DRUG MAFIA IN INDIA SWITCHES TO HIGH PROFIT HYBRID CANNABIS

New Delhi, PTI: A hybrid variety of cannabis, which was found to be
used in countries like Mexico, has increasingly become popular among
the Indians who grow it illegally as it increases the intoxication
level and also double their production and profit margin.

According to country's anti-narcotics agencies, the hybrid variety of
cannabis is being grown in India too, a trend which is "alarming".

"The hybrid variety is a new one which increases the
tetrahy-dro-cannabinols (THCs) amount thereby increasing the
intoxication level. It has been used in some major cannabis
cultivating countries. Here too, the hybrid variety is being grown,
though not on a large scale basis," a senior Narcotics Control Bureau
official said.

According to sources, while a normal cannabis plant take six months
to mature, the hybrid variety takes only three months to grow fully.

"In normal circumstances, one can only have two crops in a year but
with the hybrid variety, one can have up to four good crops a year.
Not only is the quality better, it also needs bare minimum care to
grow," another anti-narcotics official pointed out adding the hybrid
variety yields more and hence the trade profit increases.

Sources point out that there are high chances that even opium and
coca can now have hybrid varieties.

In India, a very small quantity of cannabis is allowed to cultivate
for medicinal use while rest are illegally grown in states like
Himachal Pradesh, Kerala and in the Northeast.

Incidentally, the trend of cultivating hybrid cannabis comes at a
time when intelligence reports on drug trafficking have pointed out
that the drug syndicates are trying to spread their operations in the
country by joining hands with poachers.

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime,
Afghanistan has become a major producer of cannabis resin in 2006,
perhaps exceeding Morocco, the largest cultivator till now.

"Afghanistan was more known for opium cultivation. The sudden
increase in cannabis production is very intriguing. We cannot rule
out the use of hybrid cannabis," a senior official of UNODC said.

The agency's 2008 World Drug Report states that the THC levels of
cannabis in the US market almost doubled between 1999 and 2006, from
4.6 per cent to 8.8 per cent. Officials say that the increasing THC
level in drugs is alarming.

Anti narcotics officials said 'Manila Cream', a variety of marijuana
(ganja) considered as finest by marijuana users have high THC content.

"It is quite possible that Manila Cream might be a variant of hybrid
marijuana but we can't confirm," an official said.

The UNODC's latest report shows that India is the biggest opiate
market in Asia with nearly 3 million users and has emerged as a major
transit point for drug trafficking.

Officials say that cannabis production is less in the country and the
main supply comes in from Nepal.

Experts point out that not only the hybrid variety of the contraband
more lethal but it is also difficult to destroy.

They say that since cannabis fields are usually destroyed by burning
them or by dousing them with herbicide, in case of hybrid variety,
the plants' roots survive if they are doused with herbicide and the
only way is to pull them out from the roots.