311
diet of milk and ghee, and confectionery having a
large share of these oily ingredients. None of
these effects are perceived in a charas-smoker.
I
do not know whether the resin (charas) has any
property of mitigating the evils produced by ganja,
but I believe the indulgence in this drug seldom or
never grows into a passion.
The intoxication produced by charas-smoking is
much tamer than that of ganja. It scarcely
brings on any hallucination such as is caused by
intoxication generally. Persons under its influence
scarcely betray any incoherence in manner or
speech. Neither is the habit productive of any
perceptible evil in the constitution. But ganja is
more powerful in its effects, and it leaves a more
lasting impression on the system. One peculiarity
in ganja-smoking is that it makes the persons with
whom the indulgence has become a habit choleric
and irascible, rough in manner and rough in speech.
40. Bhang and ganja are prescribed by native
doctors in bowel complaints and are recommended
as appetisers. Bhang is also used in the treatment
of cattle disease.
41. Bhang and ganja are nervous stimulants
and give great staying-power under severe exertion,
exposure and fatigue. They are great appetisers.
Hemp is acknowledged in British Pharmacopœia
as a good febrifuge, and is reputed to be prophy-
lactic of malaria in the steamy swamps of Lower
Bengal.
42. The moderate use of these drugs is certainly
harmless because they are nervine.
43. Generally speaking, moderate consumers are
inoffensive to their neighbours.
44. The immediate effect of the moderate use of
these drugs is that it produces exhilaration and
mental cheerfulness. It does not produce intoxi-
cation to habitual consumers. It does not allay
hunger, but creates appetite. The effect does not
last more than a couple of hours. There are no
after-effects.
45. Excess causes a peculiar kind of delirium
and catalepsy, though it is a well-known fact that
habits of intoxication, when persevered in, have a
great tendency to affect the nerves. Ganja-smok-
ing has a more powerful tendency in bringing on
the attacks of insanity.
47. There is no hereditary longing for these
drugs.
Oral
evidence.
Question 1. —I am an Honorary Member of the
Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain and
Fellow of the Chemical Society of London. I
served the Government for thirty years, and it is
now ten years since I retired. I entered service
as an Assistant Surgeon. My first appointment
in the year 1854 was as Assistant to the Chemical
Examiner. From 1854 to 1884 I was always
connected with the Chemical Department. From
1873 to 1884 I was Lecturer of Chemistry and
Medical Jurisprudence at the Campbell School.
I officiated for six months as Chemical Examiner
to Government and Professor of Chemistry at the
Medical College. Since my retirement I have
pursued my chemical studies and engaged in
private practice. While I was in Government
employ I had a pretty fair private practice in my
leisure hours.
I have conducted certain physiological experi-
ments with the hemp drugs. Samples of the
drugs were sent to me, and I made extracts from
them and administered them to people. I cannot
remember who sent the specimens, what the pre-
cise object of the enquiry was, nor when the en-
quiry was held. I think I reported upon it, but
cannot be certain. I believe Dr. Macnamara was
Chemical Examiner at the time, but the enquiry
was placed in my hands, and, as Additional Che-
mical Examiner, I corresponded direct with Gov-
ernment about it. The enquiry was probably made
before 1872, i.e., before I was transferred to the
Campbell School. The report was of the nature
of that contained in the Table XII at page 50 of
Dr. Prain's report, but I do not recognize the
table. The experiments mentioned in paragraph
23, page 9, of Hem Chandra Kerr's report are pro-
bably those conducted by me. These are chemical
experiments, but I have also conducted physiolo-
gical experiments. The latter experiments con-
sisted in my administering on a single occasion an
equal quantity of the extract from two samples of
ganja to two persons with the object of compar-
ing their physiological effects. One was found
to be stronger than the other, but I cannot say
which. I did not see either man while he was
under the influence of the drug, and cannot say
whether either was in a cataleptic condition. It
would be impossible to say whether the man was
in a cataleptic condition or not, without observ-
ing him.
In my practice I have been very seldom called
in to attend a case of illness from the hemp drugs
used as intoxicant. I can only remember being
once called in for an overdose of bhang. I have
not, therefore, much experience of the matter in
my practice, but I have much experience socially.
My written answers regarding the effects of the
drugs are therefore based on my social experience.
Question 18.—My experience of the drug in
my private practice is that it is an excellent
nervine stimulant. I have used both the extract
and the tincture, but generally the tincture. I
cannot say that the drug can always be relied on
to produce the desired physiological effect, but it
has proved of marked use in treatment of cases
connected with the genito-urinary organs and
malarial fever. The extract has not always a
similar strength. The drug does deteriorate
rapidly, and when it is kept in the crude state it
will not last more than six or eight months.
The extract keeps better than the crude ganja,
but it is not reliable after a certain time. For
one year it will keep well, for two years it might,
even in stoppered bottles. I can form no opinion
as to the cause of the change which occurs when
the drug loses its physiological effect.
Question 25.—People addicted to wine suffer a
great deal; those addicted to the hemp drugs do
not suffer so much. My statement is based on
my experience of the excessive habit with regard
to both. Socially alcohol is more disastrous than
the hemp drugs; that is my experience.
Question 34.—I consider the drugs a necessity
of life to the poor people who take them, because
they get relief from them under their physical
exertions and mental troubles. Some stimulant is
necessary for such people, and I consider this is
the best and cheapest of all the nervine stimu-
lants I know. I never prescribed ganja-smoking,
but when I have found patients suffering from
nervousness and want of sleep who have aban-
doned the habit, I have advised them to resume
it. I refer to the moderate habit and patients of
the gentlemanly class. What I have said about
the drug being a necessity of life applies to the
moderate use among the labouring classes.
Ascetics stand apart. They suffer from excess.