Marijuana now research subject as cure for glaucoma: Jamaican envoy

Ganja or marijuana, which went to Jamaica from India is now the subject of research as a possible cure for glaucoma, High Commissioner of Jamaica to India Jason Keats Matthew Hall said during the Global Ayush Investment and Innovation Summit (GAIIS) 2022 on Wednesday.
Hall was speaking at the roundtable session of diplomats’ conclave, where diplomats from various countries highlighted the significance of traditional medicine in their respective countries.
The Jamaican high commissioner stated that one of the advances that Jamaica is making in alternative medicine is with “a particular flower” that was brought to Jamaica Indians, which was “ganja” (marijuana/cannabis), and that research continues in this area.

Adding that there is “significant research which is being done with cannabinoids”, Hall added that “this is an area which has been pioneering in creating a cure for glaucoma” and that Jamaica will “continue to work closely with India and the rest of the world” to see how they can “work together to make the world truly a better place”.
Speaking to The Indian Express on the sidelines of the session, and responding to a query on the possible partnership that Jamaica may explore with India, Hall said, “India has some way to go in terms of its legislative framework (with respect to medicinal cannabis use). Any initiative is not unilateral, it has to be bilateral. There is still a lot of stigma attached to ‘ganja’ but it came to Jamaica from India (through indentured labourers in the mid-1800s). So there’s an interesting precedent there.”

Emphasising that Jamaica was looking forward to investments from India, Hall said, “I think it (cannabis) will be decriminalised soon as it is in ayurveda, and is used in ayurveda”.
Cannabis is classified as an illegal drug as per Indian law, governed the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
Dr Manoj Nesari, advisor (Ayurveda) to the Minry of Ayush, who was at the conference, when asked how partnership synergy can fit in for cases such as Jamaica which has specifically researched on medicinal use of cannabis, said, “Any partnership has to work following the country-specific regulations.”
Speaking at the conclave, Nesari said that among the laws regulating Ayurveda drugs is the NDPS Act, 1985, “because cannabis and opium are also used in (Ayurveda) medicines and alcohol in (ayurveda) medicines.”
Nesari said that the National Medicinal Plants Board also collects data of “how much raw material has been consumed and how much is required and that helps in the policy making of Government of India.”
Speaking to The Indian Express on India’s expectations from international partnerships, Nesari said, “Ayurveda is not limited to this country, it is useful across ethnicities. Research in such areas is one (way of partnership). Second is, different countries have different ailments. Say, western countries have a high prevalence of stress disorder. In Japan, age-related disorders are more owing to an aging population. So depending on the needs of specific countries, different collaborations can be worked out.”
Diplomats of other countries — High Commissioner of Bangladesh to India Muhammad Imran — stressed that no medicine, “be it natural or synthetic, is without side-effects” and implored that “a lot of research needs to be done” with respect to traditional medicine.
With Latin American countries practising traditional medicine and Nesari advocating that economic blocs such as ASEAN, BRICS and others should come together for cooperation in traditional medicine practices, Colombia ambassador Mariana Pacheco Montes added that “cure for new diseases or cancer can be in those jungles, in those forests, in those mountains, in our rivers” adding that an an MoU with India was signed in 2018, soon to result in a Chair at the National University in Columbia.
Columbia has more than 4,000 centres for traditional medicine.
Ambassador of Mexico Federico Salas Lotfe highlighted that alternative medicine practices prevalent in Mexico include homeopathy, acupuncture, herbalism, naturopathy, chiropractic, traditional Chinese medicine, unani and expressed interest to work not only with India but with all the other countries that are members of the United Nations.
Dr Preetha Rajaraman, health attache and regional representative, US Department of health and human services, office of Global Affairs, US Embassy at New Delhi, said that US is already collaborating with India on the area of cancer.
“Recently the US National Cancer Institute signed a letter of intent with the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences within the Minry of Ayush and the idea was to undertake, coordinate, formulate scientific research in the ayurvedic sciences”.
She added that as a result of this collaboration there is “best case series review” to “solicit and evaluate reports of cancer patients that have experienced objective improvement in their clinical status as a result of ayurvedic treatment.

Second is a survey of different groups which are currently undertaking collaboration, looking particularly at how we can integrate cancer care with Ayurvedic care.”
Echoing the Indian officials’ common refrain of creating international standards for traditional medicines, Ambassador of Chile to India Juan Rolando Angulo Monsalve said, “Otherwise some other people will create standards for us and then it will become complicated for us.”
Other countries at the conclave were Thailand and Kyrgystan, while diplomats from Japan, Brazil and Germany who were scheduled to participate, did not turn up,