Madhuri Dixit's Husband Dr Nene Tells Ranveer Allahbadia 'Bhaang Is No Big Deal': 'In India, There's Hypocrisy'
Dr. Shriram Nene, Madhuri Dixit's husband, discussed Ayahuasca, LSD, and cannabis on YouTube with Ranveer Allahbadia.
Dr. Shriram Nene, husband of actor Madhuri Dixit, runs a YouTube channel where he talks about health and lifestyle. Sometimes, his wife Madhuri and their sons Arin and Ryan also appear in the videos. A few months ago, he invited YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia for a conversation about the use of certain substances, both for medicine and recreation.
They started by discussing Ayahuasca, a hallucinogenic drink from South America and also touched on cannabis, which is still illegal in India. 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."
Dr. Shriram Nene said that views on some drugs have changed over time. He explained that LSD, once made for soldiers, may now help with issues like depression. '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."
Dr. Nene said people are too scared of things like cannabis and also made it clear that he and Ranveer Allahbadia were not supporting drug use. '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," he said.
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April 22, 2025, 15:24 IST
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