17
I cannot say whether ganja or alcohol is more
connected with crime. But my experience leads
me to say that in the Assam Valley districts it
will be found that both these intoxicants are
sometimes associated with crime, especially in tea
gardens.
There has been considerable increase in the
taxation of ganja both here and in Assam. I
do not think the limit has been reached. I cannot
say precisely how the taxation of ganja com-
pares with that of other intoxicants.
But I
think it could still be increased. I have, how-
ever, no definite proposals to make.
I do not think there is much smuggling of
excise ganja. Government keeps careful watch
over stuff kept in the local golas, of which Gov-
ernment keeps one of the keys.
7. Evidence of MR. P. NOLAN, Commissioner, Rajshahi Division.
There can be no doubt that the practice of
smoking ganja is regarded with disfavour by the
upper classes of this division, while drinking bhang
on certain occasions is among them an honoured
custom. The distinction thus made does not,
however, rest on an impartial judgment formed
after a full investigation of the effects of the two
practices. The extent to which ganja may be
injurious is not at present known, and we must
trust to the present inquiry to elicit the real facts.
Ganja smoking is despised by the well-to-do,
because its consumption is confined to the poor
who can afford no other indulgence, just as drink-
ing gin in a public house is looked down on by
gentlemen who take champagne and liquors in
clubs. But the sentiment is stronger here, for in
this land of caste, more than any other, the well-
to-do feel a repulsion for any food or stimulant used
exclusively by those beneath them in the social
scale. Opium is certainly more injurious than
ganja, and yet its use excites no such aversion, as
it is taken by the rich. Apart from this class
prejudice, that is among the working classes
themselves, there is no more antipathy to ganja,
than there is, in England, to strong tobacco. It is
regarded as a form of smoking.
It would probably be possible to put a stop to
the supply of ganja, as the crop cannot easily be
grown without observation. But the use of bhang
cannot be prevented, because the plant grows
wild everywhere. There are many forms of self-
indulgence open to abuse; and it is a question for
investigation whether men inclined to intemper-
ance, when stopped from using a particular drug,
will not take to some other evil practice.
Oral evidence.
Question 1.—I have been 26 years in the
Service, and have served in Bengal, Behar and
Orissa.
Question 33.—My statement that opium is cer-
tainly more injurious than ganja is based on observ-
ation and what I have heard.
I have not
studied the returns of lunatic asylums. I could
generally tell an opium taker, but I could not tell
a ganja taker. I understand that eating opium
is much worse than smoking the same drug.
Question 35.— The wild plant grows abundantly,
certainly over the whole division of Rajshahi,
and there is enough of it all over the province to
poison the whole population in twenty-four hours,
if taken in the form of bhang in strong decoction.
Smoking might injure a man, but could not poison
him in so short a time. I believe that the practice
of drinking bhang is very limited in extent. I
have known a man to become temporarily mad
after a dose of bhang, but I have seen no such
effect from smoking ganja.
I put in a state-
ment* which shows calculations in support of my
view that the use of the drug distributed over the
population is very small. As regards the com-
parative effects of bhang and ganja, I am only
able to make one deduction from my observation,
viz., that a man is much more likely to do himself
harm by one debauch of bhang than by a similar
indulgence in ganja.
I compare the relative
effects of drinking bhang and smoking ganja to
the relative effects of drinking alcohol and smoking
tobacco. The instance I have mentioned is the
only one which has come to my notice of the evil
effects of bhang. I have never known death to
follow from bhang drinking.
I have no very decided opinion on the question
of prohibiting the drugs. If the consumption is
small as I hold it to be, the difficulty of prohibit-
ing would also be small. And though I have
never seen any evil effects of ganja, they may exist
notwithstanding.
I should like to draw attention to one detail of
the present system of levying the duty on ganja.
It is a sound fiscal principle that duties should be
levied at as late a stage as possible. The duty on
ganja exported to the North-Western Provinces is
paid at Naogaon. It ought to be levied at bonded
ware-houses in the North-Western Provinces, as is
done in Bengal.
Further, originally in this province there used
to be several centres of production These were
all concentrated at Naogaon. This has been
found to be an excellent measure, of which the
advantages are—
(1) economy of establishment;
(2) diminution in smuggling: wherever
there is cultivation there is smug-
gling;
(3) improvement in quality of the produce by
one cultivator learning from another;
(4) uniformity of taxation.
The question arises, should this system not be
extended by having one single centre for all India,
as in the case of opium, or at least for all Upper
India, including the Central Provinces.
Cost of carriage is a main objection to concen-
tration, but this does not enter very largely into
the matter of ganja from its high value in pro-
portion to weight. The duty alone on round
ganja is R290 a maund, to which has to be added
the intrinsic value of the drug.
The Commission of course would have to select
a suitable centre. But there is no doubt that the
area for production could easily be supplied. The.
area under cultivation in Bengal is trifling, viz.,
800 acres yielding 8,000 maunds of ganja.
Experience shows that this amount could easily be
doubled, and I have no doubt that the wants of
all India could thus be supplied from Naogaon
without any great increase in cost of establish-
ment.
F
*Appendix to Mr. Nolan's evidence.