0286
is said to be eaten if taken soon after a smoke.
The soothing effects last perhaps for half an hour.
Very like the effects of a pipe of tobacco, and the
longing the same if not more accentuated.
45. (a) to (e) Not apparently so.
(f) and (g) No information.
46. See answer to question 50.
47 and 48. Not known.
49. Not known; though it is often stated that
excessive use of ganja tends to induce impotence.
50. Excessive habitual use .—In my opinion
excessive habitual use produces laziness, but not
debauchery. Most of the cases of insanity that
have come under my observation as due to this
cause have been of a temporary nature, maniacal
delirium and hallucinations; and the return of
such cases would imply that the symptoms were
reinduced by a renewed abuse of the drug.
51. Eight per cent. of the re-convicted prisoners
confined in this jail confess to having occasionally
used ganja, but none of them appears to have been
an habitual consumer, moderate or otherwise.
53. With reference to the latter part of this
question, I may cite the case of the Anantapur
Collector's peon, a Muhammadan, who, while
under the influence of ganja, killed an old beggar
man under the impression that he was a pig, but
it is not known if the original mental aberration
was antecedent or subsequent to the use of ganja.
56. Not known.
57. Vide 19.
In conclusion in my experience there is only one
case of homicide which was attributed directly
to intoxication from the use of ganja. The cr
i - m i n a l i n r e l i g i o u s f r e n z y k i l l e d a n o l d b e g g a r - m a n
with a club, mistaking him for a pig (unclean beast),
and believing that he had done god-service. The
subsequent history while in jail of this prisoner
showed that his mind was unstable, and it was im--
possible to say whether the mental aberration was
consequent on, and subsequent to, the use of ganja,
or whether it preceded it and was due to other
causes.
Further, I would wish to record that, as far as
I know, the habit of using Indian hemp is not an
obtrusive vice, nor is it, like alcohol, an incentive to
crime; its votaries are usually shy and indisposed
to exertion. It is commonly credited with the
power of concentrating the attention in religious
and abstruse meditations.
94. Evidence of SURGEON-MAJOR G. L. WALKER, Civil Surgeon, Ootacamund.
1. Personal acquaintance almost nil, as the co
n - s u m p t i o n o f I n d i a n h e m p p r e p a r a t i o n s a m o n g s t t h e
people of this presidency is extremely limited so
far as I am aware.
2. There is only one small ganja shop in Ootaca-
mund which was opened this year (1st April 1893).
The consumers are chiefly bairagis (travelling
mendicants) from Northern India, and the poorer
class of local Muhammadans, who form a very small
proportion of the population, such as are met with,
also amongst peons and police constables. The hill
tribes of the Nilgiris do not use ganja, or to a very
limited extent; they use opium freely, however,
especially the women. The cultivation of the hemp
plant is extremely limited in the district with
which I am acquainted; indeed, it cannot properly
be said to be cultivated in the true sense, as but a
few plants are grown near the houses of those who
wish to indulge in its use themselves. The various
narcotic products of Indian hemp are all locally
known by the general name of ganja.
3. None that I am aware of. I am credibly i
n - f o r m e d t h a t i t d o e s n o t g r o w s p o n t a n e o u s l y o n t h e
Nilgiris; the little that grows is cultivated.
4. The "Cannabis sativa" is known in this
district, and I believe throughout this presidency,
as ganja.
7. The little that is grown is for private co
n-sumption by the growers for the sake of the stim
u - l a n t a n d n a r c o t i c d r u g . G a n j a c u l t i v a t i o n i s v e r y
limited in this district; the total area would not
exceed 5 acres in the aggregate. It is cultivated
to this limited extent by a small colony of liberated
Chinese prisoners at Neddivattam in this district,
and by certain Wynaad Chetties who settled there
from Mysore. Both these classes grow a few
plants around their houses for their own consum-p-
tion.
8. The total area under cultivation has always
been very small in this district, not exceeding 5
acres in the aggregate; it does not appear to have
increased lately.
9. There is nothing special; a few plants are
grown near the houses of those who desire to indulge
in the luxury of the drug.
10. The Badagas and Koters, the chief cult
i - v a t i n g t r i b e s o f t h e N i l g i r i s , d o n o t c u l t i v a t e n o r
use hemp; they (especially their women) indulge
freely in opium, but not ganja. Those who grow
the plant at all are referred to in paragraph 7.
13. I am not aware that there is any restriction
or selection, but I am confident that the plant is
grown to a very limited extent in this province.
14. Those who cultivate a few plants for their
own consumption prepare ganja for themselves.
16. All the preparations are called ganja here;
the few individuals that grow the plant, prepare
the various mixtures and combinations of the drug
in their own houses.
17. All the preparations are made by the Muha
m-madan lower class.
19. They cannot be distinguished here, because
ganja is applied to all. Those who use the drug,
smoke it in the dried state, and eat it when worked
up with jaggery and a number of spices, and made
up into a ball.
25. The use of ganja is limited to a very small
section of the community here, and does not appear
to have increased or decreased.
29. The lower class Muhammadans mix ganja
with 18 different spices, and work it up into a ball
with jaggery; in this form they eat it as an aid to
appetite and digestion.
30. A ball similar to the above is also given to
Muhammadan children for a similar purpose.
31. Like all stimulants and narcotic drugs, the
habit once formed, would, I have no doubt, be diffi
- c u l t t o b r e a k o f f , a n d t h e t e n d e n c y w o u l d b e t o
increase the amount taken.
32. There are no special customs here in conne
c - t i o n w i t h t h e c o n s u m p t i o n o f t h e d r u g . D u r i n g
the Mohurrum festival men and boys indulge freely