Cannabis indica is an annual plant species in the family Cannabaceae[1] indigenous to the Hindu Kush mountains of Southern Asia.

[2] The plant produces large amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)[3] and tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV), with total cannabinoid levels being as high as 53.7%.

[13] There was very little debate about the taxonomy of Cannabis until the 1970s, when botanists like Richard Evans Schultes began testifying in court on behalf of accused persons who sought to avoid criminal charges of possession of C. sativa by arguing that the plant material could instead be C. indica.

[21][22] A recent genetic analysis included both the narrow-leaflet and wide-leaflet drug "biotypes" under C. indica, as well as southern and eastern Asian hemp (fiber/seed) landraces and wild Himalayan populations.

[23] In 2011, a team of Canadian researchers led by Andrew Sud announced that they had sequenced a draft genome of the Purple Kush strain of C. indica.