320
ering the amount of good that will result from
the prohibition.
35. I do not think it will be quite feasible to do
so all on a sudden. Every attempt to consume it
illicitly will be made. Prohibition will very likely
lead to drinking, which will be more expensive,
and the consumers will not be able to afford it;
hence crime will increase. I do not think that it
will lead to any political danger.
36. I do not think so.
37. Ganja intoxicates instantaneously and pro-
foundly. Charas is less intoxicating: it makes one
dull; whereas when not taken in excess, makes
one lively. The effect of the former lasts longer
than that of the latter.
38. Chur is more preferred for its greater intoxi-
cating property.
39. Smoking any preparation of the hemp is
more injurious than drinking or eating any portion
of it; because in the gaseous form its active prin-
ciple is directly absorbed in the blood through the
lungs, and the effect is instantaneous, whereas
when taken in solid or liquid form absorption
through the stomach is slower; and by the time
its full physiological effect is produced, at least
some portion of it is eliminated through the ex-
cretory organs.
40. In ancient Sanskrit books on medicine
bhang is only mentioned. Its synonyms are
siddhi, ganja, matulani, madini, bijaya, and jaya.
It is used by kabirajes for its medical properties.
Ganja is not mentioned in Charaka or Shusrata. In
Tantrik books it is mentioned. There it is called
ugra and not ganja. It is used by kabirajes as a
medicine. Charas is not mentioned in any of
these books. I do not know of any of these drugs
used for cattle disease, but bhang mixed with
turmeric and treacle is given to horses and bul-
locks after fatiguing journeys.
41. Habitual moderate use.
(a) Bhang is digestive, but not food accessory.
(b) Ganja is considered to give more staying-
power, and alleviates fatigue than bhang. Both
have similar properties.
(c) None of the hemp drugs is considered as
such.
(d) They are stimulants, hence used as such by
people living in unhealthy places as well.
All classes of people, rich and low, use bhang
and ganja for purposes indicated under (a) and (d).
Only the poor, who have to undergo severe bodily
labour to earn their livelihood, use for purposes
indicated under (b).
42. I do not consider it harmless because it
affects the brain. Any agent which causes de-
rangement of it by stupefying it cannot be harm-
less when such condition is produced habitually.
43. Yes.
44. To habitual consumers they are intoxicating,
hence refreshing. They do not allay hunger.
Only bhang creates appetite. Three or four hours
will be the longest time for their effect to last.
The after-effects are not marked. There is always
a longing for the drugs, but that is marked at the
hour for their habitual use.
45. Those who smoke ganja not more than
twice or thrice a day and can afford to get good
food, do not suffer in general health; but the
absence of good food will make the ganja-smoker
deteriorate in health. Mentally and morally all
smokers fare alike. They become short-tempered
and careless. Bhang does not impair digestion,
whereas ganja does. Those of my patients who ad-
mitted of having been habitual ganja-smokers suf-
fered from dysentery or diarrhœa, but they had been
exposed to conditions which produce those ailments.
Hence I do not draw any conclusion as to ganja
being the primary cause of those diseases. Barring
what I have indicated above, I have not seen a
moderate ganja-smoker becoming lazy or a
debauchee. Charas stupefies the smoker, hence he
becomes indolent and dull to all moral sense. I
do not know of any instance of moderate use of
hemp drugs producing actual insanity. But it
should be remembered what I call moderate use,
i. e., two or three times a day. Insanes who have
no recorded ganja history do confess to the use
of the drug. This confession comes when the
patients are calm enough either to understand or
to listen to what is said to them; otherwise
nothing can be got out of them, even whether
they are hungry or not. The other portions of
this question will be answered in reply to the next
question. I know of persons becoming insane
after the use of intoxicating drugs, and ganja
especially, and they had no hereditary predisposi-
tion. I do not know of any case in which in-
sanity predisposed to the use of it.
Persons
deficient in self-control through weakened intellect
will take to any intoxicating drink that they have
facility to get, and will contract the habit of
using it more easily than any other person.
Hemp, like other narcotics, is not used to soothe
the brain. Dr. Reynolds speaks highly of Indian
hemp as sometimes altogether removing pain in
the head from a rare disease, cerebral tumour.
46. Since 1884 I have been in charge of the
ward where lunatics are treated. During this
period I had a large number of cases of insanity
under my observation, and I have given below the
statistics of 263 cases in a tabular form, showing
how many of them were addicted to any intoxi-
cating drug, and that in excess.
Hindus
Muham-
madans
Christians
Other
castes
Total
No history of In-
toxicating drugs
could be obtained
96
36
6
25
163
Ganja
40
7
0
2
49
Ganja and Opium
13
4
1
2
20
Alcohol
12
6
1
2
21
Senile dementia
7
0
2
1
10
TOTAL
168
53
10
32
263
In my ward there is no voluntary admission
of lunatics. They are brought in by the Police
whenever they are found to wander about on the
streets of Calcutta. Sometimes the patients are
perfect strangers, consequently no previous history
can possibly be obtained. I do not draw any con-
clusion from the large number of patients, having
had no history of using intoxicating drugs.
Ninety of the total 263 cases did give history
of using some sort of intoxicating drugs, and
which were stated to be the causes of insanity.
Of those 90, 69 used either ganja alone or
with another narcotic. This will show that the
number is not few. Amongst the ganja-smokers
no history of hereditary taint is obtained. An
exceedingly small number of patients did give
such history, and they are included with patients
mentioned in the first heading.
Character of insanity caused by ganja varies,
but the majority of them become violent. From