US War on Drugs Still Rules in Kathmandu

Kathmandu’s “Freak Street” used to be the terminus of the Hippie Trail that was popular among Western tourists in the 1950s and 1960s. The street featured stores, licensed by Nepal’s government, where shoppers could buy local hashish. Back then, a small army of farmers cultivated the plant as their livelihood, making cannabis a wellspring for both commerce and recreation.

Then, in June 1971, U.S. President Richard Nixon declared a war on drugs. Then-Secretary of State Henry Kissinger warned Nixon that Nepal would kindle opposition to this new war, as young Americans visited the Himalayan country and would return to demonstrate against Nixon and his policies.

Under pressure from the U.S., Nepal destroyed its cannabis crops. Bhekh Bahadur Thapa, who was Nepal’s finance minister at the time, has said publicly that crops were decimated in order to please the wealthy Western power.

This drastic move ran counter to Nepal’s traditional culture.

“Among other herbs, cannabis is one of the most sacred medical herbs found in Nepal, is related with Lord Shiva and hence it is offered to him,” Som Prasad Khatiwada, head of the Central Department of Nepalese History, Culture and Archaeology at Tribhuvan University, told OZY.

Nepal didn’t just destroy cannabis crops. In 1976, the government passed the Narcotic Drugs (Control) Act, defining cannabis as a narcotic and criminalizing its cultivation, sale and consumption. With this ban of what had been a cash crop, livelihoods were wiped out. The cannabis trade in Nepal moved underground, and has remained there ever since. Meanwhile, in the U.S. in 2022, cannabis is legal in more than thirty states.

Khatiwada said that, today, “there is a need for lawmakers to work closely with experts” to frame laws that are mindful of Nepali’s own culture, rather than global demands.

Local activists agree. They say it’s time for their nation to step out of the long shadow of another country’s war on drugs. But this has proven difficult.

They say it’s time for their nation to step out of the long shadow of another country’s war on drugs. But this has proven difficult.

Activists in Nepal have organized advocacy campaigns and street protests over the past decade, and eventually began working with lawmakers on legislation to legalize cannabis. In an interview with OZY, farmer and activist Roshan Baral noted that cannabis grows wild in the Himalayas.

“The soil and climate of Nepal are well-suitable for the growth of various species of cannabis — marijuana and hemp,” Baral said. “When it is a specialty of Nepal, why should we Nepalis not benefit from it?”

In 2020, Nepal, along with 26 other member nations, voted at the U.N. Commission on Narcotic Drugs to remove cannabis from the list of narcotic drugs, and to reclassify cannabis to recognize its therapeutic uses. That same year, a lawmaker introduced a bill in Nepal’s Parliament.

When it is a specialty of Nepal, why should we Nepalis not benefit from it?

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