Cannabis market globally is expected to reach $3.6 billion by 2027. (Grand View Research). In December, 2020, UN reclassified cannabis as a less dangerous drug. India too voted in favour of this, with 53 other member states. The resolution has removed cannabis from schedule IV of the Convention of Narcotic Drugs, 1961. Here it was listed along with harmful drugs with little or no therapeutic value. In effect, cannabis is now recognised to have medicinal and therapeutic properties. The natural compounds found in the plant are THC or tetrahydrocannabinol and CBD or cannabidiol. There are increasing conversations on these .

In India, the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic substances (NDPS) Act, 1985 illegalises recreational use of cannabis. It bans production and sale of cannabis resin and flowers, but excludes the seed and leaf from its purview. The leaf is used as an ingredient in the Ayurveda and Unani medicines under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940.

The seed is in the final stages of being classified and notified by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India ( FSSAI) as an official fond ingredient.

Hempseed (obtained from Cannabis sativa) in which the concentration of THC is 0.3 per cent or less and its products can be sold “as food or used as an ingredient in a food for sale.’

Boheco is an industrial and medical hemp organisation which has offered a commercial range of products. CSIR- National Botanical Research Institute has received a license to culltivate cannabis for research in India. Different varieties are being studied for their THC and CBD levels. Boheco sells oil to treat arthritis. HempCann has opened a cannabis clinic in Bangalore. Everest Eco Hemp is another licensed start up.

In India, it is an industry in waiting.