Smoking in The Hinterlands Of Hindustan

History Of Smoking In India

When I visited gallery of Harappan Civilization at the National Museum, New Delhi. Among the artifacts, I saw a small 'chillum' (hand-held twin pipe) similar to that 'sadhus' (wandering Hindu monks) use in smoking 'charas' (hand-made hashish) and 'ganja' (marijuana). 

As far as I know, no-one has reported evidence of drugs from the Indus civilization, although there is no reason why they should not have been used.

Cannabis is native to South Asia and is mentioned in the Vedas. Its use was reasonably widespread in the ancient world. Herodotus records that the Scythians has special tents in which people inhaled the fumes from cannabis heated on a tripod. Discoveries in the steppe nomad burials at Pazyryk bear this out. Braziers from the 5th millennium Balkans and from various periods elsewhere in Europe may have been used for heating cannabis or poppy heads.

Poppies, the source of opium, were used in Europe from the Neolithic period onward, and opium was in use in Mesopotamia by the late 3rd millennium BC and by at least the mid 2nd millennium in Egypt; thus the Harappans could also have been introduced to its use. Areca nut and betel leaf, chewed together with lime as paan, are native to South Asia. There is a claim that these were used by the Harappans .

Hemp is mentioned as early as the Atharvaveda, but the earliest certain references to cannabis in India are only about 1000 years ago, and the first reference to Tantric sadhus smoking cannabis are in Nagarjuna's Yogaratnamala about 1200 CE.

Myth Of Lord Shiva & Cannabis 

 Lord Shiva the descendant of Kaal is often called Mahakaal , he’s the deity with whom millions of Hindu worshippers are associated and the holy chants of Har Har Mahadev bring before our eyes the the lord of destiny, his power  and intoxicating eyes of Mahadev .The eyes have  always invoked  the thoughts amongst  the worshippers who dream of being in the same inebriated state-like the lord  and thus came the theory of Marijuana .

The folklore says after Samudramanthan & gulping poison down the throat lord shiva on returning back to Kailash was feeling uneasy at that time he was offered a drink of Cannabis to cool him off.

 

Another folklore says after an heated argument with the family the lord slept under a cannabis tree and when he woke up he was ravenous so he consumed cannabis which brought him instant rejuvenation and that led him to adopt cannabis as his favourite extravagance.

Cannabis also finds mention in the vedas and is considered one of the 5 sacred plants, it has been used for its medicinal properties as well as aiding digestion bringing happiness and a deep relaxant.

The World Of Cannabis:

Blue-Legal, Pink-Illegal but not enforced 

It’s gaining a lot of traction since late , Canada was the first country in the world to make it legal to consume & produce marijuana in limited quantities its now also getting legal status in most of western  European countries major being Italy, Switzerland, Belgium its also legal to consume in Jamaica only if you are a Raftarian, USA is also allowing in some states but in limited quantities.It’s also allowed in Southern America but though technically it’s illegal.

India:

India although it’s illegal but is hardly enforced because its in our culture to consume since early times, Lord Shiva who’s seen as a strong proponent of Cannabis you will often find his pupils smoking chillums near Shiv temples , the best quality of cannabis is found in the northern part of India ,high in the hills also known by the name of Manali Cream and can fetch as much as Rs 600000 per 10 gms.

Bollywood also has played a part and some of the most famous cult songs have been sung since 70s when the first Hippi anthem “ Dum Maaro Dum” featuring Zeenat Aman became a rage amongst the Indians in an estimate prepared by Ministry of Statistics it was found that 2.83% of people in the category of 31-70 years (31 million) consumed cannabis in India.

Religion & Cannabis 

Market Size | Estimates | Job Creation

With the legal acceptance of Marijuana in the United States & Canada it’s anticipated to reach $15bn by the end of the year.

The U.S cannabis could generate uto $130 billion into the US economy by 2024 on an annual basis.

In 2019 the US consumers purchased legal and medicinal cannabis more than (Toothpaste +Sleep aids+hard seltzer)

Marijuana sales exceed NBA annual spending & will exceed craft beer sales by 2024, the jobs created will be 330,000 by 2022 for comparison sake US steel industry employs 268,000

The median salary for marijuana industry was $58,511 per year which is 10.7% higher than the median salary, The U.S & Canadian citizens spend on an average $50on cannabis & related products.

Nasdaq listed marijuana 

Top Marijuana Producing Countries.

India seems to be missing out on this lucrative business of Cannabis,its estimated that India will be loosing a $25 billion market in next 5 years , although a lot of effort is being made to get legalisation.

Economics  of Cannabis -Afghanistan

Afghans cultivates close to 25000 hectares of crop and the yield is $ 7000-8000 /hectare & cost per hectare is less than in Afghanistan.The resin per hectare in Afghanistan is 145 kg compared to 40 kg in Morroco.

Manali Cannabis fetches $25,000 /kg in Amsterdam coz of its high oil content or its 40-50 lac / kg in intl market.

Marijuana cultivation 

With this we conclude the trends , market, mystique, geography of Marijuana and believe with more and more govts easing out the legal laws this might be the new Black gold of this decade.

Moving from Cannabis to Bidi the other tobacco industry which forms the main stay of rural India  and it also contributes majorly to the economy of the nation  , Beedi industry forms 7.02% of employment in manufacturing industry in the SME sector.

We will in brief cover this tobacco consumption category:

Bidi

What Actually Is Bidi :

Bidi (an indigenous smoking product made my rolling a dried, rectangular piece of tendu leaf with 0.15–0.25 grams of dried, flaked tobacco and secured with a thread) is the most common smoked tobacco product in India (1). About 7.7% of adults in India consume bidi ,which has a market share of 85% of all smoking products.

Top Bidi Brands

The States where maximum business and consumption of  Bidi are :

W. Bengal, Uttar  Pradesh, Tamil Nadu & Madhya Pradesh.

The Bidi industry of late has been loosing out on the market share to cigarette industry also as the rural incomes increase the consumer is moving towards more aspirational brands in addition to this the income generated by Bidi workers is substantially lower than people working elsewhere.

Gutka & Paan Masala :

 The pan masala market in India reached a value of INR 42,180 Crore in 2019 it is consumed by 35% of Indians ,It is prepared using a balanced mixture of lime, catechu, cardamom, areca nuts, flavoring agents and natural perfuming materials. It is preferred as a mouth freshener in both the rural and urban parts of India.The demand for pan masala is escalating in India as the leading players are offering innovative product variants, such as chocolate, sugar-coated fennel seeds, cardamom, saffron (Kesar), gulkand (sweet-preserved rose petals) and silver-coated betel nuts & the market is expected to reach 106,000 Crore by 2026 @ CAGR of 10%

Categories of Gutka & Paan Masala:

• Paan Masala with Tobacco 
• Paan Masala without Tobacco 
• Flavoured 
• Others

Paan masala with tobacco contribute close to 2/3 of the market followed by other categories.

Major Players In This Segment:

1. Manikchand group 
2. Kothari  Products Limited 
3. Godfrey Philips India ltd

We have come to the end of the topic Tobacco Consumption, Patterns, Geographic spreads and how India consumes , just before we end some of the categories that are prevalent amongst various Tribes ,Cultures is shown hereby ;

I conclude this with a very interesting anecdote “ Smoking i find the most ridiculous of all the varieties of human  behaviour & practically the only one that is entirely against the nature.Can you imagine a Cow or any other animal taking a mouthful of smouldering straw then breathing in smoke and blowing out through nostrils?” Ian Fleming ( James Bond #7)