407
22. Charas is not known here. It belongs to
the north country.
23. It is not used for smoking.
24. It is not eaten, as it is always used in the
form of liquor.
25. It has decreased probably, because the price
of spirituous liquors has decreased, and the people
are therefore able to drink liquor instead of using
their drugs.
30. Women are said to eat it at Puri in Orissa,
but they do not do so in this district; children do
not eat it.
31. The remarks that apply to liquor apply also
to these drugs. It must depend on the individual
constitution.
33. It is considered derogatory. It is rather an
insult to insinuate that a man eats ganja. The
butter decoction is offered to the god Hanuman.
36. Yes. Liquor is cheap.
40. No.
41. Ganja is used in pills as a febrifuge in mala
-rious and unhealthy tracts.
43. No.
58. As far as I am acquainted with the ad
-ministration of these drugs, the abkari law apply
- i n g t o l i q u o r a p p l i e s t o t h e m a l s o . I d o n o t k n o w
of any method deserving to take the place of the
present law. Control is exercised under sections
6, 7 and 8 of Act 1 of 1886, over the import,
export and transport of the drug and such pre
- p a r a t i o n s a s a r e m a d e f r o mC
a n n a b i s s a t i v a
( s e e
definition).
Section 12 restricts the cultivation to licensees,
and sections 55, 56 and 57 provide the penalties
for violation of these rules. In order to restrict
the use of these drugs, a minimum price such as
is imposed on liquor might be imposed on them.
181. Evidence of MR. D . MANECKJI, Parsi, Merchant and Contractor, Calicut.
14. It is grown in Wynaad to a small extent.
15. The blossom of the plant is called ganja,
and the leaves are bhang.
In smoking, only the blossoms are used.
Eating—Ganja is roasted, then mixed with ghee
and sugar and used. Also it is extracted, and
then it is mixed with different sorts of spices, sugar
and ghee, and made into a sort of lagam only.
Also used in sweetmeats.
Leaves are squeezed, and the liquid is mixed with
different sorts of spices and used as a drink.
16. Yes, it cannot be prepared where it is grown,
for the leaves must be dried.
17. In Wynaad the growers are the punniers
and some canadies, and they prepare the drugs.
18. If carefully kept, they do not deteriorate
for nearly three years, when it loses its effect. It
must be kept covered, well tied up in bundles out
of damp places.
19. I cannot say anything about the drug in
the form of charas. Ganja is used in smoking.
The other uses of it are described in answer to
question No. 15.
20. Very few, and that also of the poor class of
Malabar Hindus, smoke it, and all the bairagis
who resort to this coast are using it.
21. Flat and round kind are not manufactured
here.
22. Do not know.
23. Some very poor people who cannot afford to
use alcoholic stimulants resort to bhang.
21. Bhang is not drunk by the people of Malabar
as a rule, but foreign Hindus who reside here
temporarily are in the habit of drinking bhang.
25. The use of these drugs is so limited in this
province that it is difficult to say if it is increasing
or decreasing.
26. It is impossible to state.
27. Answer to question No. 20 will do for this.
28. (a) From a quarter to one anna.
(b ) From two to four annas worth.
29. Some people mix tobacco in smoking the
drug. The object is to increase the intoxication.
I do not know of bhang massala.
30. The bairagis as a rule use it when they are
young, say about 14 to 15 years of age.
Males as well as females use the drug mostly in
smoking.
31. Yes, habit of consuming these drugs forms
easily ; it is difficult to break off, and the tendency
to develop into excess is great.
32. Unable to answer.
33. The custom is generally regarded as bad
and is disreputed. I do not know of there being
any custom of worshipping the plant by any sect.
34. In Malabar the number of people using
these drugs is very little; yet it will be a privation
to those who are in the habit.
35. In Malabar there may not be any difficulty
in prohibiting the use, and though there may not
be any political danger, it may create dissatisfac
- t i o n t o a c e r t a i n e x t e n t , a n d t h e p r o h i b i t i o n m a y
lead to the use of other drugs and alcoholic stimu
- l a n t s .
36. There is no reason to think so.
37 and 38. Do not know.
39. It is generally believed that smoking of the
drugs are more injurious than using it in drinking
and eating. The smoking affects the brain, liver
and the chest. As for eating and drinking, it is
not so much injurious, it being diluted by mixture
of other drugs or spices.
40. Do not know.
41. It is said the drug has certain power of
digestion, etc., and it is called beneficial in cold
climates only.
42.
It may be harmless if taken moderately, as
it is in case of opium and alcoholic stimulants,
with some people.
43. It is offensive.
44. Intoxication is the immediate effect; re
- f r e s h i n g t o t h o s e w h o a r e i n i t s h a b i t . I t a l l a y s
hunger; ganja does not: but bhang creates hunger.
For some three or four hours the effect lasts. It
does produce uneasiness for want of subsequent
gratification.
45. ( a) It does produce noxious effects, physi
- c a l , m e n t a l a n d m o r a l a l s o .
(b) to ( f ) Ye s .