133
Not so bhang. Use of ganja, as above, makes the
eyes sunken, the temples depressed, the cheeks
thin, the neck slender, and altogether the whole
system weak and powerless. Bhang not so. Ganja
injures digestion and causes loss of appetite in the
long run. Not so bhang. Ganja causes dysentery,
bronchitis or asthma in the long run. It is said
that ganja smokers generally die of dysentery.
It does impair the moral sense, does induce lazi¬
ness and habits of debauchery and immorality.
Immoderate use of ganja certainly deadens the in¬
tellect and is believed to produce insanity—in some
cases temporary and in others permanent accord¬
ing to the nature of the consumer's constitution.
Cannot say from experience regarding cases
with which I am acquainted.
46. Needs no reply (see above).
47. Not exactly hereditary.
48. But has been known to affect persons of the
same family.
49. Ganja and especially bhang are.
50. Consumed in the first instance as aphro¬
disiac. Most young men fall into the habit under
that notion. Prostitutes use bhang with the
same object. The use for this purpose is more in¬
jurious than its use as an ordinary narcotic, as the
after-effects of exhaustion, etc., etc., are great.
Habitual use of ganja in excess produces impo¬
tence too early.
51 and 52. Nearly all clubmen, rioters, house¬
breakers, thieves, and dacoits especially in Lower
Bengal, are consumers of ganja in moderation or
excess. They generally have a smoke of ganja
before sallying forth on an expedition. Petty
thefts are often committed by people given to ganja
smoking but having no means of satisfying the
craving.
53. Excessive indulgence in ganja is believed
to incite to unpremeditated crime. I know of no
case in which it has led to temporary homicidal
frenzy.
54. Ganja, and occasionally bhang in excess.
55. Sometimes criminals have been known to
stupefy travellers on the way by inducing them
to smoke ganja falsely representing it as tobacco,
and then robbing their victim. Without ad¬
mixture complete stupefaction cannot be in¬
duced.
56. Ganja smoked without tobacco leaves is
oppressive on the throat, producing violent
coughing. Bhang used with golmirich has a
cooling effect.
Nothing special to note.
57. Cannot give any. I am told that ganja,
when eaten, does not give intoxication so imme¬
diately as when smoked.
58 and 59. The system under which ganja and
bhang are supplied to the consumers has been
known to cause no inconvenience to the public,
and is believed to be working well. In view,
however, of the increasing consumption of ganja
there ought to be further check in the shape of
enhanced duty.
60 and 61. Cannot say.
62. Cannot indicate any.
63. There appear to be none.
64. None that have been advanced by the
parties concerned.
65. There is no great disparity in the rates of
taxation upon ganja and bhang. But supposing
that one pice worth of ganja gives as much in¬
toxication as four pice worth of country liquor
and two pice worth of opium, I should say that
there is ample room for improvement in the taxa¬
tion of ganja.
66. There should be different rates of taxation
for different kinds of ganja, according to the
amount of intoxication that a particular kind of
ganja is supposed to give.
67. None: only this, that with a view to check
further increase of ganja consumption rates of
duty should be further enhanced.
68. None in this district.
69. Yes. In Municipalities opinion of Muni¬
cipal Commissioners is taken; in the mufassal, of
chief village men. Local public opinion ought
to be considered.
70. None known to me.
Oral evidence.
Question 1.—I entered the Government service
in January 1887 as Deputy Magistrate.
Question 3.—The bhang plant and the ganja
plant are not the same. I am not very sure of
this. As I am now informed that the plants are
the same, I am probably wrong.
Question 30.—I have seen boys as young as
eight years old taking ganja. I can remember
one in the Manbhum district, who was nine years
of age. No others.
Question 35.—In saying that it is possible to
prohibit bhang, I mean that if it were prohibited
people would not care to take it, whereas if ganja
were prohibited, the people would continue to pro¬
cure it some way or other. The ganja smokers
are more addicted to their habit than the bhang
drinkers are to theirs. The bhang plant would of
course require to be exterminated. The extirpa¬
tion of bhang in the Murshidabad district would
not give rise to serious discontent. I cannot
answer for any other district.
Question 36.—In this answer I am speaking
of the Manbhum district only in reference to the
substitution of ganja for alcohol.
Question 51.—In this answer I am speaking
of the Kbulna district, and my statement is
based on my magisterial experience. It some¬
times comes out in evidence that such people were
in a state of intoxication from ganja. My im¬
pression is general and not derived from special
enquiry into the subject. By intoxication it is
meant that the men had taken enough to make
them hardier, not to render them insensible. The
word "nasha" might express this, it does not
necessarily imply insensibility.
56. Evidence of BABU KHIROD CHUNDRA SEN, Deputy Magistrate and Deputy
Collector, Singhbhum.
58. My answers relate to ganja only.
I am acquainted with the present system of
excise administration in Bengal, having been con¬
nected with it as Excise Deputy Collector of two
districts, viz., Dinajpur in Northern Bengal and
Singhbhum in the south-west of the province.