328
diseases and disorders. The effect of intoxication
does not last more than two hours; laziness, indol-
ence and uneasiness from indigestion caused from
over-burdening stomach follow.
45. Insanity, melancholy, asthma, loss of appe-
tite, redness of eyes, headache, loss of intellect take
place. Insanity, temporary first, becomes perma-
nent afterwards. A little relief sometimes is felt
by abstaining, but again followed keenly by re-
suming vicious habit.
49. Yes, by men of loose character, as well as
by prostitutes. Yes, more injurious, because ex-
cessive discharge of sperma genitale results.
53 to 55. Yes.
56. Hemp is adulterated by surti only to in-
crease its effect. Dhatura is added only to produce
complete insensibility in a victim.
57. Ganja is drunk in western and southern
India in the place of bhang.
58. Working shamefully. The system can be
improved in many ways. Should not be supplied
to every one without restriction. Individuals
under 30 should not be supplied. Time of sale
should be confined between 10 A.M. and 4 P.M.,
while at present it is sold till 9 P.M. like other
articles of food. Smoking should not be allowed
at the shop where it is sold. Number of shops be
reduced. Police should be held responsible for
every irregularity.
60. No individual should be supplied with more
than two pies worth bhang or ganja and charas at
a time.
68. In this district contractor has been only
authorised to keep shops.
69. Wishes of the people are not consulted before
a shop is opened. Local opinion should be con-
sulted before a shop is opened.
Oral evidence.
Question 1.—I am a member of a temperance
society in Benares. After returning from Gorakh-
pur, I was disgusted with the world and locked
myself up for ten years. When I came out I saw
a meeting in the town hall and two Englishmen
addressing the- crowd. The purport of the address
was that Hindustan was being ruined by the eight
intoxicating things. I was much struck by the
address, and next day heard that the speakers were
Mr. Came and the Rev. T. Evans. I then under-
stood that it could not be against the wishes of
Government for a man to work in the temperance
cause. I accordingly gave myself up to this work,
and now receive assistance in money from the
Total Abstinence Society, which is supported by
subscriptions in England and this country. A.
branch was established at Benares about two years
before the meeting described above by a Miss
Levett, of America. I am not mahant of any tem-
ple, but a public preacher. I preach against all
vices and sins, and consider that intemperance tends
to encourage them. I am a follower of Ram, but
worship God. I consider that alcohol is more
injurious to the people of India than the hemp
drugs. Chandu and madak-smoking are even
worse than the smoking of ganja and charas, but
the latter is worse than opium-eating.
Question 25.—I have consumed all these drugs
in great quantity, and therefore know all about
them. Formerly the hemp drug shops were empty,
now they are frequented by crowds. I was eighteen
years of age at the Mutiny. In recent years the
authority of persons of position has been destroyed
by the levelling effect of British Rule. People are
not therefore ashamed to consume the drugs in
public as they were formerly, and they also take
to the habit more readily.
Question 29.—When I say that dhatura is
generally used, I mean that drinkers of. bhang who
find that the drug is losing its effect upon them
use dhatura to produce the intoxication they desire:
a fourth part of the consumers use dhatura, and my
impression is that that is the tendency in all
cases.
Question 32.—There is no religious injunction
to take the drugs. The rule has been invented by
the consumers. The drugs are taken in connection
with the worship of Mahadev with the idea of
becoming naked like the God and regardless of
earthly things. I am a Vaishnavite and do not
worship Mahadev.
Question 45.—It is impossible that a man should
continue to be a moderate consumer of the drugs.
He must go to excess. It takes four years to
make a man insane, though he begins to go mad
when the habit is commenced. I was appointed
private tutor to His Highness the Maharaja of
Tamakui in Gorakhpur district. The hemp drugs
were largely consumed there, and the plant grows
wild. It is a damp feverish place. A hakim at
Benares advised me to take chillies with my food
and to smoke ganja and charas. I followed his
advice until my drugs cost me Re. 1 a day, and I
smoked ganja all day long. It took three years
to bring me to this point. The place was full of
snakes in the rainy season, and I was lying asleep
when I was aware of the hissing of snakes and the
voice of God came telling to leave the place and go
to my home at Benares. I left the next day after
giving my goods to those about me. My friends
in Benares were appalled at my habit of ganja-
smoking and warned me of the consequences. They
advised me to give up the habit, and finally locked
me up for seven or eight years, and in reply to my
prayer for ganja gave me various delicacies. When
I was released, the habit was broken, and I have
never taken to it again. I was affected with accu-
mulation of phlegm, burning of the eyes, head-
ache, but not asthma while I was under the habit.
I was not out of my mind, but I suffered in
memory and in power of application. My sexual
desires were immensely inflamed. I have seen
lots of men in Benares who have gone insane from
ganja, ten or twenty at least.
Question 53.—It is the regular practice among
the bad characters in Benares to take the drugs when
they intend to quarrel or commit violence. Recently
a quarrel took place between two men, both of
whom were under the influence of the drugs which
they had been taking together. Kailaigir wounded
the other Hussein-mia with a knife, and both were
sent to jail for six months. The latter was a
notorious bad character, but the former was a res-
pectable man. The quarrel was a sudden one.
This happened four or live years ago. Twenty-five
years ago Lahri Baba killed a child for his orna-
ments while he was in a state of frenzy produced
by a dose of bhang with dhatura and arsenic in it.
Forty years ago a teacher in the C. M. S. College
killed a student in a fit of intoxication from bhang.
I am not at this moment prepared with any other
cases of this character.
Question 59.—It is impossible to prohibit the use
of the drugs altogether, and therefore I do not ad-
vocate this, although I should be glad to see the
drugs disappear from use. The recommendations
I have made are all that I can put forward at
present.