A team that now has a licence to grow cannabis

The cannabis plant is drought tolerant, high on yield and doesn't require pesticides

Last year in April, senior narcotics officers were discussing the drug problem in Himachal Pradesh at a conference organised by the Institute for Narcotics Studies and Analysis, a think-tank. Most of the talk centred around drug busts and how to tackle marijuana (and opium) farms. Here, Jahan Peston Jamas, 27, went up to talk about legitimising and strengthening the cannabis farms. 

Jamas’ proof-based talk on the industrial use of hemp (cannabis) was so convincing that a senior bureaucrat, who wanted to propose replacing these cultivations with apple orchards, paused to acknowledge his ideas as a way forward.

Jamas is one