444
27. Of the habitual consumers of charas the
majority may be said to belong to poor workmen
and labourers who, after they are done with their
day's work, seek some sort of enjoyment which
they do by forming a kind of society of their equals
and smoking charas freely among them.
2ndly.—Some fakirs (not beggars) who, in order
to forget the worry of the wordly affairs, keep
themselves constantly under the influence of these
drugs. These are preferred to others by their
cheapness.
3rdly.—There are found a number of such indi-
viduals also who commence taking them, specially
bhang, for the sake of their aphrodisiac properties,
but when get habituated to their use, they do not
care to give up their use.
28. Six mashas or about ninety grains of bhang
may be taken as an average quantity for a habitual
moderate consumer when used in the usual way as
filtered cold infusion, and half of that quantity when
taken as a bolus. For a habitual excessive con-
sumer two tolas (360 grains) is an average dose.
The cost of bhang is about a pie per tola, i.e., half
a pie for a moderate consumer, and two pies for an
excessive consumer. As much as a chittak (two
ounces) can be taken by one habituated to its use,
and I have seen a fakir in Kulu who eats enormous
quantity of bhang leaves; the people of the village
in which he lives, say that he eats nothing else but
bhang. I have heard of no death ever occurring
by bhang poisoning.
A moderate smoker of. charas uses about one
masha (16 grains) at one time which costs a
pice (3 pies). Excessive smokers may smoke several
mashas, the average being three mashas a day
(morning, noon and evening).
29. The ingredients which a daily consumer of
bhang ordinarily mixes with his dose are a few
black peppers only, but those who drink it occa-
sionally mix in addition to the above some poppy
seeds, cardamoms, cucumber and melon seeds,
almond, fennel seeds, rose petals, sugar, and milk,
and sometimes when taken on certain festivals, they
also add saffron and keora (water distilled from
keora tree—Pandamius odpratissimus); dhatura
seeds (a few only) are sometimes ground with
bhang in order to increase its intoxicating effects.
It is done among friends, with no bad intention
from the part of one who mixes the seeds, to intoxi-
cate his other companions for the sake of amuse-
ment. In such cases only a few seeds are mixed.
In other cases this is done for criminal purposes
either to kill the person or to take his money when
he is deeply intoxicated. Such a practice was very
common in former days, and stories are heard of
travellers being poisoned and looted in this way.
The object of mixing other ingredients is chiefly
to give the mixture a good taste and flavour and
make it cooling and refrigerant in its effects or,
what the common people think, to remove the
heating and drying effects of bhang which are
natural to the drug.
The charas is commonly smoked with tobacco in
the chillum.
If we ask a native druggist (pansari) for bhang
massala he will give, if we do not name the ingre-
dients, some black pepper, cucumber seeds, rose
petals, poppy, and fennel seeds all mixed up in one
paper.
30. Charas and bhang are consumed both in
solitude and in company. Habitual consumers of
bhang take it individually in their own houses, but
those who drink occasionally on certain festivals,
usually take it in company of other friends, and
then if children be present, they are not prohibited
from taking a little of it. Smokers of charas have
parties who either smoke it at some fixed place
where they all sit together and smoke in turns or
they go to the Jamna river and there smoke it.
A charsi (charas smoker) seldom likes to smoke
alone.
The use of these drugs is not common among the
females generally, but the low class prostitutes do
take them at their own places.
31. In the case of bhang I can say, on my own
experience, that its occasional use does not lead to
form the habit easily and a person can leave it off
at once if he chooses to do it. I know several
habitual consumers of bhang who have kept
themselves to the same quantity of it ever since
they commenced taking it. But the charsis are
very apt to become excessive smokers from moder-
ate smoking. I have enquired from several charsis ;
they say it is easy to form the habit and difficult to
break off.
32. The religious festivals, when it is custom-
ary for the people to consume these drugs (among
the Hindus) are, besides few minor ones, Shivratri
when the great deity Shiv is worshipped (who him-
self was very fond of drinking bhang), Nirjalla
Ekadshi when a fast is kept by Hindus, and
Dasera when people go to bathe in the Jamna river.
On these occasions many, who are not at all accus-
tomed to take bhang, drink it freely and publicly.
Charas is also smoked, but only by those who
habitually smoke it. The use of these drugs is not
essential on these occasions and is generally temper-
ate, but those accustomed to their use, do some-
times take them in excess. Taking in connection
with these customs does not lead to the formation
of habit. I have taken bhang on many of such
occasions, but have never felt inclined to take it
afterwards. I do not think the use on such occa-
sions is in any way injurious.
33. The charas smokers are looked with great
contempt by the people in general, but the moder-
ate and occasional consumers of bhang are not so
regarded.
The public opinion about charas is that it makes
its victim very miserable, producing chest and brain
affections. There is a saying; among non-smokers
that charas gives its friend cough and a very bad
form of asthma, but he is so obstinate that he does
not die.
Both excessive consumers of bhang and charas
are despised by the people (1) because the use of the
drugs, specially charas, is common among the low
classes, and (2) the habitual and excessive use of
them makes the man useless for any work.
36. This has been answered already under ques-
tion 25. In proof of the statement that alcohol is
being substituted for these drags to a large extent
may be mentioned the facts that many of the edu-
cated youths of the Brahmin and bania castes,
whose religion so strictly prohibits the use of alco-
hol and whose forefathers never touched it, may,
now-a-days, be seen publicly drinking, and that
there is a marked increase in the number of wine
shops in the city.
40. The vaids prescribe bhang for various com-
plaints. In gonorrhœa it is given in the form of cold
infusion to allay pain and increase the flow of water.
The leaves of bhang in the form of poultice are ap-
plied to painful piles and the juice of the leaves is
dropped into the ear for earache.