199
28. (a) Four pice worth of ganja, i.e., about
1/4 of a tola, is sufficient for a moderate consumer.
(b) Three annas worth of ganja is generally
consumed by the excessive smoker.
The cost to the siddhi drinker is half that of
the above cost.
29. Tobacco is generally mixed with ganja and
charas to make the smoking milder. Bhang is
generally mixed with sugar when used for drink-
ing. The object is to increase intoxication. I
have never heard of dhatura being mixed with any
of these drugs. No particular preparation called
bhang massala is sold in the bazar. But various
kinds of spices sold in an ordinary spice shop are
mixed with bhang to add to its flavour and per-
haps to increase intoxication.
30. Ganja is generally used in company and
siddhi in solitude; charas is also used both in
company and solitude. It is confined to the male
sex between the ages of twenty and sixty. Women
of ill fame in rare instances resort to these drugs.
Children never use these drugs, but young men
of the age of sixteen or eighteen sometimes use it.
Children sometimes use bhang as a medicine for
indigestion or bowel complaints.
31. It is not very easy to contract the habit of
smoking ganja or charas. But when the habit
is once formed, it is very difficult to break off.
The habit of drinking bhang is easily formed,
but it is also very easy to give up this habit.
There is always a tendency to develop the
moderate use of these drugs to excess.
32. It is customary with Hindus to use siddhi
on the Bijaya Dasami day, or the immersion day
of the Durga Puja festival. But the custom is
not binding. The use in this case is temperate.
This sort of use is not likely to lead to the form-
ation of habit, and is not likely to prove in-
jurious.
I do not know of any such custom with regard
to ganja or charas.
33. The consumption of bhang is regarded by
the public in an indifferent manner, but that of
ganja and charas is looked upon with great dis-
favour. There is a public opinion in regard to
the use of these drugs, and it is against the use
of these drugs. The use of the narcotic is held in
disrepute because in the long run it may work the
ruin of a man.
34. It would be a serious privation to forego
the use of ganja and charas to the smoker of these
drugs. But the consumers of bhang may give
up their habit without any serious inconvenience.
Those who use ganja and charas consider the use
of these drugs as necessary for giving them
strength to carry on their several professions. It
has also been practically found that if they are
not allowed to use these articles for some length
of time, they lose their usual health. I cannot say
definitely the probable number of each class.
35.The use of charas may easily be dispensed
with, but it would not be feasible to prohibit the
use of ganja and siddhi. I think the drug will
be consumed illicitly. I do not think prohibition
can be enforced in any way. Legislation would
be very hard upon the consumers who would be
quite useless members of society. The prohibition
would certainly occasion discontent among the
consumers, but it won't be so serious as to
amount to a political danger. The prohibition is
certainly to be followed by recourse to alcoholic
stimulants, or to the other drugs such as opium.
36. There is every reason to think that alcohol
is to a certain extent being substituted for hemp
drugs. Using alcoholic drinks is considered to
be more respectable than smoking ganja or charas
or drinking bhang. The use of ganja compels the
consumer to use many other things such as milk,
while the use of liquor does not require any other
thing. Hence drinking liquor is considered to
be more easy than consuming ganja, charas or
siddhi. By making local enquiry, I have found
that several consumers of hemp drugs have taken
to drinking alcohol.
37. The effects of charas last for shorter time
than those of ganja. The intoxication from
charas lasts for about an hour. The smoker feels
a kind of dryness of the tongue and heaviness of
the head. He requires something to lean his
head against. Ganja smoking affects the brain
gradually. The effects are not so acute as those
of charas, and last for over two hours.
38. No.
39. I have never heard of any preparation of
ganja or charas being eaten or drunk. Siddhi
drinking is certainly less injurious than ganja or
charas smoking. The latter injures the brain and
dries up the whole constitution, while the former
is comparatively harmless.
40. Bhang is often prescribed by kabirajes and
doctors. The qualities of bhang are mentioned in
Hindu books of medicines. But there is no men-
tion of ganja or charas in those books. I have
never heard of any of these drugs being used in
the treatment of cattle disease.
41. (a) The moderate use of bhang may be
beneficial in its effects as a digestive.
(b) Said to be so by the habitual consumers.
(c) I have never heard of this.
(d) Not known.
The lower classes who have to work hard and
the religious mendicants who have often to bear
fatigue and exposure, use the hemp drugs for the
purposes indicated above. A beneficial effect can
only be produced by a moderate occasional use.
42. The moderate use of these drugs (ganja
and charas) is not harmless. The health of the
consumers suffer considerably as compared with the
health of the people who do not touch the drugs.
43. Yes. But they generally get an irritable
temper.
44. The moderate use of any of these drugs
produces more or less intoxication on the habitual
consumer immediately after taking the drugs. It
is refreshing to some extent to the habitual con-
sumer. It produces partial intoxication. Ganja
and charas allay hunger. Siddhi creates appetite.
The effects of ganja and siddhi last for about
one hour. The after-effects are to make the
head dizzy, and to weaken the constitution. The
want of subsequent gratification produces a great
deal of uneasiness.
45. Excepting siddhi, the other two drugs cer-
tainly produce noxious effects—physical, mental,
and moral. Ganja and charas impair the consti-
tution. They make the consumers lean and dried
up. The consumers can often be recognised
merely by their external appearances. Ganja
and charas injure the digesting power and cause
loss of appetite. I have heard that ganja brings
on dysentery, but I have not heard of bronchitis
or asthma being caused by it. The use of ganja
impairs the moral sense, and induces habits of
immorality and debauchery. The use of ganja