588
should be authorized with the charge of the drugs,
or they may be kept in Government treasury like
opium.
60 and 61. Not produced in Assam.
62. Not cultivated in Assam
63 and 64. I recommend for the total prohibi-
tion of the hemp drugs, and therefore need not
discuss this question.
65. Vide answer to question No. 63.
66 and 67. Discussion not necessary.
68. Yes. Considering the illiterate, immoral,
and low class of men who are licensed to sell these
drugs, there is nothing to prevent people consum-
ing them on the premises.
69. Never consulted to my knowledge, and no
measures are taken. By all means local public
opinion ought to be thus considered.
70. Do not know.
Oral evidence.
Question 1.—I am a native of Dibrugarh and
was educated there. I am thirty-eight years of age.
The Upper Assam Association is purely for the
representing of raiyats' grievances, not temper-
ance.
Question 3.—The hemp plant is found in very
few cases in gardens and enclosures close to houses,
and sometimes in fields. It is seldom in the
former, for the police order the plants to be eradi-
cated there. The plant is grown rarely for use,
and sometimes for cattle-disease, they say. It is
not much wanted for cattle-disease.
Question 26.—Ganja is the excise article.
Bhang is the leaves of the uncultivated or wild
plant. Very few of the pure Assamese use the
wild bhang. Some use the excise ganja occasion-
ally. The Doms use it. The Ahoms, and in
some cases the Haris, and in very few cases the
Brahmins, use the drug. The use seems to be on
the increase. It is easily accessible in the bazars;
and the association with foreigners leads to in-
crease, I do not know if shops have increased.
The import of ganja is believed to be on the in-
crease; but I cannot speak from statistics. There
is a large increase of foreigners in my district.
Question 33.—Spiritual guides, called Gosains
in Assam—four of them are the principal guides
or Popes of Assam—all forbid the use of intoxi-
cating things. This prohibition is strictly en-
forced among their disciples; not among the
people generally. I know the Gosain at Kamai-
kia takes bhang; but he is a follower of Durga.
We in Upper Assam are followers of Vishnu; not
all, but the most. I was not aware that the
Chaubies of Mathura (the Vishnavite head-quar-
ters) are great consumers of bhang.
Question 45.—My cousin was a student, and
mixed with mendicant fakirs and other bad com-
panions, and learned to smoke from them. He is
the case mentioned by the witness Jadu Ram
Barooah. He died a year ago. He was about
thirty years old when he died. He took to the
use of the drug at about twelve years of age at
school. About five years later he became insane.
He was insane for ten years, and died about a
year ago. His companions were fakirs and
people who were idle and lazy. I do not mean
that his bad companions were vicious. There was
no insanity in his family. I do not know
whether the companions of the boy took dhatura.
It is believed that fakirs do; but I do not know in
this case. The boy, as a little boy of twelve,
smoked hard. His parents tried to stop him in
vain. He smoked all day, and neglected his edu-
cation at school.
The other cases I refer to in this answer were
two: (1) A tea garden cooly was charged with
murder of another cooly, and I was present in
Court as juryman, but not in the jury. The
prisoner pleaded insanity, and verdict was "tem-
porary insanity from ganja." The year was 1890
or 1891. I do not remember the name of the
accused. The Judge was Mr. L. Johnson. (2)
The other case was Nukul Chandra Goshami, who
is now in the Tezpur Asylum. He killed a man.
He was tried in Dibrugarh seven or eight years
ago by Mr. L. Johnson and pronounced insane.
These are all the cases I know of hemp drug in-
sanity.
Question 68.—Consumption on the premises
is forbidden by the Government, but the retail
vendors are not a high class of men and therefore
permit it. By "immoral," I merely mean that
they are not of a very high tone.
Question 69.—I think local option is feasible.
Public opinion can be taken through the Upper
Assam Association. The raiyats are fully re-
presented, but not the coolies. Their interests
are taken up by Tea Associations. There are local
boards; and I think the opinion of the public can
be ascertained through them.
48. Evidence of JADU RAM BOROOAH, Assamese Kayasth, Local Board Member;
Pensioned Overseer, Public Works Department, Dibrugarh.
1. Met several ganja-smoking coolies when
working my garden, and many others using same;
had also been seeing ganja-selling shops on several
occasions, and saw also using bhang as madak
(medicinal pills) made by native doctors or Bez
Borooahs, and as bhang sweetmeat and siddhi in
religious matters several times.
2. The definition may be accepted for this pro-
vince. Hemp drugs are known here as follows:—
The imported hemp drugs are known as ganja,
whether flat or round, and chur as broken ganja.
The uncultivated hemp plants are named here as
jungli bhang, which is generally used for siddhi
and bhang sweetmeat.
3. In all districts in Assam wild hemp plants
grow abundantly, but its growth having been
prohibited and restricted, they cannot now be
much seen.
4. The male plant with thick and flowery tops
and made flat by pressure, keeping generally under
hard bed, were classed and named as mohini
bhang; and the female plant with seeds and
flowery tops grown without care were known as
jungli bhang.
6. Dense as much as I have seen.
7. No.
13. Yes, to all districts. To prevent consump-
tion, as ganja supposed to harm brain badly.
14. Only bhang from wild plants.