150
27. Class (a) includes chiefly hard-worked la
-bourers, who take an occasional whiff of ganja,
three or four times a day, to relieve their weariness,
or just as they lie down at nights to set them asleep
and assist digestion.
29. Tobacco is ordinarily mixed with ganja for
smoking purposes. Occasionally dhatura seed is
mixed with ganja; this is by people who suffer
from asthma; an exceptional few mix dhatura with
ganja to enhance the intoxicating effect. Travel
- l e r - t h i e v e s a r e c r e d i t e d w i t h a d m i n i s t e r i n g d h a t u r a
with ganja to their victims; it makes them te
m - p o r a r i l y i n s a n e f o r a b o u t t h r e e d a y s .
No special bhang massala is sold for admixture
with bhang.
30. About 20 per cent. of the ganja smokers
smoke in private, and 80 per cent. in company.
Out of every 100 consumers, about 10 per cent.
are women, 20 per cent. are boys, 70 per cent. are
men. Boys of the labouring and ganja smoking
classes begin to smoke ganja from 12 years old
and upwards: resul t of exampl e, because t hey
think it manly.
31. Smoking of ganja has to be learnt by de
- g r e e s . B e g i n n e r s g e t t h e l a s t w h i f f , o r h a v e t o
avoid taking a full whiff: they acquire the habit
in two or three months, and become confirmed
habituals after about a year. The habit once ac
- q u i r e d i s d i f f i c u l t t o b r e a k o f f . I f a s m o k e r i s
deprived of his ganja, it affects his digestion, and
his energies. As in the case of all intoxicants,
the tendency is for moderate indulgence to in
- c r e a s e , b u t n o t n e c e s s a r i l y t o e x c e s s . F o r i n s t a n c e ,
the 20 per cent. of consumers, whom I estimated
to be habitual moderate consumers, are not likely
to become habitual excessive consumers. They will
probably require an extra whiff or more as they
grow older, but having learnt to be habitual mo
- d e r a t e c o n s u m e r s , t h e y a r e n o t l i k e l y t o b e c o m e
habitual excessive consumers.
32. There is no religious sanction for indul
- g e n c e i n g a n j a o r b h a n g . C o n s u m e r s o f t h e i r
own wrong-headedness and wickedness do take
their pipe of ganja, or lota of bhang, to the temples
and pour some of the bhang as an oblation to the
gods, but this is quite against religion. They also
offer a piece of ganja flower (kali) as an offering.
33. The consumption of either ganja or bhang
is considered disreputable. The terms "ganjhar,"
a regular ganja smoker, or "bhangar," a habitual
drinker of bhang, are terms of reproach. A parent,
not himself a consumer, would grieve if he caught
his son taking to ganja. Even if the parents
being addicted to ganja thought little of their
son taking to it, employers of labour and others
would disapprove it.
The same reproach does not attach to the men
occasionally partaking of a draught of bhang d
e - c o c t i o n i n t h e h o t w e a t h e r a s a c o o l i n g d r i n k .
I never heard of any worship of the ganja
plant.
34. I consider it would be a serious privation to
the labouring classes to stop their smoking of
ganja. Not only would they suffer from indiges
- t i o n , s l e e p l e s s n e s s a n d l o s s o f e n e r g i e s f o r t w o o r
three months, but in the end, even they would not
be able to undergo hard work or exposure as before,
without fortifying themselves with some other
stimulant. The labouring classes require their
smoke of ganja.
35. The general consumption of ganja could be
stopped by proclamation, allowing consumers a
year's time to get over the habit by gradually
lessening their consumption. After that, absti
- n e n c e c o u l d b e e n f o r c e d b y f i n e , n o t e x c e e d i n g
Rs. 50, with imprisonment in default of payment.
The habitual ganja smokers would be driven to
take opium or liquor instead. Their dissatisfaction
would be exceeded. by the satisfaction of the
majority of ganja consumers thus forced to give
up the habit. There would be no fear of a mutiny
or the like from stoppage of ganja smoking;
there would be much abuse of the Government and
its officers by the ganja smokers, but no real danger
to the State is to be apprehended from them.
36. Alcohol is certainly not superseding ganja
as a stimulant. Who accustomed to intoxication
or stimulant at 1 pie, which is about the price of
sufficient ganja, would give that up to take to
l i q u o r a t 4 a n n a s a n i n t o x i c a t i o n ? C e r t a i n l y n o t
the poor labouring classes. No one, rich or poor,
would give up ganja willingly to indulge in al
- c o h o l .
39. The smoking of ganja is more injurious
than the drinking of a decoction of bhang. More
people fall into excess over ganja than over bhang.
If either ganja or bhang be indulged in to excess,
the evil effects are alike. People go off their head
from both.
40. The only medicinal use of ganja or bhang
that I know of is in the form of ointment prepared
from bhang for poor patients. Native hakims
also prescribe a mild decoction of bhang to counter
- a c t o r s m o t h e r t h e v i o l e n c e o f a f e v e r . G a n j a , a s
distinct from bhang, is not prescribed medicinally
that I know of. For the method of preparing
bhang ointment, see my answer to Question 19.
41. Ganja smokers certainly claim for ganja
that it is good for digestion. It is also certain
that, if habitual ganja smokers are deprived of
their ganja, their digestive organs go all wrong.
Ganja also does certainly give staying-power under
severe exertion or exposure. A ganja smoker, for
instance, could walk straight on and for a longer
distance than a non-smoker. This is why the
labouring classes so generally smoke ganja. Also
ganja certainly enables the Gond to live under
conditions of bad water, and malarial exhalations,
which would soon kill a non-smoker of ganja.
The habitual moderate consumers of ganja among
the labouring classes and jungle tribes certainly
benefit from ganja smoking. It is for the sedentary
classes, and for those who are not subjected to
bodily fatigue and exposure, that ganja smoking
is not beneficial.
42. I do consider that the smoking of ganja is
positively beneficial to the poor, who have to work
hard in the open under exposure. With the help
of a smoke of ganja, the labourer suffers neither
from cold nor wet, despite insufficient clothing.
43. The moderate ganja smokers give no trouble
to their neighbours. It is only occasional exces
- s i v e s m o k e r s , a n d p e r s o n s u n a c c u s t o m e d t o g a n j a ,
who make themselves offensive under its influence.
44. I have no personal experience, but I have
noticed the effect of a smoke of ganja upon the
habitual moderate consumer. He returns refreshed
to his work, and applies himself to it with zest;
the effect does not make him spoil his work, or
carry it out less intelligently. It allays hunger
— a h u n g r y m a n r e f r e s h e d b y g a n j a w i l l w o r k a s
well as ever. Its effect lasts for different periods