India’s Times Now is known for a lot of things.
However, today the 26th August, 2020, they did something no media channel in India had ever done before in India’s history: they spoke about CBD oil, which is made using the cannabis plant, and in a single stroke cannabis and CBD oil specifically became national news in the time of the coronavirus pandemic amid the distressing news of Bollywood Actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death a few months ago. CBD oil’s coverage by Times Now focused more on how CBD oil was ‘allegedly’ administered and mixed in his beverages, the anchor’s tone sounding as if CBD oil was the same as cocaine or heroin, or a substance that was probably behind the actor’s death (although of course, they didn’t claim so)
Still, in a single stroke, one of India’s well-known media brands had delivered a flip for cannabis to be used as a medicine. Yes, even though many viewers would probably be misinformed by the nature of Times Now’s reporting, many other viewers would probably whip out their smartphones and internet literature would no doubt demolish all the claims made by Times Now: namely that, its not certified in India (when it very much is, a company just needs to get a license from the AYUSH ministry of India that handles medical cannabis) and associating CBD oil with MDMA and other drugs.
We’re neither happy nor sad.
We’re only bothered about their tone. The tone that they used when talking about cannabis, without bothering to check up on medical cannabis’ scientific roots, without bothering to check how many companies in India are legally manufacturing and serving thousands of patients in India suffering from acute and chronic illnesses, without bothering to check the wellness properties of cannabis, without bothering to check the context or the situation under which they’re reporting – they’re equating cannabis with an actor’s death for fuck’s sake.
Do they really think people are fools?
Marijuana Maharaj 