12
and cares of their unhappy life. It is not usual
for children to consume either of these drugs.
The habit of consuming both is, I think, easily
formed. It is difficult to break off in the case of
ganja. In the case of both the tendency of the
habit is to develop into the excessive.
There seems to be no custom, social or religious,
regarding the consumption of ganja, but bhang
is required to be used by both males and females
on the last day of the Durga Puja, after the
images have been thrown into the water. The use,
however, on this occasion is very moderate, and
not at all injurious or likely to lead to the forma-
tion of the habit of using the drug. Those unwill-
ing to drink it merely put a drop on their tongue
by way of acceptance from the dispenser. The
consumption of ganja is generally regarded with
dislike, and an inveterate smoker of the drug is
always considered a disreputable character. The
use of bhang is not considered equally reprehensi-
ble. The use of ganja is considered disreputable,
because its effects are injurious, both physically
and mentally. The custom of worshipping the
hemp plant is unknown here; but in the cultivat-
ing districts the treaders-out of the ganja salute
it before commencing operations. A shopkeeper
keeps a small branch of ganja in a pot or lota as a
sign of his trade, and may be observed to salute
it reverentially on opening his shop in the morn-
ing, but there is no special sanctity attached to
the plant, the practice of making a salaam on
opening their stores being common to other shop-
keepers.
It would be a serious privation to habitual
smokers of ganja if obliged to forego the con-
sumption of the drug, because the habit, when
once formed, cannot be easily given up. Not so
in the case of bhang. The habit of using it is
not so difficult to give up. It is not easy to
make a correct or even an approximate estimate
of the probable number who would suffer. It
would be feasible to prohibit the use in the case
of bhang, but not so in that of ganja, the smok-
ers of which will most assuredly resort to the use
of dhatura and other drugs of a more virulent
character to satisfy their cravings. The prohibi-
tion of the use of ganja would cause very serious
discontent among the consumers, especially
among those every-day toilers who use it as a
food-accessory while undergoing fatigue, or as a
refreshing pick-me-up when the day's work is
done. It cannot be asserted that the discontent
consequent on the prohibition will not amount to
a political danger. It is, however, almost certain
that the prohibition will be followed by recourse
to either alcoholic stimulants or other drugs.
The effects of charas smoking are milder than
those of smoking ganja. Charas is the rich man's
drug, and the man that keeps his body well nour-
ished feels least the effects of any drug. I am
aware also that these drugs deteriorate. I believe
there is really very little difference between the
three preparations of ganja, but round is said by
some to cause headache, and to be more effective
than flat or "chur" in producing intoxication.
Flat ganja is undoubtedly milder, and the drink-
ing preparation of bhang is less injurious than
smoking ganja or bhang.
Native physicians use bhang as medicine for
diarrhœa, dysentery, asthma, and dyspepsia. Both
bhang and ganja are used in the treatment
of cattle diseases. Ganja is also prescribed in
cases of impotency. As an alleviator of sorrow
and anxiety, a black-care-dispeller, a death-scarer,
and devil-driver, it is held in high repute. Bhang
is known to be beneficial when used moderately.
It makes a person who has a long journey before
him indifferent to hunger, thirst, or fatigue.
Ganja in moderation is said to be a preventive of
disease in malarious and unhealthy tracts. Its
use is said to help devotees in concentrating their
minds.
It is said to produce a state of ecstasy favour-
able to religious contemplation, hence its use
among bairagies, gosains, and jogis. As a food-
accessory or digestive, bhang is used by people
suffering from bowel-complaints or dyspepsia.
As a staying-power ganja is used by the hardy
sons of toil, such as fishermen, boatmen,
blacksmiths, shell-cutters, weavers, potters, car-
penters, masons, wrestlers, lattials, milkmen, day-
labourers, palki-bearers, runners and mendicants.
As a preventive of disease, it is used by most
people belonging to the lower classes. Ganja is
also used by devotees and mendicants. The
moderate habitual use is here referred to, and is,
I believe, harmless, just as the moderate use of
wine, spirits, opium, and tobacco is not injurious,
but there is this difference, that the habit once
formed of taking ganja, it is an easy step from
moderation to excess. The moderate use is
refreshing, though it may produce intoxication in a
novice. It is said to allay hunger, while bhang
is said to increase the appetite. The effects of
ganja and charas last from two to three hours, and
of bhang from three to six. The after-effects may
be headache and giddiness, where the smoker is
not well seasoned, and the deprivation of the
narcotic occasions uneasiness to an habitual con-
sumer.
I do not think the habitual moderate use of the
drugs necessarily produces any noxious effects,
physical, mental, or moral, but in the case of
ganja, habitual moderate use is not always pos-
sible. There is always a tendency to increase the
quantity consumed, and the user finds his consti-
tution impaired and digestive powers diminished.
Bhang is said to cure dysentery and asthma,
but ganja, by injuring the digestive organs, may
induce asthma. Like all narcotics it must induce
laziness, but it is doubtful if it tends to deaden
the intellect or produce insanity, though it may
produce excitement amounting to frenzy in a
novice smoker, closely resembling the symptoms of
acute mania, but this mood changes as the influ-
ence of the drug ceases. The habitual excessive
use may produce noxious effects, physical, mental
and moral. It impairs the constitution, injures
the digestive powers, and causes loss of appetite,
especially the use of ganja. It is a matter of
general belief that the excessive use of ganja
causes dysentery, bronchitis, and asthma. It
interferes with the free circulation of the blood,
nutrition is impeded in consequence, and the
smoker presents an anæmic and emaciated
appearance, and in short may become the victim to
a variety of ills, mental and physical, including
insanity. In India insanity is often attributed
by the medical faculty to indulgence in ganja.
Dr. Wise, the Superintendent of the Lunatic
Asylum in Dacca in 1871, reported an increase
in the number of lunatics who were previously
smokers of ganja. In November 1846 out of
198 inmates in the asylum, only 45, or 22·7 per
cent., were ganja smokers. Between 1850 and
1859, among 980 admissions, 406, or 41·4 per
cent., were known to be smokers, and between
1860 and 1867, among 2,522 insane persons
treated, 1,145, or 45·4 per cent., had their
insanity referred to this cause; but in dealing