Bhang, Cannabis and Shiva

In 1894 the Commission ruled that suppressing bhang would be 'totally unjustifiable'. Its use, they found, was very ancient, had religious sanction among a large body of Hindus, and was almost always harmless in moderation.

Report of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission, 1893-94 (1894), vol. 1, ch. XIV, para. 564

Hemp leaves drunk or eaten, offered to Shiva and taken by his devotees, notably at Shivaratri.

Sources3 sources

Primary source

Indian Hemp Drugs Commission, Report of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission, 1893-94, vol. 1, 1894, ch. IX, para. 435Ascetics and the people at large held hemp to be Siva's own plant; siddhi offered to his image at Benares, Baidynath and Tarakeswar
believe that the hemp plant is a special attribute of the god Siva
Indian Hemp Drugs Commission, Report of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission, 1893-94, vol. 1, 1894, ch. XIV, para. 564The Commission's ruling against suppressing bhang, citing its antiquity and religious sanction among Hindus
the suppression of the use of bhang would be totally unjustifiable
William Dwight Whitney (trans.), rev. Charles Rockwell Lanman, Atharva-Veda Samhita, Harvard Oriental Series vol. 8, 1905, Book XI, hymn 6, verse 15, p. 642The Vedic verse naming hemp (bhanga) among plants invoked to free from distress
The five kingdoms of plants, having Soma as their chief