Talk:Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985
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Page scope
Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 covers India's Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 as amended to 2021, with the rules and policy made under it as far as they concern cannabis. The Himachal Pradesh Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Rules, 1989 and their amendments of 2026, and the Department of Revenue's National Policy on Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, are treated in sections of the article, not on pages of their own. The article is about what the Act does to cannabis: the definitions, the leaf and seed exclusion, cultivation, state powers, the fibre and horticulture provision and the cannabis offences. Opium, coca and synthetic drugs appear only where a cannabis provision refers to them. The UN conventions and the control bodies have pages of their own.
Data verification
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Discussion
Sources
- The Act. The provisions are read from the consolidated English text on India Code (
a1985-61.pdf, headed "Last Update 3-1-2022"). India Code's catalogue entry for the handle gives the Act's title, its number (61 of 1985), the date of assent (16 September 1985) and the date of enforcement (14 November 1985, notification S.O. 821(E)). The dates and contents of the amendments are taken from the footnotes of the consolidated text; the amending Acts themselves were not read. - Reading the PDF. The India Code PDF carries a diagonal watermark that breaks its text layer on some lines. The quotation from section 10(1)(a)(iii) was read on the page image. Clause (xi)(b) of section 2 prints the words "declare not to be a manufactured drug" in both its limbs, so it is not quoted.
- Quantities. The small and commercial quantities are from the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, of 19 October 2001 (notification S.O. 1055(E)), in the scanned copy published by the Central Bureau of Narcotics. Its table was read on the page images (printed pp. 16, 17 and 19), because the text layer scrambles the columns. Later notifications amending that table were not checked.
- National Policy. Read in the 47-page PDF published by the Central Bureau of Narcotics. The document carries no date on its face, so the article gives none.
- Himachal Pradesh. The notifications of the 2026 amendments were not read: the state's e-Gazette and the State Taxes and Excise Department's site did not answer in September and October 2026. The section rests on press reports (LawStreet Journal, 9 June 2026; The Tribune, 24 July 2026; Outlook, 27 August 2026; The News Himachal, 25 August 2026), and what they say of the rules is attributed to them.
- Secondary. Chattopadhyaya, Ganja Matters (2026), coda, pp. 225–228, and Tribhuvan (2018), pp. 508 and 510, are attributed to their authors on the article. The Times of India editorial of 30 August 1985 is cited as Chattopadhyaya quotes it; the editorial itself was not read.
Where the sources disagree
- Introduction of the bill. Chattopadhyaya (2026, p. 226) dates the bill's introduction in the Lok Sabha to 24 August 1985; India Code's legislative-history note gives 23 August 1985. The article says August 1985.
- The Himachal Pradesh terms.' LawStreet Journals report of the cabinet decision (9 June 2026) says industrial hemp seed must contain less than 0.3 per cent THC and speaks of cultivation "in open areas". The Tribunes report of the notified rules (24 July 2026) says open-field cultivation is prohibited and cannabis may be grown only in enclosed settings. The article gives the Tribunes account of the notified rules.
- Minimum area. The Tribune reports a minimum contiguous holding of three acres under the July 2026 rules; The News Himachal reports five bigha under the Second Amendment Rules. They are two successive instruments, and the article gives each with its own source.
Open points
- The ganja proviso to section 8. The proviso defers the prohibition of cultivation for ganja, and of non-medical dealing in ganja, to a date the Central Government notifies. No such notification was identified, so the article does not say whether or when the deferred prohibition took effect.
- The Himachal Pradesh instruments. The text of the 1989 rules and of both 2026 amendments, the date of the cabinet decision (reported on 9 June 2026) and the date of the Second Amendment Rules remain to be read from the gazette.