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A post on social media is going viral for a special reason. The way you see liquor shops today, ganja shops were run in the same way in the 1960s. The pictures are vintage and are taking people into the pages of history.
These days old pictures, which are from the 1960-70s, are going viral on social media. These show how ganja (ganja) and opium shops operated openly under government licenses in India, Nepal and Bangladesh (then East Pakistan).
People used to sit outside the shop and take intoxicants, just like today’s liquor shops. No need to hide, no fear – everything was legal and taxable. Seeing these photos, people are shocked that how drugs were once sold so indiscriminately!
In these pictures, Freak Street of Kathmandu, Nepal is visible, where foreign tourists used to come during the Hippie Trail. There were government shops like ‘Central Hashish Store’, where the ‘Government Approved’ board was put up.
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People say that in 1970, first class marijuana was available for 40 shillings. All this was legal in Nepal till 1973, but under the pressure of the American government, the Narcotic Drugs Act was introduced and everything was stopped.
The situation was similar in India also. Licensed shops of ganja, bhang and opium were running since colonial times. The British government had linked them to taxes because they were a major source of revenue. The Indian Hemp Drugs Commission Report of 1894 stated that cannabis in moderation was not harmful and was a part of cultural-religious life.
Even today, government cannabis shops run in places like Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, especially on Holi. But there is strictness on ganja and charas. Even in Bangladesh, there were licensed ganja shops till the Pakistan period. All these were for cultural and medicinal use. For centuries, cannabis and opium were used in Ayurveda in the Indian subcontinent. But in 1960-70 it became more popular due to hippie culture.
Foreign hippies used to come to India and Nepal and consume drugs cheaply. Freak Street became the hub of hippies in Kathmandu, where cafes and shops served ganja. Opium shops are also seen in these photos, like an old photo of 1945 in Kolkata’s China Town, where people are seen lying down and smoking opium. All this was legal, but later changes came due to global pressure. America’s ‘War on Drugs’ in the 1970s had an impact across the world.
It was banned in Nepal in 1973, and in India, NDPS Act 1985 came, which tightened restrictions on most of the narcotics. What happened after this change? Legal revenue ended, farmers were made criminals, black market increased. Today the problem of trafficking and cross-border drugs persists. Many people say that legal regulation was better because there was quality control and crime was less. But on the other hand, now the negative impact of drug addiction on health and society is more visible. These vintage photos show a glimpse of history when drug addiction was not ‘underground’.