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traffic through which thousands of its own subjects
are ruined.
This is a serious charge, but it is as true as it is
regretable, and it applies to opium and liquor as
well as to hemp drugs.
Let the Government wash its guilty hands clean
of the traffic as far as its own dealings with it are
concerned. Let it sanction no official cultivation or
contracts for disposing of the dangerous drugs;
let it do all it can by a high and prohibitive tariff
on all importations of such drugs from Native
States; and let it impose a heavy duty on every
biga of land on which the hemp drug grows, or,
best of all—as the article is of no medicinal use
(like opium), let it prohibit the use of it (as far as
it can) in British India, and levy a heavy fine on all
smuggling of the article through the land.
To my mind by far the best measure in this case
is strict prohibition.
No doubt such measure
would be an extreme one, but it is a case in which
extreme measures will alone prove effectual; and
the fact that the free use of such a dire and danger-
ous article is so ruinous to the people should induce
Government to do its utmost to abolish it "root and
branch"; and my hope is that the present enquiry
may lead to that most desirable consummation.
230. Evidence of MUHAMMAD MOHI-UD-DIN, Assistant Professor, Muir Central
College, Allahabad.
1. My information is derived mainly from
books on medicine and experience in medical practice.
2. Dr. Prain's definitions of bhang, charas and
ganja are correct. The three varieties of ganja are
not known to me.
19. They are used for smoking only. They are
not used in any other way in this part of the
country.
20. Low class workmen use them. Their pro-
portion is not known.
22. Not known.
23. Never.
24. Indian fakirs, mostly Hindus. Some Musal-
man fakirs of bad character, who call themselves
Musalmans, also use them.
29. Anise-seed, seeds of khira and kakri, black
pepper, etc., etc., are mixed with bhang.
30. It is mainly confined to the male sex.
Females and children do not use these drugs.
31. According to the physicians of the Unani
school, "habit is second nature," and as such it is
difficult to break off. Its abandonment engenders
diseases.
32. There is no social or religious custom in
regard to the consumption of any of these drugs in
any community.
33. It is generally regarded as disreputable, and
specially by the Muhammadans, because all sorts
of intoxication are unlawful under the Muham-
madan religion.
34. Certainly it would be a privation, because
when a thing is constantly used it grows into a
habit. Such a habit if suddenly given up may,
as mentioned in books on medicine, cause death.
35. (a) The prohibition of any intoxicating drugs
in reality amounts to an attempt to cause death of
those who are habituated to them. It is desirable
that the consumption should bo reduced gradually
by adopting suitable measures not calculated to
cause death.
(f) Surely consumers of intoxicating drugs when
deprived of a drug to which they are habituated
will necessarily require the use of other drugs, and
must have recourse to them.
40. Yes; bhang is used in medicine for cattle.
It is also given to horses, bullocks, etc., to remove
fatigue. It is also used in treatment of other
diseases.
41. Moderate use of bhang imparts vigour to
mental faculties and promotes appetite. But the
excessive use of it has a contrary effect; it destroys
appetite and affects the brain.
45. The noxious effects resulting from the exces-
sive use of these drugs have been dwelt upon at
length in books on medicine. One of these effects
is that it dulls the intellect and produces dryness
and perverts ideas, and thereby becomes the cause
of hypochondria and insanity.
49. Their excess tends to produce impotency by
causing exhaustion of semen and weakening the
mental faculties.
57. Ganja and charas are not eaten or drunk in
this part of the country.
231. Evidence of M. NEWAL KISHORE, C.I.E., Proprietor, "Newal Kishore Press,"
Lucknow.
1. Being connected with the Oudh Akhbar Press,
I have opportunities offered to me of gaining
general information on various topics. Moreover,
one of my near relations in Aligarh has tor a long
time been a drug contractor, and this circumstance,
too has added something to my information. In
addition to this I have made enquiries from people
likely to throw light on the subject.
I am also a member of the Association of Taluk-
dars of Oudh, and am a hereditary landowner.
2. The definition of bhang, ganja and charas
given by Dr. Prain is a correct one. The drugs go
in this province under the names mentioned by the
doctor. The difference only lies in the fact that in
the translation the word patsan, appears for hemp,
vol. v.
and the patsan is used here exclusively for making
ropes.
The fibrous plant of bhang belongs to a different
species altogether.
3. The bhang is a wild plant, and grows abun-
dantly in damp countries and in the northern
mountains. It also grows in the thinly populated
tracts and river valleys. But in our provinces its
chief homes are terai of Nepal, tracts north of
Gonda, Bahraich, Mirzapur, Hardoi, Ghazipur, and
the districts ying between Pilibhit and Hardwar.
The plant being a wild one, its seeds remain scat-
tered on the spot where it grows, and thus give rise
to a continual growth at the same spot. Even in
Lucknow the plant is sparsely scattered here and
2 U