309
ing about one anna (11 to 12 grains), forms the
average daily allowance of moderate habitual con-
sumers.
29. Ganja when used for smoking is mixed
with bits of tobacco leaf, moistened with water,
and kneaded in the palm of the left hand with
the right thumb; then cut up and put in an
earthen pipe (chillum), placed on a huka, and
smoked. Occasionally dhatura seeds are mixed
with ganja, chiefly for purposes of theft, by un-
scrupulous men to render their victims helpless.
Before smoking, charas is first enclosed in the
middle of a little prepared tobacco (thick paste
of powdered tobacco leaf and molasses), and
gently heated over a fire (the fire of a chillum
ready for smoking answers best). The charas is
then taken out and mixed with the tobacco and
smoked in a huka.
The ingredients mixed with siddhi before
pounding it into a paste are usually black pepper,
poppy seeds, cardamom seeds, aniseeds, cucumber
seeds, dry rose petals, and similar other spices.
Occasionally dhatura seeds are used. The motive
for such practice is almost invariably to facilitate
the commission of crime or mischief. Sometimes
the active principle of siddhi is extracted by
being parched in hot ghee, which is subsequently
strained and made up into cakes with sugar and
dried milk. This preparation is called majum.
It is used as a narcotic only.
When siddhi is used for drinking, the leaves
are washed and ground into a paste with spices,
and made into a sherbet with sugar and water.
I do not know if opium, nux-vomica, cantharides,
or betel-nut is ever used with these drugs.
30. Smoking of ganja and charas is usually
carried on in company. Siddhi may or may not
be so taken. The use of the drugs is chiefly con-
fined to the male sex. Children rarely use them
unless when they are very depraved.
31. Prolonged use develops into a habit. Once
contracted, the subject does not readily give it
up; but, unlike opium, discontinuance of the use
of the drug is not followed by any serious incon-
venience. There is no particular tendency of the
habit to develop into excess.
32. None with regard to ganja and charas. On
the fourth day of the Durga Puja, after the idol
has been thrown into the river, all the male mem-
bers of a family take a little of bhang sherbet.
The majority, however, take only an innocu-
ous quantity, but some take advantage of this
opportunity to take it to excess. The use of
the drug on this occasion is considered essential.
Even those who have an antipathy for narcotics,
must put a drop of bhang sherbet on their tongues.
The use of the drug on such rare occasions is not
likely to lead to the formation of a habit, and is
by no means injurious. The custom of taking
siddhi on special occasions is probably because
siddhi also means success.
On all auspicious
occasions the presence of the drug is considered
essential. In making bazar purchases for such
occasions, siddhi always heads the list of things
to be purchased.
33. The habitual use of all is regarded as dis-
reputable, with the exception of siddhi when used
as medicine. Public opinion is against the habi-
tual use of all of the three drugs, because they are
narcotics and may produce evil after-effects. As
far as I know, the hemp plant is never worshipped
in Lower Bengal.
34. If a man is compelled to suddenly give up
using ganja after prolonged use, he would cer-
tainly feel it. The effect would be inappreciable
in the case of charas and siddhi.
35. The total prohibition of the use of the drug
would produce discontent, and may give rise to
illicit manufacture of the drug. If habitual con-
sumers are prohibited from using the drugs, they
would most probably take to using alcohol or
opium.
36. The drugs are cheaper than alcoholic bever-
ages, and are never replaced by alcohol. On the
contrary, those drugs are sometimes used when
people cannot afford to pay for alcoholic drinks.
37. Charas is milder in its effects than ganja.
38. Chur is said to be weaker than round and
flat ganja.
39. Ganja and charas are used only for smok-
ing; siddhi for eating or drinking. Smoking of
ganja is stronger in its effects than smoking of
charas or moderate use of siddhi. Siddhi in suffi-
ciently large dose produces intense narcotism.
Charas and bhang are not known to produce
tendency to insanity. Smoking of ganja is not
an unfrequent cause of insanity.
40. Siddhi is used by kabirajes in native me-
dical practice. It is also used in the treatment
of cattle disease. Ganja is also said to be used
for the latter purpose.
41. (a) Siddhi is used medicinally for digestive
disorders. It notably increases the appetite.
Ganja also does the same.
(b) Like other narcotics, moderate use of ganja
is said to give a staying-power under severe exer-
tion and to alleviate fatigue.
(c) Ganja is said to give immunity from attacks
of miasmatic diseases.
For medicinal purposes siddhi is used by both
the rich and the poor; ganja and charas by
labouring classes only. I refer to the moderate
habitual use of the drug.
42. The moderate occasional use of the drugs
is harmless. The moderate habitual use of the
drugs is not known to produce evil effects.
43. The moderate consumers are inoffensive.
44. The effect of the moderate use of the drugs
upon habitual consumers is refreshing. Ganja
and charas in such cases may produce mild intoxi-
cation attended with pleasurable sensation.
Siddhi and ganja increase the appetite for
food. The effect of the drugs may last for about
an hour. Usually there are no after-effects. No
longing or uneasiness is felt for want of subse-
quent gratification, i.e., immediately after the
effects of the drugs have passed off; but a habi-
tual consumer feels happier and more at ease if he
gets the drug at his accustomed hour.
45. (a) The habitual moderate use of any of
the three drugs is not known to produce any
physical, mental or moral evil effects. It may
only make a man slightly irritable.
(b) to (f) No.
46. The habitual excessive use may produce
physical, mental and moral evil effects. Habitual
excessive use of ganja is known sometimes to pro-
duce dysentery and bronchitis. It may also
weaken the intellect and produce insanity. The
mental disorder is usually of a violent character,
and may sometimes develop into confirmed (per-
manent) mania. In cases of temporary insanity
the symptoms may be reinduced by indulgence in
the drug after liberation from restraint.
47 and 48. No.
49. The first effect of the drugs, like that of
most other narcotics, is to produce general ex-