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14. Evidence of MR. JAMES WILSON, Deputy Commissioner, Shahpur.
1. My experience regarding hemp drugs is
practically confined to the Shahpur district, of
which I have been Deputy Commissioner for the
last seven years.
2. Ganja is unknown in Shahpur. Bhang and
charas are used as described in the question.
Bhang is also known as sukha.
3. It grows spontaneously in the Shahpur
district, but only in the Salt Range.
4. Only known as bhang.
5. It grows in the Salt Range from 1,000 to
5,000 feet above sea level, with a rainfall of about
17 inches per annum, chiefly in comparatively
moist places.
6. Usually scattered, but in places fairly dense.
7. In the Shahpur district the hemp plant is
not cultivated for production of ganja, charas, fibre
or seeds, but only for use as bhang. The area so
cultivated is very small, not more than five acres
in the whole district.
8. None.
9. Cultivated on land irrigated from wells. No
special method of cultivation is practised. When
ripe, the plant is cut and dried, and its leaves and
small twigs removed to be used as bhang.
10. No special class. Only Hindus cultivate it
here.
11. No ganja grows here.
14. In this district only bhang is prepared.
15. For bhang only the leaves and small twigs
of the dry plant are separated by beating with a
stick.
16. Ganja and charas cannot be prepared from
the wild plant here. Bhang can be prepared from
the hemp plant wherever grown here. It is
generally prepared by the people in their own
houses.
17. No special class. The Hindu producers
prepare the dry leaves for sale, and the drinkers
themselves prepare the bhang for drinking.
18. Charas is said to lose strength greatly in
the rainy season owing to damp. It deteriorates
also by exposure to the air. It is therefore kept
closed up as much as possible. Bhang, if kept
dry, does not deteriorate rapidly.
19. Charas is only used for smoking here.
20. In this district ganja is not smoked. Charas
is smoked only by religious devotees, both Hindu
and Mussalman, and that chiefly in large towns.
Not one in a thousand of the total population
smokes charas.
21. Not smoked here.
22. Only foreign charas, said to come from
Yarkand.
28. Bhang is only drunk.
24. Bhang is very seldom eaten, and only when
it is not convenient to prepare the drink. It is
drunk chiefly by religious devotees, both Hindu
and Mussalman; seldom by Hindu shopkeepers,
and almost never by Mussalmans who are not
fakirs. It is hardly ever consumed, except in large
towns, where perhaps two per cent. of the popula-
tion consume it. For the whole district perhaps
five in a thousand drink bhang.
25. No very marked change either one way or
the other.
Charas.
26. (a) Very few.
(b) Almost all.
(c) None.
(d) None.
Bhang.
One-fourth.
Half.
One-fourth.
None.
27. Almost all the smokers of charas and almost
all the habitual excessive consumers of bhang are
religious devotees, and the reason they take to it
is said to be that they often sit without employ-
ment; in fact, have nothing better to do. Many
begin by following the example of fakirs. The
moderate consumers of bhang are many of them
Hindu shopkeepers, who drink it for its cooling
and appetising effect, especially in the hot weather.
28. Charas—
(a) Hardly any such.
(b) One tola per diem.
Bhang-
(a) Two mashas per diem.
(b) One or two chittacks a day.
29. Nothing is mixed with charas except
tobacco, which is put in the bowl of the huka
below, and the charas above.
With bhang black pepper is generally mixed
that it may not cause indigestion. Moderate
consumers mix melon seed, gourd seed, almonds,
cardamoms, sugar, or sometimes milk, to give it a
good taste and prevent it from being too dry.
30. Almost entirely confined to the male sex,
except that prostitutes sometimes consume them.
Charas is generally smoked in company, and bhang
almost universally so. Children very seldom con-
sume these drugs, except when led to it by the
example of fakirs.
81. The habit seems easily formed and very
difficult to break off. There is a tendency for the
moderate habit to develop into the excessive.
32. There is no custom here in regard to the
consumption of the drugs, and no religious idea
connected with it, except that religious devotees
say it assists them to contemplate the deity.
They are consumed more largely on holidays than
on other occasions.
33. The consumption of both bhang and charas,
and especially charas, is generally regarded as very
objectionable, because it destroys the moral and
physical fibre of the man who consumes them to
excess. There is a strong public opinion against
them, especially against charas, which is considered
more pernicious than bhang. The hemp plant is
not worshipped, but bhang is offered in temples
to Shiv on the Shivaratri.
34. It would be a very serious privation to all
excessive consumers, whose craving for the drug
is very pressing and makes them frantic. Want
of the drug is said to cause diarrhoea or dysentery.
In this district of 500,000 inhabitants, perhaps
200 are excessive consumers of charas and 1,000
of bhang.
35. As charas is imported, it would be easy to
prohibit its consumption here and to prevent illicit
consumption. The few consumers would suffer,
but the population generally would approve of the
measure, and the discontent would be insignificant.
Bhang grows here, and it would be very difficult
to prevent illicit consumption. The general
population would welcome the prohibition, and the