# Charas
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{{short description|Hindi name for marijuana resin}}
{{About|the cannabis concentrate originating from South Asia|other uses|Charas (disambiguation)|}}
thumb|Nepalese charas (hashish)
{{Cannabis sidebar}}
'''Charas''' is a [cannabis concentrate](/source/cannabis_concentrate) made from the [resin](/source/resin) of a live [cannabis](/source/cannabis) plant (''[Cannabis sativa](/source/Cannabis_sativa)'' either ''[''Indica''](/source/Cannabis_indica)'' subspecies or ''Sativa'' subspecies) and is handmade in the [Indian subcontinent](/source/Indian_subcontinent).[{{cite book|author=Courtwright, David T.|title=Forces of Habit|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GHqV3elHYvMC|year=2009|publisher=[Harvard University Press](/source/Harvard_University_Press)|isbn=978-0-674029-90-3}}][{{Cite book|title=Cross Name Index to Medicinal Plants: Plants in Indian Medicine|url=https://books.google.nl/books?id=trUgpMbT5gcC&pg=PA1674&redir_esc=y|publisher=Taylor & Francis|date=1999-02-23|isbn=978-0-8493-1085-0|language=en|first=Anthony R.|last=Torkelson}}] The plant grows wild throughout Northern India[{{Cite web|title=Charas - A Comprehensive Guide|url=https://rehabs.in/indian-drug-guide/charas/|access-date=2020-09-06|website=Rehabs.in|date=7 June 2010 }}] along the stretch of the [Himalayas](/source/Himalayas) (its putative origin) and is an important [cash crop](/source/cash_crop) for the local people.[{{Cite web|last=Ishfaq-ul-Hassan|date=2011-06-26|title=Cannabis and poppy are Kashmir's new cash crops|url=https://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-cannabis-and-poppy-are-kashmir-s-new-cash-crops-1559375|access-date=2021-06-25|website=DNA India|language=en}}][{{Cite web|date=September 29, 2003|first=Jagdish|last=Bhatt|title=Himachal villagers turning to cannabis as cash crop|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/himachal-villagers-turning-to-cannabis-as-cash-crop/articleshow/208183.cms|access-date=2021-06-25|website=The Times of India|language=en}}] The difference between charas and [hashish](/source/hashish) is that hashish is made from a dead cannabis plant and charas is made from a live one.
==History==
=== Indian subcontinent ===
[[File:Ganja Smoking - Gangasagar Fair Transit Camp - Kolkata 2013-01-12 2646.JPG|thumb|300px|A man smoking a [chillum](/source/Chillum_(pipe)) in [Kolkata, India](/source/Kolkata%2C_India)]]
thumb|Gouache by an Amritsar artist depicting the smoking of Charas, a type of Indian hemp imported into Northern India from Eastern Turkestan, circa 1870
Charas has been used across the [Indian subcontinent](/source/Indian_subcontinent) for medicinal and religious purposes for thousands of years,[[http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n282/a01.html "If Drugs Were Legal, Scarlett Might Be Alive"]. ''[The Times of India](/source/The_Times_of_India), 14 March 2008.''] and was sold in government shops (along with [opium](/source/opium)) during the times of the [British India](/source/British_India)[''[Report of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission](/source/Indian_Hemp_Drugs_Commission), 1893–94''. Simla, India: Government Central Printing House, 1894, 7 vols., [http://www.druglibrary.net/schaffer/Library/studies/inhemp/5chapt14.htm Chapter XIV. The Policy of Hemp Drug Administration]] and in independent [India](/source/India) until the 1980s when sale and consumption of Cannabis was made illegal in the subcontinent.[{{Cite web|date=November 10, 2012|title=The joint campaign: Should we not legalize recreational use of Cannabis?|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/the-joint-campaign-should-we-not-legalize-recreational-use-of-cannabis/articleshow/17165613.cms|access-date=2021-06-25|website=The Times of India|language=en}}][{{Cite web|date=November 10, 2012|first=Manoj|last=Mitta|title=Recreational use of marijuana: Of highs and laws|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/recreational-use-of-marijuana-of-highs-and-laws/articleshow/17165524.cms|access-date=2021-06-25|website=The Times of India|language=en}}]
Charas plays an important and often integral role in the [culture](/source/culture) and [ritual](/source/ritual) of certain sects of the [Hindu](/source/Hindu) [religion](/source/religion), especially among the [Shaiva](/source/Shaivism)s — who focus on the Shaivite traditions (in contrast to [Vaishnav](/source/Vaishnav)s who focus on Vaishnavite traditions) —and it is venerated by some as being one of the aspects of Lord Shiva.[{{Cite web|title=Shiva Is A God Who Likes Marijuana — And So Do Many Of His Followers|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/03/07/469519964/shiva-is-a-god-who-likes-marijuana-and-so-do-many-of-his-followers|access-date=2020-08-22|website=NPR.org|date=7 March 2016 |language=en|last1=Preiss |first1=Danielle }}][{{Cite web|date=2016-02-01|title=See Inside the Himalayan Villages That Grow Cannabis|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2016/02/160201-indian-himalayan-cannabis-farm-photos/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191001205836/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2016/02/160201-indian-himalayan-cannabis-farm-photos/|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 1, 2019|access-date=2020-08-22|website=National Geographic News|language=en}}]
Despite this long history, charas was made illegal in India under pressure from the [United States](/source/United_States) in 1985 and cultivation and [trafficking](/source/Illegal_drug_trade) of charas was prohibited by the [Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS), 1985](/source/Narcotic_Drugs_and_Psychotropic_Substances_Act%2C_1985).[{{Cite web|title=Narcotic Drugs (Control) Act, 2033 (1976) – Nepal Law Commission|url=https://www.lawcommission.gov.np/en/archives/category/documents/prevailing-law/statutes-acts/narcotic-drugs-control-act-2033-1976https:/www.lawcommission.gov.np/en/archives/category/documents/prevailing-law/statutes-acts/narcotic-drugs-control-act-2033-1976|access-date=2021-06-27|language=en-US}}][{{Cite web|title=Nepali lawmakers push marijuana legalization|url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Nepali-lawmakers-push-marijuana-legalization2|access-date=2021-06-27|website=Nikkei Asia|language=en-GB}}]
Charas remains popular in the subcontinent and is often used by Indian [sadhu](/source/sadhu)s for religious purposes.[{{Cite web|date=2020-09-12|title=Cannabis in India: A rather long story, with its highs and lows|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/research/cannabis-in-india-a-rather-long-story-with-its-highs-and-lows-6592020/|access-date=2021-06-27|website=The Indian Express|language=en}}][{{Cite web|title=Two Hash Smoking Sadhus Told Us Why We Shouldn't Smoke Hash|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/two-hash-smoking-sadhus-told-us-why-we-shouldnt-smoke-hash/|access-date=2021-06-27|website=Vice.com|date=2 August 2018 |language=en}}] The [Naga](/source/Naga_(mythology)) Sadhus, [Aghori](/source/Aghori)s and [Tantric](/source/Tantra) [Bhairava](/source/Bhairava) sects smoke it freely as an integral part of their religious practice.[{{Cite web|date=2011-05-28|title=From Ganja to God - Beatdom - Generation Literary Journal|url=https://www.beatdom.com/from-ganja-to-god/|access-date=2021-06-27|website=Beatdom|language=en-US}}][{{Cite web|date=2020-10-24|title=What is Charas?|url=https://www.psysociety.net/what-is-charas/|access-date=2021-06-27|website=Psysociety|language=en-GB|archive-date=2021-06-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210627081827/https://www.psysociety.net/what-is-charas/|url-status=dead}}] It is freely available in several places around India especially where there is a strong affluence of tourists.[{{Cite web|date=2020-05-10|title=Tourism and Malana Cream: How charas affects tourism in Kullu Manali|url=https://discoverkullumanali.in/tourism-and-malana-cream-how-charas-affects-tourism-in-kullu-manali/|access-date=2021-06-27|website=Discover Kullu Manali|language=en-US}}] Although charas can be found in several places around India, its manufacturing can be traced only to specific locations in India such as, [Parvati Valley](/source/Parvati_Valley), ([Kasol](/source/Kasol), Rasol, [Malana](/source/Malana%2C_Himachal_Pradesh) ("Malana cream"), [Kashmir](/source/Kashmir) as well as several other places in northern India.[{{Cite web|last=Butler|first=Alex|title=Famous weed tourism destination in India aims to preserve culture by limiting visitors|url=https://www.lonelyplanet.com/articles/weed-tourism-india-malana-cream|access-date=2020-08-22|website=Lonely Planet|language=en|archive-date=2020-11-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109024121/https://www.lonelyplanet.com/articles/weed-tourism-india-malana-cream|url-status=dead}}] There is also a large amount of charas that is illegally exported across to [Europe](/source/Europe).[{{Cite web|date=March 20, 2016|title=Charas gives Kullu its foreign connection?|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Charas-gives-Kullu-its-foreign-connection/articleshow/51478381.cms|access-date=2020-08-22|website=The Times of India|language=en}}]
==Cultivation and manufacture==
thumb|Local villagers make charas in India.
High quality charas in India comes from cannabis grown in the mountains, or that is smuggled in from Pakistan and Afghanistan. The variety from [Himachal Pradesh](/source/Himachal_Pradesh) especially of the upper [Mahasu region](/source/Mahasu_(region)) is considered to be of the highest quality throughout India. It is easily available in [Kinnaur](/source/Kinnaur), [Shimla](/source/Shimla), [Karsog](/source/Karsog), [Kumarsain](/source/Kumharsain), [Barot](/source/Barot_(Himachal_Pradesh)), [Kullu](/source/Kullu)-[Malana](/source/Malana%2C_Himachal_Pradesh) and [Rampur Bushahr](/source/Rampur_Bushahr).