517
67. No objection.
68. Very rarely consumed on the houses, so
that no disturbance is caused to consumers.
69. Wishes of the people are consulted through
the Excise Officers.
70. I am not aware of any such smuggling.
245. Evidence of BABU PROSAD DASS DUTT, Zamindar, Calcutta.
20. The mendicants of Upper India, which
include jogis, sanyasis, and sadhus as a special
class, generally use ganja in excess when in a
large party and can afford to pay for the same.
The other class, which includes the mendicants of
Lower Bengal, and generally the lower class of
people of India who have to undergo hard and
arduous work and expose themselves to the wea-
ther, use it in moderation. Of course there are
exceptions to this general rule.
24. The people of Northern India generally
consume bhang habitually more or less. The
people of Lower Bengal generally do not use it
habitually like the people of Upper India.
20. Charas is not a favourite to any class; it
is used by a small section, and is not largely
used.
33. Few men of the middle or upper class of
India use ganja, and very few men of those classes
of Lower Bengal are addicted to it. The word
"ganja-khor" i.e., the smoker of the drug, has
been and is still considered as an abusive term.
There is another saying," Ganja khele Lakhi
chare," which means goddess of wealth quits him
who smokes ganja. In fact the respectable class
always try that no member of his family should
indulge in ganja. Nevertheless, hitherto some
young people of this class who had prejudice to
wine used to indulge in it sometimes secretly
amongst their party; but now such smoking is
considered as degradation, and wine has taken its
place.
41. The object of the moderate use of bhang is
said to be to keep the digestive functions steady and
to enjoy a little pleasure. The object of the
moderate use of ganja is said to be to prepare the
smoker to perform hard work and to undergo ex-
posure. Certainly the smoking, it is said, gives
also a little pleasure to drown the contemplation
of the hard lot which the poorer classes consider
their doom to undergo.
28. Five to six chillums of ganja per day is
considered as a moderate consumption. It costs
about three pice; but the quantity suffices to satisfy
the cravings for smoking of about three men.
Half to one lota of siddhi or bhang may be consi-
dered as moderate consumption for a man. It is
worth about one pice.
31. It is a general rule that the moderate use
of every intoxicating drug may develop into excess
unless it is restrained by true self-love or want.
Ganja and bhang cannot be an exception to this
general rule.
32. On the occasion of the immersion of the
idols into the water, i.e., on Vasan day, after
keeping up the previous night, and exposure, bhang
is generally used by almost all the people of India,
and it is also given to the deities as an offering.
The better class of people, as a general rule with a
higher education, sip it only; but the Anglicized
natives do not conform to this rule. The people of
the North-Western Provinces, more specially of
Mathura, take bhang before a sumptuous repast.
41. For a layman it is indeed difficult to say
the effect of moderate or excessive use of the
drugs. Even a professional medical man cannot
answer this question without much observation.
So far I have seen that men using ganja either
moderately or excessively performed their allotted
work easily. I limit the excessive use to the
extent which mendicants of the North-Western
Provinces in party generally use, say, up to 20
chillums per day. I have heard from two Bengali
Brahmans, who are now dead, that they smoked
ganja up to 50 to 60 chillums, but that did not
incapacitate them from doing their ordinary work.
Possibly some men may possess strong constitu-
tions to bear such excess. One of them gave it
up altogether, and lived long without suffering
at all. I have seen excessive use of bhang make
men so intoxicated as to be worthless to perform
their daily avocations. Of course this is confined
to those who are not addicted to it.
I am one of those who would like total
stoppage of all intoxicating drugs, if practicable,
without any injury; but I must candidly admit
that the moderate use of ganja by those classes
who have to carry palki at a distance on a rainy
night, or over a steep hill, or to navigate about
over dangerous waters or during the night, or
when rain is falling and wind is blowing fearfully,
or when a cultivator in the field working in knee-
deep water and soft earth during biting rain, is not
objectionable, as I have personally seen under
these circumstances the labourers after the use of
a chillum or two grew invigorated and resumed
their work with a desirable heartiness.
29. I am not prepared to answer this question.
I have only heard that dhatura seeds are taken
unintentionally. Possibly the sellers mix them to
produce a more intoxicating effect when they
consider regular bhang is below the standard
quality.
35. Possibly it would be some benefit to some
of the people from my point of view, that mode-
rate use may tend to excess, if the use of hemp
drug can be prohibited. Excessive use by some,
in whose constitution it is not agreeable, I am
afraid, leads to madness and increases a propensity
to do vice and crime, not excepting murder; but
how far it is expedient or feasible to suppress the
use of the drugs I am not prepared to say, as so
many people are using them for a long time
without doing serious harm. It is a serious ques-
tion whether it is wise to suppress a thing with the
expectation of doing good to some, whilst it may
do serious harm to a large class of people who
have to perform hard work and undergo great
exposure. It is an admitted fact that without
some stimulant an exhausted man cannot resume
hard work. It is impossible, as a practical man
I say, to prohibit ganja altogether. We all know
that generally some members of a family or some
friends try to dissuade their member or friends
who are addicted to them from using intoxicating
drugs, but they invariably fail to achieve their
object. If it be urged that prohibitory duty may
stop consumption, I doubt that very much, and
believe that the people who are addicted to them
will naturally reduce their other necessary expen-
diture to the detriment of the family, but will