken action. It was their
response that made me proud and instilled a desire to take up similar
activities. What started as an accident became a job and a lifestyle.
“…
I soon began to get different kinds of jobs, to settle disputes of money, land
and for collection of loans taken. Prior to taking on an assignment, I made
inquiries to find out the legitimacy of the claims made by prospective clients,
earlier in the past I had been hired to settle false claims. To facilitate the
work, we keep contacts with different localities and are constantly on the look
out for new recruits. In time, despite attempts at changing appearance
individuals become easily identified, to avoid detection, we need new faces.
This we get through our contacts when new aspirants approach us to make fast
money.
While involved in these activities I also began to deal in brown sugar in small
scale because of the profit involved.
I began with 50gms, and in 15-20 days it became very popular and many
customers came. We used an abandoned school building for distributing drugs.
Customers stood in queue to buy the stuff and we used to beat them up in case
they broke the queue. At times we catered to 300-400 persons in a day. To
facilitate our work we employed 20 persons, their job involved handing over the
drug, keeping the users in a line, the collection of money and keeping a watch
for the police. We made our own pudis and sold them to the customers.
In 1992, because of police pressure I had to shut down my business. After
dispensing off the drug, I had 25 gm with me and then a regular client, a
handicapped person, came for the stuff and I decided to give him some. I told my
friend who was in the business with me
“Let’s
check what we have been selling to the world and making fools of them. Let us
know the
nasha.” With that I began to use, and the handicapped person also taught
us how to chase. After that I continued to take drugs.
Involvement in criminal activities can begin with brown sugar users identifying
it as a means to an additional source of income to sustain the habit, though
this does not apply to all drug users. The shift in lifestyle and a lack of
support can make users seek the help of other users already into crime or they
can decide to find a small niche in the drug trade to sustain their habit.
While users who deal in drugs do it on a very small scale, middle level drug
business occurs among non drug users and their dealing in drugs along with
personal or circumstantial reasons can led them to drug use and a continuation
of the habit.
From a total of 22 cases of brown sugar users around eleven drug users were
involved in criminal activities. It is often linked to petty theft often, as
seen in case of six users or petty peddling as seen in the case of five users.
In one case, the peddler after losing his business became an addict.
Indulgence in petty crime helps users sustain their drug habit and meet other
needs. This happens after years of consumption, which disrupts their work
pattern and other social support structures with hardly any resources to fall
back on drug peddling becomes an easy option.
The selective knowledge base to deal with drug use offered by other drug users
and close interaction with the drug trade setting restricts the options
available to drug users in a financial crisis. This may lead them to a further
alienated life and make it difficult for them to come back into the mainstream
even if they do leave drugs through treatment. When society has a strong
negative reaction to drug users, re-entry into society can be difficult, unlike
in the case of traditional drug users.
IX. Conclusion
Drug use management within the cultural context evolved within socio-cultural
norms which controlled drug use without alienation, marginalisation or
criminalisation. Against this background the focus of Drug Abuse Management was
to create legislation which would translate itself, through various regulations
to the community level and influence the non-formal norms that exists within and
outside the cultural context. This top down approach had the advantage of having
the power to enforce its goals criminalising the use and trade in all forms of
drugs.
The accepted goal of drug eradication was never achieved by the criminalisation
approach it instead pushed cultural mechanisms of drug use management
underground and thereby corrupted it and limited its role in the cities. In
rural areas because of a realisation that the existing NDPS Act was
inappropriate some aspects of the Act are not enforced especially, the
criminalisation of use. By classifying all drugs as contraband the Act managed
to change the dynamics of trade and thereby affected traditional use, as it made
accessibility to traditional drugs difficult and increased the price of the
product. This brought about changes in the religious, social, medicinal and
other forms of use in traditional drugs.
The legislation that criminalised drug use brought about changes in the urban
context of drug use and trade. The criminalisation of drug use created an
isolated niche for drug users, dealers and others in related trade to share
information. Information that basically focused on the type of drugs available,
new modes of consumption, sources for obtaining drug as payment for work, and
involvement in criminal activities for additional income. The process led to the
creation of a new body of knowledge for it occurred within a specified
population willing to interact with criminal networks directly or indirectly for
procuring the drug.
As user interaction was limited to the criminal network and other users, it lead
to the strengthening of a different knowledge base and increased feelings of
marginalisation. A process that brings about changes in the lifestyle of the
user that could may facilitate indulgence in criminal activities and integration
with marginalised groups.
In the case of drug outlets, the process of criminalisation has led to
networking with criminal networks for undertaking trade. Drug outlets to exist
within the criminalised context has to network with different systems in society
including persons involved in drug control a process that leads to the
entrenchment of drug trade in society. Which in turn creates new jobs and the
focus of the law on actual possession of the drug creates different
opportunities in the drug trade where individuals wanting to earn more could be
employed. The process has
entrenched and integrated the drug trade within society.
The entire process of implementation of the drug policy created a vicious circle
whereby cultural regulatory mechanisms were criminalised or ignored, a niche was
created for derivative or synthetic products, new modes of consumption were
introduced and it increased the isolation and marginalisation of users. The
entire process also strengthened the spread of the drug trade and related
activities at different levels in society. The criminalisation approach created
further scope for use, trade and marketing of different types of drugs, and
entrenched it within society.
Chapter 6
Impact of Drug Policy on Cultural Use Management
The relevance of criminalisation in controlling drug use and trade of
psychoactive substances is the focus of this chapter. Through legislation
against consumption and trade in traditional forms of drugs along with hard
drugs, drug policy disturbed the drug use management mechanism that had evolved
based on local wisdom. The extent of impact of the present drug policy did not
occur in a uniform manner, especially given the difference that exists between
rural and urban areas.
The impact of the drug policy on cultural use management and the effect of drug
abuse management on drug use be it through the marginalisation of drug users or
through a strengthening of the network between drug user and criminal network,
is elaborated upon here. Based on the data from the previous chapters here a
schema for Drug Policy Effects is put forward to understand the implications of
the present drug policy on the Indian Drug situation.
I. Presence of Use management and its disintegration
Culturally embedded use of mind altering substances restricted excessive
consumption by putting in place both formal and informal cultural norms which
were enforced by the community, caste or tribe affiliations. These regulations
determined the profile of users, setting of use, sanctioned forms of consumption
in terms of type of drugs and mode of consumption, occasions for use and manner in which specified substances
were to be taken. Information on the norms to be adhered to was part of the
local wisdom and passed on through individuals already oriented to the cultural
context of use.
Local wisdom oriented individuals to the specified cultural frame of reference
even prior to initiation through beliefs that surround drug consumption these
were transferred through myths, poems, and symbols. At the time of initiation or
orientation the individuals present guided the user, either through explicit
statements about use or by overseeing that their previous understanding about
cultural use and expectation were strengthened.
Orientation of the individual to cultural norms was undertaken with the
help of additional cues such as, music, structure of groups and the place of
consumption, in stark contrast to the criminal approach to drug use and trade as
in the religious
community and outside, cannabis is seen as a `gift from Lord Siva’. This
reverence shown for cannabis cannot
be turned around to a negative image about the drug or drug user even through
the process of criminalisation.
It is the perception of psychoactive substances as a means of attaining
enlightenment that that creates a base for different drug effects in religious
groups. The controlled consumption of psychoactive substances with gradual
increase in quantity or type of drugs; offer scope for considering such forms of use as a process of
gaining mastery over drugs and enhancing the capacity of the mind to attain
enlightenment. Unlike the tendency of the addiction programme, to consider the
behaviour to be addiction and state that the drug user is under a form of denial
when he feels he is not addicted.
Outside the religious community of samnyasis where cannabis has a
religious reference it is used as a relaxant to celebrate religious festivals
and for its mind altering properties; the control of excessive use by non-formal
norms focus on quantity rather than the capacity of the mind to control the
extent of use. Towards this the drug setting itself sets certain regulations,
through consumption in a group and the sharing of the chillum. In
addition to this whether in celebration or otherwise, the drug is not the only
point of reference, the get together provides space for songs or the sharing of
every day experience. This form of control is also seen in the case of opium as
it occurs in a group setting and besides songs or verses focussing on common
concerns of users can also regulate the quantity consumed.
With regard to cultural use outside the religious community there are
specifications about participation based on age and gender. This is not seen in
the case of drug consumption in the samnyasi community though only a few
sects allow women to enter their sect. These two diverse forms of regulation
with regard to psychoactive substance existed and continue to do so without
friction because of an acceptance of the difference in the underlying purpose of
consuming the psychoactive plant products. There is also an understanding that
the capacity to control drug impact by the mind needs a different level of
training which is not possible for those outside the religious community and
hence the focus on the quantity consumed.
The consumption of psychoactive substances in a symbolic manner within the
mandir, its use as ingredients in medicinal preparations, the preparation of
cooking oil or as a source of nutrition and the making of fibre have all contributed through decades to a
situation where the same substance is viewed differently by the society at
large. This variation in interaction with substances creates many expectations
of the psychoactive plant, none of them negative. It is all these forms of
interaction and its acceptance in society that the act of criminalisation had to
disintegrate to create a negative attitude towards traditional psychoactive
plants.
The government of India under pressure of International policy had to implement
legislation against use of all forms of MAS other than alcohol. It knew that the
cultural links would be difficult to erase and hence made the consumption of
bhang legal. As cannabis grows largely wild in the country and there is no
accepted medical requirement for it in western medicine hence in the legislation
drafted India did not have the option for incorporating the licit cultivation of
cannabis for cultural or medicinal purpose. This contradiction assured that any
form of cultural use had to depend on the illegal market.
However, the attempt by the government to create a zero tolerance for both
cannabis and opium ensured that the cultural interaction with traditional
psychoactive substances did undergo change. Cannabis trade from having to meet
the requirement for religious and other social purposes slowly changed to a
lucrative business in contraband. Though, the religious community by themselves
have been insulated to some extent because of a continued acceptance of cannabis
as being a gift from God and the deep rooted acceptance and respect for the
ascetic way of life. Devotees not linked to the drug trade have been forced by
these circumstances to interact with criminal networks, except in rural areas
where the plant grows wild.
With the criminalisation of cultural forms of drug use the situation changed,
the mechanism of control became the legal machinery and social acceptance became
questioned or ignored, especially by the law. This led to an otherwise socially
accepted populace having to establish direct links with criminal networks as
criminalisation made the criminal network the only source for psychoactive
products that were a part of every day life for many sections of society.
In rural areas the legal machinery did not implement the legislation in the
strict sense and this led to the existence of two forms of regulation, totally
contradictory. For example, as per the NDPS Act, 1985, till the year 2002, the
minimum quantity of charas for which, a person could be arrested was 5gms at the
same time the daily consumption of a samnysasi is more than 17gms. In
addiction to this the large scale preparation of bhang or distribution of
charas or ganja during Shivaratri, Holi and the extensive
scale consumption during Khumbhamela by samnyasis do highlight the
limitation of the present approach and they are illustrations of the social
system having to accept the impossibility of implementing the NDPs Act in its
totality.
Within the drug use management frame of reference, prior to present legislation,
trade in cannabis and opium was not considered to be a deviant behaviour, it was
not very lucrative either. At present in the rural context trading in opium and
cannabis continues to have a social acceptance even though legislation states
otherwise. This has been indicated from studies on the drug trade in Himachal
Pradesh with regard to cannabis (Charles (a) 2001) and opium in Uttar Pradesh,
Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh (Charles 2004). Under such circumstances rather
than legislation it is only the social norms of control that can have any
relevance in restricting drug trade.
Drug trade has been restricted to cannabis and opium to a large extent in rural
areas and this has been indicated in Himachal Pradesh where community took
action when attempts were made to market and trade in synthetic and derivative
products (Charles (b) 2002). The impact of such intervention is seen in pattern
of use in Himachal Pradesh for the main substances of abuse do not include the
synthetic or derivative drugs.
In urban areas the impact of the criminal approach has been far more drastic
with the trade being made a commercial venture, whereby profit and avoidance of
legal harassment became the major premise for deciding upon the substances to
trade in. City life provides scope for anonymity thereby it limits the extent to
which cultural norms can be enforced on all its members.
Criminalisation made the drug trade very lucrative and the survival of the trade
meant ensuring that the profit margin took care of the overheads incurred
through corruption. Traders who decided to continue in the trade or to join it
had to make practical choices and opted to market, the derivative products. At
the same time, it has not eradicated sale of cannabis and opium. In many parts
of rural India communities have adapted to the criminalisation approach with
culture continuing to set some regulation. This is seen in the case of drug
trade in Himachal Pradesh, where it is community action that led to social of
individuals who tried to market hard drugs and it resulted in them being
physically being thrown out from the area. The State continues to have limited
trade is derivative drugs as compared to traditional drugs. While according to
informants a similar action occurred in Mumbai, one of them described it as
“The drug peddlers who dealt in brown sugar was garlanded
with slippers and also paraded through the community in a demeaning manner. This
restricted use of derivative drugs for some time in the locality, but years
later the area developed into one of the major drug outlets in Mumbai”.
With MAS being pushed underground, the people with whom the drug users could
interact became limited to other users and dealers for information on any
aspects of drug use. This led to a total disturbance of earlier mechanisms of
control that existed and a different body of knowledge evolved that focussed on
the means of dealing with the legal machinery, interacting with criminal
networks, information on various types of drugs, new modes of consumption, the
criminal ways of obtaining money for continued drug use and dealing with drug
use either through substitution or going in for treatment.
As treatment programmes are based on the
medical or moral approach, the concept of an ‘addict’ as a criminal or deviant
as mentioned by NDPS Act got strengthened in the minds of users and others in
society
II. Creation of Deviants and resultant alienation
Unlike in the context of cultural use management where through acceptance of
drug use and user there is use management, the punitive approach created scope
for drug separation and marginalisation of drug user by considering use to be
criminal and deviant act. As pointed out by (Curra, 2000, pg 16)
“Deviance is a social construction that emerged form social
differentiation, social conflict, and social disagreement”.
This differentiation is strengthened
when a deviant behaviour is also considered a criminal act, for it makes drug
use and drug trade a punishable offence in any context with but a variation in
the degree of punishment. This creates a process whereby the deviance is
strengthened through others responses to deviants or deviant behaviour. This is
especially true when the
“non-deviant” others accept the
premises for considering individuals to be deviant assume that a single act of
drug consumption is adequate to categorise an individual deviant, drug addict
and/or a criminal.
Deviance is not a permanent behaviour, unless it is also criminal. It is because
of the criminal nature that drug use and trade is deviant in any context. The
definition of deviance put forward by Kituse, 1962, Pg.248, is important in the
context of drug use, according to him
“Deviance may be
conceived as a process by which (1)to interpret behaviour as deviant (2) define
a person who so behaves as a certain kind of deviant, and (3) accord them the
treatment considered appropriate to such deviants.
In area of drug use it is not only the non-users who accept the categorisation
of drug use as a deviant behaviour but also users who may internalise this
premise for deviance. This has been explored by the study on marginalisation of
heroin or brown sugar users in Mumbai city (Charles et. al., 1999).
In the context of drug use and trade, there is also secondary deviance, this
process has been defined by Lemert (1951: 22) as
“We start with the idea that persons and groups are
differentiated in various ways, some of which result in social penalties,
rejection and segregation. These penalties and segregation by society or the
community, are dynamic factors which increase, decrease, and condition the form
which the initial differentiation or deviation takes”.
In the context of drug use, identification of the drug use habit leads to
classification of him/her as a drug user or deviant. Depending on the situation
or the context of identification it can lead to the person being named as a
peddler (criminal) or addict (patient). Under the law, this depends on the
presence of drug on ones person, the type of drug and the quantity of the drug
possessed. In addition to this the perceiver of the act of deviation also
determines the outcome of the identification. For example in case the perceiver
is a member of the community it can lead to social stigmatisation or alienation.
On the other hand if the perceiver is a law enforcement official it will lead to
legal action. The outcome of the identification process or the labelling as
deviant leads to segregation in a treatment centre or jail. This in turn leads
to either the individual learning new information from a medical perspective or
acquiring information on legal ways of dealing with deviance or avoiding
penalties in future. In both contexts the drug user/trade is exposed to new
forms of substance availability, ways of procuring them - which further
strengthens their self identification as a user or dealer.
The entire process then becomes a vicious circle wherein the deviance associated
with drug use or users gets strengthened. At present the focus of drug abuse
management is to create scope for intervention programmes that also accept the
process of deviance and the only form of acceptance is provided by self-help
groups of ex-users who themselves accept the statement
“ Once an addict always an addict”.
The process of identification with self-help groups does not create acceptance
as in the case of cultural use but ensures a total submission to the social
construct of deviance and identifying functional ways in which an addict can
find a niche in the society. The individual variations between users are ignored
and one act is focussed upon to strengthen the process of identification.
Whereas, in case of cultural use management the identification is with the local
wisdom, asceticism in the case of saivite community or cultural identity
in case of use outside religious context. The use of psychoactive plant products
is but one of the aspects of the cultural way of life and not the only point of
focus. It is this level of acceptance as against the present drug abuse
management that made cultural use management viable.
III. Increasing Scope of trade through alienation
When the basic body of knowledge governing drug use focuses on it from a medical
or criminal perspective, there is no scope for controlled drug use. When a
person realises s/he can be identified as a deviant and thereby be stigmatised,
he decides to communicate about the habit only to other users or dealers. The
process of hiding ones behaviour from others leads to continued use and
graduation to other substance or increase in the quantity of consumption. It is
only upon becoming dysfunctional that the user is forced to either seek change,
or decides to seek change, to prevent a collapse of his social life. As years
pass by before the user may seek change[69],
the daily quantity of drug required becomes large and the presence of a
significant number of users makes it a viable business for petty dealers.
In addition to this, the classification of cannabis, opium, brown sugar and
other synthetic products lumped together as drugs has expanded the scope of the
drug trade market and also increased the trade in harder forms of drugs rather
than traditional drugs such as cannabis or opium. This happens as the profit
margin for the brown sugar and synthetic drug trade is far more than that for
traditional drugs.
Another reason for this is that the consumer has no rights, as one is purchasing
contraband. In the case of brown sugar it can be adulterated and then sold
without fear to the consumers. The purity of the brown sugar sold in Bombay is
as low as 2% to 5%. It is this process of cutting or adulteration that increases
the profit. In addition to this the stated quantity of drug in a pudi is
250mg but this is rarely so. This also offers the seller a means of increasing
his profit margin.
Given the extent of alienation and stigmatisation of drug use it is natural that
some opt for substances that can be obtained under the cover of legally
sanctioned medicinal use of derivative products. As the sale in these substances
also occurs outside the legal framework there is scope for increased profit.
In dealing with synthetic drugs like nitravet, proxyvon, amphetamines, codeine
the profit comes about through selling the pharmaceutical product at an
increased price. In addition to this when users buy pharmaceutical products from
pharmacies the market share of the product increases in an illegal manner at the
same time there is no threat of one being identified as a drug dealer or
peddler. This can be a threatening situation for there will be no adequate
measures to control this leakage and it will be difficult for legal machinery to
intervene for want of adequate proof. Besides unlike petty peddlers,
pharmaceutical companies are powerful lobbies and it would be difficult for the
government to take action. Thus the entire process of separation and alienation
is creating scope for expansion of the trade.
IV. Expanding drug trade and criminalisation of the social fabric
The presence of a lucrative business lead to many persons trying their hand at
drug
sales and during the 1980’s there were many peddlers and a large number of drug
outlets. Subsequently, with police action the number of dealers came down but
individual business expanded and each peddler got a larger share of the
business. To remain in the
trade required the support of the police and in case of arrest a fast disposal
of cases the corruption of systems within correctional institutes and law
enforcement agencies came in handy. In addition to this, links with organised
crime groups ensured that prisons were not immune to corruption thereby
strengthening the criminalisation of the system. The presence of the recruitment
process within the prison setting has been indicated in Mumbai (Charles et. al.
2002). The presence of a punitive approach to drug use; whereby the user till a
recent amendment of the law, had to spend from months to years in prison as
undertrails or convicted persons ensured that the system provided scope for the
drug user to be oriented to the criminal world. The absence of concern for the
long term implications of a harsh law especially on the poor and vulnerable has
only complicated the drug abuse management scenario.
The vulnerability of the poor and drug users increase when the system requires
quantitative indicators for evaluating work performance, such as the number of
arrests made. As a result with the ensured support of the police and the
acknowledgement of a risk of infrequent arrest (for the police need to create an
impression of strict action being taken against drug trade) dealers began to
employ different types of workers at various levels expanding the number of
individuals involved in the drug trade and those who depended on it. This slow entrenchment of the drug trade
has ensured that the business is here to stay and there is scope for expansion
and not eradication. With globalisation and an opening up of the economy the
number of persons seeking a lucrative income to live a better life in the
backdrop of increasing unemployment and rising living standards the role of drug
trade in Indian society is being strengthened and assured.
V. Conclusion
The impact of drug abuse management has complicated the drug trade and use
reality in the Indian context. By enforcing unilaterally a punitive approach to
restrict all forms of use, it has disturbed cultural use management and
inadvertently complicated the drug use and trade situation in the country.
Instead of restricting drug use it led to the spread of drug use and trade with
increased scope for derivative and synthetic drugs rather than traditional
psychoactive plant products, especially in the urban context. With the
criminalisation of drug use, the drug user is perceived as a deviant instead of
a member of society. Programmes of drug abuse control also focussed on
strengthening the image of drug user as a deviant resulting in an alienation of
drug users limiting the scope for their reintegration back into society. The
presence of demand along with scope for profit in drug trade, based on skewed
policies, has had a situation emerge which increased the scope for expansion of
the drug trade and its entrenchment in the society.
The relevance of existing drug policy in controlling drug use and trade, against
the background of cultural use management has been diagrammatically presented in
Schema No 3
The implementation of present drug policy, both through legislation and control
programmes at the national and regional level has created disturbances in the
cultural use management of traditional psychoactive substances. This created
scope for new forms of drugs, new forms of use and drug trade. This in turn facilitated the
marginalisation of drug users and their linkage with criminal networks. The
process strengthened the networking between organised criminal groups and drug
trade. For this trade to survive within a system that had the infrastructure to
control drug use and trade a new knowledge base evolved on ways of avoiding the
law both at the users and traders level. As there was scope for different levels
of employment in drug trade activities, it became entrenched in the society. The
changing profile of users created scope for poly drug use. The end result of
this was expanding drug control efforts and creating a situation of Drug Abuse
Management. The punitive approach ensures that the scope for drug use and drug
trade expands. This is especially so, given the present international view of
linking drug trade to terrorism and assertion of political ideologies convenient
to some countries. The outcome of policy intervention has been that cultural use
management got transformed into Drug Abuse Management.
Schema No : 3 Drug
Effects within Indian Context
Diagrammatic presentation of the Impact of Drug Policy on Cultural Use
Management
Disturbance of
Cultural use management
Entrenchment of Drug
Trade and Use Drug Abuse Management
Cultural
Use Management
The Way Forward
The study began with queries on cultural sanctions for consumption of
psychoactive plant products in the Indian context. It focused on the presence of
normative practices of drug consumption, rituals surrounding drug intake,
process of orienting the members in a group to accepted normative practices and
role of psychoactive plant products in the lives of samnyasis. With the data on
consumption of psychoactive plant products among members of saivite religious
sects the study established the presence of use management. Various antecedent
factors were analysed to show the role it plays in evolving drug effects within
the religious context.
In the case of socio-cultural use of psychoactive plant products the research
explored the forms of use, both for psychoactive and non-psychoactive purposes.
The study also focused on the use of psychoactive plant products for social and
medicinal reasons. With the help of secondary and primary data the intake of
psychoactive plant products for social interaction, including use within
traditional systems of medicine has been described.
The punitive approach has brought about changes in the socio-cultural contexts
of drug use that evolved through years and it created the scope for replacement
of use management by drug abuse management. The shift towards drug abuse
management is evident in the urban context, for the implementation of the
central legislation has been more rigorous in the urban areas than in rural
areas. In Mumbai, the legislation and its implementation pushed the problem of
drug use and trade underground and as a result it led to the isolation of drug
users. The degree of marginalization of drug users depended on their level of
deviance as perceived by others in the community. The process of stigmatisation
of drug users created scope for them to identify with other marginalized drug
users and set up closer links with drug peddlers and such others. Given the
extent of profit in drug trade at the street level, there evolved links between
drug dealers and other criminal groups in the city, In order to beat the legal
system, a knowledge base evolved both at the users and traders level. This
process was facilitated by corruption among enforcement machinery. The knowledge
thus created focused on mechanism to avoid the law, means to enhance profit
margin and ways to distribute various criminal activities, so that legal action
can only create temporary disturbance.
Simultaneously it expanded drug control programmes both at the demand and supply
reduction side expanded. The changes in policy have led to inclusion of more
substances within the purview of its legal control. This is seen from the inclusion of over
77 psychotropic substances in the list of banned substances.
The recent amendment to NDPS Act, made changes in the quantity of drug that has
to be seized on a person for being considered to be a trader or a user. Use of
any form of drugs continues to be criminal and can lead to imprisonment for a
period of six months. Some basic contradictions in the present drug policy need
to be addressed.
·
While bhang is considered to be legal, there is no legal source for
bhang as cultivation of cannabis plant in itself is considered illegal.
·
When use is criminalized, it is likely that the marginalised users being
arrested and imprisoned. As the marginalised user can be easily identified and
thereby be vulnerable to search. Since, the user invariably may possess the
drug. There is also need for enforcement agencies to show they are being
functional and large number of arrests can be a means of showing work
performance. Studies on arrests of persons under the drug legislation have shown
that it is the users, couriers from poor section of the society that often get
arrested and convicted. Whereas the persons who manage the trade are more likely
to evade the law or when arrested are acquitted on technical grounds. The
capacity to hire the best legal expertise and corruption do contribute to this
biased enforcement of justice. This has also been examined by other studies
(Charles (a) 2001; Charles (b) 2001; Charles 2004; Charles et. al. 2002). Thus,
often class, caste and social support network, provide an escape route to many
users, peddlers and traders.
·
As the legal outlets for cannabis and opium have been systematically reduced,
the practitioners of traditional systems of medicine are affected leading to
drastic changes in traditional systems of medicine.
·
At present India is allowed to cultivate poppy legally using the gum method,
which ensures raw opium can be collected, only because there is a demand for
alkaloids, codeine and thebaine, that are present in Indian raw opium. There is
an indication that western countries which import raw opium have been able to
find alternate sources for these alkaloids that are economically viable. This
would mean that sooner or later there will be international pressure to stop
cultivation of poppy by the gum method. This will not only disturb the source
for opium but will also eliminate the source of poppy seeds that form a part of
Indian cuisine.
Unilateral criminalisation of psychoactive substances may lead to the spread of
harmful drugs that will replace traditional forms of psychoactive plant
products. Hence there is a need to differentiation between traditional forms of
drugs and hard drugs, especially so in the case of cannabis. This process can
bring about far more constructive change in the Indian drug situation. It would
also help in harm minimisation, both for the user and society at large.
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[1] A drink made from opium, it also contains saffron and cardamom.
[2] 1 In 1963, WHO defined drug dependence as “A state of psychic and sometimes also physical, resulting from the interaction between a living organism and a drug, characterized by behavioural and other responses that always include a compulsion to take the drug on a continuous or periodic basis in order to experience its psychic effects, and sometimes to avoid the discomfort of its absence. Tolerance may or may not be present. A person may be dependent on one or more drug. This definition was subsequently modified in 1992 (World Drug Report 1997).
[3]
Lord Siva is the third person of the Hindu Triad, with Brahma as
Creator, Vishnu as the preserver and Shiva as the destroyer. According
to Hinduism, death is not death in the sense of passing into
non-existence, but change into a new form of life. Destruction is
another process of recreation and hence the name Shiva which means the
Bright or Happy one (Singh,1990)
[4] Ascetics who are disciples of Lord Siva
[5]
The great
festival of Lord Siva
[6] Various Banisteriopsis species
[7] Aghoris- Aghori is a practitioner of Aghora and it literally means `non-terrifying’. Aghora is the most extreme of all Indian sects, concentrating on forcible conversion of a limited human personality into a divine personality (Svoboda 1997).
[8] Naga samnyasi are ascetics who worship Lord Siva and they are generally naked or at times wear minimal clothes. Naga means naked or snake
[9] Mandir- means temple.
[10] Bhairava refers to the form of Siva inspiring dread and terror. In this form he overcomes time (Kala) and becomes one transcending time (mahakala). He is terrific (bhisana) and he sustains (bharana)- hence known as Bhairava (Mishra, 1997)
[11] Paramahamsa is an ascetic who realised the identity of the individual soul with the supreme soul.
[12] Male
generative organ worshipped as a phallic symbol. Linga is the symbol of
Lord Siva.
(Svoboda, 1997).
[13]
Chillum:
A
pipe used to smoke marijuana or hashish mixed with tobacco.
[14] Yoga- discipling the body for various purposes- physical, mental and spiritual and meditation (Mishra, 1997).
[15] Udhra-medhara is one whose semen is drawn up or rather one who keep self chaste.
[16] Rudraksha- A bead of religious significance based on the number of rings it has.
[17] Tulsi- Holy basil. It is Ocimum gratissimum and is worshipped by followers of Lord Vishnu.
[18] The sacred herb, which is considered to be gift from Lord Siva to his followers, this at present is associated with cannabis use.
[19] Vedas- Sacred knowledge or wisdom
[20] Rigveda- Path of Jhan or Knowledge
[21] Samaveda-Path of Bhakthi or devotion
[22] Yajuraveda- Path of Karma or action
[23] In later years Soma came to represent only the moon, this is seen in the Vishnu Purana, for at that time intoxicants were strictly forbidden, hence Soma, as the God of the intoxicating juice was, no longer known and praised.
[24] Lord Indira was a popular deity in Vedas,
his position declined and in the Puranas Indira is generally
styled the king of the Gods.
[25] Rudra : “He who makes others cry”. Rudra is the ancient name of Lord Siva, the God of death, and is so called because he makes everyone cry who comes into contact with Him, because he separates them from their limited existence, to which they are tightly attached (Svoboda, 1997)
[26] Blue throated refers to Lord Siva
[27]
Dhunni: The fire tended by a
samnyasi.
A
samnyasi
is said to sit `on’ his dhunni, meaning close to it and
concentrating on it.
[28] The seat of the Guru
[29] Datura is thorn apple
[30] Murgi kund is the pond in which samnyasis have the holy dip on Shivaratri.
[31] Kanpata
Jogis stands out marked from other Nathpanthis by the large
earrings or ear discs which he wears in the hollow of the ear. At the
last stage of initiation
[32] Tulsi: Holy basil. It is Ocimum
gratissimum and is
worshipped by followers of Lord Vishnu.
[33] Kismis – dried grapes
[34] Kakri is the filter used in the chillum at the tip of the pipe from where the smoke is inhaled.
[35] Safi is a piece of cotton that is made wet and wrapped over the pipe so that the smoke is filtered `before inhalation.
[36] Samnyasi’s residence it also means shelter
[37] There are certain sects among samnyasis who use certain sexual practices as part of their search for enhanced awareness.
[38] Spiritual exercise
[39] Systematic repetition of a mantra of sacred name
[40] Slavation or nirvana
[41] Udasin are part of reformist Nathpanthi sect who receive individuals from all castes and also women into their sect.
[42] Mahachillum is a chillum containing five different drugs to be smoked together.
[43] Mauva liquor is made from a flower called Mauva
[44] Interaction with the TB infected persons in the slum setting as part of a Community Based project for HIV Control in Mumbai indicated this and the researcher was part of the project.
[45]
Durga Puja
The festival celebrated predominantly in Bengal to worship
Goddess Durga, the consort of Lord Siva. She got her name Durga for she
slew an asura named Durga. It is the same festival that is celebrated as
Duseera.
[46] Holi- Festival of Colours
[47] Festival of Lord Shiva
[48] Diwali- Festival of Lights
[49] Festival celebrating victory of good over evil
[50] Tamil word for poppy seeds, it is also known as gashagasha
[51] Cannabis (hemp) means a) Charas,
that is, the separated resin, in whatever form, whether crude or
purified, obtained from the cannabis plant and also includes
concentrated preparations and resin known as hashish oil or liquid
hashish. b)
ganja, that is, flowering or fruiting tops of the
cannabis plant (excluding the seeds and leaves when not accompanied by
the tops), by whatever name they may be know or designated; and c) any
mixture, with or without any neutral material, of any of the above forms
of cannabis or any drink prepared there from.
[52] Opium (means): a) the coagulated juice of the
opium; and b) any mixture, with or without any neutral material, of the
coagulated juice of the opium poppy, but does not include any
preparations containing not more than 0.2 per cent of morphine.
[53] Poppy Straw: It means all parts (except the
seeds) of the opium poppy after harvesting whether in their original
form or cut, crushed or powdered and whether or not juice has been
extracted there from.
[54] Manufactured Drugs means a) all coca
derivative, medicinal cannabis, opium derivatives and poppy straw
concentrate.b) any other narcotic substance or preparation which the
Central
Government may, having regard to the available information as to its
nature or to a decision, if any, under any International Convention, by
notification in the official Gazette, declare to be manufactured drug;
but does not include any narcotic substance or preparation which the
Central Government may, having regard to available information as to its
nature or to a decision, if any, under any International Convention, by
notification in the official Gazette, declare not to be manufactured drug.
[55] This study refers to persons caught with small quantity as per NDPS Act, prior to the present amendment.
[56] One lakh is equivalent to hundred thousand.
[57] Production: Means the separation of opium, poppy straw, coca leaves or cannabis from the plants from which they are obtained.
[58] Manufacture: In relation to narcotic drugs
or psychotropic substances includes:
a)
all processes other than production by which
such drugs or substances may be obtained.
b)
Refining of such drugs or substances
c)
Transformation of such drugs or substances
and
d)
Making of preparations (otherwise than in a
pharmacy or prescription) with or containing such drugs or substances.
e)
[59] Use: In relation to narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, means any kind of use except personal consumption.
[60] This was seen in case of poster collected at NARC from different parts of the country during the period 1990-1998.
[61] This is evident from the philosophy of the organization and activities undertaken by various agencies as per the National resource book on Drug agencies by D’lima 1992.
[62] Kaliyuiga is the fourth of four ages through which the cosmos passes and it is characterised by lack of interest in spirituality among the populace, which leads to materialism, atheism and perpetuation of various cruelty by the stronger on weaker ones.
[63] Pudi is the unit by which brown sugar is sold in Mumbai, one pudi is supposed to contain 250mgm of brown sugar.
[64] Smoking on pani refers to chasing brown sugar using a silver foil and heating the drug from below, while the fumes are inhaled with the help of a funnel made of paper.
[65] The Celebration of Saivite Samnyasis on various important pilgrimage spots in India
[66] Wandering is a strategy employed by the group to ensure its members do not develop emotional ties.
[67] Nitravet or Nitrazepam is a benzodiazepine
[68] Pudi is the normal unit for sale in Mumbai streets.
[69]
Data from
drug users in Mumbai at the street level indicates the same (Charles
2004, Charles 1999).
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