146
14. In the three districts mentioned in question
7? to a considerable extent.
18. Yes, all these drugs deteriorate by keeping;
not quite, but to some considerable extent. Said
to keep good for two years. Exposure to damp is
the cause of deterioration which might be prevented
by preservation of the drugs in air-tight rooms,
unexposed to damp, and in tinned boxes.
19. No. Ganja, boiled with mustard or cocoanut
oil, is used as an external application to sores and
ulcers. It is a splendid cure for the itch. The
oil is rubbed externally in cases of dropsy with
good effect. Ganja is smoked for curing gonor¬
rhœa and stomatitis, and also in spasmodic
asthma. Extract or tincture Cannabis indica is
internally administered in dismenorrhœa, insanity,
dull headache, dyspepsia, loss of appetite. It is
used as an aphrodisiac, and also a soporific agent.
Used as a paste along with chilly, it removes
swellings, cures bruises, and allays pain. Ganja
smoke is used for inhalation in cases of foot and
mouth disease in cattle. It is largely smoked by
singers in the belief that it clears the throat and
produces sweetness of tone and voice. Throughout
Bengal Proper charas is used only for smoking.
20. Labouring classes—fishermen, palki-bearers,
mendicants (sanyasis); not less than 33 per cent.
of these throughout Bengal. I estimate that
less than 1 per cent. of the gentry in Lower
Bengal are addicted to ganja-smoking, and .05 per
cent. to charas-smoking.
21. Round ganja is preferred to others in the
Bangaon sub-division of the Jessore district; flat
in Tippera.
22. Native charas.
23. Seldom. It is used by habitual ganja-
smokers for smoking when ganja is not available.
I have seen this smoked by the Maghs and low
class Muhammadans of Tippera.
24. An infinitesimal proportion of old class
pandits in East Bengal eat bhang. It is believed
that this increases appetite, and cures chronic
liability to dysentery and diarrhœa. It is eaten
in very small quantities. Up-country men who
reside in Lower Bengal and all employed as dar-
wans or bearers drink bhang. My own view is
that fully 80 per cent. of these are addicted to
this habit. I cannot find out from the census
papers what their total number is in Bengal
Proper.
25. On the decrease. Liquor has replaced
bhang, ganja, and charas, as far as the gentry is
concerned. The increase in price of ganja has
also diminished the number of smokers among the
poorer classes.
26. I have seen only two habitual excessive
consumers of charas in my life. Both these men
died early of consumption. I know of twenty men
who are moderate daily consumers of charas. I
compute from my own knowledge and the evidence
of the gentlemen examined—
(1) that 95 per cent. of ganja-smokers are of
class (a), 2 per cent. of class (b), 005
per cent. of class (c), and the rest of
class (d);
(2) that 50 per cent. of bhang consumers
are of class (a), 25 per cent. of class
(b), 20 per cent. of class (c), and 5 per
cent. of class (d).
27. Ganja. (a) Fishermen, palki-bearers, coolies
and sanyasis.
(b) Sanyasis (mendicants) and beggars.
(c) Bhadralok (high caste people of respect¬
ability).
(d) Fishermen and bairagies.
Class (a).—Fishermen have to pass the greater
portion of their life in water and they want a
stimulant. Ganja is the cheapest stimulant
going. Coolies and palki-bearers seek a relief
from fatigue in the ganja smoke. It gives them
greater power of endurance. Sanyasis and
bairagies take it to prevent catching cold from
exposure, and also to secure greater power of en¬
durance. Amongst the bairagies it is also largely
used as an aphrodisiac, the morality of this class
of people who are mostly found in pairs (man and
woman) being exceedingly loose. Nearly every
chowkidar in the district of Tippera is a ganja-
smoker. They say they cannot keep watch at
night without it.
28. As regards ganja—
(a) One to two annas weight.
(b) One-fourth tola to half a tola.
The cost varies in different districts.
29. (a) Dried tobacco leaves or prepared tobac¬
co for ganja, in order to tone down the pungency
of the smoke and the intoxicating power, and
also to increase bulk so as to enable several men
to enjoy the same preparation (chillum). Pre¬
pared tobacco is mixed with charas.
(b) Dhatura is so used. The object is to
increase the power of intoxication in the ganja.
Yes; bhang massala is occasionally mixed with
bhang and ganja. It consists of rose petals,
aniseed, black pepper, sandal-wood powder, and
sugar or molasses.
30. Charas and siddhi almost wholly in soli¬
tude; ganja in company. No; ganja is used
amongst the bairagies by males and females alike,
but in any other classes it is confined to males.
It is not confined to any time of life. It is not
usual for children to consume any of these drugs.
31. (a) Not easily formed.
(b) Yes, when once formed. This applies
to all drugs.
(c) No.
32. The religious sect of Saivas must worship
the god Siva with an offering of a prepared
chillum of ganja. This sect comprises the bulk of
sanyasis. At the conclusion of the Durga Pujas,
the great national festival of Hindus, bhang is
taken by all the members of the family. This is
considered as essential by the orthodox class. The
respectable classes drink bhang only nominally,
females generally dipping a finger in the solution
and touching it with their lips. This latter custom
never creates the habit or is injurious. But the
former custom amongst Saivas is said to create
the habit of ganja-smoking.
33. There is hardly any public opinion against
the use of siddhi in Lower Bengal. The number
of people using charas is too small to attract pub¬
lic opinion against it. But a ganja-smoker is con¬
sidered to be a disreputable individual. "Ganjal,"
or "ganja khor," is a term of reproach. He is
generally disbelieved; so much so, indeed, that
whenever an incredible or impossible assertion is
made by anybody, the statement is regarded and
called " ganjali," meaning that it is hardly worthy
of consideration or belief. This disrepute of ganja
is due to the fact that excessive smokers forget all
idea of space and time, and indulge in an excess
of the imagination which leads them to make in¬
credible statements. Besides, as it is only the