Access to the city’s first medical cannabis clinic is via a steep, winding staircase, leading from a busy tattoo studio. It feels appropriately niche, given the tumultuous history and notoriety of marijuana in India.
However, Cansaa, which its CEO Naveen Kumar calls “India’s first integrative healing clinic”, since it combines functional medicine, Ayurveda, acupuncture and medical cannabis, is attempting to change how doctors and patients use what is often dismissed as just a recreational drug, although it is a legal and even ancient form of therapy in India. In fact, manufacturers of CBD (cannabidiol or CBD is derived from the cannabis plant, also known as marijuana and vijaya) buy their raw material from the AYUSH Ministry. And customers can access CBD products online or in stores with a prescription from an ayurvedic doctor.
With many countries decriminalising and legalising medical cannabis over the past few years, attitudes surrounding the plant are slowly changing. At the press conference to announce the launch of Cansaa, Naveen says this shift in attitudes is familiar. “I launched my tattoo studio Irezumi 17 years ago, when it was a big taboo,” he says. “And despite what people said about Chennai being conservative, I had people from all walks of life, and all age groups at the studio. Now the city has about 500 tattoo parlours.”
