129
34.Supposing that the population of the pro-
vi nces i s 13 mi l l i ons or 6½ mi l l i ons mal es, and t he
classes who generally consume this drug are in the
following proportion in the Central Provinces:—
Males—Devotees 40,000, musicians 3.000, and
labourers 29,000; and supposing also that to
about half of these numbers the drug has become
necessity, it would primâ facie appear that the
devotees would feel the privation, as by mere force
of habit they have come to connect the subduing
of their animal appetite and the abstraction of
mind to this drug. Musicians think that it clears
their voice, and the labourer is able to brave the
inclemencies of weather, once he is fortified with
this drug.
35.Yes, the cultivation of ganja, should be
stopped altogether. A heavy duty might be
levied on bhang and charas. I do not think then
that there is any fear of illicit consumption.
A certain amount of discontent would certainly
arise, as the persons consuming the drug belong
generally to that illiterate class who take a very
long time indeed before they see what is good for
them. I do not think that this discontent will
breed any political danger, for the simple reason
that the consumers are men of no influence, and
all right-minded men look upon the consumption
of this drug as fraught with deterioration of the
national intellect. The lower classes will take
to liquor; but the higher classes will seek for its
substitute in vain.
36. No, because alcohol is much too expensive.
For my part I should like to see liquor cheapened,
particularly in wild and jungly parts of the pro
-vince. A Gond, when he has a whole day's out
- w o r k i n s u n a n d r a i n , r e a l l y w a n t s a g l a s s o f
liquor after that to prepare himself for the work
next day. Liquor, to which he has been used for
generations, does him no harm, as in majority of
cases it is used in moderation. No length of
familiarity with the drug under notice will coun
- t e r a c t i t s e v i l e f f e c t s , h o w e v e r , e v e n w h e n u s e d i n
moderation.
38.Round ganja is more intoxicating from the
fact that it contains a larger amount of resinous
matter, and a great many twigs and leaves which
will be good enough for the flat ganja are thrown
away in the manufacture of the round ganja.
39.No; although a little tobacco is mixed with
g a n j a , i t s e v i l e f f e c t s a r e i n n o w a y m i t i g a t e d .
The case is different slightly with bhang, as the
proportion of massala that is pounded with it is
about 70 per cent. and to a chhatak of bhang
about two seers of milk and water are added. A
bhang drinker takes some time before he gets
really intoxicated, and he is under its influence
longer than the ganja smoker is. The admixture
of tobacco is necessary, as without it ganja can
bardly be smoked with comfort.
40.Susruta, a book on medicine in Sanskrit,
says that the drug is a good medicine for getting
together the phlegm in the larynx and ejecting
it.
41.(a) to (c) No.
Fishermen, graziers, agricultural labourers and
generally those who have out-work in cold and
rains. They use ganja only moderately as a habit
and for the purposes indicated in the question, but
I think these poor people have simply been told
that ganja is good for so and so, and they use it
without ever troubling themselves to see whether
i t s u s e i s d o i n g t h a t g o o d t o t h e m f o r wh i c h i t
was prescribed. That it does not give them
staying-power I judge from the fact that the use
o of the drug is essentially accompanied with ting
- l i n g a n d n u m b n e s s o f t h e a c t i v e m e m b e r s o f t h e
body and a physical insensibility, as in the case of
monkshood.
42.I certainly think that even the moderate
use of ganja and bhang injures materially the con
- s u m e r . H e s u f f e r s i n b o d y i f h e i s n o t a b l e t o
have to eat milk, ghi and oily substances general
- l y . H e a l m o s t i n v a r i a b l y s u f f e r s i n m i n d . H e
becomes such a conspicuous object that I do not
know if I have ever made a mistake in finding
him out from a crowd of people. He is sharp
tempered, very easily excitable, morbidly sensitive,
quarrelsome, and becomes quite apathetic and an
easy prey to disease.
4.3. No; they are as a rule very disagreeable,
and of the many persons I have seen I cannot
bring one to my recollection regarding whom I
could record a favourable opinion.
44.Excessive use causes excitement which is
succeeded by narcotism. During the initial stage
he gets some, what he calls pleasurable, halluci
-nations. He is then generally quiet, or laugh
-ing immoderately and singing loudly and inco
-herently. This stage is followed by perfect in
-activity. It is not refreshing, and it does pro
- d u c e i n t o x i c a t i o n o f t h e w o r s t t y p e i m a g i n a b l e .
The individual who uses bhang in moderation
will often assure you that were it not for that,
his appetite would be nothing. I am, however,
of opinion that this is simply a make-believe of
his, and that if he does really feel as hungry as a
wolf after a potation of the kind, what he as,,
cribes to bhang is due to the virtue of the mas
- s a l a u s e d w i t h i t a n d n o t a l i t t l e t o t h e p l e a s a n t
surroundings attendant upon bhang parties.
To the last question my answer is "both."
45.Certainly, my idea of an average ganja
-smoker is that he is a skinny, shrivelled, bare-
boned individual, worn to a shadow, and that of
a bhang-drinker a veritable Rip Van Winkle,
probably not so weak-looking as the ganja-smoker
but a candid waiter on Providence. I have never
seen either of these individuals what I should
call good eaters. They show, however, a decided
partiality to things made with sugar and ghi.
A ganja and bhang smoker is always a prey to
asthma, pre-eminently the former. The action of
the drug, when used in excess, is originally upon
the brain and the spinal marrow, and secondarily
upon the stomach and the bowels, which are as a
rule irritated and inflamed. It, therefore, injures
digestion and the normal appetite fails. Barring
a certain class of persons who use it occasionally
for the purpose of sexual pleasure, it deadens the
finer feelings of those who without it would have
been perfectly straight and moral persons. In a
very great majority of cases I have noticed that
persons who could really be called intelligent
have not only become perfectly stupid but insane.
The insanity is temporary, but if a person once
cured uses it again, insanity appears again, and
it is then hard to cure it.
46.I would not be wrong if I say that our
lunatic asylums would be found to have persons,
35 per cent. of whom were victims to this drug.
The symptoms are dilated pupils, black lips,
offensive breath and vacant look, also muffled,
hoarse, husky and sometimes nasal voice. That
the brain is affected is apparent from the fact
that when a ganja-smoker or a bhang-drinker talks
to you he is obliged to shake his head to arouse
his brain nerve, which becomes inert, if not dis
- e a s e d a n d i n c a p a b l e o f a c t i n g a s w h e n i n a
normal state. It follows from what I have sub-