naga_sadu
Active member
It's very safe. Don't read the BBC or State department bullcrap. Except, in rural Andra Pradesh, Orissa and a VERY few parts of Jammu Kashmir. In Kashmir, stay away from Kargil, Uri. In Rural Andhra Pradesh, and Orissa, the problem is the area for all practical purposes, is run by Naxalites- a bunch of Maoist rebels. You should be OK in these areas too, as long as you don't make it too obvious that you are a loaded tourist and/or you are a Bush supporter (which I doubt many of us here are anyways). If u are just a backpacker, and commuting on a 2nd hand bike or the state bus (rather than an airconditioned car, for instance) you'll be fine.
The chance of getting harassed by a Naxalite rebel is still much lesser than the chance of getting harassed by a doughnut eating piggy in LA. I'd say a good 1000 times lesser.
Of course!! You should have practically no problems buying weed, especially in states where bhang shops are state run. Even in other states, it isin't really much of a challenge at all. I dunno how I can compare it, but it's almost as easy as scoring charas (hash) off a park in Teheran.
But just don't smoke around airports or police stations. In the cities and the larger towns, it might not be a wise idea to puff freely on the streets, simply because a copper might see this as an opportunity to unload the burden off you carrying those hefty notes of foreign currency.
That's a good question, I don't even know for sure!! Either ways, EVERY law written to date has at least a 1000 loopholes...why? So that the politicians can do shit by working around those laws, using the loopholes. So, in the RARE chance that you do get stopped by po-po, a good ol' 10-20 dollar bill (depending on how "rugged" u look. The more rugged, the less the $$$) should see u thru. And of course, if confronted w/ a cop, if u act too scared, he will SURELY jack up the rate of "backsheesh." Be confident, but aloof and try not to be outright rude when negociating backsheesh. But for almost 99%, I don't think you will have polise problems, there are lots more problems for them to tackle.
The country has other problems, tho and unless you're having a REALLY BAD DAY (I.E. one of those days when a softball sized asteroid lands from some fucked up galaxy on ur head), nobody bothers about mmj. If u are moving with kilos, of course, you could run into probs, but other than, you're most certainly good 2 go, except in airports and near police stations.
You might see locals smoking just 2-3 feet from the police station or you may even see a bunch of postal workers getting stoned off their asses during work hours in the post office itself. DO NOT emulate them!!!!! Unless u wanna be deprived of some of ur foreign currency.
Absolutely!!! That's what they're there for
Foreigner or local, you can consume. However, some bhang shop owners may ask u (as a foreigner) to prove ur mettle by drinking a weaker variant of the bhang lassi, before giving u a stronger one. The kick surprisingly knocks alotta otherwise veteran smokers out! If u want to experience visuals from getting hi on mmj, here's a good chance 
That's why they established bhang shops in the first place during Socialist days- to distribute income generated from the tourism industry as well as urban consumption to the villages.
PS:
If you REALLY want to enjoy India without any bullshit, I highly recommend u learn how to drive a motorbike...and the road conditions/ traffic jams are CRAPPY so you might want to get some experience under your belt before trying to drive a bike here. For foreigners, India isin't really the place to learn to drive bikes, but knowing how to drive one will show you parts of the country which can't be seen otherwise.
It's not a bad idea to look into diesel fueled bikes either (versus petrol). Petrol is a BITCH in India- about US$4.5 a gallon today. Diesel is ALOT cheaper and is subsidised by the state.
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