10
Bhang is not . prepared locally, but is imported
from Northern India. A little used to be formerly
imported from Central India, but the import is
now said to have ceased, the quality being in--
ferior.
Ganja. Only flat ganja is produced in Nimar.
It has no separate name.
3. I do not know of my own knowledge of
hemp growing wild in the Central Provinces. It
is not found in this state in Nimar. At least I
have met nobody who has ever seen or heard of
the wild plant in this district.
7, 8, and 9. See memorandum* on the cultiva--
tion of the hemp plant in Nimar.
10. No. They are the same as the ordinary
cultivators—(Gujars, Kunbis, and the like. The
growth of the plant is certainly not considered in
any way derogatory in Nimar, as I think Prain
remarks is the case in Bengal.
11. No.
13. The cultivation of the hemp plant is now
confined to the Khandwa tahsil of the Nimar dis-
- t r i c t . I t s e e m s t o h a v e b e e n e s t a b l i s h e d h e r e
before we took over the country. In Burhampur
the cultivators are said to be ignorant of the cul--
tivation of ganja. For conditions of soil, etc.,
see reply to questions 7, 8 and 9.
14. Ganja alone prepared locally. Charas is
practically unknown, and bhang imported. Ganja
is prepared only in the Khandwa tahsil. Extent
of ganja manufacture is treated of in a separate
memorandum.
15. See separate memorandum.
16. Bhang is never prepared by the people.
17. The cultivators of the hemp plant prepare
ganja. It leaves their hands substantially as it
is smoked, except that the " kali" (the dried
flower) still adheres to the stalk. The former is
picked in the storehouse at Khandwa, and then
despatched to different places for consumption.
18. Ganja does deteriorate by keeping. It is
best when fresh, but keeps fairly well up to two
years, after which period its strength goes. I can
assign no special reason for this except the process
of age.
19. As far as I can learn, ganja is almost
entirely used for smoking. But it is also occa--
sionally— from all accounts—very seldom made
into majum, a confection into which various in
- g r e d i e n t s , b u t t e r , s u g a r , e t c . , e n t e r . M a j u m i s
usually prepared from bhang, but people who
want a stronger preparation sometimes use ganja
for the purpose.
20. Ganja is used by all consumers of the drug,
except those who use bhang (see question 24). In
other words, ganja is the form in which the drug
is used by the lower and labouring classes, while
the better classes take bhang. I am unable to
say what proportion of the people use ganja.
21. Only flat ganja is known here.
23. Its use for smoking is not known here.
24. Bhang is used by the better classes, more
especially by Marwaris, Gujaratis, and people
from Northern India. It is commonly drunk. In
the hot weather particularly it is used in liquid
form. In the cold season it is frequently eaten
with " massala" of various kinds. Condiments
also enter into the composition of the emulsion
which is made with bhang. It is mainly the
season of the year which determines whether
bhang is taken in liquid or in solid form. The
use of the drug in one or other of these modes is
not confined to any particular class.
25. I have no information on the subject: The
printed excise reports are the sole authority to
which I could refer.
26 and 27. I am unable to give information
on this subject.
28. Habitual excessive consumers of ganja
smoke more than 5 tolas of the drug per diem.
One of my informants told me he would smoke a
quarter of a seer could his means afford. As the
habitual excessive consumer is frequently a man
of limited means, often leading a hand-to-mouth
existence, his consumption is generally limited in
comparison with his desire for the drug.
The bazar rate is half a tola for an anna.
Habitual moderate consumers take about half or
one tola a day, costing from 1 to 2 annas.
29. Ganja is almost always smoked with tobacco.
But see answer to question 19 as to its being
sometimes prepared as majum. This is very un
- c o m m o n .
Bhang is used with cardamoms, cloves, black
pepper, almonds, melon seeds, and various other
spices. The only reason for this is to make the
compound palatable and tasty. Occasionally
copper coins are boiled in an emulsion of bhang.
This is said to increase the intoxicating power of
the drug. I have no information as to the use of
dhatura with bhang.
30. Ganja smokers certainly prefer to smoke in
company. The use of ganja is mainly confined to
the male sex, but women, and especially prosti
-tutes, occasionally consume the drug. Children
do not smoke ganja. The habit is acquired, much'
like tobacco smoking, when the youth wishes to
be considered a man.
31. The habit of ganja smoking is easily
formed, and is difficult to break off. There is, as
far as I can make out, little, if any, tendency for
the moderate habit to develop into the excessive.
This I have found to be the general opinion of the
moderate smokers I have seen. The expense of
the excessive habit is besides a great prohibitive.
32. I know of none in connection with ganja.
It is, however, usual for bhang to be indulged in
by all classes, slightly of course, at the time of the
Holi festival, as an accompaniment of the general
meri ment t hat t akes pl ace.
33. I think there can be no doubt that the con-
sumption both of ganja and of bhang is regarded
as lowering, but I should not say that public
opinion is very pronounced on the subject. . There
is little doubt that consumption—of ganja ; there
is not the same concealment about bhang—to some
extent takes place in private among the upper
classes, showing that they would consider it
disreputable to be publicly considered addicted
to the drug. Among the lower classes, though
the habit of ganja smoking can hardly be said 'to
be looked upon with repute, there is little senti--
ment about the matter either one way or the
other.
I can account for the consumption of ganja
being looked down upon only on the grounds that
it is intoxicant in its effects, and that it is speci-
ally the poor man's drug. There is not the same
prejudice among the upper classes against the use
of bhang as there is against ganja smoking.
.31. If the ganja supply is stopped, there would
be an outcry among almost all classes of con
- s u m e r s . A s t h e g r e a t p r o p o r t i o n o f c o n s u m e r s
Published in Vol. III, Appendices.