214
Dry tobacco leaves and the ordinary tobacco I
stuff used for smoking are, as a rule, mixed with
ganja and charas before they are smoked. The
following are the ingredients of the ''bhang
massala" as sold in the bazar :—1. kakri seeds,
2. khira seeds, 3. kahu seeds, 4. khurfa seeds,
5. kasni seeds, 6. aniseed, 7. kadu seeds.
Majun is a preparation of bhang with sugar,
milk and other articles of food, and is sold in
cakes. I have never seen dhatura or nux vomica
mixed with it.
30. Charas and ganja are usually smoked in
company, but bhang seldom. The two former
are mainly confined to the male sex, though ex-
ceptional instances are sometimes met with. The
sakins of Lucknow are inveterate charas-smokers.
Females take bhang only as medicine for the cure
of certain diseases, as piles, diarrhoea, etc., etc. It
is not usual for children to consume any of these
drugs,
31. The habit of consuming the drugs is not
so easily formed as is usually imagined : it takes a
pretty long time to become a confirmed habitual
consumer. The habit, once formed, is difficult to
break off, but it is apparently less so than either
opium or alcohol.
32. I know of no custom, social or religious, in
regard to the consumption of any of these drugs,
except on the occasion of the Desahra festival, on
which day, once in the year, it is customary in
Bengal to take bhang. Many dread its intoxi-
cating effects, and merely touch it with the tip
of the tongue. Bhang, charas, and ganja are
very freely used during the festival of Holi in
these provinces ; but, as far as I know, there is
no religions injunction to do so, nor is it considered
binding on any member of society. Even in the
solitary instance cited above, it is not considered
essential. The use of bhang on the Dasahra day
is, generally speaking, temperate and not likely
to lead to the formation of the habit or prove
otherwise injurious.
36. Amongst certain sections of the middle
class of people who are now in more affluent cir-
cumstances, alcohol is now being substituted for
the hemp drugs to a considerable extent, and the
reason is apparently the comparative want of
regard for the religious injunction prohibiting the
use of spirits ; but in the great majority of cases
especially amongst the poorer classes, the hemp
drugs are being substituted for alcohol. The
reason is the comparatively higher price of spirits,
and the proof may, I believe, be found in the
increased excise revenue from the hemp drugs.
37. Charas is not so powerful in its effects as
ganja ; otherwise there is hardly any difference in
their action. The drinking of bhang produces its
effects more slowly than either of the two above
mentioned. All the three stimulate the digestive
organs, excite the nervous system, and act, to
an appreciable extent, on the organs of genera-
tion.
39. The smoking of ganja or charas is not less
injurious than the drinking of bhang or the eating
of majun, but, I believe, more so. When a man
drinks bhang or eats majun, the stomach is the
only organ directly affected, and the nervous
system is reached through one passage only, con-
sequently its action on that system is compara-
tively slow ; whilst the fumes of ganja and charas
are imbibed by the mucous membrane of the mouth,
æsophagus, and the stomach as well as by the
whole surface of the respiratory passages. As a
matter of course, the action of the drug is more
sudden, intense, and violent. By taking a forci-
ble pull from a ganja or a charas pipe a man may
at once, or in a short time, become insensible ; but
in the case of drinking bhang or eating majun,
assuming the quantity to be an equivalent one,
considerably more time will be required to produce
the same effect. I believe it is this difference in
the mode of action which accounts for the suppos-
ed greater tendency of ganja and charas to pro-
duce insanity than bhang.
40. Bhang is prescribed by both baids and
hakims in cases of atonic dyspepsia and diar-
rhœa. It is also recommended as a local ap-
plication to allay the irritation of piles. It is
more frequently used as a domestic medicine for
the cure of the same diseases. Charas, or the
resinous extract, was at one time used by English
doctors in rheumatism, cholera, hydrophobia, and
other diseases, and, before the discovery of chloral
hydrate and esserine, in tetanus, especially of the
traumatic variety. I do not know whether the
hemp drugs are used in the treatment of cattle
disease or not ; but I have frequently seen bhang
administered to a horse or bullock to allay fatigue
when it has been made to do more than its usual
amount of work, and apparently with beneficial
results.
41. (a) Bhang, when taken in moderation,
has a wonderful effect in sharpening the appetite.
It not unfrequently produces a voracious hunger,
as in the ease of the Mathura Chaubes and the
professional Brahmin beggars, who have been seen
to consume an enormous quantity of sweetmeats
when under its influence. I cannot say whether
ganja or charas acts in the same way.
(b) I have observed dooly-bearers work harder
after a smoke of ganja ; there can hardly be any
doubt that they alleviate their fatigue by its
fumes. I believe it is this sense of relief from
exhaustion that induces many hard-working men
I to resort to this drug.
(c) I do not believe that ganja acts as a
febrifuge or as a prophylactic of fever ; but there
can hardly be any doubt that ganja smokers enjoy
greater immunity from the effects of atmospheric
vicissitudes than people not accustomed to its use.
In the case of poor people insufficiently clad, it is
an advantage not to be despised. I have also seen
ganja smokers sleep profoundly under most un-
favourable conditions.
44. The immediate effect of the moderate use
of the hemp drugs is a mild excitement of the
circulatory and nervous systems. It lasts for a
short time only, and is followed by an agreeable
feeling of gentle warmth all over the body. It is
refreshing in one sense, as it alleviates fatigue ;
but it causes dryness of the mouth, and probably
of the mucous membranes generally. Yes, it
produces intoxication. It enables the consumer
to wait patiently for food; but it cannot be said
to allay hunger. It creates appetite, or rather
sharpens it. Its effects generally last from one
to three hours. There are hardly any after effects
left. Want of subsequent gratification produces
longing, if not actual uneasiness,
45. The habitual moderate use of these drugs,
if the consumer can afford to eat plenty of nourish-
ing food, especially greasy substances, does not
produce any physical deterioration for a long time.
When the habit of ganja smoking is long per-
severed in, it generally causes thinness of the body,
and gives a faded look to the appearance. Con-
firmed ganja smokers are, as a class, very irritable
persons, rough in manner and speech, and gener-
ally of an easily excitable temper. The prolonged
use of bhang in moderate quantities, on the other