252
26. By a rough guess, about 80 per cent. are
habitual moderate consumers, 20 per cent. are
habitual excessive consumers. Of occasional con-
sumers, about 95 in the 100 are moderate and five
excessive.
These percentages relate to bhang as well as to
ganja and charas-consumers.
27. Ganja and charas are mainly consumed by
low classes and ascetics ; but bhang is used by all
classes. There is no strict prohibition in the
Hindu religion against these drugs as there is
against liquor. The Muhammadan religion strict-
ly prohibits the use of all sorts of intoxicants ;
yet the lower classes of Musalmans sin against
the law, and so do the lower Hindus against their
religion when they drink liquor. Ganja and
charas-consumers are considered as vagabonds
and dregs of the population. The words ganjabaz
and charasbaz are terms of reproach for a man of
the respectable classes ; but bhangbaz is not so
bad, as it only indicates the man to be stupid or a
fool, whereas the other two imply immorality and
misconduct.
28. One pice (¼ anna) is the daily cost of each
of these drugs for a moderate consumer; but for
an excessive consumer bhang costs about one anna
and ganja and charas as much as 4 annas a day,
29. Nothing is mixed with ganja or charas;
but the very excessive consumers of bhang mix a
few seeds of dhatura to make the intoxication
stronger.
The bhang massala consists of the seeds of sonf
(aniseed), pepper, kasni, and cucumber, and the
root called mulahihi (liquorice).
30. Bhang is generally consumed in solitude,
and ganja and charas in company. The use of all
th:ee is confined to the male sex, except in the
case of women of bad repute. Children rarely
smoke ganja or charas ; but the boys of bhang
drinkers generally follow their fathers.
31. The habit is easily formed and easily broken
off, unlike the habit of opium eating or liquor
drinking. In the cases of ganja and charas there
is a tendency to develop into excess.
32. There is a general custom amongst Hindus
to drink bhang on the Holi festival. Even the
total abstainers of bhang are often induced by
their friends to take a small quantity of the green
water on that festival. The worshippprs of the
god Shiva consider it meritorious to drink bhang
as a religious duty. Among the lower classes of
the eastern districts ganja and charas are used on
almost every festival and on public meetings.
They offer a quantity of these drugs to the manes
of their ancestors, as well as to their family gods,
on occasions of births, weddings, funeral cere-
monies, and festivals.
33. Except bhang, the use of the other drugs
is generally regarded as disreputable, because (1)
the consumers, as a rule, belong to the disrepu-
table and misbehaved classes ; and (2) the use is
injurious to health and pocket, and it leads to
misconduct also. Bhang has been so adapted that
its drinker is not considered a misbehaved person,
although in daily transactions his memory and
intelligence are not easily trusted. It is neither
injurious to health, nor a very costly luxury. I
know of no custom of worshipping the hemp plant.
There is hardly any public opinion regarding the
habit of using these drugs, except among the
Muhammadans, whose religion strictly forbids
the use. The stigma on ganja and charas is
chiefly owing to the fact that they are consumed
by men of a reprehensible society.
34. Certainly the foregoing of the consumption
of bhang will be hard for a very large number of
persons, say about 25 per cent., of the Hindu
male population, not only because they are habi-
tuated to the drug, but also because they believe
it to be an innocent luxury and useful to their
health. But the consumers of ganja and chara9
admit themselves that these drugs are harmful to
both body and mind, and 1 think they will not
feel it very hard if compelled to forego their use.
35. The discontent on the prohibition of the
use of bhang will, I am afraid, be so general that
it may amount to a political danger. But the
case with ganja and charas is different. Their
consumers are comparatively few, and confined to
the lower or non-influential classes. For the
higher or bhang-consuming castes the religious
prohibition against the use of liquor is so strong
that, even if compelled to forego the use of bhang,
they will not resort to alcoholic stimulants. The
ganja and charas-consuming classes already use
liquor, and they will resort more freely to it if
prohibited from using the drugs. Smuggling of
bhang, etc., has never been effectually stopped,
and it will never be so stopped when the use of
these articles is made penal by law. It will rather
increase.
36. I do not think that alcohol is now substi-
tuted to any extent for ganja, charas, or bhang.
37. The intoxication by ganja is said to be
milder and lasting a shorter time than the intoxi-
cation by charas. Excessive use of each of these
brings on diseases of the chest, and very often
insanity, either for a short period or long.
40. Bhang is largely used in the medicines
given to horses and horned cattle. No school of
native doctors prescribes any of these drugs as a
medicine for human beings,
41. Bhang in moderate quantities is useful as
a digestive, and. also as a preventive of diseases
springing from malaria or bad water. It does
not assist at all in giving staying—power ; on the
contrary, it makes a man dull and indolent.
Ganja and charas, moderately used, alleviate
fatigue. It is for this purpose that a number of
the labouring classes smoke these drugs, whether
habitually or occasionally.
42. Bhang, I think, is harmless, but the after-
effects of ganja and charas, even when used mo-
derately, are harmful both to body and intellect.
Excessive use of ganja and charas leads to in-
sanity, and even moderate use to asthma and
bronchitis.
48. Yes.
44. Bhang increases appetite and keeps the
bowels clean. It gives a good sleep, but makes
the consumer dull and averse to any sort of work
requiring thought or attention. Its effect lasts
for five or six hours. It requires no subsequent
gratification,
except plenty of food.
After-
effects are not bad. No uneasiness. Charas is
refreshing after labour. It gives intoxication,
which lasts about four hours and creates appetite.
Ganja is milder in intoxication than charas, and
the intoxication lasts only two or three hours.
It allays fatigue,
45. Habitual moderate use of bhang affects the
mental powers somewhat injuriously, but not the
body or morals. It produces laziness, but does
not lead to any disease, or immorality, or insanity.
Ganja and charas, even when moderately used,
create asthma or bronchitis, and 1 know of no case
in which insanity resulted from a moderate use of
any of the hemp drugs. Ganja produces in the
end indigestion and want of appetite.