CANNABIS AND THE CONSTITUTION: ‘HIGH’ TIME FOR AMENDING THE NDPS ACT?

Aryan Tulsyan, Student of Jindal Global Law School.

Best Citation – Aryan Tulsyan, CANNABIS AND THE CONSTITUTION: ‘HIGH’ TIME FOR AMENDING THE NDPS ACT?, 1 ILE HRLR 5, 2022


Abstract


India, like many countries in the world, has criminalized the use of cannabis. Harsh enactments such as the NDPS Act impose severe penalties, extending to the death punishment, upon the use of cannabis. The criminalization of cannabis and the enactment of the NDPS Act lacks historical context, and was mainly done as a response to the UN and the US. Cannabis criminalization is opposed by various groups, who have based their arguments on medical, economical, religious, and occupational grounds. This paper will look at the constitutional aspect of decriminalizing cannabis in India, and shall discuss arguments on the basis of Articles 14, 21, and 25 of the Constitution of India. The paper also analyses Canadian constitutional jurisprudence in decriminalizing cannabis, and how India can borrow it to evaluate the constitutionality of the NDPS Act.


Keywords: Cannabis, Constitution, NDPS Act, Canada, Decriminalization.