346
I know the preparation known as "bhang
massala." Its ordinary ingredients are cucum-
ber seeds, aniseed, poppy seeds, black pepper and
rose petals. There is a richer variety which con-
sists of, in addition to these, liquorice, sweet
almonds, cardamom and saffron.
30. Ganja is generally smoked in solitude;
ganja-smokers are looked down in society and
hence the desire to smoke it privately. As a rule
no invitation is made to join in smoking, but
should one or more persons happen to come at the
time, they sit together and smoke. Novices,
who care more for privacy, select a solitary place
where they meet at an appointed hour and smoke.
Well-to-do ganja-smokers generally have some
hangers-on who smoke with them. I have also
known poor ganja-smokers doing sundry gratui-
tous services to a rich consumer for being allowed
to smoke with him. Sometimes bhang is drunk
in company. Generally the habit is confined to
the male sex, but very many women of ill-fame
do smoke. Ganja-smoking is scarcely taken to
before arriving at the age of 20 years or so.
31. The first experience of a ganja-smoker is
not always pleasant; it excites a form of delirium
and hallucinations, usually followed by deep sleep.
But of course this varies with the constitution of
the individual and the quantity of smoke drawn
in. Very many opium-eaters prefer an excuse for
contracting the habit, but ganja-smokers general-
ly make none. Youngsters learn through the force
of example of their seniors; and notwithstanding
the first unpleasant experience, they repeat smok-
ing, and, during the course of a month, become
habitual smokers. The habit once formed is
certainly difficult to break off; it requires mental
fortitude and determination in a high degree to
do so. Moderate consumers can break off the
habit without much bodily discomfort. I have
known moderate consumers of scanty means doing
without it for days together. Of course they
suffer some uneasiness, viz., disinclination to take
any food, puffiness of the abdomen, chilliness, run-
ning from the nose, aching of limbs, and a sense
of general malaise. The case of excessive con-
sumers is different. Every habitual consumer
must go through a stage of bodily discomfort
before being able to give up the habit. But I
think habitually excessive inebriation generates a
loss of mental strength with which the degree of
determination necessary is incompatible. This is
the source of weakness, and hence the difficulty.
It appears to me, however, that it is not so difficult
to break it off as that of opium. These remarks
apply to ganja and charas. Bhang is not habit-
ually drunk in this part of the country, and so I
have little information to give about it. There is
a decided tendency in the case of ganja for the
moderate habit to develop into the excessive. A
habitual smoker cannot resist the temptation of a
smoke when available. People with long purse
almost always run to excess. But I have known
poor men (a few of my palki-bearers of Bagdi
caste) who have been smoking for a long time, but
with whom the habit is generally a well-regulated
one.
32. There is a semi-religious custom with re-
gard to the use of bhang. It is drunk on Dasera
and Lakshi-purnima days. Ganja is also offered
to Mahadeva on the Sivaratri day. But the cus-
tom is certainly not regarded as essential, and it is
not likely to lead to the formation of the habit
or prove injurious.
36. Amongst the low-caste people I do not
know whether alcohol is supplanting ganja; but I
know this, that many ganja-smokers drink country
liquor as well. Amongst the Bhadralok class
ganja always leads a small number of votaries;
and that number, I think, has diminished still
further; there are more persons addicted to drink-
ing liquor than to smoking ganja. I think the
reason is partly cheapness of liquor and partly
because it is easily get-at-able. But the principal
reason appears to me to be the fashion of the
day.
37. The effect of ganja and charas smoking aro
alike in kind, but they differ in degree. There is,
however, another difference, and that is, that the
intoxication of ganja is immediate, while that of
charas takes time to develop; further, ganja in-
toxication reaches its acme soon and then begins
to decline, while that of charas gradually increases
and lasts longer. Charas is stronger than ganja
and produces all its effects, but in a higher degree.
In bhang intoxication there is some sort of dry-
ness of tongue and throat, redness of eyes, sudden
startings, hallucinations, loss of sense of time and
space and so forth, as that in ganja intoxication,
but the effects last a very long time. Bhang is
undoubtedly milder than ganja; all habitual ganja
consumers, whom I have questioned, uniformly say
that they derive no inebriation by smoking it.
The difference in effect between the two appears
to me to be partly due to the fact that while the
one is smoked and consequently its action is rapid,
and the other is drunk and consequently its action
is slow.
40. Kavirajes prescribe old bhang fried in ghee
and mixed generally with carminatives, in cases
of chronic diarrhœa and dysentery. The use,
however, is mainly confined to this class of disease
only, but occasionally used as a nervine tonic.
In diarrhœa of cattle bhang is given.
41 and 42. Neither ganja, charas nor bhang is a
food accessory; neither of them has any virtue to
appease hunger. On the contrary, ganja and
bhang intoxication alike creates a desire for food,
and people when so intoxicated eat more than they
do otherwise; both are digestive to a certain extent.
Moderate use of ganja or bhang doubtless gives a
staying-power in works of extraordinary physical
exertion, such as those of palki-bearers and black-
smiths. These two classes of people, as a rule,
smoke ganja, and evidently they derive some help
in carrying on their trade. Ganja and bhang ap-
pear to exert some influence—a preventive of
malarial fever. Ganja-smokers appear to be less
liable to malarial attacks than other people.
Sanyasis say that ganja-smoking protects them
from the evil effects of bad water. This appears
to be significant. As a febrifuge, I know one in-
stance in which bhang stopped an attack of tertian
ague which formerly resisted treatment.
44. The immediate effect of moderate use on a
habitual consumer is refreshing; he feels an in-
expressible ease and takes to work with a cheerful
heart. It does not give him intoxication but only
some warmth. This effect lasts for a few hours,
and there are some after-effects, viz., a sense of
laziness and loss of energy and spirit. At the ha-
bitual hour it must be smoked again, which of
course varies in frequency in the case of different
individuals. There is certainly a longing for
gratification when the effect is over. Ganja-
smoker is loath to do anything when his intoxica-
tion is over, but give him hope of a smoke and
be will be up again. I know a gentleman who
sings well, but would not do so, however pressed,
until he has had a pull.