Ganja meant to be smuggled to Sri Lanka seized, one arrested

The contraband sustance was meant to be smuggled to Sri Lanka. Three others involved in the crime are said to have escaped and manhunt is on to nab them.

One person was arrested and 40 kg of narcotic sustance cannabis (ganja) was seized in Tamil Nadu's Ramanathapuram area on Monday. Acting on a tip-off, a team of customs officials seized ganja worth Rs 10 lakh and arrested a man from Nochi Oorani coastal area.

The contraband sustance was meant to be smuggled to Sri Lanka. Three others involved in the crime are said to have escaped and manhunt is on to nab them.

In October, five people were arrested and over 100 kgs of cannabis or ganja were seized from two places in Mizoram.

What is cannabis or ganja?

Officials with seized ganja and arrested individual

Cannabis is a banned substance in India and the person possessing it can be booked under sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.

(Image courtesy - ANI/Twitter)

Dried cannabis leaves for recreational use

Cannabis, also known as marijuana, is a psychoactive drug from the Cannabis plant. It is being used in India for both medicinal and recreational purposes for centuries . The main psychoactive part of cannabis is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Dried cannabis leaves are usually smoked, although they also be eaten or drunk in different forms.

The earliest recorded uses date from the 3rd millennium BC. Since the early 20th century, cannabis has been subject to legal restrictions. The possession, use, and sale of cannabis is illegal in most countries of the world.

Prolonged usage can lead to adverse affects on health

Effects of chronic use may include bronchitis, a cannabis dependence syndrome, and subtle impairments of attention and memory.People who smoked cannabis regularly in adolescence exhibit reduced connectivity in specific brain regions associated with memory, learning, alertness, and executive function.

A study has suggested that sustained heavy, daily, adolescent onset cannabis use over decades is associated with a decline in IQ by age 38.

Chile is the largest producer of legal cannabis

In 2015,Chile passed a bill which allows the production and sale of drugs derived from hemp plants, legislation that countries such as Puerto Rico and Colombia have also adopted recently. At the end of 2015, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet signed a decree which establishes that the Institute of Public Health has the authority to allow and control the use of cannabis for the manufacturing of medicinal products for human use.

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