Dial or WhatsApp for marijuana

Chennai: If you thought ganja is an upper used only by college students, slum dwellers and auto drivers, think again. Even those who are in higher social strata, be it writers, software professionals or artists, too, like to use it. Online discussion forums are filled with enquiries and contact details on getting weed in Chennai.

While many leave their e-mail address in the forums while some others don’t even mind to post their WhatsApp number so that people can send the Google map location of the pedalling point.

“The peddlers are now more customer friendly. They will deliver the neatly packed zip-locked item where ever you want,” noted a youth, who had seen his friends and colleagues getting it delivered at wish. With the police not allowing trading the contraband freely, dial a potlam is fast catching up among weed users.

Though the police are claiming that they are nabbing ganja peddlers regularly, activists are blaming the enforcers for easy availability of ganja. “If only the police enforce the law strictly, the ganja menace can be stopped. They should book the peddlers under sections of the Juvenile Justice Act. Selling narcotics, tobacco and psychotropic substance to those under the age 18 is a major crime which attracts imprisonment up to 7 years and '1 lakh fine. I don’t think the police here are booking the ganja sellers, who push the weed among college students,” noted Cyril Alexander, an anti-tobacco activist and state convener of Tamil Nadu people’s forum for Tobacco Control.

The forum had already sent representation to the state DGP asking to book people who are selling tobacco and drug products to children under the age 18.
“Please tell me where I can get weed in Chennai. I tried TP Chatram and Beach, but because of police pressure they had to shift from those points. I want a dealer location and kindly mark it in Google maps and send to me,” one request in an online discussion forum says.

“Small packet costs you '300, with which one can make 15 joints,” says another post. Not only ganja but availability charas also discussed is being discussed in details in online forums.

“Arriving in Chennai. If interested please list here. Indian Charas. Origin - Tosh, Himachal Pradesh, Base plant - 70 Indica 30 Sativa hybrid, outdoor grown. Appearance and Resin profile - Dark coloured medium to high terpenes, rich intense aroma. THC Concentration - 11-14 per cent strength, Taste - roasted veggies and fruity. Tasting notes - Sweet initial top notes, spicy mint mid notes, Bitter orange base note Effect - Buzzing high, Cerebral warm glowing high initiates in a few minutes goes up to buzzing, lasts for two-three hours”.

Some other online discussions are about the purity of grass they get in Chennai. One post says the ganja he got had rat poison rubbed on it. Rat poison is expected to give a higher ‘kick’ to ganja.

State’s key supply produced along Andhra-Odisha border

The cultivation of ganja, which is controlled by naxals in pockets of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and Chattisgarh, caters to the wholesale segment of the local market in Tamil Nadu. Sources said the produce is primarily consumed locally while a negligible portion is being smuggled out of the country.

The hills in Theni and near Dindigul, which were earlier a haven for ganja cultivation, dwindled in productivity due to the joint enforcement drives of the Central and State agencies. The absence of cheap labour and the water scarcity multiplied the woes to the cultivators of an already strained crop.

The naxal hit pockets along the Andhra - Odisha - Border (AOB) and the Sileru river belt became ideal spots for drug cartels involved in ganja cultivation as they could fill the gap in production.

The East Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh, Malkangiri district in Odisha and Sukma district in Chhattisgarh are a few of the many pockets where the cultivation of ganja still thrives.

The cultivation is undertaken with the blessings of the naxals who will keep an eye without disturbing the farmers. The drug cartels engage farmers on contract in return for the produce of the two-term crop.

On being harvested, the green ganja will be dried and stored in farmyards before being transported either by road or rail, according to the convenience of the cartel. Once smuggled into Tamil Nadu, the stockists would release the product in retail quantities for the peddlers at the street level.