498
Our body is composed of organs, destined to
accomplish the various acts of life, which are
scientifically called functions. The functions may
properly be divided into two classes:—
(1) the functions of nutrition which provide
for the preservation and increase of our
body; and
(2) the functions of relation by which we
are placed in relation with the external
world, thence receive our various sensa-
tions and execute all our movements.
To the second are assigned the appara-
tus of locomotion and the apparatus of
sensation. The faculty of locomotion
depends on a general property of all
animals, called contractility. In man,
this faculty resides in his muscles, the
whole of which taken together consti-
tute his flesh. Our nervous system
presides over voluntary acts and sensa-
tions, which can never be had without
the will of man. Some actions, like
those of the beatings of the heart, are
no doubt independent of our will, but
all actions of locomotion are directly
governed by the will and regulated by
the nervous system.
Now, ganja, charas and bhang being cere-
bral poisons directly affect this nervous system
and thereby induce involuntary actions of motion,
such as dancing, laughing, and involuntary sensa-
tions such as hallucinations. Their direct and
primary action upon our system being thus
subversive of our natural control over our move-
ments and sensations, they can hardly be said
to give us any staying-power under severe
exertion. They may, for the time being, produce
an abnormal activity of the nervous system, and
thereby quicken our actions of locomotion, but
such abnormal activity, inducing only involuntary
movements, is sure to be punished by nature
with abnormal relaxation. This result, in the
nature of things, is directly proportional to
the power of the drug: the more quick the
abnormal activity, the more quick is the relaxation
produced. I do not therefore see how a cerebral
poison can produce any beneficial effects upon the
system of man so as to give him any real staying-
power.
(c) Sanyasis and mendicants of all denomina-
tions claim for ganja the peculiar virtue
of preventing disease in malarious and
unhealthy tracts, but I do not know
how far this virtue actually resides in
the drug. I have observed during my
sojourn to the North-Western Provin-
ces, Oudh and Rohilkhand that the
people there daily take a small quantity
of bhang as a cooling draught, and
allege that such moderate daily con-
sumption wards off an attack of diarrhœa
which is induced by the excessive heat
of summer.
(d) Some quacks allege that ganja, if moder-
ately smoked during an attack of acute
pains due to hydrocele, effects a speedy
cure. I am told on the authority of
a gentleman who subjected him to
this treatment that he found it very
successful.
Most of the sanyasis use ganja both as a pre-
ventive of disease and as a means of concentrating
thought. Most of the palanquin-bearers, boat-
men, mehtars, domes, chamars, dosads, bagdis,
and other lower people use it in the belief that it
gives them staying power under severe exertion.
In this I refer to habitual moderate use. But I
am told on the authority of military surgeons,
of whom I had the opportunity of consulting
Dr. Rogers, Civil Surgeon of Rajshahi, that the
soldiers addicted to ganja behave very miserably
during a march and very soon grow fatigued and
are left behind by those who use no such drugs.
42. I do not consider the use of any form of
the hemp drug as beneficial in its effects. The
same reasons which lead me to that conclusion
justify me to say that even the moderate habitual
use of the drug cannot be regarded as entirely
harmless. As these poisons act directly on the brain,
their frequent use, even in a moderate quantity,
cannot but produce some injury to the con-
sumer in the long run. The habit of using the
Indian hemp drugs as a stimulant and narcotic is
regarded by medical authorities as dangerous.
Even in the case of a moderate consumer, the
habit once formed becomes part of his life, and
even a few whiffs every day throughout life can-
not be considered harmless. The use of intoxi-
cating substances which partly enter into acts of
nutrition may, if it is moderate, produce no bad
results very soon; but a cerebral poison, like the
Indian hemp, adds nothing to our nutrition, its
sole effect is temporary excitement which cannot
but produce, in course of time, a lasting evil.
43. The questions nowhere give a definition of
a moderate consumer, so it is very difficult to say
whether moderate consumers are inoffensive to
their neighbours or not. A consumer of ganja is
generally found to be peevish, and is easily irri-
tated. While under the influence of his favourite
drug, he also does not know what acts he may
commit the next moment. With such experience
of the habits of life of a neighbour, he is regarded
as an offensive being. Ganja-smokers have been
known to have committed the gravest of offences
against their neighbours without the slightest
provocation.
44. The immediate effect of the moderate use
of ganja by the habitual consumer does not
generally appear till after the lapse of 4 or 5
minutes, and then it is found that the temperature
of his body has risen, his eyes have become red,
and his spirit roused. The habitual consumer calls
it refreshing and slightly intoxicating.
The chief use of the Indian hemp is as a sub-
stance that will produce intoxication. The poor
people, unable to indulge in costly modes of get-
ting intoxicated, naturally get into the habit of
using the Indian hemp drugs which are perhaps
the cheapest articles of intoxication. Although
some people are eager to justify the use of the
Indian hemp drugs on the ground of its being a
food accessory and consider its use by honest
peaceable labourers as a physical benefit, my
general experience does not justify me in accept-
ing the same as true. Habitual use of ganja does
not allay hunger as a cup of tea or any other
similar food does. It does not add to the nutrition
of the body. Its constant use impairs appetite.
The effect of a few whiffs by a habitual smoker
may last only for a few minutes, but a continuous
smoking for minutes produces an intoxication
that may last from 4 to 5 hours. Its after-effects
are weakening of the whole system which becomes
unfit for further work without the use of the drug
again. Mendicants addicted to ganja to excess