180
30. Speaking only about ganja, I think the
drug is rarely consumed in solitude. In excep¬
tional cases, such as in the course of a journey, a
habitual consumer may be compelled to take the
drug alone, but ordinarily one never smokes ganja
without his chosen company. Several ganja
smokers with whom I discussed this question were
surprised at my enquiries as if it was absurd to
even suppose that a man can smoke ganja in soli¬
tude. One ganja smoker who spends 4 annas per
diem for the drug assures me that he would not
be able to consume a pice worth of ganja if he
had not his two or three chosen companions to
smoke with. The same men assure me that the
number of persons who pay for the ganja is at
most half of the number consuming the drug, so
that the quantity of the drug one purchases often
represents the requirements of two or three
persons. Except prostitutes and Baisnavis, no
other females consume ganja. Children below 14
rarely take to this drug.
31. The habit is easily formed. Example of
older persons leads the young to smoke the drug
first as a pleasure. Soon the habit becomes con¬
firmed, and the victim finds it difficult to give it
up, even if he is willing to do so. It is possible
to give up the habit if one really wishes. The
consumption of the drug, however, has a tendency
to lead to an excess. Excess is only checked by
the means and circumstances of the consumer.
Often he is led to commit theft to satisfy his crav¬
ings for the drug.
32. The only such custom I am aware of is that
which is sometimes observed by young people dur-
ing the Durga Puja. This custom is, however,
fast dying out. It is rather a pleasure indulged
in by youngsters on the last day of the Durga
Puja than anything else. It is certainly not a
religious custom. Nor would I call it a social
custom. The youngsters of the family, and some¬
times of the neighbourhood, make a beverage of
bhang and drink it. Excessive laughing is in¬
duced, and a man who takes the drink for the first
time becomes more boisterous than the others, and
thus becomes an object of laughter and merriment
for his soberer companions. This seems to be
quite an innocent recreation, but is fast dying out.
33. The use of these drugs is always in disre¬
pute. No respectable person would associate with
one who indulges in ganja, bhang, or charas.
I am not aware of any custom of worshipping
the hemp plant. But in East Bengal the fair of
Trinath is very frequently held by the ganja
smokers—see page 29 of the Bengal Excise Report
for 1874-75. In this case Trinath is worshipped,
and the ganja is offered to him first and then con¬
sumed by its votaries.
34. I do not think it would be a serious priva¬
tion. It may be somewhat hard for the religious
mendicants, called sanyasis, to forego the consump¬
tion. But for any others it would be mere affec¬
tation to say the prohibition would act as an hard¬
ship. It has been said that the boatmen of East
Bengal require ganja for enabling them to bear the
fatigues of their calling; but, from practical experi¬
ence, I am able to say that this is an imaginary
idea. The Muhammadan and the Namasudra boat¬
men of East Bengal consume ganja to a very small
extent. It is only the Sudra boatmen who are in¬
veterate ganja smokers. But they create a habit
for themselves, and find an excuse for it afterwards
in the plea of "fatigue" referred to above. The
habit is an artificial one and can be abandoned
easily, as persons in the jail have been known to
give up the habit without any difficulty. I am
unable to say what would be the number of
sanyasis in Bengal; but the boatmen of East
Bengal would exceed 20,000 in number.
35. Speaking for ganja and bhang, I am of
opinion that it will not be feasible to prohibit the
use of these drugs absolutely, unless, of course, an
enormous increase of establishment (say, fifty
times the present scale), wholly out of proportion
to the usefulness of the object to be gained, is
sanctioned. But, subject to this remark, I hold
that it will be both feasible and desirable to res¬
trict the use of these drugs by greatly increasing
the duties on their consumption. I intend to deal
with this subject at length in my answer to ques¬
tion 59.
Prohibition or restriction is certainly likely to
produce murmur and discontent amongst those
who are in the habit of using the drug. But,
seeing that even those who consume the drugs
admit their baneful effects and justify their con¬
tinuance of consumption as being a necessity, it
would be going too far to say that prohibition or
restriction would produce serious discontent.
As regards political danger, there is absolutely
none. In fact it is idle to talk of political danger
in connection with the prohibition of the use of
ganja, bhang or charas. In this case there is no
reason to apprehend even a silly row of the kind
which was made two or three years ago in con¬
nection with a well-known measure of reform, but
which subsided almost the day after the measure
was carried. The row, however, has proved the
hollowness of the cry of political danger. The
people of India are too loyal to be carried away
by such hollow cries.
I have already said that it will not be possible
to enforce absolute prohibition. Absolute prohi¬
bition will drive some to drink, some to smug¬
gling some to illicit cultivation, and some to
opium. I am, however, of opinion that further
restriction in consumption may safely be imposed.
I intend to state my reasons for this opinion at
length in answer to question 59.
36. I do not think there is any reason to believe
that such is the case. Before the introduction of
the now existing Sudder distillery system such a
complaint used to be raised in some quarters, but
there was never any attempt to prove this by
details of statistics about consumption. Since the
introduction of the Sudder distillery system in the
Dacca, Burdwan, Presidency, and the Orissa Divi¬
sions, the general complaints from several dis¬
tricts of these divisions have been that, owing to
the increased price of distillery liquor, people have
taken to ganja smoking. As regards the divi¬
sions where the outstill system is still in force, it
is true that no complaint of increased ganja smok¬
ing has come, but at the same time neither has
any complaint been made that ganja has any¬
where been abandoned in favour of alcohol. The
fluctuations in the consumption of liquor and also
of ganja have been due to other causes. Statistics
about the consumption of liquor in places where
the outstill system is in force are unfortunately
not available in the published reports. Conse¬
quently it is not possible to ascertain whether
increased consumption in liquor has been followed
by a decreased consumption in ganja. In the
Bengal Excise Administration
Report
for
1891-92, however, the consumption of outstill
liquor in the Rajshahi Division with the districts
of Malda and Purnea, where the outstill system
only is in force, has been given for four years from
1888-89 to 1891-92 (see page 18). Figures for
the first three of these years are also given at page