Recommendations to the Committee for NDPS Act.pdf - The Indian Hemp Story

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Petition to Amend the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act 1985 To, The Chairperson and Members Committee for Reforms in Criminal Law November 01 2020 In India, under section 10 of the Indian Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act of 1985, the State Governments have the power to licence cultivation of cannabis for medical and research purposes. While cannabis grows wild in India, farming is still prohibited in many states. India has the potential to evolve as the leader among the developing nations working towards rejuvenating the centuries old industrial crop. However, not many organisations have been granted the opportunity to grow Cannabis for research purposes despite there being a provision for it. In addition, the lack of a standardised central seed bank also poses a hurdle when it comes to using Hemp as an industrial raw material. ​ ecently, the Uttarakhand state government has become the first one in India to issue R a license for cultivation of hemp, the low THC species of the cannabis plant which cannot be used for intoxication, but finds use as a raw material for several industries. One can legally grow hemp provided the THC content is less than 0.3%. Uttar Pradesh is the other state that has legalized hemp cultivation. And we could soon have Himachal Pradesh as the third state. Even though there is no bar on doing hemp research for which one can get a license anywhere in India, very few institutions have been successful in obtaining them. This is because of lack of clarity in the regulations regarding the licensing process, which is one of the major roadblocks in developing the hemp ecosystem in India. With proper frameworks in place, India can accelerate on the research front to catch up with other developed economies like USA, Canada, France, Germany and other countries which have legalised and regulated the use of industrial hemp and medicinal cannabis. This will enable India to position itself as a prime supplier to the global demand for hemp, which is estimated to be over 15 Billion USD by 2027. Hemp can be a potential boon to the Indian economy due to its versatility and its various fields of applications. It grows naturally in nearly 400 out of 640 districts in India, and can be grown on a variety of terrains and climatic conditions. It also requires very little water and virtually no pesticides which makes it an economically viable crop to grow. It is also a zero waste crop - each part of the plant has industrial uses including leaves, flowers, seeds, fibres from the stalk, shivs and even the roots. This makes it an even more promising proposition for farmers, by enabling them to not depend on a single part of the plant. ​Hemp also challenges our use of some of the most traditional industrial products; one such example is the textile industry, which is dominated by cotton and is preferred over a wide variety of natural fibres. While cotton takes about 9 months to grow, hemp grows to 12 feet in 3 to 4 months. Additionally, hemp consumes less water and it is good at suppressing weeds and also can be grown for multiple cycles in a land. It is also one of the strongest natural fibres in the world. Recommendations to the Committee, - To acknowledge and incorporate a clear distinction between recreational cannabis and industrial Hemp. ‘Hemp’ refers to the industrially and commercially viable Cannabis which can be used to produce a range of products. It contains only 0.3% to 1.5% THC. Meanwhile, recreational cannabis can contain upward of 5% THC. - To make a special provision for industrial Hemp, formulating proper guidelines to allow fair licence in order to cultivate Hemp for research and industrial purposes. The committee should also consider establishing clear guidelines for obtaining this license. This licensing must not be restricted to only very few organisations, since it will allow India to put itself on the map in terms of global research. - To enable frameworks under which state governments can provide license for the cultivation of industrial and medicinal hemp, and also establish clear guidelines for obtaining this license. - To form a standardised seed bank which will work to promote Cannabis cultivation for specific and regulated use, as standardised raw materials is one of the major concerns in the industry. - To increase the mentioned THC limit from 0.3% to 1%, as 1% is still a very low amount of THC which cannot be used for recreational purposes. Not only so, a great majority of India’s landrace strains have over 0.3% THC. This will help us reduce our dependence on international markets for seeds. - To allow terpene and CBD extractions from the flower of low THC plants, which will advance India immensely in terms of catering to the rising global demand for cannabis-based medicine. The NDPS Act 1985 The ​Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 is an Act of the Parliament of India that prohibits a person the production/manufacturing/cultivation, possession, sale, purchasing, transport, storage, and/or consumption of any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance. India had no legislation regarding narcotics until 1985. ​Cannabis smoking in India has been known since at least 2000 BC and is first mentioned in the ​Atharvaveda,​ which dates back a few hundred years BC. The Indian Hemp Drugs Commission, an Indo-British study of cannabis usage in India appointed in 1893, found that the "moderate" use of hemp was "practically attended by no evil results at all", "produces no injurious effects on the mind" and "no moral injury whatever.” The bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 23 August 1985. It was passed by both the Houses of Parliament, received assent from then President Giani Zail Singh on 16 September 1985, and came into force on 14 November 1985. The ​NDPS Act ​has since been amended thrice — in ​1988​, ​2001 ​and ​2014​. The​ Narcotics Control Bureau​ was set up under the act with effect from March 1986. The Act is ​designed to fulfill India's treaty obligations under the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances. 2014: the Most Recent Amendment The ​Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Amendment) Act, 2014​ (Act No. 16 of 2014) amended the NDPS Act to relax restrictions placed by the Act on Essential Narcotic Drugs (Morphine, Fentanyl and Methadone). (i) This made morphine, fentanyl, and methadone more accessible for use in pain relief and palliative care. (ii) It removed the NDPS Act's imposition of a mandatory death sentence in case of a repeat conviction for trafficking large quantities of drugs, giving courts the discretion to use the alternative sentence of 30 years’ imprisonment for repeat offences and, (iii) Increased the punishment for "small quantity" offences from a maximum of 6 months to 1-year imprisonment. Hemp Hemp is a variety of the ​Cannabis sativa plant species that is grown specifically for the industrial uses of its derived products, due to its versatile nature and field of applications as it can be refined into a variety of commercial items, including paper, textiles, clothing, biodegradable plastics, paint, insulation, biofuel, food, and animal feed. ​Although cannabis as a drug and industrial hemp both derive from the species ​Cannabis sativa and contain the psychoactive component tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), they are distinct strains with unique phytochemical compositions and uses Hemp has ​lower concentrations of THC and ​higher concentrations of cannabidiol (CBD), which ​decreases or eliminates its psychoactive effects​, which is a major superstition associated with this plant. The legality of industrial hemp varies widely between countries. Some governments regulate the concentration of THC and permit only hemp that is bred with an especially low THC content. Global Use of Hemp As a Fibre: Construction​: 70 percent of the Cannabis plant is made of the inner woody core, also called the “hurd.” This can be used in housing construction as the silica that the plant absorbs from the soil makes a chemical bond similar to that of cement called hempcrete ​(which is fireproof and waterproof) when mixed with unslaked lime forms. Paper​: Currently we are getting paper from timber trees but we might as well make it from hemp. There are several advantages to hemp paper: (i) Hemp grown in one acre could help produce as much paper as four acres of timber, (ii) Hemp has shorter yield cycles meaning we can produce more paper from it in any given time period, (iii) Paper made of hemp can last 100s of years longer than common tree-based papers, and also requires no pesticides, no herbicides, and only moderate amounts of fertiliser. Conclusively, Cannabis hemp can be a great boon to the environment as well as the economy. The use of the hemp plant can be alternatively and sustainably incorporated into approximately 50,000 different products ranging from foods, bio-plastics, nutraceuticals, construction material, nanomaterials, ethanol, and animal bedding. Textile​: Hemp is considered a viable ​alternative to cotton as: (i) Cotton grows only in moderate climates, and it also requires more water than hemp, (ii) 50 percent of the world’s pesticides and herbicides are used in the production of cotton, (iii) On an annual basis, one acre of hemp will produce as much fiber as two to three acres of cotton, (iv) Hemp cloth can last twice as long as cotton. As a Nutrition Supplement: (i) Hemp seeds contain only trace amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). (ii) They are rich in two essential fatty acids, linoleic (omega-6) and linolenic (omega-3). (iii) They are also a rich source of vitamin E, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin B6, vitamin D, calcium, magnesium, and potassium, among others. (iv) Very few plant-based foods are a complete source of protein; hemp seeds, on the other hand, contain enough amounts of protein. This can be considered as a value addition to a vegan diet. (v) Since humans cannot produce essential fatty acids, the addition of hemp seeds could be useful to them, as they are a great source of linoleic (omega-6) and linolenic (omega-3). (vi) Additionally, they are low in saturated fats and contain no trans-fat. These are some vital factors that are expected to drive the growth of the hemp seed market in the future. As Medicine: ​ nly recently, marijuana and individual natural and synthetic cannabinoid receptor O agonists and antagonists, as well as chemically related compounds, whose mechanism of action is still obscure, have come back to being considered of therapeutic value. However, their use is highly restricted. Numerous diseases, such as ​anorexia, emesis, pain, inflammation, multiple sclerosis, neurodegenerative disorders (Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, Tourette's syndrome, Alzheimer's disease), epilepsy, glaucoma, osteoporosis, schizophrenia, cardiovascular disorders, cancer, obesity, ​and ​metabolic syndrome-related disorders​, to name just a few, are being treated or have the potential to be treated by cannabinoid agonists/antagonists/cannabinoid-related compounds. In view of the very low toxicity and the generally benign side effects of this group of compounds, neglecting or denying their clinical potential is unacceptable - instead, we need to work on the development of more selective cannabinoid receptor agonists/antagonists and related compounds, as well as on novel drugs of this family with better selectivity, distribution patterns, and pharmacokinetics, and - in cases where it is impossible to separate the desired clinical action and the psychoactivity - just to monitor these side effects carefully. Yet, the most miraculous medical application of cannabis may be yet to come. Studies have shown that THC reduces tumors in mice as much as 82 percent. (Source: The Hemp Manifesto by Rowan Robinson and Cannabinoids in health and disease Natalya M. Kogan) As a Biofuel: Fossil fuels such as diesel and petrol are exhaustible, and have led to an increased awareness of the benefits of using biofuels. (i) Hemp seed extracts can produce biodiesel, which can be used in any diesel operated vehicle, (ii) Fuel can be a by-product of hemp farming, (iii) The seeds and stalk of the hemp crop produce one type of fuel, while the fibre in the stalks produce another type. In a 2010 report, researchers from the University of Connecticut concluded that biodiesel has a high conversion efficiency of about 97 percent - which means that biodiesel production would take less time. Hemp in the World Economy The Soviet Union stood as the largest producer of hemp in the world between the 1950s and 1980s, with their production peaking in 1970. Within that period, it wasn’t only the Soviet Union that produced hemp, even China, Hungary, Romania, Poland, France, and Italy were important to the worldwide production of hemp. Following the 1990s, Canada, Germany, and the United Kingdom resumed commercial production too. Hemp has been a lucrative substitute for horse bedding in Britain. Europe does have a use for hemp-lime construction, however the demand for alternative bedding for large and small animals is high enough to compete with the use of hemp hurds; half of which are being currently used for bedding already. Meanwhile Germany has used hemp fiber for composite automotive panels. In fact, Hemp has an approximately 15 percent market share of the EU automobile industry. A massive increase in companies investing in the hemp sector has been noticed since hemp seed has been processed into a growing range of food products, cosmetics, and other popular hemp commodities while some countries still partake in textile-grade fiber production. According to a research by GrandView Research, the global hemp market, estimated at 4.71 billion USD in 2020, is expected to grow at a CAGR of 15.8% to over 15 billion USD in 2027. Hemp seeds and fibres are expected to be the key driver for this growth, due to its versatile uses in nutrition, textiles, automobiles, self-care, construction, printing inks and solvents. The national acreage of industrial hemp in Canada has seen an annual growth of about 25%. In North America in particular, demand for hemp seed products is increasing consistently. The United States of America has increased its hemp seed imports from 29 million USD in 2014 to 54 million USD in 2015. Meanwhile, the country’s hemp oil cake imports also doubled in that year to about 16 million USD, taking the total import 75 million USD for the year of 2015 alone.* Hemp’s Potential: Indian Economy Given India’s hemp cultivation potential, the country could quickly catch up with the others – China, Australia, etc. – in exporting hemp products to the US and Europe, including CBD ( for which there is a soaring demand.) India has immense potential for expanding into the booming global hemp market. In 2019, about 150 million USD was invested into the Indian Industrial Hemp Association. While cotton takes about 9 months to grow, hemp grows to 12 feet in 3 to 4 months. What is more, hemp consumes less water and could be a boon to water-starved India. Besides, it is good at suppressing weeds and also can be grown for multiple cycles in a land. Currently hemp product manufacturers in India depend on imports for raw hemp from Europe, North America and China to produce ropes, mats, bags and shoes. There are no restrictions on the import of raw hemp if they comply with the country’s Phytosanitary guidelines. In India, few companies operate domestically, as the hemp industry is in its nascent stages and limited by national regulations. Hemp can be very helpful to the farmers across the country, for numerous reasons, some of these are, including but not limited to: the fact that hemp can be grown easily with low water requirements, paving way for water conservation in the hindsight; Hemp can be a rich source of fibres, oil and textiles, encouraging the local farmers to engage in side activities where they can extract the oil from the plant, make fabrics, leading to an increase in their profit; the plant can grow within 3-4 months, which is a very short time from cultivation point of view, which allows the plant to be produced in sufficient quantities, over multiple cycles throughout the year; and as discussed early, hemp is a very promising alternative to cotton. These are some of the ways in which farmers can be benefitted by the plant. Due to its numerous fields of application, hemp has a very good potential in the market as it can easily dominate the textile industry. However, it can also be employed in oil industries, and can replace nylon fishing nets, which are already proving to be a menace in the concept of sustainable development as nylon nets tend to harm the environment. Hemp can be a major step towards a more environment friendly approach, which is the dire need of mankind given the current situations. Scope for Research Due to cloudy policy and a lack of awareness about the truth of Hemp, we know very little quantitatively. However, this does not mean that there are no future prospects for research. There is a need to conduct research with the wild and domesticated varieties that are found in India. It can fill the gap between a local farmer and a private R &D company, and also tap into the natural capability of these landraces to adapt to their environment. Developing seeds with low THC would be a challenge and research institutions should be roped in for the purpose. Hemp Foundation aims at making Uttarakhand the hotbed for germplasm research, in collaboration with the scientific, research, and agricultural communities of the state. A significant aspect of germplasm research is to identify the cultivars with THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) limit of 0.2% for the products to be accepted in the EU countries. Section 14 of the NDPS act empowers the Government to permit cultivation of cannabis exclusively for horticultural and industrial purposes and encourages research and trials of cultivars with low THC content. Global Solution to the Climate Crisis With the passing of time, more and more countries are taking necessary measures to ensure that pollution levels are kept low or are monitored as it is one of the major causes of Global Warming, which has already made a significant impact on our planet, thus leading to a Global Climate Crisis. Hemp can play a major role in keeping pollution levels as well as Global Warming in check due to the numerous benefits of the plant that can be prominently observed while it is being cultivated. Hemp requires a low quantity of water while growing, thus can be a potential solution to Water Conservation, it is also proven that hemp can grow on barren soil by consuming minimal amounts of water, which many plants cannot. This will enable us to cultivate on lands which are currently not being used. Additionally, hemp does not require any pesticides, which reduces soil pollution, soil leaching problems and consequently soil erosion. It is also a carbon negative plant, and absorbs more CO2 per hectare than any forest or commercial crops and thus acts as an ideal carbon sink. The various fields of applications of hemp incorporate the use of various parts of the plants, namely: seeds, leaves, and the stem, thus leading to an efficient use of the entire plant, minimizing wastage of plant parts, potentially reducing the amount of waste produced from subsequent manufacturing processes which involve the use of hemp. As mentioned already, a conventional global use of hemp is through ​Hempcrete, ​which is a bio-composite material that can be used in construction as an alternative to materials such as concrete and traditional insulation. Indicating a number of uses for a single material. It is able to naturally regulate a building’s humidity and temperature, which can reduce condensation and energy consumption, and improve thermal comfort for occupants. It provides natural insulation that is airtight, breathable and flexible. It is also toxin-free, impervious to mould and pests, and highly fire-resistant. It is very suited to areas at risk of seismic activity since it is a low density material that is resistant to cracking under movement. The outer portion of the plant’s stalk can also provide fibres for building textiles. However, hempcrete has a typical compressive strength of around 1 MPa, which is around 1/20 that of residential grade concrete, and has a density 15% that of concrete. This means that hempcrete walls must be used together with a load-bearing frame of another material. *https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/6/4/58/pdf