When ganja seeds begin to sprout in public places

Last Friday, the Aluva Excise circle office received a call from a person alerting about what he suspected to be a ganja plant beside the Kochi metro pillar 87 near the Aluva KSRTC garage.

The Excise team that reached the spot found that suspicion to be true as they ‘took into custody’ the 63-cm-long plant visible amid shrubs and weeds. Subsequently, a case was registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act Section 20(a) (cultivates any cannabis plant). However, the chances of nabbing any accused in such cases are very unlikely or next to impossible.

Though the case pertains to cultivation of cannabis plant and is akin to seizing small quantity ganja, a bailable offence, Excise sources said this was far from cultivation but accidental sprouting of ganja from residues, like seeds, abandoned by ganja users.

“Ganja plants cultivated and maintained are very obvious unlike accidental growth of ganja plants in public places. This mostly happens in places frequented by ganja users who throw away the residues, which, in many cases, include the seeds. These seeds, when dumped in areas receiving adequate sunlight and rainwater, grow into plants on their own,” said Abhidasan P., Aluva Excise Circle Inspector.

This was neither a new nor a rare phenomenon. Only the previous month, the Aluva Excise range office seized nine ganja plants in similar circumstances from a stretch along the Aluva Manappuram, from where the Excise had frequently seized small quantities of ganja in the past. Similar instances had been reported in previous years as well. These accidentally grown ganja plants get noticed either when they grow high enough or is specifically alerted.

However, these cases are different from the ones where ganja plants are deliberately grown and maintained either for personal consumption or sale. For instance, three migrants were arrested by the Aluva police and the Rural District Anti-Narcotics Special Action Force with four such ganja plants on Tuesday. They were living for rent near Aluva Muttom where they allegedly grew the plants. Nearly seven kilograms of suspected ganja were also seized from them.