196
controlled and looked after in such districts where I
it grows wild; and its cultivation should not be
encouraged but rather stopped.
63. Charas at least, if not ganja, should be
dealt with by the excise department like opium,
or sold in retail only.
64. It is evident from octroi duty that there is
too much smuggling of ganja, and specially of
charas, going on in these provinces, and that im-
portation regulations specially require some modi-
fication to be made in them.
65. In my opinion the taxation of (1) ganja,
(2) charas, (3) bhang are not reasonable with (a)
reference to each other, (6) to alcoholic or other
intoxicants. The taxation on charas should be
heavier in amount than on ganja, and on ganja
heavier than bhang, because there will be good
revenue, and these articles would not come within
the reach of every one easily as at present.
66. At present there is much loss of revenue
by there being one and the same tax on different
kinds on ganjas, flat, round and broken, which
would not be the case if it be taxed differently
according to their respective value or amount of
consumption. That, namely, which is much con-
sumed should be more taxed than the other.
67. The present system of taxing to me (1)
ganja, (2) charas, (3) bhang, appear lighter when
I consider the ultimate incidence of the tax on
the consumer.
68. Yes, there are such houses or shops in our
provinces licensed for sale of these drugs, or their
preparations, where they are consumed on the
premises. I look upon them as so many depots
or sources of bad characters or schools where so
many bad characters are turned out daily.
69. When a shop of such kind or of any of
these drugs is opened in any locality, people of it
are not consulted in any way, nor are any mea-
sures taken for this purpose. Local opinion ought
to be thus considered or consulted,
70. By opening of octroi here, we have been
able to find out such facts, which show that
smuggling is going on here of these drugs in
these provinces to some extent, and there is reason
to believe that there is use of untaxed drugs in
our provinces.
Oral evidence.
Question 1.—I am L. M. S. of Lahore
Medical College. I was Assistant Surgeon for
seven years, and then resigned the service under
orders. Since then, I have been privately prac-
tising for eight years. I have no special expe-
rience of insanity beyond the ordinary training
of a Lahore student. I have, since I left the
Government service, taken special notice of in-
toxicants generally on account of what I regard
as their injurious effects. I have had four or five
or at most ten patients a year who come before
me in my practice who were in the habit of using
intoxicants. Of these the most, say up to eight,
are consumers of hemp drugs. I have had ex-
perience of about seven or eight cases of insanity
due to ganja, about the same number due to
charas, and about the same number due to bhang.
That is since I began to practise privately.
During that period I have had every year about
twenty-five cases of insanity due to other causes
than to hemp drugs. I have thus treated about
221 cases of insanity. A few went to asylums.
I cannot say how many. One of my patients,
a young man, was sent to the Agra Asylum about
two years ago. He returned partially cured.
Another went to the Bareilly Asylum six years
ago. He died there. I do not remember any
others. Many are debarred by going, unless sent
by Government, owing to the expense. The two
cases I mention were patients whom I advised to
go to the asylum. The Civil Surgeon gave the
certificates. My certificate would be of no use.
I have no notes of any of my cases.
The other consumers of hemp drugs referred to
above were suffering from diarrhoea, dysentery,
dyspepsia, bronchitis, asthma, and hœmoptysis. I
attributed these to the hemp drugs. These people
were all habitual consumers, and they themselves
said that they were consumers, and that they
could not get enough of the drug, and that made
them ill, or they were indulging to excess and
had no sufficient nourishment, i.e., of rich food
which is required in the case of a consumer.
These are the reasons why I concluded that the
diseases were due to the drugs. In all cases of
the above-mentioned disease, where the consump-
tion of these drugs was discovered, the disease
was assigned to these drugs if no other cause (e.g.,
prevalence of malarial fever, etc.) was discover-
able. There were no doubt other consumers of
hemp drugs who came before me, beyond the
average of eight a year, but I cannot say how
many, as no inquiry was made about their habit
as it had nothing to do with their disorders. I
see on an average twenty-five (or thirty) patients
a day in my practice. I cannot say what propor-
tion of these suffer from the diseases above
named, as I keep no record.
The following case is the one which I regard as
the best and clearest illustration of the connection
between hemp drugs and insanity, with the details
of which I am perfectly acquainted. There was
a young man about twenty years old, an inhabit-
ant of Farukhabad, a member of my own
family, a remote relation, called uncle, my grand-
father's brother's son. The case occurred eight
years ago. He began to use bhang, when between
eighteen and twenty years of age, by the force of
example. He indulged in it for seven or eight
years when his ideas were perverted and he sudden-
ly became violent, and at night time voluntarily
fell down from the roof of the house, being out of
his mind. From that time he remained lunatic
and could not control himself and was never cured.
This act occurred immediately on his ideas becom-
ing perverted : I mean that no symptoms were
observed before, which would justify saying that
his ideas were perverted. I attended the case
professionally. On hearing of this accident people
attributed it to the use of the drug. The fall
was sixteen or seventeen feet. He fell on hard
earth-ground, not stone. The injuries were on
the legs and feet, nothing more. He did not
go to the asylum. He was about my age.
He died about two years ago. I knew him all
his life. He was insane for six years after
the fall.
He was not so violent as at the
first, but he was not cured altogether. There
was no change in his mental condition : he
had no lucid intervals. He used to take about
two or three drams of bhang twice daily, about
seven or eight o'clock in the morning and six in
the evening. He did not take spirits. I saw
him before the accident. He was sound in mental
condition. I examined the head. There was no
injury. I mean the brain was not injured. The
injuries were on the legs: he had jumped. That
is what his wife said. He was violent towards
others, not suicidal, incoherent, dirty in his habits,
fond of keeping rags and ornaments. His special