135
and judgments that he used to copy. His people
found it necessary to put restraint on his move--
ments. He received a small pension and lived till
some time in 1891. With increasing age he ceas-
ed to be violent, but he never recovered his reason
completely. I do not know if he continued to
smoke ganja after he became mad. He however
had a hankering for it and never missed an oppor-
tunity to indulge in it.
I could give a few more cases ; but I think the
above are sufficient. I believe that in the acute
stage of the disease there is hope of cure by com-
- p l e t e a b s t i n e n c e a n d f r e e d o m f r o m e x c i t e m e n t o f
any sort. I have seen both amentia and dementia
resulting from the use of ganja ; the former more
frequently than the latter. In the cases that
came under my observation there was no mental
anxiety or brain disease, as far as I know, to
account for the habit. I do believe, however, that
men of weak understanding, and especially those
whose will power is weak when they once get into
the habit soon become excessive smokers and
gradually drift towards insanity after a time—the
original weakness of the head helping to bring
about the result.
46. I believe that habitual excessive use pro-
duces the above effects sooner than moderate use.
47. The children of the ganja smoker or the
bhang drinker have greater chances of following
the paternal habit than other children. I do not,
h o w e v e r , b e l i e v e t h a t t h i s i s d u e s o m u c h t o a n y
inherited tendency as to the fact of that want of
salutary aversion to such indulgences which sur
-rounding public opinion inculcates and the op-
portunities they get, of indulging in it, at a period
of life when curiosity is stronger than considera--
tion of consequences.
48. I knew a man of good family and in easy
circumstances who indulged in all sorts of intoxi--
cants, wines, spirits, opium and ganja in excessive
quantities. He had two sons, both of them born
during the period of the father’s excessive indul--
gence; the children. in their infancy and boyhood
did not differ in any marked way from other chil-
- d r e n . T h e y w e r e a t s c h o o l a n d p r o s e c u t e d t h e i r
studies up to the middle school standard, but by
the time they came to the period of adolescence
they took to the paternal habits one after the
other, and both of them died before they were 20.
49 and 50. I do not know.
51. Not that I know of. The indulgence in
these drugs makes a man eccentric and quick-tem--
pered and unreliable in his engagements; more--
over, the bad opinion that people entertain of such
persons stands in the way of their getting work.
Gradually necessity compels them to be dishonest.
But where the question of bread does not compli-
-cate matters, the ganja smoker has as good a
chance of being honest as any other man. The
ganja smoker, however, is as a rule a short-tem-
pered man and is apt to be violent on provocation
that would not rouse an ordinary man to acts of
violence, “ As short-tempered as a ganja
smoker ” is a proverb in Bengal. From my ex-
perience of ganja smokers I am of opinion that
they are prone to acts of violence; that the poorer
portion of them are apt to become dishonest on
account of their lazy and thriftless habits and the
difficulty they find in obtaining employment. But
the habit per se, I do not think, is productive of
offences against property.
52. Excessive use only intensifies the above
effects.
53. Yes ; I have known more than one case of
homicide that had its origin in this habit. I
quote one out of several that come to my mind
now. It occurred more than 20 years ago. There
was a celebrated shrine of Kali ou the left bank of
the Bhagirathi in my native district. The place
was at some distance from the neighbouring village,
and the shrine was surrounded on all sides by a
number of ancient banyan trees which added to
the weird appearance of the blood-stained shrine.
There was a Kapalik who usually officiated at the
sacrifice of scores of goats that used to be brought
there on Tuesdays and Saturdays, as promised offer-
ings for cures from fever and other diseases. A
sanyasi of the Shakt persuasion came and settled
there with two Bhairabis and soon secured a
w i d e - s p r e a d r e p u t a t i o n f o r s a n c t i t y a n d i n f l u e n c e w i t h
the goddess, to which his stalwart frame and bushy
hair and beard and red eyes and taciturn manners
contributed not a little. He used to honour the
neighbouring gentry with occasional visits extend-
ing over days and weeks at a time, during which
occasions high honours Were paid to him and the
supply of ganja was unlimited. He was a man
of some education, and quoted verses from the
G i t a d u r i n g h i s l u c i d i n t e r v a l s . O n e d a y h e t o o k
umbrage at some supposed act of neglect of the
Kapalik, and in the evening went to the temple
“ t o
s e e
t h e g o d d e s s ” a f t e r h i s u s u a l s m o k e . H e
found the Kapalik prostrating before the goddess
and the blood-stained “ khanda” with which he
was killing the goats lay temptingly standing
against the wall. In an instant the sanyasi
snatched it from its place and cut the Kapalik
into two at a single blow. With the assistance
of the Bhairabis he removed the body and threw
it into the river below. But the matter got wind
and a neighbouring Deputy Magistrate came to
enquire into the case ; the women gave out the
story, and the sanyasi seeing further attempt at
concealment to he useless, made a full confession
and was duly hanged.
54. Professional lathials (clubmen) I have seen
to smoke ganja before going out for a fight, and
I have heard that dacoits often do so before pro-
- c e e d i n g t o t h e i r w o r k o f s p o l i a t i o n . I t i s n o t
difficult to see that a man bent on a crime, but
still deterrent by the fear of punishment and the
opinion of his fellows, would drown the deterrent
motives by having recourse to a smoke that would
make him forget everything save the strongest
present motive.
55. As far as I know, criminals mix dhatura
or other drugs with ganja or bhang for the purpose
of stupefying their victims. I have seen more
than one case of complete stupefaction brought on
a novice by an overdose of ganja or bhang.
56. Admixture of dhatura with ganja or soot
with bhang makes them much more active, and it
then becomes a question of quantity of the intoxi--
cant and strength of the man as to what effect it
will produce. I have seen many excessive smokers,
mostly Sanyasis and Bairagis, mix dhatura with
their ganja. I knew a young man of a respect-
- a b l e B r a h m i n f a m i l y d o i t f o r a t i m e . H e b e c a m e
insane and remained so for a year and never at--
tempted it again. I have heard that some ganja
smokers about Halishahar mix their ganja with
opium, which they mix well in the palm of the
left hand by pressing them with the thumb of
the right, and then smoke the composition in a
chillum. It is said to be highly intoxicating, and.
goes by the name of “bullet shot” amongst the
smokers.
57. I have never seen such a case.