What Is Hydro Ganja? Why The New Variety Of Marijuana Has Become A Challenge For Maharashtra
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis recently said that 'hydro ganja' or hydroponic ganja (marijuana) has emerged as a new challenge with drug syndicates finding newer ways to transport it across borders.
Speaking in the legislative council, Fadnavis said that two Indonesian nationals were arrested with 21kg of hydroponic ganja valued at Rs 21.55 crore in Mumbai. The police have also got custody of Navin Chichkar, a Navi Mumbai resident from Malaysia who was a major supplier of hydro ganja to India from the US and Thailand.
What is it? Why is it a challenge?
What is hydroponic or hydro ganja?
Hydroponic ganja refers to cannabis plants grown without soil. This method gives growers precise control over the plant's environment, which can result in quicker growth and higher yields.
Hydroponics is a method of cultivation without soil, where plants are grown in a nutrient-rich water solution, often supported by an inert medium like coco coir, perlite, clay pellets, or rockwool
How is hydroponic ganja grown?
How is hydroponic or hydro ganja sold and transported?
It is mostly smuggled through the northeast and sold on the dark web.
The CM said messages are exchanged on social media to sell the substance and to make payments.
Dealers are also shipping it via courier services, and conceal it in cargo consignments coming in via the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) and ports in Gujarat.
Even terminally ill cancer patients are being used as drug carriers, the CM said.
Maharashtra crackdown on hydroponic or hydro ganja
Fadnavis said police have instructed all postal and courier companies to inspect consignments, to avoid being named as accused in case of a lapse.
Task forces will monitor social media and the dark net.
Is hydro ganja legal in any country?
Canada
United States (where cannabis is legal (recreational or medical)
Uruguay
Thailand
South Africa
Germany
Apart from India hydroponic ganja is illegal in Singapore, UAE, Indonesia, Japan, China and Russia.
With Agency Inputs
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