Nepal is home to the legendary Royal Nepalese Temple Hashish Balls and other delicious delicacies. With new laws to legalize marijuana and new goals, Nepal may soon return to its glory days. Nepal’s pool of cannabis advocates now include people living with HIV and other conditions who not only wantCannabis, but You are required it.

Nepal’s top officials signaled that legislation is underway to repeal Nepal’s ban on cannabis.

“It is not justifiable that a poor country like ours has to treat cannabis as a drug,” Nepal’s Health Minister Birodh Khatiwada told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on April 29. “Our people are being punished … and our corruption increases because of smuggling as we follow decisions of developed countries that are now doing as they please.”

That’s not the only reason for cannabis reform in Nepal. Like any other country in the world, more people are turning to marijuana for its medicinal properties.

“It is a medicine,” said cannabis activist Rajiv Kafle, who is living with HIV, and uses cannabis for medical reasons. HIV may cause wasting syndrome (a loss of appetite). One of cannabis’s most prominent side effects is the munchies, being a powerful appetite-inducer.

“So many patients are using it, but they are forced to do it illegally,” Kafle said. “They can get caught anytime.” The Associated PressIt was reported that on October 11th, 2021 campaigners brought a bill into Parliament. They wanted to allow the growing, export, and use of cannabis in countries where it is legalized for medicinal or recreational purposes.

Kafle is one of the leading advocates in Nepal for medical cannabis reform. It’s a reminder of how HIV was a driving force for the first statewide medical cannabis laws in the U.S. as well.

Hashish Haven in Kathmandu

In the ‘60s and through today, many accounts detail how the most avid hippies made their way to Kathmandu, Nepal to buy the world’s most potent hash. Hash could be easily found from government-licensed stores on “Freak Street.” Most people who tried temple balls say they’ve “never forgotten” the experience. In 1973, Nepal banned all hashish sellers due to pressure from America and other nations.

Anterior Chronic NewsBill Weinberg, news editor, reported extensively on the area, explaining how even after 1973’s ban, the hashish trading continued to thrive for a while. The hashish market was affected by a clampdown on temple hashish in Nepal, which took effect in 2018.

According to local press, backpackers from the West are still traveling to Nepal to buy hashish in back alleys—while the country isn’t getting a piece of it in the form of taxes, etc. Even worse is the smuggling problem and corruption.

In December 2020 Nepal backed a successful campaign when the United Nations reclassified cannabis out of its list of the world’s most harmful drugs.

It is difficult to distinguish cannabis and religion within the region. The practice of smoking cannabis at Hindu temples has become a common occurrence. Shiva is depicted as holding a chillum for smoking. That’s why you’ll see temples such as Kathmandu’s Pashupatinath Temple offer ceremonies with holy men and worshippers who fill their own chillums with Shiva’s “gift”.

But it’s the same temple complex that was raided in 2018, when 280 people were arrested and 115 criminally charged. There’s a clear disconnect between religion and law.

According to royal Nepalese temple havehish balls, they can produce an unparalleled taste and strength that is unmatched by anyone in the West. Ed Rosenthal called this the Holy Grail for concentrates.

Every year thousands of pilgrims gather at Nepalese temples to celebrate Shivaratri, a Hindu festival. Cannabis is considered a sacred sacrament.

With the new movement in legislation to end the ban on cannabis in Nepal, it’s a unique place in the world where religion meets cannabis.