Shimla, July 12 -- Himachal Pradesh's Revenue, Horticulture and Tribal Development Minister Jagat Singh Negi on Saturday underlined the state government's commitment to promoting the legal cultivation of cannabis (hemp) for medicinal and industrial purposes, emphasizing that "drug-free cannabis can become a sustainable economic option for farmers, not a source of addiction."

Speaking to ANI a day after the seminar and exhibition at the historic Gaiety Theatre in Shimla, Negi said that the misconceptions about narcotics in industrial use need to be ended first.

"Cannabis cultivation carried out for industrial or medicinal purposes is completely free from narcotic substances. It should not be confused with illegal or wild hemp that natura...