{{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 made from the resin of a live cannabis plant (''Cannabis sativa'' either ''''Indica'''' subspecies or ''Sativa'' subspecies) and is handmade in the Indian subcontinent.<ref name="Courtwright">{{cite book|author=Courtwright, David T.|title=Forces of Habit|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GHqV3elHYvMC|year=2009|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674029-90-3}}</ref><ref name="CRCPress">{{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}}</ref> The plant grows wild throughout Northern India<ref>{{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 }}</ref> along the stretch of the Himalayas (its putative origin) and is an important cash crop for the local people.<ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref> The difference between charas and 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 in Kolkata, 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 for medicinal and religious purposes for thousands of years,<ref>[http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n282/a01.html "If Drugs Were Legal, Scarlett Might Be Alive"]. ''The Times of India, 14 March 2008.''</ref> and was sold in government shops (along with opium) during the times of the British India<ref name="commission">''Report of the 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]</ref> and in independent India until the 1980s when sale and consumption of Cannabis was made illegal in the subcontinent.<ref name=":0">{{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}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{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}}</ref>
Charas plays an important and often integral role in the culture and ritual of certain sects of the Hindu religion, especially among the Shaivas — who focus on the Shaivite traditions (in contrast to Vaishnavs who focus on Vaishnavite traditions) —and it is venerated by some as being one of the aspects of Lord Shiva.<ref>{{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 }}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref>
Despite this long history, charas was made illegal in India under pressure from the United States in 1985 and cultivation and trafficking of charas was prohibited by the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS), 1985.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> Charas was also produced in Nepal and sold in government monopoly stores in Kathmandu until the use of cannabis, and consequently charas, was made illegal in Nepal due to international pressure in 1976.<ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref>
Charas remains popular in the subcontinent and is often used by Indian sadhus for religious purposes.<ref name=":2">{{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}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{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}}</ref> The Naga Sadhus, Aghoris and Tantric Bhairava sects smoke it freely as an integral part of their religious practice.<ref>{{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}}</ref><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /> Many smoke it in clay pipes called chillums, using a cotton cloth to cover the smoking end of the chillum and inserting a tightly packed pebble-sized cone of clay as filter under the chunk of charas. Before lighting the chillum they will chant the many names of Shiva in veneration.<ref>{{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}}</ref> It is freely available in several places around India especially where there is a strong affluence of tourists.<ref>{{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}}</ref> 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, (Kasol, Rasol, Malana ("Malana cream"), Kashmir as well as several other places in northern India.<ref name=":5">{{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}}</ref> There is also a large amount of charas that is illegally exported across to Europe.<ref>{{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}}</ref>
==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 especially of the upper Mahasu region is considered to be of the highest quality throughout India. It is easily available in Kinnaur, Shimla, Karsog, Kumarsain, Barot, Kullu-Malana and Rampur Bushahr.<ref name=":5" /> For this reason, the Indian subcontinent has become very popular with backpackers.<ref name=":5" /> During hand-harvesting, live cannabis plants' flowering buds (as opposed to dried plants/buds) are rubbed between the palms of the harvesters' hands to make charas.
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
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Category:Cannabis and religion Category:Cannabis culture Category:Cannabis in India Category:Cannabis smoking Category:Entheogens Category:Preparations of cannabis Category:Cannabis in Pakistan