I Once Got High with Cops in Dehradun

The Indian government made cannabis derivatives illegal in 1985 . According to the Narcotic Drugs & Psychotropic Substances Act, being found in possession can land you in jail for anywhere from six months to 20 years. In practice, sometimes things are a little hazier. A 23-year-old weed enthusiast, who claims to have charmed his way out of arrest thrice, spoke to VICE about his most memorable “bust”.

Some of my friends and I had gone to Raipur village on the outskirts of Dehradun, near my family home. I had a little bit of hash, which I wanted to smoke up alone, so I went to a street corner to light up.

Suddenly, I see two cops riding a Royal Enfield Bullet pulling up. Both short men with typical pahadi features; the older one was heavier, with thinning hair, while the younger was slim and handsome.

They said they suspected I was smoking weed. But I could easily see they were just looking for a bribe. I didn’t have even a single rupee in my pocket.

“It’s just a cigarette. I’m smoking Dutch tobacco wrapped in rolling paper,” I told them. “It’s ganja. I can tell by the smell,” the younger cop said.

My experience of dealing with cops in India has taught me one thing: don’t act scared and stand your ground. I told them to mind their own business and catch some real criminals. I repeated that it was just a hand-rolled cigarette, very popular with the youth nowadays.

“If you don’t know the difference, it’s your problem,” I said. “Smoke it if you want to check.” They were slightly confused by my aggression. They whispered something to each other then turned back to me.

“Give us your Dutch cigarette. We want to smoke it,” the older cop said.

If I backtracked now, they would probably beat me for lying. I gave them the half-burnt joint. “Wow. It’s slightly different,” one of them said, as they took turns inhaling.

Meanwhile, my friends were frantically calling me. The younger cop took my phone and told them they’d take care of me.

By this time, the cops’ eyes were red. It was probably the first time they had smoked cannabis. It was no use keeping up the lie now. “It was actually hashish,” I told them, expecting a thrashing.

“Make another one,” the older one said, laughing incessantly. “You smoke too.”

I made a joint with my last reserves of hash and we passed it around. It was dark and my friends had left for Dehradun, so I asked them to drop me home. “We would leave you on your doorstep, but we can’t drive on the hills in this condition,” one cop said. I offered to pilot their bike.

I drove through the streets of Dehradun with two stoned cops riding pillion on a police bike. Just before we got to a police barrier, they told me to stop. “What would other cops think? It looks weird, doesn’t it?”

One of them took the handlebar, and they took me home. We exchanged numbers and they told me to call them if I was ever in trouble. “Take care now,” one of them said, mock-threatening me before driving off.

VICE India in no way endorses the illegal usage of bhang or other narcotics. The content above is intended for educational and informational purposes only, and is not meant to propagate the use of any illegal substance. See Terms of Use for more.