HYDERABAD: Police have uncovered a new form of cannabis consumption — ganja milkshake — following the apprehension of a man and his two sons, accused of selling ganja chocolates and ganja powder through their store in Jagathgirigutta on April 15.
It may be recalled that cops had raided a pooja items store — Jayasri Traders — and found that the prime accused, Manoj Kumar Agarwal, and his two sons, Murari Kumar Agarwal and Nitish Kumar Agarwal, from West Bengal, were selling ganja to consumers in Hyderabad. They had seized 4 kg of ganja powder and 160 packets of ganja chocolates. The trio were encouraged to sell cannabis by a relative of Manoj, who sold ganja-infused chocolates in West Bengal.
Normally, during the transportation and distribution of ganja, some of the substance would break and form into powder. The powder, known as ‘choora’ is typically sold at lower prices for smoking purposes. However, the trio struck a deal with a manufacturer in Indore to utilise the choora in making milkshake powder and sell it in sachets to low-income consumers.
Cops learnt that the accused used to receive the ganja, including the milkshake powder, concealed in kumkum packages. The police sought the assistance of Telangana State-Anti Narcotics Bureau (TS-NAB) to investigate the matter further and apprehend the Indore-based manufacturer.
Meanwhile, a senior police officer said that this choora-based milkshake additive is merely a lucrative source of income as the powder would barely give any ‘high’ to the consumer.
“A cannabis plant grows approximately 5 to 7 feet tall and most of the tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), — the primary psychoactive constituent of ganja — is mostly concentrated at one foot of its length from the top. While the buds, present at the top, are sold at higher prices, the rest of the plant, from which the powder is generally formed or derived, hardly contains any THC, rendering the high experienced by consumers as relatively mild. So, it has to be understood by the consumers that the sale of choora is only a money-making trick and does not provide any real cloudnine feeling. One must stay away from consuming ganja,” the officer added.