Legalise marijuana, say some techies
Software professionals ask the authorities to crackdown on harmful drugs rather than focusing on just ganja or cannabis, which is a ‘casual’ drug. The people who smoke cannabis usually do not wish to try more refined drugs such as cocaine or heroin, which are more addictive, opines the techies of Hyderabad.
The public believes that legalisation of marijuana can battle stress, improve human concentration, resolve medical problems and provide sustainable agricultural incomes, among other things. Cannabis is integral to the country’s cultural fabric and criminalisation of the same leads to needless harassment and stigma.
Many working in the IT sector opine that they considered marijuana as the 'least dangerous' recreational drug. “Why are the cops not concentrating on the darknet selling much dangerous drugs such as LSD, heroin and meth? The police are out to nab people smoking ganja in privacy of their homes and not causing trouble to society. Places like the darknet and deep web are a major source for more dangerous drugs and the state narcotics wing has not yet figured out how to curb the dealings. Psychedelic drugs are easily available in the city after they are procured via darknet,” said George Mathew, an employee of an MNC in Mindspace, adding that the recurring raids have not stopped people from smoking up in the streets.
Speaking about darknet, a cyber crime official said that the site is operated through Virtual Private Network (VPN) and people use proxy servers. “The encryption is aimed at making transmission of information invisible between the sender and the receiver. This makes it impossible to identify users in real time," officials said.
“Legalising marijuana has the potential to revive a section of the village economy and farmers’ wealth by providing sustainable agriculture incomes. And if drug seizures are anything to go by, cannabis consumption is high in the country and specially in metro cities. If you go to any regular university or an institute in any part of the country and ask about the prevalence of marijuana in the campus, half of the students would admit to having consumed marijuana,” said an activist who supports legalising the drug.