Hi Nithin,
It’s a great pleasure to hear about Rainmatter’s commitment to allocating funds towards Hemp in India!
I have attached a few documents here which highlight perceived regulatory barriers & mitigation methods already being pursued, to de-link any regulatory greyness attached to the Hemp/Cannabis industry in India.
Furthermore, I’ve attached a few documents here which highlight the key sections of the NDPS Act, 1985 + and Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940 which allow for the regulatory enablement of legally using Hemp/Cannabis across different parts of the value chain.
Final_Legal Note.pdf (155.9 KB)
FSSAI Notification_Hemp Seeds.pdf (2.3 MB)
Key Sections_Drugs and Cosmetics Act.pdf (91.1 KB)
Key Sections_NDPS Act.pdf (150.2 KB)
I have also briefly highlighted the relevant Central Ministries/State Government departments responsible to different aspects of policy viz a viz varying parts of the Hemp/Cannabis plant:-
• Industrial Hemp cultivation: Excise Department/Agriculture Department of the State Government under guidance from Ministry of Finance, Department of Revenue basis Section 14 of NDPS Act, 1985
• Medical Cannabis cultivation: Excise Commissioner/ State Excise Department of the State Government under guidance from Ministry of Finance, Department of Revenue basis Section 10 of NDPS Act
• Industrial Hemp manufacturing for products (Seed purposes): FSSAI, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare
• Industrial Hemp manufacturing for products (Fibre & Textile purposes): Ministry of Textiles
• Medical Cannabis manufacturing for products (Leaf): State Ayush Department, Drug Controller
• Medical Cannabis manufacturing for products (Flower): State Excise Commissioner/State Excise Department under guidance from Central Bureau of Narcotics (CBN) and Director (Narcotic Control) at Ministry of Finance, Department of Revenue under NDPS Act, 1985 and relevant Sections of Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1945
On a separate note, in a response to your concerns regarding suspicious & illegal cultivation High THC Marijuana in a field of Low THC Hemp:-
- Existence of Regulatory guard-rails:
A) As per the current Industrial Hemp policy in Uttarakhand, if a farmer cultivates a plant which tests for higher than 0.3% THC, then the entire crop will be seized and destroyed by the nodal excise officer at the time of harvest, thereby ensuring the risk of diversion to illicit markets is restricted. We have attached a copy of the policy here.
Uttarakhand complete hemp policy and application forms.pdf (4.1 MB)
Uttarakhand_GO English.docx (16.6 KB)
B) As per the upcoming Industrial hemp policy in Uttarakhand (which is currently at a draft finalization stage), if any of the plants tests for higher than 0.3% THC, then the cultivator will at least be able to harvest the stalk/fibre of the plant (potentially the seeds as well: this is currently under discussion with State Government authorities) whereas the other sensitive parts of the plant (leaf, flower/bud) will be seized and destroyed by the nodal excise officer at the time of harvest, thereby ensuring the risk of diversion to illicit markets is restricted. We have attached the draft policy here.
C) As per the upcoming Medical Cannabis policy in Uttarakhand (which is currently at a draft finalization stage), as well as in Himachal Pradesh, there will be no THC limits for any plant cultivated for medicinal purposes (leaf,flower/bud). This is primarily due to the therapeutic nature of THC when used in analgesic/anti-inflammatory based medical drugs. In order to prevent the risk of diversion to illicit markets, the policy contains licensing & compliance based safe guards in terms of the cultivator requiring to have secured vaults for storage, CCTV camera arrangements for the cultivation + extraction sites, security based ring fencing of the site of cultivation amongst others, audit to be conducted by the State Excise department, Stringent eligibility criteria when applying for license (including background checks), and potentially high licensing fees for cultivation, extraction & transport amongst several provisions to deter fly-by-knight operators from taking advantage of such policy developments. We have attached the draft policy here.
Final English Hemp Rules (5) (1).pdf (821.0 KB)
- Botanical Dissonance of growing High THC Cannabis plants between/adjacent to Low THC Hemp plants:
There is an increasing body of global evidence from geographies with legal high THC recreational Cannabis cultivation and Low THC Industrial Hemp cultivation, which shows that if the former were to be grown alongside/adjacent to the latter then it results in cross pollination, which in turn reduces the quantum of THC within the High THC Cannabis plant. Such cross pollination occurs because cannabis is what we call a dioecious plant, meaning that male and female features, seeds and flowers, occur on different plants instead of the same one.
Female marijuana plants produce flowers which farmers grow for their THC content, but if male hemp plants, which are largely grown for their seed & fibres, are planted in close vicinity to female plants, the hemp can pollinate the female marijuana plant. That can cause them to seed and impact their yield and THC content through the sharing of genetic information. This has been a bugbear for cultivators of recreational Cannabis growers in other countries.
However, in India such cross pollination would ensure that any duplicitous operations involving a cultivator trying to grow High THC Cannabis plants under the guise of Low THC Hemp will only result in the THC lowering due to cross pollination, thereby ensuring it would be unviable for any illicit, illegal recreational cannabis sales & distribution in India.
Reference :
- https://www.northbaybusinessjournal.com/article/industry-news/keep-em-separated-cannabis-hemp-cross-pollination-problem-blows-into-cal/
- https://www.cannabistech.com/articles/preventing-cross-pollination-between-cannabis-hemp/
- Former CIA Director James Woolsey Testifying on Why You Can't Grow Marijuana in a Hemp Field - YouTube – Former Director at the CIA testifies to a Government committee on why you can’t grow Marijuana in a Hemp field
We’d be happy to discuss and share more about the granularity of regulation in greater depth with you and the team, whenever would be most convenient for us to connect.