India’s capital Delhi and commercial hub Mumbai are among cities with the highest consumption of cannabis worldwide, a survey report has revealed. Delhi and Mumbai feature in the list of top 10 cities in the world in terms of consuming the highest quantity of cannabis in 2018, the report found. The survey was done by ABCD, a data-driven media campaign outlet based in Germany which has been pushing for legalising the consumption of cannabis. It also releases the Cannabis Price Index to push for the cause.
According to the ABCD 2018 Cannabis Price Index, though cannabis is illegal in India, data shows that Delhi and Mumbai feature in the list of the biggest consumers of the banned narcotic.
While Delhi consumed 38.3 tons of weed in 2018, the third highest in the world, Mumbai consumed 32.4 tons of the narcotic last year, the sixth highest.
Globally, New York topped the charts with 77.4 tons consumption. It was followed by Karachi (Pakistan) which consumed 42 tons of weed in 2018. Other than New York, two more US cities to feature in the top 10 list are Los Angeles (fourth spot with 36 tons) and Chicago (eighth spot with 24.55 tons).
The other cities to feature in the top ten list are Cairo (fifth spot with 32.2 tons), London (seventh with 31.4 tons), Moscow (ninth with 22.9 tons) and Toronto (tenth with 22.7 tons).
While several countries have gone ahead and legalised the consumption of cannabis in some form, sale and consumption of marijuana continues to be illegal in India. The US, many European Union nations, Argentina, Mexico, Canada, Brazil, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, Turkey, South Africa and South Korea are among those who have moved towards legalisation of the substance for medicinal or recreational purposes. Cannabis was freely available in India until the 1980s when the government banned it under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act 1985.
