The Quiet Boom of India’s Online Ayurvedic Cannabis Market
23 Jun 2025 6:20 PM IST
Cannabis is technically illegal in India. But, for the past few years, it’s been relatively easy, though expensive, to obtain it. Some entrepreneurial Indians have set up online websites — there’s trost.com, itshemp.in, cbdstore.in, among many others. These websites sell both the non-psychoactive CBD (cannabidiol) as well as the psychoactive THC (tetrahydrocannabinol).
They advertise it as an ayurvedic medicine in addition to using euphemistic language to describe their offerings. So, they say they’re selling hemp and hemp-based products, rather than saying “weed” or “ganja.” These products are also quite expensive — you’d have to shell out at least a couple thousand rupees to purchase one item.
In the latest episode of The Signal Daily, we’ll learn about this online ayurvedic cannabis market. Who’s buying from these websites? Why are their products so expensive? And, how safe is it to consume their products?
The Core produces The Signal Daily. Find us wherever you get your favourite podcasts. To check out the rest of our work, go to www.thecore.in
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TRANSCRIPT
Kudrat (Host): Of all the illicit drugs out there, cannabis holds a special place in the Indian subcontinent. It grows wild in over 60% of districts in India, according to former Narcotics Bureau Commissioner Romesh Bhattacharjee. It even features in Hindu mythological texts — legend has it that Lord Shiva consumed cannabis after eating halahal poison during the famous event of the samudra manthan.
In 1985, India made cannabis production and cultivation illegal, with some caveats, which we’ll get into later.
Right now, cannabis is technically illegal. But, for the past few years, it’s been relatively easy, though expensive, to obtain it. Some entrepreneurial Indians have set up websites — there’s trost.in, itshemp.in, cbdstore.in, among many others. These companies sell both the non-psychoactive CBD or cannabidiol as well as the psychoactive THC or Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, all under the ayurveda umbrella.
Specifically, they advertise these products as ayurvedic medicine, in addition to using euphemistic language to describe their offerings. So, for instance, they say they’re selling hemp and hemp-based products, rather than saying “weed” or “ganja.” These products are also quite expensive — you’d have to shell out at least a couple thousand rupees to purchase one item.
Kudrat (Host): I’m your host Kudrat Wadhwa and you’re listening to The Signal Daily. We don’t do hot takes. Instead, we bring you deep dives into the how and why of consumer trends.
In this episode, we’ll learn about the online ayurvedic cannabis market. Who’s buying from these websites? Why are their products so expensive? And, how safe is it to buy from them?
Kudrat (Host): The stats say that the Indian cannabinoid medicine market is growing, fast. Markets and Data, an Indian market research firm, said in their report that this market was worth $1.3 billion in FY 2024 and that it will reach 4.7 billion dollars in FY 2032. That’s a CAGR of 17.34%.
By cannabis market, this report refers to both THC and CBD cannabis capsules, extracts, powder mixes, fluid topicals, pet products and so on – basically the products that ayurveda-certified companies are selling. Of course, there’s also a large grey market of drugs out there, which these studies don’t count.
Indian law bans the recreational use of cannabis. And yet, cannabis products are so easily available in these online marketplaces. What’s up with that? To understand what’s going on here, we need to rewind in time.
Indians have been using cannabis for hundreds of years – the plant grows wild in the country. When the British came, they were confused since they weren’t familiar with cannabis. But, rather than banning it, they decided to tax it instead, similar to the strategy they employed with opium.
Independent India followed the same approach, until 1961, when the UN formed a Convention on Narcotic Drugs. At first, India resisted following the UN’s directive. But, 25 years later, India too criminalised cannabis production and consumption. Under the NDPS, or the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act of 1985, any individual found with up to 1 kg of ganja – that’s defined as a small quantity of the plant – can go to prison for six months or have to pay a fine of 10,000 rupees.
While the Act made it illegal to use the bud and flower parts of the cannabis plant, it allowed states to regulate the usage of cannabis leaves, which people use to make bhaang. The Act also doesn’t mention the stem of the plant, which is what makes hemp baskets and hemp clothing and so on.
Kudrat (Host): Essentially, the NDPS Act criminalises the recreational consumption and production of marijuana – that’s what people generally call the drug – but leaves room for using the cannabis plant for medicinal, scientific and industrial purposes.
In 2018, the Uttarakhand government decided to capitalise on that. Uttarakhand, like so many other states at high altitudes – has lots of naturally growing marijuana. In 2018, the state launched a pilot project for intentional, large-scale cultivation of cannabis, in effect legalising weed farming. The only caveat: farmers had to ensure that the THC content in their cannabis plant was no more than 0.3% – this number is important, we’ll come back to it later.
Other states followed suit: soon Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh also “legalised” cannabis cultivation, for industrial and medical purposes. Again, only as long as the THC content was 0.3%.
On the consumer end too, 2018 was the time when websites like Trost and itshemp.in began mushrooming online. Now that they could buy cannabis plant legally, these companies started selling cannabis gummies and oils – all as ayurvedic medicines. They also gave them sanskrit names, like like ‘kosha’ or ‘mriduvati gummies’ or ‘vijaya’ meaning victory.
There are several consumers who like shopping for cannabis products from these websites. Y is a 29 year old who works in the tech industry. He bought hemp oil from a company called Boheco, short for Bombay Hemp Company. He uses it when he’s feeling stressed. He also gives it to his partner when she has period cramps.
Y: Yeah, the hemp oil, they have like a mild and a strong, something like that.
And I went for the strongest one. Okay. And, um, in order to do that, I had to, um, they have like this kind of pretty uh, um, you know, like non-serious process where somebody will ask you why. You can just say, I dunno, headache or something.
Kudrat (Host): Buying from these websites is relatively easy, though expensive. It costs at least 3000-4000 rupees for one item.
To buy, you go online, see what product you like – hemp cigarettes, syringes with hemp extract, mriduvati gummies – these are the things you’ll come across.
Since these are technically ayurvedic medicines, you need a prescription from an ayurvedic doctor. And, these websites often have such doctors on call.
So, as you’re waiting to pay, you’ll get a call from an Ayurvedic doctor, who will ask why you’re buying the product. That’s the “non-serious process” that Y was referring to.
Anxiety, depression, stress, sleep issues, period cramps – these are all correct answers. Once this doctor approves, you’re done. In a few days, you’ll receive your edibles or oil on your doorstep.
Kudrat (Host): Now, India isn’t the first country where cannabis oils and edibles are available so readily. For example, many states in the US have legalised cannabis too.
But, one thing that differentiates American edibles from Indian ones is that the former will say “5 or 10 mg” on the back, but the Indian ones say “100 mg or 150 mg.” The Indian ones aren’t much stronger, but rather, they are made from plants with a very low percentage of THC.
Remember that 0.3% requirement I mentioned earlier? Farmers in Uttarakhand, MP and Himachal Pradesh, where growing cannabis is legal, can only farm it as long as their plant meets that criteria – which, BTW, is quite difficult to ensure. Most naturally growing weed plants have as much as 15-20% THC. THC, btw, is the psychoactive component in marijuana.
0.3%, on the other hand, is too little to get anyone high, which means that companies that sell ayurvedic cannabis products have to get creative. Here’s Ankit Singh, a representative from Trost, talking about it.
Ankit: Actually what we are doing now, yeah, we are, we are putting some concentrates, OFC and cd.
So what we are doing, we have a machine. Called co2 super critical extraction machine, C2 based, super critical extraction machine. Okay, so what we are doing, we are putting all the cannabis leaves into that machine and we are making a concentrated form of TXC and concentrated form of TXC. Then we are making a different product with that THC and CBD.
We are getting, we are doing everything legal. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Makes sense. Uh, and then you do your, uh, basically concentrating to actually make it powerful.
Kudrat (Host): This entire Ayurvedic marketplace, the whole buying and then getting a perfunctory call from a doctor to confirm your symptoms seems shady, that’s for sure.
The Signal Daily spoke to Anay Shukla, a lawyer who specialises in health law. He said that none of this is illegal, as long as these companies have the right licenses from the ministry of AYUSH, the central government body responsible for managing traditional and alternative medicine systems in India.
It’s not that easy to get a license, btw, which is in part why some of these products are so expensive. Here’s Ankit from Trost again.
Ankit: Whenever a batch come, yeah, we send that batch. We send the two part in. The two part, yeah. One in America, one in Canada. I see. To get them checked to get a COC report. How much DC, how much CPD, what are the other OIDs? Okay. Then we send the same report to a ministry of India. Hmm. There are five different drug inspectors.
Inspect all the things. Then only we get a approval for a single batch. It's a lengthy process. Yeah. Very. Okay. If batch. It, it, it can take up to three months to just to get a batch of a gummy.
Kudrat: So that's why it's so expensive, huh?
Ankit: Product is very cheap. Cannabis is cheap. Yeah. All the legal framework, all the paperwork is very expensive.
So I was like, it'll be fun. There was no demand, no buyers.
Kudrat (Host): Shelling out 3000-4000 rupees for item is a lot, but Y, the consumer we spoke to earlier, told The Signal Daily that you’d only really use 1-2 drops of an oil if you bought it, which ends up making economic sense.
Y: I guess also in this form, in this form, like for three K, um, getting actually a very, very large, it's actually the price is unbeatable. If you, if, if, let's say you got THCN, it's like similarly priced Yeah. A peddler would ask for a lot more and give you a small amount for the same price.
Kudrat (Host): Y said he recommends other people to buy from these marketplaces. When he was in college, he would smoke cannabis regularly. Now, he’s cut down on that habit, and he prefers buying oils and edibles from these websites rather than buying weed or hash from peddlers.
Y: And I mean, um, yeah, it's like when it's not, uh, black market, uh, it's, it's definitely like a very different experience. Um. It's, uh, you know, you know for sure that it's not, um, been, it's safe to use. Um, you, you get a lot of, a lot in terms of labels and what it is. Um, dosage is like easy to control, um, which is very important for a lot of people and so on and so forth.
Kudrat (Host): There’s many horror stories of drug peddlers lacing drugs with shoe polish detergent powder, caffeine, and ground glass. At least with these ayurvedic websites, they mention the ingredients in their product clearly, meaning a consumer is probably better off buying from them.
But all isn’t perfect in ayurveda-land either. You see, these websites promise buyers that cannabis and its derivatives are good for all kinds of illnesses. Itshemp.in, for instance, has products for muscle pain, joint pain, hormonal imbalance, STI, STDs, cervical cancer, prostate cancer, to name a few.
While there are clinical studies that say that cannabis can help with chronic pain and help ease certain negative side effects of chemotherapy, this list is absolutely a stretch. That’s also why there aren’t any cannabis-based allopathic medicines in India right now. Allopathy, unlike ayurveda, requires extensive clinical trials, which are expensive and take time. Only after extensive clinical trials can there be a cannabis based allopathic medicine, which doesn’t exist right now.
Kudrat (Host): Another thing that consumers should watch out for is that there are clear dangers with consuming too much marijuana. An April 2025 US-based study of over six million subjects found that people who’ve gone to the emergency room for weed (say if they had an anxiety attack, or worse experienced psychosis), have a higher 23% higher likelihood of developing dementia in the next five years. A separate study also found that the more potent your cannabis, the higher your likelihood is of experiencing psychosis and other mental health issues.
And then, of course, there’s always the danger of addiction or cannabis use disorder. Young people, teens especially, are more susceptible to becoming reliant on cannabis. Though, of course, adults can fall prey to it too.
Given the fact that cannabis use can turn into misuse raises serious questions about how these websites are functioning. It’s so easy to buy an edible, and keep buying it, and keep consuming more and more. Most of these sites do have an age filter, but the consumer can easily get past that. They can say they’re 25, when they’re actually 15. Already, parenting young people in the age of social media is challenging – parents in particular need to watch out for their kids relying on a drug like cannabis.
Kudrat (Host): That’s all for today. You just heard The Signal Daily. We don’t do hot takes. Instead, we’ll bring you deep dives into the ‘how’ and ‘why’ on consumer trends.
The Core produces The Signal Daily. Follow us wherever you get your favourite podcasts. To check out the rest of our work, go to www.thecore.in.
If you have feedback, we’d love to hear from you. Write to us @[email protected].
Thank you for listening.
