At the Oja Festival, India’s premier festival for Ayurveda, experts push for legalisation of medical marijuana, say government working towards it
AYUSH experts have called for legalisation of medical cannabis at the third edition of the Oja Festival.
This is India’s premier festival for Ayurveda, organized, by NirogStreet(India’s first technology-led Ayurveda platform) in association with Ministry of AYUSH (Government of India) and co-organised by CSIR-IIIM Technology Business Incubator in Delhi today.
Speaking at the event Dr. Saurabh Saran, CSIR-IIM Technology Business Incubator, Jammu said, “Government is working very hard as Medicinal Marijuana or Cannabis will be legalized soon. Scientists are aggressively working to find out the active components of Cannabis. CSIR Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine is the first institute to get government approval for Cannabis. We are working on seed varieties from all over the world. We are trying to develop seeds more of active compound cannabidiol (CBD) and less of tetrahydro cannabinol (THC). To make cannabis available for pain management to masses we need to develop our own varieties as we cannot look at the option of only exporting cannabis. It has to be indigenously developed for medical cultivation and pain management.”
“Cannabis is recognised as one of five key medicinal plants in Vedas. Cannabis history in India can be tracked back to 1000 BC. As per classical ayurvedic texts nearly 191 formulations and more than 15 dosage forms have Cannabis as a key ingredient”
The event witnessed participation from the Indian Ayurvedic fraternity in full strength. Renowned Ayurvedic experts, researchers and practitioners voiced their opinion on critical issues in relation with Ayurveda and its relevance in the modern healthcare system. Oja Festival was a powerhouse of discussion on Medicinal Cannabis in India Story, use of Technology in Ayurveda, Emerging Career opportunities for Students and Doctors, How Ayurveda can cure day to day lifestyle disorders? And the future of Pain Management.
Dr. N. Srikant, Deputy Director General, CCRAS shared his views, “Cannabis is recognised as one of five key medicinal plants in Vedas. Cannabis history in India can be tracked back to 1000 BC. As per classical ayurvedic texts nearly 191 formulations and more than 15 dosage forms have Cannabis as a key ingredient. Dried leaves of Cannabis collected from cultivated or wild source are not covered under psychotropic substance act and are legal as an ayurvedic drug. However collection and transportation of cannabis leaves is a matter of state. One can take permission and easily use it for medicinal purpose.”
Key dignitaries and experts from Ayurvedic community namely Dr. D.C. Katoch, Advisor (Ayurveda) Ministry of AYUSH, Govt. of India; Dr. Leena Chhatre, OSD-AYUSH Grid, Ministry of AYUSH (Government of India); Vaidya Devendra Triguna, President, All India Ayurvedic Congress; Dr. Gauraung Joshi, Chariman, ALSAAR Foundation; Dr. Tanuja Nesari, Director, All India Institute of Ayurveda; Dr D.C. Katoch, Advisor (Ayurveda), Ministry of AYUSH, Govt. of India; Dr. Brian Wilkerson, Founder & CEO, Pharmacon Holding; Dr. Abhishek Mohan, Director, HempStreet, India and Mr. Ram N Kumar, Founder & CEO, NirogStreet among others.
Addressing the need for adoption of Ayurveda and Yoga as part of lifestyle across the globe, Mr. Abhishek Mohan, Director, HempStreet, India said “Cannabis in Ayurvedic context is 99% of what we are doing at HempStreet. Since other countries have legalized it doesn’t mean that we have to follow the exact pattern. In partnership with CSIR we are doing research on indigenous cannabis. To put scientific validation we are trying to get science around Cannabis. We are aiming to make statements with our research work on cannabis.”
