Madhuri Dixit's husband Dr Nene says India is hypocritical about marijuana, recalls prescribing cannabis to cancer patients in US: ‘Not a big deal'

Indian Express

22-04-2025

Actor Madhuri Dixit's husband, Dr Shriram Nene, operates a YouTube channel where he conducts conversations around health and lifestyle. He also involves Madhuri and their two sons, Arin and Ryan, in some of his videos. Some months ago, he hosted YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia on his channel, where they discussed drugs (used both medically and recreationally) and their impact. The use of cannabis and its various forms is legally prohibited in India.
He began the conversation by bringing up Ayahuasca, a hallucinogen that originates in South America. Addressing Ranveer, he said, 'The first question you asked me was about Ayahuasca, and I remember thinking, 'Wow, this guy is really deep into meditation, taking trips'. The interesting part is, I have so many friends who are artistes, who are thinkers… Steve Jobs said it. He said, 'The advantage between me and Microsoft is that I used to drop LSD.' Jobs was such a free thinker that he could almost see the future. The guy wasn't a coder; he was a master marketer.' He also said that India takes a hypocritical stance on substances such as marijuana, because ascetics have been using it for years.
Also read – Madhuri Dixit on marrying Shriram Nene, quitting films while at her peak: 'I was living my dream'
Dr Nene continued, 'So, here's the interesting part. We think we know a lot about medicine, right? And we're learning that some things which they thought were harmful, aren't. Like LSD was originally formulated to be used on soldiers, to make them war machines. But what we're finding now is that it may be beneficial for depression, there may be benefits for other things. Cannabis used to be a Schedule 1 drug; we would (prescribe) it to our cancer patients, because it would really help with their appetites after chemo, and also help with their nausea. Also in patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and other things, we did it. Now, what they've done in the US is that they've legalised it. They've controlled it. My fear is that people using it may get into trouble, because according to some surveys, people are using cannabis more than alcohol in some cases.'
He wondered why there is 'such an abject fear of this', but made it clear that neither he nor Ranveer are endorsing substance abuse. He continued, 'I don't fear it, because I've prescribed it to my patients (in the US). But the NCB is on a course to wipe out all this stuff. You go to Punjab, weed grows on the side of the road… There may be a medicinal use of this, there may be a social use of this. But in an unrestricted, unsupervised, uneducated context… In no way are you and I advocating that stuff. But we're not criticising, at the same time. In India, there's a bit of hypocrisy, because ascetics have used it for a really long time. And I would say that with 'bhaang' or cannabis, it's not that big of a deal. But when you move to opium or cocaine, the addictivity of it is incredible, and that isn't something that we can even debate.'