497
more signs of drunkenness with alcohol than with
ganja or bhang.
Chapter VI. Note.—Most
of the answers to the
questions in this chapter refer to matters of hear-
say. It is very difficult to obtain accurate
information on these points. I shall refer to autho-
rities consulted and cases observed by me as well
as by many other persons whom I had the bene-
fit of consulting.
37. While ganja contains the active narcotic
principle diffused over the flowering top which is
smoked mixed with dry tobacoo leaves, charas
contains and consists in the narcotic principle it-
self in the form of a resinous extract.
Ordinarily
therefore one should expect to find more poisons
and intoxicating effect in charas than in ganja, but
all smokers (including some gentlemen who tried
both the drugs as an experiment) allege that
while the effect produced by ganja smoking is
instantaneous and lasting, that of charas is not so.
Although both produce the same kind of intoxica-
tion, there is yet a difference in degree: the effect
of charas is not so strong as that of ganja.
Charas is however seldom used by itself; its con-
sumers use it only to whip up the effect of ganja.
38. None that I have ever heard of.
39. Smoking a hemp drug is by far the less
injurious form of its consumption than drinking
or eating the same. In smoking, the volatile
fumes alone are inhaled temporarily and exhaled
out of the body; but in eating or drinking the
same drug, its substance is made to reside longer
in the body where it is more or less assimilated
by the votary which cannot but produce worse
results.
40. The name of ganja does not appear in the
oldest records of ancient Hindu Literature. It has
of late been attempted by some writers to trace its
name and accordingly its use as far back as the age
when the Atharva-vedas were compiled. Mr. H.
C. Kerr evidently holds that opinion. Another
writer, Babu Binoy Krisna Dutt, in his small
treatise called the Guide to Health (Calcutta,
1888) traces it as far back as the age of
Manu
and refers to the fifth chapter of the Institutes of
Manu in support of his view. He does not quote
the passage, but evidently relies upon the fifth
verse of the fifth chapter. The passage in ques-
tion in Manu reads thus:—
"Lasunam Grinjananchoiba Palândum Kaba-
kânicha Avakshyâni Dwijâtinâmamedhya
Pra-
bhabânicha."—Manu, chapter V, verse 5.
The word grinjan has evidently been taken by
the learned author to refer to ganja.
Medhatithi,
the oldest commentator of Manu, dismisses the
first three words by a short note saying that
they are well known by their respective names.
Kulluk Bhatta, another celebrated commentator
of Manu and a native of the Rajshahi District,
flourished
during the Muhammadan rule when
ganja was in common use. He defines lashun,
grinjan and palandu in his commentary to mean
vegetable bulbs of the same genus, and all the
lexicographers of ancient India define grinjan to
be a vegetable bulb having a smell approaching to
that of garlic. Grinjan is the common wild car-
rot growing in abundance in India from its remo-
test antiquity. The name ganja does not occur
in Susruta or any of the ancient compilations
of Hindu medicine. The earliest notice of the
name ganja may be found in Bhâbprakâsh, a Sans-
krit compilation of Hindu medical literature.
The author of this compilation lived during
the Muhammadan rule and enriched the Hindu
Materia
medica with the descriptions of many
foreign drugs, plants and fruits brought in by the
Muhamamadans. In this compilation is noticed
the name and properties of ganja thus:—
"Bhangâ Ganjâ Mâtulâni Mâdini Bijayâ Javâ,
Bhangâ kafahari tiktâ grâhini pâchani laghus;
Tikshuosnâ pittalâ mohamandabâgbanhibardhini."
Bhanga, ganja, matulani, madini, bijaya and jaya
are the various names of the same drug bhanga,
which "destroys cold, contains bitter taste, di-
gestive and is easily digested, produces a quick
effect, increases temperature, induces forgetful-
ness and abusive language, and generates heat in
the body." Here ganja evidently refers to that
form which is eaten.
The name and use of bhang appear to have
been known to the people of India from its remot-
est antiquity and the word bijaya which occurs
commonly in all books of ancient Hindu medicine
may be quoted in evidence. But besides this it
does not appear anywhere that the name, use and
cultivation of ganja were known before the advent
of the Muhammadans.
The word bhanga as
known to the ancient Hindus signified two things,
either to the fibre-producing hemp known as shone
or to bijaya or bhang. Bijaya or bhang forms the
ingredient of many a Hindu medicine, and we have
other evidence of its consumption as a drink. But
the custom of smoking the hemp drug does not
appear to have been adopted by the people till
after the Muhammadan conquest. These facts lead
me to suppose that as tobacco smoking was intro-
duced into India by its Muhammadan rulers, the
habit of smoking ganja and charas was also simi-
larly imported into India. Bhang appears to have
been largely used by the people for intoxication
and by the physicians as a medicine, but no such
corresponding use of ganja can be traced in any
of the ancient authorities.
41. This question requires a special knowledge
of medicine and physiology which I do not pos-
sess. I shall therefore proceed to answer it from
a lay-man's point of view.
(a) The various hemp drugs now in use in this
country are regarded by competent authorities as
cerebral poisons, and as such their primary action is
on the nervous system. I do not understand how
a cerebral poison or, more properly speaking, a
poisonous fume may be regarded as a food acces-
sory or digestive. The prolonged use of any of
these drugs impairs digestion, and all confirmed
ganja-smokers are found to eat very little. The
first impulse of a novice taking any of these drugs
is said to induce him to take more food than he
ordinarily does, but there is no record to show that
he digests it with equal success. The use of any of
these drugs produces costiveness beyond doubt.
(b) Whether the moderate use of ganja, charas
or bhang may be beneficial in its effects to give
staying-power under severe exertion or exposure,
or to alleviate fatigue has yet to be ascertained by
careful experiments. Those who use any of these
drugs justify their habit on these grounds and
allege that ganja is not only an article of solace
and of great luxury to them, but is also an article
of great necessity. However loud the votaries
may be in praise of their favourite drugs, I am -
inclined to think that the beneficial effects of ganja,
charas or bhang are more imaginary than real.
3 U