61
60 and 61. Ganja is not produced in this dis-
trict.
63. I have no objection to the present system.
64. I have no objection to the existing regula-
tions on the subject referred to.
65. I think the present taxation is reasonable.
68. No drugs or their preparations are con-
sumed on the premises of the licensed shops in
this district.
69. Yes ; local enquiries are made through Tah-
sildars and people are thus allowed to prefer their
objections, if any.
70. No such importation. Yes, duty is really
paid, and there is no consumption of untaxed drugs
in this district.
42. Evidence of THAKUR HARDHAN SINGH, Chauhan Thakur, Deputy Collector,
Mainpuri.
1. I had opportunities as Tahsildar for twelve
years or more of enquiring into the subjects to which
my answers refer. I have also been a Deputy
Collector and Magistrate, first class, for more than
ten years, and my answers are based partly on my
observation and experience of that period.
2. I have never seen the plant which produces
ganja or bhang, nor is it known in this part of
the country by the name of hemp plant, as in Dr.
Plain's report. The narcotic articles are known
here by three names, viz., ganja, bhang, and
charas ; bhang being also called sabzi and thathia.
Charas comes from Yarkand and Bokhara. I do
not know how charas is produced and manufac-
tured. There are three kinds of ganja— (1)
baluchar, (2) pathar, and (3) chur, which is also
called murra. I do not know how ganja is pro-
duced. Baluchar comes from Bengal and pathar
and murra from the Gwalior, Indore, and Ujjain
States.
3. Bhang grows spontaneously in the Gonda,
Bahraich, Hardoi, Saharanpur, and Umballa dis-
tricts, and is abundant in the Gonda and Bahraich
districts.
4. Bhang is also known as sabzi and buti, and
these three names refer to the same plant.
5. It is generally believed that where the soil
is damp, bhang grows well and abundantly on
account of the humidity of the air ; and strong
soil, such as "mar" or black soil, which is split
up in the rains, is congenial to the growth of
bhang.
6. In some places it is dense, and in others it is
scattered.
7. (a), (b) No.
(c), (d) Yes.
13. No ganja is grown in the North-Western
Provinces. The hemp plant is cultivated for rope-
making. For the cultivation of the hemp plant
for this purpose, no particular kind of land is
needed. The cultivation of the hemp plant for
the purpose indicated above is made in the rains
and in the kharif season. The hemp plant is not
cultivated for the production of any narcotic
article.
14. (a), (b) No.
(c) Yes.
Bhang grows spontaneously in the Gonda, Bah-
raich, Hardoi, Saharanpur, and Farukhabad dis-
tricts.
15. As a rule, ganja and charas are smoked
after they are mixed with tobacco in equal quan-
tities. The pull in the case of ganja and charas
is stronger than in the case of tobacco. Bhang
is generally drunk, and some swallow it with
water, after chewing it, when they cannot grind
it.
16. It is not the custom in this part of the
country for the people to prepare bhang in their
houses. No doubt when seeds are thrown into
the ground by the people, when preparing bhang
for their consumption, they germinate. But the
plants are not nourished, partly on account of the
price of bhang being very low, and partly for fear
of being prosecuted for breach of the Excise laws.
Bhang thus produced is also not in favour.
Ganja and charas are not grown or prepared in
this country.
17. The preparations are not made by any par-
ticular class, but by all classes of the people.
18. The three drugs keep well, and preserve
their strength from the end of one rainy sea-
son to the setting in of the next. If they are
protected from cold in the next rainy season, they
keep fairly well till the third rainy season. After
the expiry of the third rainy season, they are
objected to for purposes of consumption, and little
purchased. After three years they are considered
as utterly bad, and without any intoxicating effect.
They preserve their properties for three years if
protected from the dampness of their repository
and the cold air of the rains.
19. Ganja and charas are used only for smok-
ing. This is the practice all over this province.
20. As a rule, the fakirs use ganja and charas.
Men belonging to other castes who live by labour
also use them. Those castes among whom smok-
ing tobacco is forbidden do not use them, e.g.,
Kanyakubj Brahmins.
21. Baluchar is little used. The other two
kinds are more largely used. All kinds of ganja
are smoked.
22. Charas imported from Yarkand and Bokha-
ra is chiefly used.
23. Bhang is never used for smoking.
24. Bhang is largely used by Brahmans who do
not smoke tobacco, e.g., the Chaubes of Muttra
and people of the same caste in other districts.
The Chaubes almost invariably use bhang, the
difference being only in the quantities consumed
by them. Bhang is as a rule not eaten, but
drunk. It is sometimes, when there is a hurry,
eaten for the purpose of intoxication.
25. The use of ganja is on the increase as com-
pared with previous years, as the lower classes-
consume ganja instead of liquor at times. These
classes used to consume liquor daily, but cannot
now, on account of their poverty and the dear-
ness of liquor, obtain liquor always, and have to
use ganja instead sometimes.
26. (a) One-tenth.
(b) One or two per cent.
(c) Two or three per cent.
(d) One or two per cent.