7
any improvement of the system of control over
the hemp drugs; but the duties might be raised
gradually if the hemp drugs are shown to be
deleterious. In saying that liquor is innocuous,
I mean that the weak liquor consumed in the
Nagpur district is harmless. And, on the as-
sumption that hemp drugs are deleterious, I
should regard the change of habit from hemp
drugs to liquor as beneficial.
Question 33.—There are castes, such as Dhimas,
among whom the hemp drugs are not at all in
disrepute.
4. Evidence of MR. L. K. LAURIE, Officiating Secretary to the Chief Commissioner,
General Department.
2. Yes. But the ' flat' variety is whatis known
as "ganja" in these provinces: and our "bhang"
is the leaves of the cultivated plant.
7 .
( a ) Y e s . I n N i m a r .
13. Yes. To Nimar.
14. Ganja and bhang.
16. No. A coarse kind of bhang could be so
prepared. Ganja is the product of cultivated
female hemp plants, the male plant being carefully
destroyed.
18. Ganja certainly does: and bhang, too, I
believe.
35. Quite feasible to prohibit the use; but diffi
-cult to enforce the prohibition effectively. There
would be a certain amount of discontent created.
Considering that Hindu ascetics—and also, I be
-lieve, Muhammadan fakirs—are reported to con
- s u m e g a n j a , t h e d i s c o n t e n t m i g h t a m o u n t t o a
political danger, if our repressive measures proved
thoroughly effective. But they would probably
fail to suppress the use of ganja, which would be
illicitly cultivated.
41. I have been told that this is one of the uses
of ganja; and that it is given with this object to
horses or ponies when a trying journey is to be
performed with speed and endurance.
58. I consider it to be working well: and am
not prepared to make any suggestion for its im
-provement.
60. I do not think that the system requires
modification.
62. I am not aware that any such measure is
called for.
63. None.
64. None.
68. No. See conditions of retail license.
69. If any objections are preferred, these are
considered. But in an agricultural province like
this, the people are not given to formulating their views in speech or writing; and "public opinion"
can only be arrived at by laborious research.
Further note put in by Mr. Laurie.
I have been asked to give my views as to
( 1 ) T h e e x t e n t t o w h i c h h e m p d r u g s a r e
used in the Central Provinces, with inci--
dental reference to question No. 25 as to
whether consumption is on the increase.
( 2 ) T h e m o r a l a n d p h y s i c a l e f f e c t s w h i c h t h e y
have on the people generally with inci
- d e n t a l r e f e r e n c e t o q u e s t i o n s 4 1 a n d 4 5 .
( 3 ) T h e c o n n e c t i o n o f t h e c o n s u m p t i o n o f t h e
drugs with crime (questions 51 to 55).
( 4 ) T h e n e c e s s i t y f o r f u r t h e r r e s t r i c t i o n o r f o r
prohibition, and generally for any change
in system (question 35, and chapter
VII) regarding Administration.
My opinion on each of these points is as fol
- l o w s : —
(1) The quantity of ganja annually retailed in
the Central Provinces (including feudatories
and zamindaries) is, taking the average of the
last five years, 1,282 maunds, equal to 51,280
seers. Now, the quantity of ganja which a
moderate consumer takes daily is believed to be
about ¼t o l a ( w o r t h a b o u t 6 p i e ) p e r d i e m = 9 1 ¼
tolas, or about 1⅛ seers per annum. If all the
consumers of ganja in the Central Provinces were
moderate consumers, then an annual consump
- t i o n o f 5 1 , 2 8 0 s e e r s w o u l d m e a n b e t w e e n 4 5 , 0 0 0
and 46,000 ganja smokers. As some are exces
- s i v e c o n s u m e r s , t h e n u m b e r o f p e r s o n s a n n u a l l y
using ganja issued from licensed shops would
seem to be below 45,000. But it is not likely
that the labouring classes, who form the bulk of
the consumers, can afford to buy 6 pie worth
daily all the year round. If they smoke only
one day in ten, the total number of consumers of
taxed ganja is still below half a million out of a
total population of over 13 millions, or less than
4 per cent.
I am not able, of course, to say how much
smuggled ganja is consumed; but I have no
reason to suppose that the quantity is large in
the province generally. It used to be consider
- a b l e i n C h h a t t i s g a r h b e f o r e t h e r a i l w a y w a s
opened, and before we insisted on the ganja con
-tractor offering good ganja for sale, in order to
oust the competition of untaxed ganja from
beyond our borders. My general conclusion is
that the quantity of ganja consumed in the
Central Provinces is small.
As to bhang, the quantity sold is inconsiderable,
averaging 12 maunds (about) annually. The
chief consumers are well-to-do Marwaris. Charas,
so far as I know, is not consumed in the Central
Provinces. Although the returns for the last five
years show an increase in the quantity of taxed
ganja sold, an examination of the district figures
reveals that the increase is almost wholly due to
the ousting of smuggled ganja by taxed ganja
from the Khandwa warehouse in the eastern
districtt—Chhattisgarh and Bhandara (with
Balaghat). In ten districts consumption (as evid
-enced by sales) has either declined or has only
increased to a small extent (corresponding, it may
be, to the increase in population). The consump
-tion of bhang is fairly constant.
(2) With regard to the moral and physical
effects of the consumption of ganja, it is difficult
to speak with accuracy and without having had
a ganja smoker (certainly ascertained to be such)
under observation for a series of years. Most
ganja-smokers belong to the labouring classes,
and could not indulge in a drug which unfitted
them for earning their daily wage. I have been
told by natives of this country that ganja gives
staying-power and alleviates fatigue; but I have
not personally verified this assertion. From my