Why do many Ayurvedic doctors consider bhang a ‘medicine’? A new book tries to find answers

I think everyone who drinks bhang or smokes ganja claims himself or herself to be a bhang doctor or ganja doctor. They all say that bhang and ganja have medicinal properties and that they’ve been used as medicine for thousands of years. Ayurveda, they say, confirms this (which is true). I’m not sure if any of them ever read anything related to bhang and ganja at all – whether in some Veda or some medical journal – but this does not prevent them from making pronouncements about the wonder drugs.

I did the same when I was addicted to bhang and ganja. They were cures for almost every ailment, I would say, and they had no side effects. I think I did this to justify my addiction. Many others do it for the same reason.

A lot of the people I know who are regular bhang drinkers also believe that if you drink a bit of bhang before sex you last really long and can give much pleasure to your partner. I can’t remember if that’s been the case with me. I rarely knew when I’d smoked ganja and when I’d drunk bhang. And I mostly was too far gone in any case.

One woman friend told me recently...

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