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81. Evidence of BABU KALI DAS MUKERJI, Sub-Deputy Collector and Superintend-
ent of Distillery, Serampore, Hughli.
1. From my experience as an Excise Officer for
a period of about seven years in several districts
of Bengal.
2. Dr. Prain's definitions of ganja, siddhi and
charas are substantially the same as given in the
Bengal Excise Manual of 1891, and also corrobo-
rate the statements of my informant, who works
some months every year in the ganja field of Nao-
gaon at Rajshahi. Ganja, siddhi, and charas are
known as such in Bengal proper. Siddhi is some-
times known as bhang, but I have never heard of
its being called sabji or pati in any Bengal district.
3. Murshidabad, Pabna, Hughli,
Khulna,
Jessore, and Mymensingh. In Mymensingh and
Jessore the wild hemp plant is comparatively
abundant.
4. The wild hemp plant known as siddhi or
bhang and referred to in paragraph 3 is exactly the
same plant and does not refer to any other plant.
6. Often dense, rarely scattered.
7. There is cultivation of the hemp plant under
Government supervision in Bengal. Ganja is
cultivated at Naogaon, and bhang or siddhi in
Monghyr and Bhagalpur. The quantity produced
is sufficient to supply whole Bengal.
12. No, I know no such case, nor have I any
reason to believe the existence of such cultivation
or production.
13. The cultivation of hemp plant for ganja is
restricted to Naogaon in the district of Rajshahi.
14 and 15. Siddhi does not require manipula-
tion like ganja. It is enough for a man to cut
some full-grown wild hemp plants and dry them.
The leaves when dried are taken off and stored in
for consumption. No other process is necessary,
whether the drug is intended for drinking, smok-
ing or eating.
16. Bhang is sometimes prepared by the people
in their own houses. It can be prepared from the
hemp plant wherever it grows. I do not believe
that ganja and charas may be so easily, and there-
fore safely, prepared as bhang. I know no case in
which ganja or charas has been so prepared from
the wild hemp plant. This is probably due to the
ignorance of the people in general as to the art of
preparation or manipulation.
17. Bhang is prepared generally by the lower
and middle classes of the people from the wild
hemp plant.
18. Ganja and bhang usually deteriorate at
the end of a year, though kept with ordinary care.
The drugs lose their effects in time, and at the
end of two years, calculated from the date of
storage, are almost sure to lose their narcotic
property.
19. Ganja and charas are generally used for
smoking only. To grind ganja into a paste and
then dissolve it into some liquid for the purpose of
drinking is very rare. I have seen only one case
in which an Uriya Brahmin in Murshidabad used
to grind ganja and drink it after dilution. As for
the medicinal use of these two drugs (ganja and
charas), native physicians rarely, if ever, use them.
I am not sure if medical science of the west
(homœopathy and allopathy) as now practised in
India make use of these drugs.
20. One-half per cent. of the total population
of the districts mentioned in paragraph 3 and one
per cent. of the male population of the same
districts may be roughly taken as consumers of
ganja. But charas is consumed by a very limited
number in those places. The proportion of charas-
smoking persons may be roughly taken as one to
every lakh of the male population. Ganja is con-
sumed by all classes of the natives of the soil,
though the greater number may be found in the
labouring classes, Muhammadan fakirs, and Hindu
friars. Charas is, on the other hand, generally
consumed by the middle and higher classes, and
rarely, if ever, by the lower stratum of the Indian
society. I know no case in which a woman was
found to consume ganja or charas.
23. Bhang is very rarely used for smoking. I
have seen only one case in which a Brahmin of
some respectability once smoked bhang for want
of time and apparatus to grind and dissolve the
drug.
24. Bhang is usually consumed by the higher
and middle classes, and occasionally by the
labourers It is, however, often consumed by
Hindu friars (not Muhammadan fakirs), and is a
special favourite drug of the up-countrymen living
in Bengal. By these men I mean the Hindus
and Jains, such as Marwaris, Kayias, and Shings,
but not Muhammadans.
25. Consumption is on the increase:—
Consumption (whole Bengal).
1885-86.
1886-87.
1887-88.
1888-89.
GANJA.
Mds.
Mds.
Mds.
Mds.
5,717
6,266
6,550
6,413
CHARAS.
Mds. S. Ch.
Mds. S. Ch.
Mds. S. Ch. Mds. S. Ch.
2 15 8
3 17 1
4 35 10
4 36 4
SIDDHI.
Mds. S. Ch.
Mds. S. Ch.
Mds. S. Ch. Mds. S. Ch.
859 0 0
963 38 12
1,009 38 10 1,020 12 9
26. In order to answer this question, it is
necessary to assume a certain quantity as the
standard of moderate consumption. Taking 1/16
chhattack of ganja, 1/8 chhattack of siddhi, and 1/16
chhattack of charas as the ordinary standards of
moderate consumption, the following proportion
seems to exist between the different kinds of con-
sumers and the total number:—
Ganja. Bhang or
siddhi.
Habitual moderate consumer
1/2
3/4
Habitual excessive consumer
1/4
1/16
Occasional moderate consumer
8/16
1/2
Occasional excessive consumer
1/16
1/16
The proportion for ganja may be roughly taken
for charas.
27. Ganja is used by labourers as a refreshing
stimulant, by the middle class as a less expensive
relaxation, by the idle sons of the millionaires as a