[Lillie_Steins]

My advice is that India remain a more or less isolationist nation, or at least allow only the export of culture, not the import. That's a v.tuf proposition Chaipau .

There are westerners chanting vedic hymns and there are those deriding them in India. There are ppl who blame the west for the growing promiscous culture in India and then there are those who know very well that the only diff b/w the present and the past is that its all a lot more in the open now.

At the end of the day, its not abt someone from the west or east, its abt each one's personal choice. It really does not matter if you are an Indian or American -- race n place is a thing of the past in this global village-- its abt who you are as a person.

Here are some cultural questions I've been wondering about:

Do you have an estimate regarding the percentage of Indians drinking bhang at least once a month? More frequenlty?

Will some Indians only drink bhang during Holi?

Can a person who is respectible drink bhang? Can the respectible person also smoke hash?

Or is drinking bhang considered as similar to smoking hash?

Are hash and marihuana illegal in India?

Which is more common: marijuana (leaf/bud) or hash?

Is bhang Illegal?

How would I know if I was purchasing bhang made with cannibis bud, or the type that is made without it? Bhang-drinking is common in N.India. In the south, they don't drink bhang, they drink toddy.

In UP & Bihar, Bhang is treated more like country liquor and any important ocassion calls for Bhang-ho-jaye.

During Holi, bhang is drunk a wee bit by everyone irrespective of status / respectability. It was drunk by Lord Shiva!

You must notice that from the way the bhang drink is prepared (using milk, ginger, pepper, cinnamon, fennel seeds, cardamom, rose petals, etc though cannabis is the main base), it is considered a medicinal drink. It is supposed to be drunk in moderation (a teaspoon is given as prasad during holi and that is considered "sufficient"). For some reason, the narcoctic effect is considered 'balanced" or evened out / removed from the way the drink is prepared.

Holi occurs around spring, and this drink supposedly cools the body and prepares ppl to withstand the oncoming heat. It is perhaps something like how the medical fraternity used opium's therapeutic effects for pain management in the past. It helped / helps yogis to go for days on end without food / water until they cud sustain the absence of both without the need for bhang.

Bhang drunk like liquor is actually its misuse for the 'high" it gives like in drug abuse. Therefore village men substitute it for drug abuse in the northern lands.

Bhang drink is not illegal in India.

A lot depends on how you make the bhang drink with a lot or with a little bit of cannabis leaves / buds.

Cannabis supposedly becomes narcotic after purification and is not really so in its raw form: http://www.cannabis.uk.net/raw%20can...20CANNABIS.htm

Here's the traditional recipe: http://www.geocities.com/sarabhanga/bhang.html

Bhang Lassi: http://leda.lycaeum.org/Documents/Bh...ssi.4774.shtml

Drinking Bhang is not considered similar to smoking hash. Hash and Marijuana are both illegal as they are highly narcotic even in tiny amounts.

You wud know from the taste if the bhang you are buying is contains cannabis or not.

I had been drinking a teaspoon or so for years during Holi prayers but I do not know if it contained cannabis or not. It tasted a lot like milk with sugar and pepper but with a very odd after-taste.