242
49. At the beginning the virile power is in-
creased, but subsequently it is totally extin-
guished.
50. The injurious effects mentioned above are
brought on sooner.
56. Bad characters mix dhatura for producing
excessive intoxication, and administer to others to
make them senseless for the purpose of robbing
them.
57. Charas and ganja, as far as my experience
goes, are never drunk.
174. Evidence of HAKIM ASGHAR HOSAIN, Sheikh, Native Physician, Fatehgarh,
Farukhabad District.
1. In the course of my practice as a physician
I have had opportunities of obtaining information
regarding the matters connected with hemp drugs.
2. Yes ; the definitions may be accepted for
this province. The drugs are known by these
names.
3. In this district (Farukhabad) the hemp plant
grows spontaneously to some extent. It is abund-
ant in Saharanpur district.
4. It is known as ganja and bhang in this dis-
trict. The bhang is also called sabzi (green), and
by various other names denoting its qualities,
such as "warak-ui-khyal," "sabz-pari," etc., etc.
5. Heavy rainfall, damp, and terai lands (i.e.,
lands by the river-side) are necessary for its
growth.
7. There is cultivation of the hemp plant in this
district (c) for use as bhang. Don't know where
and to what extent.
14. Ganja and bhang are grown and prepared
in the adjoining districts of Shahjehanpur and
Hardoi. Don't know to what extent.
35. It would be feasible to prohibit the use of
all these drugs if their use he declared to he an
offence. Of course it will have to be done by
degrees. At first some control should be exercised
on the sale of drugs similar to that exercised on
the sale of arsenic and other poisons. The prohi-
bition will be followed by recourse to alcoholic
stimulants, unless they are made too dear a luxury
by imposing heavy duty on it.
40. Only bhang is prescribed by native doctors,
but very rarely. Bhang is also used in the treat-
ment of cattle disease.
41. No ; in neither of these cases the mode-
rate use of any of the drugs is beneficial. The
common people believe that these drugs give
staying-power under severe exertion and fatigue ;
but. in my opinion, the drugs have no such power
though they temporarily produce an effect similar
to this.
The lower caste Hindus use these drugs for the
purpose specified in (b). The proportion of the
people is very small.
42. I consider the moderate use of all these
drugs to be harmful, because the common people
who use the drugs cannot be expected to continue
a moderate use of the drug. They are apt to
increase the consumption of the drugs after a
time.
43. Yes ; the consumers of charas are offensive
to their neighbours.
44. The immediate effect of the moderate use
of the drugs on the habitual consumer is to pro-
duce cough and to irritate the temper of the
consumer. Yes ; it produces intoxication, which
lasts only for a short time, after which a craving
for the drug is felt.
45. As a rule the habitual moderate use of
ganja, bhang and charas produces noxious effects,
physical, mental and moral. It does not cause
loss of appetite, but injures digestion. In the
beginning unnatural appetite is produced. The
use of ganja and charas causes bronchitis and
asthma. Moral sense is impaired. The use of
bhang produces laziness and habits of immorality
and debauchery. The advanced state of in toxica-
tion deadens the intellect. Excessive use of charas
produces insanity, which may have lucid intervals.
The intellect is permanently injured. A good
many inmates of lunatic asylums will be found
to have become insane through excessive use of
charas. When a man is under the influence of
the drugs he is liable to have melancholic
notions. The intoxication may lead to crime.
49. Bhang is used as an aphrodisiac. In the
end its effect is injurious. Prostitutes use bhang
for this purpose.
51. Habitual criminals as a rule use the drugs.
Their proportion is large. Moderate use is also
apt to lead to crime, such as offences against
person and property.
53. Excessive indulgence in the drugs does
incite to unpremeditated crime. The use of
charas may lead to temporary homicidal frenzy.
54. Yes.
175. Evidence of HAKIM MUHAMMAD ALI Pathan, Yunani Doctor, Hardoi.
1. The perusal of medical works, and also in-
quiry from hemp drug smokers and traders.
2. It appears from Dr. Prain's investigations
that he has considered the plant which produces
bhang and that which produces ganja to be one
and the same. However, as far as 1 have been
able to ascertain, this is not the case. There is a
difference between the leaves of ganja and bhang.
The bhang plant is five "gaz" (yards) in height,
and the ganja plant never more than three "gaz"
If the information given me is not erroneous,
perhaps this is the reason why bhang is produced
in this district and ganja is not produced here.
In these provinces neither the ganja nor the bhang
plant are called "patsan" (hemp). The "patsan"
fibres are made into "san" (flax) and it has
nothing to do with ganja or bhang. What Dr.
Prain has said about the different, kinds of ganja
is quite correct as far as it goes ; but besides those
kinds there is another kind called "Mahadeva,"
which used to bo produced in Nawabganj
(Bara Banki) and Sitapur. The leaves of "Maha-
deva" is shaped differently from those of the
other kinds, and it is made into bundles weigh-
ing one chitak each.