November 2016: Can India-Mexico (Americas) trade grow on medical Marijuana?

There is tremendous scope for Mexico to become the leading trade partner of India in Latin America as both countries have huge potential for collaboration. Mexico offers ample opportunities for investments as the rules and regulations in this country are more favourable for investors. Investment from India to Mexico is over US$3bn and from Mexico to India is US$800mn.

Mexico’s Supreme Court Just Made Smoking Weed Legal, and Called Marijuana A Fundamental Human Right!

Contributing to a growing drug policy debate in Latin America, the justices voted 4-1 in favor of the four members of the Mexican Society for Responsible and Tolerant Personal Use, whose Spanish acronym spells “SMART.” Justice Arturo Zaldivar, who backed the group’s effort, said the country’s marijuana prohibition is an “extreme” and “disproportionate” measure.

Prior to the ruling, Mexico’s government and health authorities granted an exception to an eight-year-old girl suffering from severe epilepsy. The girl, took her first treatment of a cannabis-based oil last month, which her parents hope will reduce the 400 epileptic fits she endures each day. The Mexican government will also have to look at terms for importing seeds.

India is often cited as the original home of cannabis. With documented use of it dating back thousands of years it is widely believed that India may have been the native home of all cannabis strains.

The seeds from cannabis are highly nutritious and are rich in omega 3, calcium and iron. Marijuana is used in many foods, including salad dressings, nutrition bars and chips. Cannabis can also be used as a personal hygiene product and is used in some body lotions, shampoos, moisturizers and soaps. The oils that are in these products are not only good for our skin but can help prevent heart problems.  Cannabidiol — CBD— is a cannabis compound that has significant medical benefits, an appealing treatment option for patients seeking anti-inflammatory, anti-pain, anti-anxiety, anti-psychotic, and/or anti-spasm effects without troubling lethargy or dysphoria.

India does grow a large amount of cannabis legally. Most of the legal cannabis is sold to pharmaceutical companies to manufacture painkillers. Uttarakhand, one of the states in India, the government’s decision to allow farmers to cultivation of marijuana plants is the first of its kind. Farmers from across the state can now legally grow cannabis.

While in countries like the US, many states have legalized the cultivation of cannabis for smoking purpose, in Uttarakhand the permission is only for industrial purpose. Farmers will have to get a licence by the excise department to grow cannabis.

Going by the number of times it gets mentioned in the Atharva Vedas (holy scriptures), which, it’s said, was written anywhere between 2000-1400 BC, cannabis was the favourite form of recreation. The Vedas called it a source of happiness, joy-giver, liberator that was compassionately given to humans to help us attain delight and lose fear and anxiety.

With countries around the world legalizing and propagating  its consumption and use – This maybe the best time to capitalize on the growing market. In the US alone, Cannabis is a $6 billion-a-year business. This number is projected to triple as new states set up their infrastructures. One-in-five adults will be living in legal-weed states by the time Trump is inaugurated. In 28 states, including four that just voted to join, medicinal marijuana will be legal.

In the 1960s and 70s, marijuana went from plantations in countries such as Thailand, India and Morocco to wealthy consumer markets in the West. Now, many Western countries are self-sufficient in marijuana production because of indoor cultivation, and export is on the agenda. In the US, Cannabis is a $6 billion-a-year business, projected to triple as the new states set up their infrastructures.

One-in-five adults will be living in legal-weed states by the time Trump is inaugurated. In 28 states, including four that just voted to join, medicinal marijuana will be lawful.