183
Mentally, the use of ganja makes the con-
sumer irritable and incapable of bearing contra¬
diction. It sometimes produces insanity. It
invariably produces laziness and unfits the con¬
sumer for doing any work which requires sus¬
tained efforts. Excited by his smoke, he may be
induced to do something which others would not
venture to do; but when the excitement is over,
he becomes the most indolent of the indolent,
and will not be roused to action till again excited
by a fresh smoke of his favourite drug. Morally,
it makes the man capable of anything, however
heinous. He is generally in want, and when he
has not his pice to procure his favourite ganja,
he will commit theft, house-breaking, robbery,
and every other offence.
46. In the above question, I have not dwelt
on the effect of ganja-smoking in producing
insanity, because I do not think moderate use of
ganja tends to any great extent to produce this
malady. Excessive use of it, however, is a
fruitful source of insanity. I think, however,
it is a mistake to ascribe to ganja the cause of
insanity because insanes are found addicted to
its use. Persons of defective intellect and idiotic
turn of mind, through inability to control tempt¬
ations, fall into evil company and contract the
habit of using ganja, and thereby lose whatever
intellect nature has endowed them with. It is
not insanity for which ganja-smokers are noted.
But irritability of temper, eccentricity and want
of control over temper are their characteristic
vices.
47. I do not think so. But, as in the case of
alcohol and opium, a beginner learns the smoking
of ganja from others with whom he comes into
contact. There seems to be a greater chance of
contracting this habit for young men whose
parents happen to be addicted to this drug.
48. The above remarks apply also to this
question.
49. I am not aware of such practice, and can-
not, therefore, speak of the effects of such a prac¬
tice.
Like other stimulants, the use of ganja,
bhang and charas is supposed to cause temporary
excitment, followed by a corresponding depres¬
sion afterwards, and in the end to cause debility
and loss of manhood, if not actual impotence.
50. The above remarks apply to this question
also.
51. It is difficult to say whether a large pro-
portion of bad characters are habitual moderate
consumers of any of these drugs. It can, how¬
ever, be asserted that ganja-smokers are, as a rule,
regarded as of a disreputable character and as
being persons to be avoided by all respectable
gentlemen.
In civil and criminal courts, to shake the credi¬
bility of a witness, it is a frequent practice to ask
him if he is a ganja-smoker. Similarly, in pro¬
ceedings under the Code of Criminal Procedure
for requiring a person to furnish security for his
good behaviour, it often becomes relevant to en¬
quire whether the person is a vagabond and asso¬
ciates himself with ganja-smokers.
52. Remarks made in answer to the preceding
question apply in this case also.
53. I do not think in sober moments we have
any reason to apprehend any violence from a ganja-
smoker, even if he be addicted to an excessive use
of the drug. But when under the influence of
the drug, it is extremely dangerous to irritate him
or contradict him, or do anything to provoke him.
If so provoked, he would be capable of commit¬
ting the most heinous crime.
Several years ago there lived a man, named
Radhai Haldar, within the Madaripur Sub-division
of the Faridpur District. This man was an in¬
veterate ganja-smoker. He had a son, named
Prosonno, and a mother who was unable to move
about on account of paralysis. Unfortunately the
man lost his son Prosonno. He one day, after
his son's death, held a fair of Trinath (see page
29, Bengal Excise Administration Report, 1874-
75, where the details of this entertainment, which
is also very prevalent in Dacca, Faridpur, and
Backerganj, are given; the god is not Srinath, but
Trinath, i.e., the Hindu Trinity of creator, des¬
troyer and preserver) at his house. Having
imbibed a strong smoke of ganja, he fancied that
Trinath came to him and restored his son to life.
He ordered his paralysed mother to get up and go
to the place where the remains of his son Prosonno
were burnt, and bring Prosonno home from that
place. The mother being too much afflicted with
her own disease, scolded her son, whereupon the
son, with a wooden mallet, with one stroke com¬
pletely smashed out her brains, and thus put an
end to the life of the unfortunate woma n.
This man was perfectly sane before this atro¬
cious deed, and though he afterwards feigned
madness whilst in jail before trial, he tried to
commit suicide, which shows that his subsequent
madness was feigned, and that, repenting of the
horrible crime he committed, he tried to escape
the gallows by himself putting an end to his
existence.
54. I do not think so.
55. I have not heard of any such case. It
is not easy to induce complete stupefaction by a
small quantity of ganja or bhang.
56. See answer to question 29.
57. I cannot speak of charas but I have
heard that even in this district there are persons
who eat ganja with betel leaves or drink them
like siddhi. Their number is, however, extremely
small, and they consume the drug in this way
in secret. It is said, however, that only those
whom even an excessive use of ganja in the
ordinary way does not satisfy take to the practice
of eating or drinking the drug in secret.
58. It is, in my opinion, working well. But
I am not prepared to say that it does not admit
of improvement.
59. The expression "a maximum of revenue
with a minimum of consumption" is, after
all, I think, the most beautiful and succinct way
of describing the avowed policy of Government
in matters of excise.
I understand the' expression to mean in the
first place that consumption should be a mini¬
mum, i.e., it should be restricted as much as
possible, without interfering with the legitimate
requirements of the people, and without driving
them to abandon one form of exciseable article
and to take recourse to another more injurious
form, In the second place the expression means
that, subject to the above conditions of
minimum consumption, and in our endeavour
to bring about this desired result, the
greatest possible amount of revenue should be
raised for the State, regard being had to the
fact that restriction carried too far tends to defeat
its own object by driving people to illegal prac¬
tices, such as smuggling, etc.
Let us now apply the above conclusions to the
case of ganja. From these conclusions, we see that