530
I have been in all parts of Assam except the Naga
and Garo Hill districts. As Commissioner I am
in charge of the six districts of the Assam Valley.
I was two months in the Surma Valley. I officiated
as Commissioner of Excise for six months, and
at the same time held the office of Inspector
General of Police and Jails.
Question 3.—I have never seen the hemp plant
growing in the jungles where there has never
been any human habitation. I have always
regarded the plant as an escape from cultivation or
the result of accidental sowing rather than as an
indigenous growth. My answer refers to the
Valley districts.
I did not observe it in the
Khasi Hills, though I hear it grows there, and I
believe it to be the fact. Cases frequently occur
of the hill ganja being brought down into the
Gauhati district. This, I believe, comes from the
Khasi Hills, and I am not aware of any import
from the Naga or Garo Hills. I was in charge
of the Golaghat sub-division, which borders on
the Naga Hills, for two years, and no instance
of import of ganja occurred during that time.
I had similar experience regarding the Garo Hills
while I was in the Goalpara district.
Question 7. —I have no reason to suppose that
the Assamese consume ganja at all, except those
who go by that name in the Goalpara district.
By Assamese I mean the indigenous inhabitants
of the six districts of the Assam Valley. The
people of Sylhet and Cachar consume ganja,
and so do a few in the Khasi Hills. I cannot
speak about consumption in the Naga and Garo
Hills. The whole of the Khasi Hills, except
Shillong and the Jaintia Hills sub-division, is
practically foreign territory, and the cultivation
of hemp plant is not prohibited in that region.
I am not prepared to say whether the Naga
and Garo Hills are to be regarded as British
territory, but the British Government has police
and civil jurisdiction in them. In these hill
tracts the police are not to interfere with the hill
people themselves in the matter of cultivation,
possession, and sale of ganja, but at the same time
not to allow the advantage of these privileges to
British subjects.
Question 14.—The Assamese apply the name
bhang to the ganja which is imported from
Rajshahi and to the home-grown drug as well.
I do not know bhang as a distinct product. I do
not know that any part of the plant is used spe-
cially for preparing a drink. I have heard of a
mixture made of gur and milk with ganja which
is called ghota.
Question 35.—By far the larger proportion of
the population of the six districts of the Assam
Valley consume opium; next in point of number
come the consumers of country spirit, and last the
users of ganja. The proportion of consumers of
opium to those of country spirit is about as 10
to 1.
Question 40.—The plea that is raised by persons
prosecuted for smuggling, that they are in posses-
sion of the drug as a medicine for their cattle, is.
admitted if supported by sufficient proof. I don't
think this plea hampers the excise administration,
because the plant as used for cattle appears to
have very little of the narcotic property.
Question 46.—My opinion that ganja leads to
insanity is based on personal experience and hear-
say. I have come across cases in the jails in
Assam of persons whose insanity was said to have
been caused by ganja. Such people would recover
under confinement, and I have known them come
back again in the same condition. I cannot say
for certain that I know of any case of permanent
insanity from ganja. Such cases will probably
be found in the Lunatic Asylum at Tezpur.
I
had no occasion to make particular enquiry regard-
ing the cause of insanity in the cases I saw in the
jails. I speak only from hearsay as to the cause.
Question 51.—I think that the immoderate use
of ganja does lead to crime, but I cannot recall
any case that I have had to deal with. As
Inspector General of Police I cannot remember
that the drug led to crime or misconduct among
the subordinate police officers, and to the best of
my recollection there was no such case.
Question 59.—Looking at the wide range of
the retail price of the drug shown in the Excise
Commissioner's memorandum, I should say that
it is due to the competition of retail vendors;
and also to the fact that the wholesale vendor
can charge the retail vendor what price he likes.
There is a disadvantage from the view of excise
administration, in that the wholesale vendor
makes a profit which might go to Government.
It is advantageous in limiting consumption. If
a system by which the price at which the whole-
sale dealer should sell to the retail leader was
fixed it would result in reducing the profits of
the wholesale dealer and secure a larger portion
for Government.
I should not object to the
introduction of such a system. To assimilate the
ganja management more closely to the opium
system by Government taking over the crop and
supplying the retail vendor direct, would be open
to the objection that Government would appear
to be identifying itself too closely with the busi-
ness of selling the drug. There are other objec-
tions, viz., that extra establishment would be
required, more work would be thrown on the
Government officers, and some risk would be
entailed.
2. Evidence of MR. J. J. S. DRIBERG, Commissioner of Excise and Inspector
General of Police and Jails.
1. I have not had much experience of hemp
drugs. From 1864 I have been in the Assam
Valley and in the Khasi and Jaintia Hills. In
the Assam Valley districts the consumption of
hemp drugs is small, and is used almost entirely
by foreigners. My experience has been chiefly in
regard to opium, which is largely used in the
Assam Valley districts, and I have made a study
of opium, not of hemp drugs. Since 1890 I have
been Excise Commissioner of the province in
addition to other duties.
2. Yes. The definitions given apply. But
siddhi or subji or patti is scarcely known here, and
bhang and ganja are usually applied to the same
article, and in many parts, ganja is known as the
excise article, and bhang as the wild or hill plant.
I have never seen siddhi or subji.
3. The hemp plant grows with equal abundance
in all the districts of the province and in the
semi-independent hills beyond the frontier. It
is never seen in forests or other lands remote from