178
contain a large amount of useless wood, so that
if a man purchases a seer of flat or round ganja
he really consumes 12 or 14 chittacks, throwing
away the remaining 4 or 2 chittacks as useless
wood. To find out whether the consumption
is increasing or decreasing, we must reduce
these figures into the terms of one variety, say,
chur, by our knowledge as to the quantities
of ganja and wood contained in flat and
round ganja. I think it would not be far from
the truth to take a seer of flat and round ganja
to contain 12 and 15 chittacks of ganja respec¬
tively, so that to reduce to the chur kind we must
multiply by 12\16 and 15\16 the figures respresenting,
respectively, the consumption of flat and round
ganja.
After making these corrections, we shall have
further to deduct from the results the quantities
of ganja exported into Nepal and the North-West
from the districts of the Patna and Bhagalpur
Divisions, for they do not represent consumption
in Bengal; whilst an increase or decrease in the
export may so alter the figures as to cause misap¬
prehension with regard to consumption so far as
Bengal is concerned.
It is not, however, possible to apply the cor¬
rections for the different kinds of ganja exported,
for the published reports give only the total
quantity exported every year, without distinguish¬
ing the different varieties. The revenue derived
from the export of ganja into the North-West has,
however, been given for every year. This,
divided by the prevailing duty on a maund of
chur ganja in that year, will give, as approxi¬
mately as possible, the chur equivalent of the ganja
exported into the north-west.
But even this plan cannot be followed in the
case of ganja exported into Nepal, for no figures
are available to show the revenue derived from
this source.
The following table shows the quantity of
ganja exported into the North-Western Provinces,
the revenue derived from them, the rate of duty
on chur ganja, and the chur equivalent of ganja
so exported:—
1
2
3
4
5
Year.
Quantity
exported.
Revenue.
Rate of duty
per maund
on chur.
Chur
equi¬
valent.
Maunds.
R
R
Maunds.
1882-83
532
99,524
200
497
1883-84
681
1,28,707
200
643
1884-85
681
1,30,910
200
654
1885-86
720
1,34,503
200
672
1886-87
849
1,58,519
200
792
1887-88
871
1,64,917
200
824
1888-89
860
1,64,117
260
631
1889-90
789
1,47,905
270
471
1890-91
668
1,27,065
280
454
1891-92
467
96,497
280
345
There are several discrepancies in the figures
for the same year as given in different reports,
and it is difficult to find out the correct figures.
Thus, the quantity of ganja exported into the
North-Western Provinces in 1889-90 is given differ¬
ently in three successive annual excise adminis¬
tration reports (1889-90, 1890-91, and 1891-92).
In such difficulties I have chosen that figure
which appeared to me to be most correct.
The quantities of ganja exported into Nepal
were—107 maunds in 1888-89, 75 maunds in
1889-90, 120 maunds in 1890-91, 228 maunds
in 1891-92.
Now, making the corrections for round and flat
ganja and deducting the quantities exported in
the North-West and Nepal, we have for the last
ten years the consumption of ganja in Bengal
expressed in the chur form as follows:—
Maunds.
1882-83
4,333
1883-84
4,531
1884-85
4,562
1885-86
4,240
1886-87
4,573
1887-88
4,633
1888-89
4,715
1889-90
4,583
1890-91
4,582
1891-92
4,126
From this it appears that up to 1888-89 the
consumption of ganja was steadily on the increase.
There was a falling off in 1885-86, but it must
have been due to temporary causes, as both before
and after this year the consumption was appre¬
ciably larger than in this year.
From 1889-90 the consumption shows a falling
off. The falling off is very considerable in
1891-92. Three years, however, is too short
a period to deduce any general conclusion.
As in 1885-86, the falling off in consumption
in 1891-92 is ascribed to a short crop in the
producing district and a consequent rise in the
wholesale price of ganja. The quantities of ganja
estimated to have been produced were in—
Maunds.
1884-85
7,076
1885-86
3,887
and
1890-91
6,681
1891-92
6,040
General rise in the price of food grains, I think,
accounts for these fluctuations in consumption
more than anything else. It is the lower classes
of people who most consume the drug, and it is
they that are most affected by bad harvests.
It is worthy of notice that complaints have
come from several districts that, owing to the rise
in the price of country spirits consequent on the
introduction of the Sudder distillery system,
several persons who were accustomed to liquor
have begun to consume ganja.
26. Before this question is answered, one must
ascertain where to draw the line between moderate
and excessive consumers. In the first place ideas
of moderation and excess vary with individuals.
I have heard that an eminent medical man once
laid down that a person would not overstep the
bounds of moderation by taking per diem two
bottles of beer, one bottle of port, and four pegs
of whiskey. On the other hand, a teetotaller or
a missionary gentleman may be shocked even at a
man taking a cup of champagne. In the same
way I once met a ganjakhor spending four annas
per diem on the drug, gravely assuring me that
no man on earth can manage to satisfy his craving
for ganja by consuming a less quantity of the
drug than what he himself does.
Again, what is moderation to one may be ex¬
cess to another person—constitution, temperament,
age, climate, and many other circumstances all
tend to affect the question.
One way of distinguishing, the moderate from
the excessive consumers would be to regard those
to be moderate who have some fixed times in the
day for consuming the drug, and those to be ex¬
cessive consumers who have managed to contract
such a longing for the drug as not to be confined
to any particular times or hours in the day, but
to consume as much of the drug as he can get
and as often as he finds the opportunities to do so.