44
(5) a respectable number in the middle class, edu-
cated and uneducated. There are. many others
who are too numerous to enumerate. But the
above form the principal communities of smokers.
They can smoke charas if they get it.
21. On this side of the country, Central Pro-
-
-vinces, Central India, and the southern presiden
- c i e s , f l a t g a n j a i s s m o k e d , a s I t h i n k t h e p e o p l e
only know that kind.
22. I have no knowledge of charas being im-
-ported, at least in the Central Provinces.
23. Bhang is never smoked.
24. The consumption of bhang is by no means
restricted to the poor. On the other hand, it is
drunk by Marwaris and banias on this side, and
during the hot season by respectable high caste
and educated Brahmins of the orthodox class who
are restricted from taking liquors. Such a pre
- p a r a t i o n i s g e n e r a l l y c a l l e d " p a n g a , " m e a n i n g
light drink. There are such drinkers of this pre-
paration in Malwa and in the NorthWestern
Provinces, notably Benares, that they can drink
off at one sitting 1 or 2 seers so thick that it is
called " sikia dub," i.e., if a straw is thrown into
the pot filled with this kind of preparation, it
stands straight. This preparation cannot be
drunk by an ordinary drinker without subjecting
himself to serious consequences. Moreover, some
people are so fond among that Brahminical class
that they take pride in preparing and consuming
the strongest dose in other ways, namely, that the
bhang patti is boiled in water in a copper pot and
a couple of copper pice put into it while under-
going that process. It is then roasted in ghee and.
then powdered along with almond, aniseed,
pepper, dry rose flowers, seed of cucumber, and all
these mixed in water, or, to make it still stronger,
to prepare it in milk which they call "dudhiya,"
and then to drink it. I drank such a preparation
myself once through not knowing the way in
which it was prepared. I cannot describe in what
state of mind I was thrown for about 36 hours,
when the intoxication subsided. On the Ghats of
the Nerbudda at Onkar, Mandlesar and Mahesar,
and on the Ganges at Benares, and on the Kship-
pra at Ujjain, this bhang preparation is so common
and so often resorted to that the stones there bear
deep marks. The learned Brahmins at Benares
and Ujjain are noted for indulging in this drink,
and through the instrumentality of the intoxica-
tion produced by it, they can repeat the Vedas
without a mistake and without being fatigued.
Bombay, the drug is sold much cheaper than in
the Central Provinces, and the facilities afforded
by the railways are great for smuggling. I
expect still more increase in sales if the system
of taxing the drug becomes uniform and the
same system is adopted by the adjoining Native
States. It is impossible to detect every smuggler
without subjecting him to search, and thereby
cause vexation, molestation and risk (vide section
45 of the Excise Act). I can speak from my own
experience that there are people in good position,
whose names I do not like to disclose, and whose
avocations take them in the daily course of their
business to such Native States and other districts,
wherefrom they import the drugs for their friends
in respectable positions. Their actions pass un-
detected. If all these sources are stopped by
making the tax uniform throughout, there will no
doubt be still more increase in sales to the disgust
of the advocates of the abolition of the hemp
drugs. The number of smokers is not, however,
increasing.
26. The majority of ganja smokers will go
under class (a ), as each and every person has to
earn his living, which he cannot do if he becomes
a habitual excessive smoker. Besides, the classes
I have enumerated in answer to question No. 20
are those who cannot afford to pay two annas a
tola to make them excessive smokers. Their
earnings are shared by several calls on them. The
mendicant and fakir classes are such as can be
classed under ( c), as their hand is always ready to
welcome a chilam (pipe) of ganja if one is given
every hour. They have no care for their living,
as they beg from door to door, and a couple of
hours' rambling satisfies their want. The well-
to-do and charitable people have respect and
sympathy for them, who spontaneously supply
them this drug without cost, and very often at
such places where these men stay, idle men addict-
ed to ganja smoking congregate there who enjoy
smoking in company with them.
Under (c) may be classed those mentioned in
No. 5 of the list against question 20 and those
beginners who enjoy their company on such
occasions, though not properly speaking habitual
or occasional consumers, yet through the pressure
of their friends partake it, and thus gradually
become habitual moderate consumers. I cannot
class any body under ( d), as occasional moderate
consumers cannot go to excess. A habitual
moderate consumer can smoke two chilams a day.
Idle fellows who can afford to pay for the drug,
and who have no anxiety or care to earn their
living, can smoke six or seven chilams a day, and
such people have always a company to serve. An
ordinary chilam can serve four or five persons, and
unless there is a company there is no pleasure.
Habitual moderate consumers will not ordinarily
collect a company daily, but will do so in a way
which the next-door neighbour will not know of.
I do not call those people excessive consumers who
have become habituated to it, although I have
classed mendicants as such.
27. (a) From labouring class.
(b) From religious mendicant class.
(c) From superior middle class.
(d) N i l .
For ( a), after taking a small quantity of drug,
a labourer can work indefatigably or carry load
without requiring much food. So the drug like
alcohol becomes a highly concentrated food.
Their small earnings necessitate them to resort to
this practice, which enables them to observe eco-
nomy and to possess sufficient energy to work.
Eating bhang is rare among those habituated
to daily drink, but they do so sometimes for
convenience sake when going on journeys. I
have seen a man eating 1lb of bhang dry and
unprepared, when lie found himself in trouble for
possessing more than the authorised quantity, and
thus escaped punishment. Preparation for drink-
ing involves great deal of trouble and labour and
cannot be secretly done, and in such cases those
who do not like to undergo that trouble, and
others who have some fear from their elders at
home, keep a preparation for eating.
25. If the official statistics are seen, the use of
ganja seems to be on the increase, but I attribute
this increased consumption to be due to severe
check on the smuggling from Native States and
other places in British India. In the former case,
there is no effective check as in these provinces on
the cultivation of hemp drug, sale of monopolies
and every other thing connected therewith is all
uncontrolled. Similarly, in tie British districts
out of the Central Provinces, as in the Berars and