The world is in a state of economic limbo due to Coronavirus. Many months of production and consumption have been lost. The IMF is calling it the biggest recession since the Great Depression.
As a less developed country, India and its poor have been particularly hard hit. As the Chief Economic Advisor, K. Subramaniam has already indicated, India will not be able to stimulate the economy to the extent that some larger economies have.
However, there are many economists, including Nobel laureate Abhijit Bannerjee, who are suggesting that it is extremely important that the rural poor need money immediately to prevent a monumental economic and human tragedy.
So how will a resource constrained country like India put money in the hands of the rural poor immediately? My suggestion: legalise cannabis cultivation, processing, sale and export.
I understand that several readers might immediately jump to the conclusion that I am a habitual Marijuana user, making convoluted arguments for my own benefit. However, I argue that this is the lowest cost method to stimulate the economy and it requires nothing other than a small change to the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) to immediately and dramatically stimulate the Indian economy. This stimulus can be provided with the stroke of a pen and with no significant spending from government coffers.
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