148
III.—Abhilas Chandra Banerji of Halisahar.—
Began ganja-smoking at eighteen. Absented
himself from home for days together at nineteen.
Was known at twenty to be an inveterate ganja-
smoker. Committed several indecent assaults upon
women, and was frequently found in the houses of
prostitutes, Would scarcely eat meals. Became
emaciated and haggard. Left home and became
a beggar. Died at Kalighat at twenty-five years
of age.
N.B.—None of the above three men had any
mental anxiety or brain disease. In cases II and
III, the smoking originally began as a boyish
freak. Several boys who began with them gave
up the habit and are now respectable members of
society.
IV.—Dina Nath Rai, Halisakar.—
Somewhat cracked from infancy. Was a
sanyasi for years. Returned home at thirty-eight
years of age. Had never before been mad. Fell
in with a lot of bairagies. Before this used to
indulge in siddhi-drinking and occasional ganja-
smoking. Gave up siddhi under advice of the
bairagies and took to ganja-smoking. Within
two years became a raving maniac, Committed
indecent assaults upon women. Just before
getting mad the man lost all sense of morality.
Was placed in irons for a fortnight. No ganja
was allowed. Got better, and was released.
Four days after had to be placed in irons again
and sent to the lunatic asylum. Was there for
six months. Came back hale and hearty, Re¬
mained well and without smoking ganja for six
or seven months. Reverted to the habit again.
In three months was again a raving maniac.
Was a second time sent to the asylum. Came
back cured, Resumed ganja-smoking shortly
and got dysentery. The man lingered on as a
skeleton for some years amongst the lower classes,
and eventually died of dysentery when fifty-one
or fifty-two years of age.
It was remarkable how this man could remain
without food for days together.
47. No.
48. No. It may, however, be said that people
debilitated by prolonged excessive use who have
not altogether lost the progenitive power do beget
weakly children. This, however, is rare. I remem¬
ber only one such case. As a rule, habitual exces-
sive use of ganja—I do not allude to charas or
siddhi at all in this question—destroys power to
beget before undermining the man's physical
strength.
49. (a) Yes.
(b) Yes, if Vaishnavis are so designated.
(c) Can't say if use for this purpose is more
njurious or not, but one would expect it to be
so, seeing from analogy that whatever causes
unnatural or abnormal excitement strikes at the
very root of the energy that supplies natural power.
(d) No; no impotence.
50. Yes; it does produce impotence of un¬
mistakable character. The other replies are the
same as in 49.
51 and 52. (a) Certainly and decidedly not.
(b) No connection whatsoever in Lower Bengal.
53. No, unless the man has become insane by
excessive use. I know of fourteen cases in which
persons insane from excessive use of ganja commit¬
ted unpremeditated violent attacks on women
passing by. I know of no other crime. I know
of no case of temporary homicidal frenzy,
54. No.
55. (a) No; no authentic information on this
point is available.
(b) Yes, my own opinion is that this can be
done. I remember to have seen such stupefaction
from unadulterated but well-prepared ganja in the
case of three fakirs at Hughli. One man prepared
the ganja in my presence. He smoked it, and
then passed it on to his fellow travellers. These
latter, although warned by the preparer of the
thoroughly crushed and beaten and therefore in¬
toxicating condition of the ganja, smoked it and
remained stupefied—completely insensible—for
over an hour. I may note that my opinion is in
conflict with that of all the witnesses examined
by me.
56. I have no information to give under this
head other than what is already recorded in
answer to question 29.
58. Not working well; capable of much im¬
provement.
59. The excise laws are much too stringent,
and provide for punishment in cases of barely
technical offences. As an extreme case, I may men¬
tion the fact that in one case a brother of a licen¬
see was fined R30 merely because he brought
down a jug of date juice on account of the licensee
during the latter's illness. The man had no pass,
nor was his name entered in his brother's pass.
Cruel, indiscriminate prosecutions for possession
of pachwai and tari are not uncommon. The law
should be amended in this direction. The Excise
Department should be manned by educated men,
and the lowest official entrusted with the power of
arresting men should carry a salary of no less than
R50. A permanent staff of Deputy Collectors
should be placed under the department, their
jurisdiction being changed at intervals of three
years. Convictions of whatever kind in excise
cases should be appealable. The Collector of the
District, who is an official superior to the Subor¬
dinate Magistrates who try excise cases, should
have no connection whatsoever with excise admin¬
istration. A Deputy Collector, be he designated
as Excise Deputy Collector or otherwise, should
have complete control, subject to the supervision
of the excise inspectors and the Excise Commis¬
sioner. Similarly sub-divisional officers should be
relieved of excise work.
62. I do not understand this question to apply
to Bengal. As far as I am aware, I think the
cultivation of the hemp-plant for the production
of bhang is already sufficiently controlled in
Bengal. Practically no one can cultivate such a
plant for such a purpose, except surreptitiously or
with the connivance of excise subordinates. Any
one found to enclose or fence in a single " siddhi
gach," the wild variety, is prosecuted or punished
under the existing laws.
63. I have, as to ganja. Of the districts of
which I have knowledge, the wholesale vendor,
otherwise called the goladar, is, for all practical
purposes, the licensee of all the retail shops.
There are nominally different licensees, but they
are all either servants or creatures of the goladar.
The mischievousness of this arrangement is self-
evident. The goladar rules the trade. He cheap¬
ens or enhances the price at his pleasure. The
sale at cheap prices in the retail shops increases
consumption. The accounts of no shop can be
trusted, and the statistics collected are far—very
far indeed—wide of the mark. My idea is that
monopoly in this trade should be disallowed
There should be at least half a dozen golas owned
by as many men in reality unconnected with each