377
49. Both bhang and, ganja are used as aphro-
disiacs. It is so used by men only, although pros-
titutes have been known to smoke ganja. The use
of ganja and bhang as aphrodisiacs is not more
injurious than their use as exhilarants.
51. It would be unjust to connect the use of
these drugs with crime as cause and effect. It
is, on the contrary, believed that those who smoke
ganja or use bhang are open-hearted men, who
enjoy the happiness of others and delight to see
others happy.
56. The only substance which is usually mixed
with ganja is tobacco, for the purpose of improv-
ing the flavour.
62. The cultivation of the hemp plant should
not be controlled. It would hardly be feasible.
69. The wishes of the people are not consulted
before a shop is opened in any locality. But that
is unnecessary. The licensee is the best man to
judge whether there is a demand for a shop in a
certain locality.
161. Evidence of MAHARAJA GIRIJANATH ROY BAHADUR, Kayasth, Zamindar, Dinajpur.
1. Informations received from people of various
classes who use the drugs.
2. Dr. Prain's definitions are on the whole
acceptable. But I doubt that the extirpation of
the male plants in the laud (and not any other
natural causes) is the sole cause of formation of a
resinous coating which prevents seeds setting forth
freely. I have seen flowers of wild hemp plant,
the males and females of which, unlike the culti-
vated ones, grew together, full of resin. Siddhi,
bhang, and subji are the local names of dried leaves
of both the male and female plants. The three
different preparations of the drug are known as
(a) siddhi, subji, or bhang, (b) charas, and (c) ganja,
respectively. Of the three varieties of ganja, the
round ones are not used in this district.
3. Bhang plants grow spontaneously in Raj-
shahi, Bogra, Dinajpur, Rangpur, and Malda.
They are more or less abundant there.
4. Bhang. Yes.
5. Temperate climate, damp and sandy soil.
6. Dense.
7. Yes. The cultivation of the plant is carried
on in the south-eastern portion of Thana Mahadeb-
pur under Government supervision. The plant is
grown for ganja and charas, but not for fibre.
Oil of the ganja seeds possesses some medicinal
property, and is sometimes pressed out of the
seeds.
10. No. They are of the same classes as other
agricultural cultivators.
11. Wild hemp can be raised from the seeds of
cultivated hemp, but not vice versá.
13. Yes. Hemp plant is cultivated in a por-
tion of land, about 400 square miles in area, lying
at a point where Dinajpur, Bogra, and Rajshahi
Districts meet. It cannot be grown on pure sand
and land utterly devoid of sandy admixture.
Please see my answer to question 5.
14. Yes. Ganja is cultivated in Rajshahi,
Bogra, and Dinajpur. Charas is also produced in
the same locality, but in very small quantity, and
is not known to be exported or exposed for sale
regularly. Bhang also is not known here to be
prepared for sale. People, however, collect leaves
in small quantities in March and April, and pre-
serve them for medicinal as well as for narcotic
purposes occasionally. This latter practice, how-
ever, is few and far between.
16. People do not prepare bhang "generally"
for fear of prosecution. Ganja and charas can
be prepared anywhere from cultivated and uncul-
tivated hemp plants; but as the outturn of the
last preparation is very small and inferior by far,
people do not exhaust their energy in such pre-
paration.
17. Cultivating class,
18. Yes. They quite lose their narcotic effect
after two and sometimes three years. They can
be kept good for a year with ordinary care.
Ganja in air-tight tin-lined boxes, bhang in well
covered earthen or porcelain vessels, and charas in
plantain leaves, would last without losing their
efficacy longer than if preserved otherwise.
19. Ganja and charas are used only for smoking.
(The former, however, is sometimes used in medi-
cines.)
20. Ganja is generally used by the lower and
labouring classes as well as the religious mendicants
and jogis, but seldom by men of higher classes,
except Brahmin confectioners and professional
musicians. Females, except a few among the
prostitutes, do not take anything intoxicating.
Charas is used by a very small number of people
in Bengal. Inveterate smokers of ganja will
never prefer charas, as the intoxication produced
by it is not so intense. Young men learning to
take intoxicating drugs, or men of nervous tem-
perament, are often found to indulge in charas on
account of, perhaps, the mildness of its effect.
About 5 per cent. of the male population smoke
ganja and 25 per cent. charas. In the North-
Western Provinces charas is generally taken with
ganja, but not so in these provinces.
21. Round and chur ganjas are preferred.
Round and chur ganjas are smoked largely in
Southern, flat ganja in Northern and Eastern, and
flat and round ganjas in Western Bengal.
22. Native. Foreign from Nepal.
23. People who are too poor to purchase ganja
use the dried leaves of bhang sometimes. But
such instances are very rare.
24. Taking regular and occasional consumers
together, about 15 per cent. of the male popula-
tion take bhang.
Majum is prepared from bhang. It is a sort
of intoxicating sweetmeat. The ingredients are
bhang, clarified butter, sugar, and milk.
25. The use of ganja is rather on the increase;
of siddhi and charas stationary. The reasons for
increased consumption of ganja
are:—
1stly.—Religious scruples against spirituous
liquors.
2ndly.—Injurious and demoralising effects of
spirituous liquors on the mind and body.
3rdly.—Improcurability of such liquors and
(where the liquors are more easily
accessible)
cheapness (comparative) of
the drug.
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