372
becoming poor. Among lower classes there are
persons who, previously though in the habit of
using these drugs, have become addicted to
alcohol on account of their sudden rise to afflu-
ence in the scale of society. The use of wine
is a better luxury, though medically never
less injurious than any of these drugs, but
people who are addicted to the use of these drugs
never dream to use wine on account of their
poverty. Most probably the habit of using these
drugs spread among the people during the
Muhammadam rule not on account of poverty
of the people, but simply because the Muham-
madan government, good or bad, prohibited the
manufacture and use of it, except in very very
exceptional and rare cases.
Be it known that among the thirty-five crores
of Hindu population, if there might be one crore
people who are in the habit of using any of these
drugs, there might be more than forty lakhs who
cannot even touch alcohol on account of religious
prohibition.
37. Charas is not so very injurious to the sys-
tem as the ganja. Certainly it affects the brain
like ganja. But in a different way. It produces
a sort of dryness in the brain, but never produces
dizziness in it. It heats the blood, but does not
produce any drying effect; whereas the ganja
affects the whole system, and specially the brain,
in a very injurious way. It melts the brain
matter and heats it to a degree which is a first
step to insanity. It soaks the blood and makes it
impure. It affects the liver, bowels, and the heart
so much so that it opens an easy path to lots of
diseases. The consumer becomes languid, peevish
and destitute of any power of reason in case of
excessive use. Insanity follows, and premature
death is the ultimatum. Bhang is less injurious
than ganja and charas. It affects the brain to
some extent, but it produces constipation and a sort
of heat where bhang massala is not mixed with it.
Certainly it deranges the bowels.
38. The smoking of a preparation of the hemp
plant, far from being less injurious than drinking
or eating the same, is more injurious as is found
by observation and close study of the consuming
system, as is prevalent in this part of the country.
The reasons are very clear. In smoking, the
smoke ascends up to the brain and affects it, so
that the smoker is always in danger; rather in
ninety-five cases out of a hundred it proves to be
the fact that he is attacked by any of the follow-
ing diseases:—Paralysis, sukta, melancholia,
mirgi (a sort of fit), insanity and other brain
diseases. The smoking habit as well affects the
lungs, the bowels, the liver and the heart, and
thus opens an easy path for asthma, bronchitis,
hooping cough, piles, dysentery, etc. It soaks the
blood, and it produces dryness and heat in the
system to the highest degree. The consumer
becomes emaciated, and death is the ultimatum.
These facts daily happen, and whatever we have
found in Sanskrit medical books, such as
Dranyagun, is testified.
40. Native doctors (hakims and vaidyas)
prescribe (but in rare cases) bhang in piles cases
and sometimes also in fomentation. Sometimes
it is used in pasting when the pain is in bones
of the several joints of the body.
Ganja is
often given to the cattle along with gur (raw
sugar), dry ginger in aphra disease (a kind of
stomach disease common among the cattle).
41. Bhang produces a sort of—
(a) false appetite in those who are its new
devotees, but after a lapse of time the
digestive power becomes weakened and
the consumer loses his appetite.
(b) while the consumer is in intoxicated state
he will feel very little fatigue in exertions.
(c) it is not preventive of any disease in
malarious or unhealthy tracts.
(d) except in the diseases mentioned in 40
it is not beneficial in any other way.
Ganja and charas are very injurious
drugs, and are never beneficial in any
way to human beings.
42. The ganja cannot be beneficial even if
moderately used. It dries the blood, and the
consumer becomes weak and languid, and he is
always in danger of being attacked by asthma,
bronchitis, and insanity. Bhang is not as injuri-
ous as the ganja; still it is injurious, inasmuch as
it produces bowel diseases. Charas dries the
blood even if moderately taken and weakens the
appetite.
44. The immediate effect of ganja is that the
consumer gets intoxicated at once, even before the
smoke gets out of the mouth. The immediate
effect of the charas is the same as that of the
ganja. The consumer of bhang is not affected
immediately. None of these drugs is refreshing.
They all produce intoxication. None of these
drugs produces appetite, rather the appetite is
lessened. The effect of these drugs lasts for three
hours. The after-effect is that the consumer gets
dizziness and becomes lazy, and a craving is pro-
duced for it. The want of subsequent gratifica-
tion produces longing and uneasiness of a better
kind, and the man does not feel sleep for two or
three days if not gratified.
45. Even the habitual moderate use of these
drugs produces noxious effects, both physical and
mental, as has been observed sufficiently above.
The use of these drugs is common among the
lower classes of people of this part of the country.
Certainly this noxious habit, to a very limited ex-
tent, is observed among the higher classes
of people as well. Upon such people they have
very very little demoralizing effect, as mostly
they are well brought up and have social connec-
tion and regards, which prove as protective against
any demoralizing effect The case is quite differ-
ent with the lower classes of people. Moral is
affected by the contagion of bad societies. It is
natural with the consumers of these drugs to asso-
ciate with one another and thus form a society,
ignorance being the moving spirit and poverty
constant attendant, when the brain becomes weaken-
ed by the constant use of them and poverty cannot
withstand the tempting call of these devils (drugs).
It is very natural that the members must have
tendency towards immoral actions. The consumer
of any of these drugs becomes emaciated and
languid if not properly fed. Even the moderate
consumer loses his appetite, and power of digestion
is gone to a considerable extent. The answer of
paragraph 5 of the question has been sufficiently
given in the first paragraph. It muddles the brain
and makes the intellect blunt, and in certain cases
produces insanity. I have treated cases of insanity
produced by these drugs, and I have ascertained
to my best abilities that there has been no other
predisposing cause of insanity. The insanity pro-
duced by these drugs is mostly of a permanent
nature. In cases of temporary insanity the use
of the drug after liberation from restraint calls up
the symptoms again. The typical symptoms of