362
it is probably picked up in childhood from the I
parents, as is the habit of smoking, on which no
restriction is placed by such parents.
32. No information.
33. Charas is reprobated. Bhang not so. It
is said to produce a pleasant sensation and to
promote hunger. Therefore (in moderation) it is
regarded as beneficial rather than as injurious.
34. To deprive habituals suddenly of the use
of charas would probably be a serious privation.
It would probably cause very great nervous and
physical prostration and great mental lassitude.
35. I doubt it. If repressive measures were
adopted they would be evaded, and in the case
of bhang easily so, since the plant grows wild so
profusely. If strictly prohibited discontent would
be caused among the religious class of consumers,
who greatly sway the opinions of the more
ignorant classes of natives. Whether it would
cause "political danger" it is difficult to say.
There would be discontent. Prohibition would
doubtless drive habituals to opium or liquor.
36. It is very doubtful. People addicted to
drugs may also use alcohol ; but I doubt if they
would give up the drug, entirely at any rate.
39. The smoking of charas is said to be parti-
cularly noxious. Its immediate effects are in-
sensibility ; and its after-effect, so far as a non-
professional person can say, is enervating, includ-
ing apathy and laziness. Its abuse is said to
cause impotency.
As to bhang, I believe that the immediate
effects are exhilarating and there are no after-
effects. This is hearsay. Bhang seems to be up
here the poor man's substitute for opium or
spirits.
41. (a) Doubtful. Bhang is said to increase
the appetite.
(b) Charas, no. Bhang may.
42 . The moderate use of bhang may and pro-
bably is as little harmful as a similar moderation
in the use of opium or spirits. It is said to im-
prove the appetite and to have no after-effects.
43. The effect of charas smoking seems to be
stupefaction. Under these circumstances, except
in so far probably as they disgust their neigh-
bours by their habit, they may be said to be
inoffensive. They are probably more reckless of
consequences to themselves than desirous of
harming any one else.
44. Charas seems to intoxicate ; some it sti-
mulates in a lazy way. Bhang, I think, exhila-
rates to the extent of intoxication or its verge.
Bhang is said to increase appetite ; charas pro-
bably kills it.
I should say it does or there would be no
repetition.
45. They probably act differently on different
constitutions.
I doubt if insanity is produced by the mode-
rate use of hemp drugs any more than by the
moderate use of alcohol. The difficulty is to
know what constitutes "moderate use." What
is "moderate" for some would kill others.
(Only three cases of reputed insanity from the
use of hemp drugs have been—only lately—re-
ported to me.)
53. I have not heard of such cases.
57. As far as I know, charas is only smoked.
58. The system works fairly well. Proposals
have recently been made to tax the importation of
charas and bhang. An import tax on charas is
feasible and would probably diminish consumption,
as none is locally produced. To tax imported
bhang would probably have an inappreciable effect
on consumption.
62. It is not cultivated.
63. There is no wholesale system of sales that
is* regulated by rules.
64. The principle which underlies the regulation
of import, export and transport of hemp drugs is
very simple. Excepting in regard to Yarkandi
charas, importers bringing charas from places
within British India are required to take out passes
which are in effect transport passes, from the
Collector of the district nearest the border line
within the Punjab, in the case of merchants, and
from the Collector of their own districts in the
case of farmers (of whom there are none in the
Punjab), unless the drug is to be imported from
a Native State, in which case the pass is granted
by the nearest Punjab Collector to the State. In
case of import from a Foreign State, the Collector
nearest to the frontier grants the pass. The pack-
ages containing the drugs are sealed and are
carried under cover of the pass to place of destina-
tion, the pass being shown at head-quarters of
every district through which the drug passes.
But bulk may be broken, under due supervision,
anywhere along the route, or the destination may
be changed, fresh passes being granted or notes
made on old passes. As to Yarkandi charas, so
far as this Division is concerned, the pass must be
granted by the Joint Commissioner at Leh
(Resident ?) or from the Frontier Deputy Com-
missioner. The transport is then watched much in
the same way as in the case of other imports men-
tioned above.
The rules are simple and apparently effective ;
they have worked well up to the present, and com-
plaints of infraction of the excise laws by import-
ers have been few, if any. Certainly there have
been none recently of sufficient importance to
attract notice.
The only improvement that can be suggested
is the establishment of golas or bonded warehouses
at convenient localities. In that case merchants
or other importers might be compelled to carry
their drugs to such centres in bulk and conduct
sales there. This would also afford an easy means
of increasing taxation without harassing foreign
merchants, since the tax could be collected from
the purchasers, who would be retail vendors (as
there are no wholesale vendors) at time of purchase.
A transport duty would be difficult to realise.
Foreign merchants would probably be unwilling
to pay it, and would either withhold their wares
or compel Punjab traders to purchase at a point
beyond the frontier, so that the burden of the
transport duty would fall on such dealers and not
on the foreign merchants. The present system is
therefore effective as far as the control of illicit
transactions is concerned. Its chief, if not only,
defect is that it does not admit of the highest
possible tax being laid on the drugs.
65. This question is rather involved. The tax-
ation of charas would hardly affect the taxation of
bhang. Charas alone is taxable in the form of an
import duty in the Punjab, and a decrease in con-
sumption of charas might increase the consump-
tion of bhang ; but as the extra taxation besides
import duty on charas takes the form of license
fees the effect of one upon the other would not be
observable, since the licenses for both are sold to-
gether. The increased incidence of taxation (im-
port duty plus license fees) might decrease con-