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32. Evidence of MR. H. O. W. ROBARTS, Officiating Joint Magistrate and
Excise Officer, Jhansi.
1. I have been in charge of the Excise adminis-
tration of the Jhansi district for upwards of two
years, during which time I have made enquiries
regarding the hemp drugs from dealers and others.
2. These definitions may be accepted. 1 am not
aware of any other local name beyond those quoted.
7, There is none in this district. It is possible
there may be a few plants grown by temples, etc.,
but I have never seen the hemp plant growing
within this district, though it is abundant in
some of the neighbouring Native States. Thus
in Gwalior it is grown (a) for ganja, (b) for pro-
duction of a spurious form of charas, (c) for bhang ;
it is grown for production of ganja at Chatarpur
State, also in Rewa, in the Central Provinces,
particularly near Khandwa. (d) The village of
Antri in Gwalior grows the plant almost en-
tirely for its seeds, and almost the whole of the
seed for ganja used in Gwalior State is said to
come from this village.
10. They are mostly "Kachhis," but this only
because the other cultivating classes in this
neighbourhood are all too lazy to give the atten-
tion required for the successful production of
ganja. For bhang, all castes grow it. There is
certainly no special class.
14. No.
16. Bhang can be prepared by any one. Ganja
and charas cannot. Ordinary people are unable to
distinguish between the male and female plants,
hence it is impossible for them to produce ganja.
Charas also requires special manufacture.
18. The three drugs can with proper care be
kept in good condition for three or four years.
If left lying about exposed to sun and air, they
will lose their qualities more rapidly. After three
or four years the drugs lose their colour and intoxi-
cating power gradually. Probably after five or sis
years they would entirely lose this power. The
contractors who have been at times my informants
on this point have not been able to assign any
special reason. The only measures to be taken
to prevent deterioration are to keep the drug
shut up and not expose it. The most usual
method is to keep some pressure on the drug by
weights.
19. As far as I can gather they are never used in
any other manner.
20. Ganja and charas are smoked by the
labouring classes, rarely by the higher castes or
well-to-do people. The poorer classes of labourers
like to smoke a whiff or two of ganja or charas.
There is nothing to show that any particular class
confines its attention to ganja or to charas. It is
unusual for a smoker to change from one to the
other. Charas, however, is frequently smoked in
the middle of a pipe of ganja to add a piquancy
to it.
21. The only ganja used here is flat. No ganja
is imported from Bengal as it is too expensive, and
the round ganja is not manufactured in the Native
States from which the drugs for this district are
imported.
22. The charas used is imported through Gwa-
lior and from the Punjab. It is the Himalayan
charas. An inferior quality is manufactured in
Gwalior, but is not exported.
23. No ; bhang is never smoked.
24. (a) It is mostly eaten by fakirs ; other
classes rarely eat it.
(b) Bhang is drunk by all classes, Brahmans,
Thakurs and lower castes. Its use is very common
in this district. It would not, I think, be going
too far to say that its consumption is universal
amongst the Thakurs of this district. Among
other classes it is undoubtedly less common, but
it is not possible to give exact proportions.
28. (a) The consumption for moderate consum-
ers is about ¼ tola.
(b) Excessive consumers take up to as much
as five tolas per diem.
The cost of the former would be one pice, of the
latter five pice, the drugs in this district being,
as a rule, sold retail against equal weights of
copper coin.
The above details have been furnished to me by
vendors of the drug at different times. They
have not been checked by enquiry from consumers
themselves, but I give them for what they may
be worth.
30. Ganja and charas are more usually smoked
in company. Bhang in private. It is chiefly
confined to the male sex. I am not aware of any
instance where a woman has become a consumer
of these drugs. It is not usual for children to
consume them, at any rate under the age of about
14 years. Many appear to take up the habit at
the age of 16 or 17.
31. There does not, so far as I am aware, appear to
be any tendency for moderate consumers to become
excessive. Considering the very large numbers
of moderate cousumers of bhang in this district,
if there were such a tendency it would probably
be well marked. The very large majority, how-
ever, of consumers appear to smoke their ¼ or ½
tola to the end of their lives without increasing
the amount.
33. I do not think that in this district there
can be said to be any* public opinion upon the
matter. The consumption is common, and is
certainly not looked upon with disfavour.
34. It would, I think, be a privation to the
very large numbers of the poorer labouring classes
who consume the drugs. The hemp drugs are
mostly cheaper, value for value, than country
spirit. The poorer labouring classes who cannot
well afford liquor often like to take a few whiffs of
ganja after a hard day's work. If the consump-
tion were prohibited and liquor remained at its
present price, the poorer classes would undoubtedly
be seriously affected. It is impossible in the short
time at my disposal for answering these questions
to give the numbers, but they undoubtedly are
large. The richer classes would not be affected as
they could afford liquor.
35. It would in my opinion be absolutely futile
to prohibit the consumption of the drags in this
district. They would undoubtedly be consumed
illicitly, and such consumption could not be pre-
vented without a degree of interference with the
liberty of the subject which would be absolutely in-
commensurate with the benefits to be obtained
thereby. Surrounded as this district is by Native
States smuggling would become universal. Even
at the present there is no question, but that smug-