42
11. Yes ; in the Gonda district the wild hemp
yields ganja (Excise Report, 1892). It only
needs manure and a rich soil and the elimination
of the male plant to become ganja-yielding.
Indeed, the upper foliage of the wild plant con-
tains large quantities of the resin, and yields the
best bhang.
12. Gonda, Gorakhpur, Fyzabad, Barabanki,
and Pertabgarh. See above reply. It is easy to
extract the resinous principle from the wild
hemp—1st, by expressing and concentrating the
juice of the green wild plant; and, 2ndly, by
boiling down the entire plant and evaporating
water.
The product resembles charas more
than ganja, but charas and ganja are identical
drugs in different forms.
13. It is supposed to be restricted, i.e., on
a large scale, but the law is easily evaded. It is
impossible to prevent ganja being smuggled from
across the southern border of the province, which
is intersected and interlaced with Native States,
all of which grow ganja. It is not even possible
at present to levy a duty on this ganja. There
is no part of the province where ganja could not
be produced. The law restricting the growth of
hemp is practically a dead letter. No means of
enforcing it exist.
14. Yes ; all three to a very large extent.
16. Yes ; bhang in the North-Western Pro-
vinces is solely the product of the wild plant.
The best comes from the banks of the Rapti in
Gonda (the Bulrampur estate). People commonly
grow a few plants near their houses for personal
consumption. Solitary plants are sown, and as
soon as the sex is discovered, the males are de-
stroyed. These plants undoubtedly do yield ganja,
but the knowledge of the process with regard to
ganja does not seem to be general ; with regard
to the bhang-producing qualities, it is. A sub-
stance resembling charas can be prepared from the
wild plant, and ganja certainly.
18. Bhang and ganja markedly deteriorate in
the rains by the formation of mould (fungus),
which preys on their active principles and leaves
them comparatively inert. If kept dry in close
tin boxes, both keep well for years. The tincture
has been known to be as active as the day it was
made after twenty years. Majum keeps well ;
charas does not spoil readily. A good sample of
ganja is always sticky to the feel owing to resin.
19. No ; they are used for a variety of purposes,
chiefly medical. All tinctures (alcoholic) of hemp
are obtained from ganja; and charas is used
largely medicinally for dysentery after child-birth
to procure sleep, to break up a cold, and to allay
pain; in fact, much as Dover's powder is used
among ourselves. All over India.
20. Ganja is smoked by the subordinate sacer-
dotal class of mendicants, gosains, bairagis,
sadhus, etc., as well as all the lower classes of
Hindus and Muhammadans. Charas smoking
is merely a milder form of taking ganja, and a
better class of people use it—musicians, dancing
girls, athletes, acrobats, and native gentry, who
do not care for a very heavy intoxicant. Kaiths
and Bengalis of all castes smoke charas and ganja.
21. Baluchur or Bengal ganja is most valued,
but it is nearly always adulterated with pathar.
Round ganja is not procurable anywhere near
where I live.
22. Some is imported from Bokhara, Yarkand,
and Afghanistan, through the Povindas or Kabuli
traders who visit India in the cold weather with
dried fruits, asafœtida, santonine, and other drags.
But charas is produced in enormous quantities
right through the Himalayas ; also imported and
manufactured in Sind and the Punjab. Consider-
able quantities of goorda or charas dust is made by
beating ganja under a cloth. This can be made
anywhere, and when kneaded up and compressed
does not differ from charas. An imitation of
charas is also made in the form of an extract from
the wild hemp. Charas is also imported from
Nepal in the form of sticks, like thin candles, and
is called "Saljehan."
23. Not generally, but were the use of ganja
and charas interdicted, it would be generally so
used by being mixed with native tobacco. It
would be nearly impossible to detect it there by
sight or smell, as native tobacco consists of equal
parts of tobacco leaf and treacle, very finely pound-
ed and mixed. As previously stated, an extract
of considerable strength is made from the wild
hemp, which does not differ in its properties from
ganja and charas, and this is sometimes mixed
with tobacco.
24. I believe that 80 per cent. of the upper
classes of the Hindus, who remain orthodox, and do
not use alcohol, use bhang. This everywhere.
Its use has the sanction of religion, and is general-
ly beneficial unless taken to excess. Vaishnaivas
are said not to use intoxicants or narcotics of any
kind. But they undoubtedly use pan.supari
often 1o excess, and areca nut has intoxicating
properties of a very mild kind. Shaivites use
bhang largely.
Bhang : it is the special drug of the Hindu hier-
archy, Mahabrahmins, equivalent to our bishops
and archbishops. The Chaubeys of Muttra the
Pragwals and Ghatwals of Allahabad, the Ganga-
putras of Benares all use bhang to excess. These
men are in charge of the holy shrines at the places
named.
25. I do not consider that the increase in the
use of these drugs (which I admit is the case as
far as the bulk imported goes) is beyond the in-
crease that might be expected along with the in-
crease of population and general spread of wealth
and prosperity since the establishment of British
rule. The methods employed in census operations
are more reliable, and the population of Oudh has
doubled in the last 50 years. Hemp drugs are
cheaper ; one pice worth of hemp will produce the
same degree of intoxication as 4 annas worth of
alcohol. The price of mahua alcohol, in the
Native States bordering the Allahabad district, is
one anna a quart. The high price of alcohol is
due to the duty. The use of hemp drugs have
the sanction of religion. The use of alcohol is
forbidden the upper castes of the Hindus and
the Muhammadans in toto.
26. (a) For bhang, about 1 seer per mensem to
10 tolas.
(b) Ganja, about 20 grains will suffice for
one smoke to 6 men, and 8 oz. form a month's
supply to a moderate smoker (of pathar ganja). I
don't think a poor labourer in India smokes more
than 3 or 4 pipes a day. It is impossible to
strictly define moderation in smoking. I consider
that any man who smokes more than two cigar-
ettes a day does not use tobacco in moderation.
Most Anglo-Indian gentlemen smoke about a dozen
cheroots a day, and this is excess in my opinion.
Others might consider smoking half a dozen
cheroots a day moderation.
27. " Man being rational, must get drunk."
Some take hemp to subdue physical energy ; others
* NOTE.—Mahabrahmins are rather an inferior class, as they accept
funeral gifts from all castes.