268
49. I understand that it is used for this purpose,
and is popularly believed to have this effect
It
is used by prostitutes, but I do not know if it is
so used for this purpose. I am not aware that it
leads to impotence. A Bengali metrical proverb,
published by Dr. Morison, of Rajshahi, is to the
following effect:—
The ganja-smoker cherishes his wife.
The opium-eater's wife is a widow.
The drunkard is a Brahmini bull (i.e., brutal
and uncontrollable).
51 to 53. Much of the violent assaults and all
the cases of "amok" that came under my notice
in connection with insanity were committed by
ganja-smokers. And most often as the result of a
single excessive debauch even in those accustomed
to the moderate use of the drug. In these cases the
crime was unpremeditated and the criminal subse-
quently appeared to be oblivious of the circum-
stances. I have known many cases of temporary
homicidal frenzy produced in these ways.
54. I am not in a position to answer this ques-
tion.
55. I believe that complete oblivion can be
produced by hemp, and not always accompanied by
maniacal excitement.
56 and 57. I am not in a position to answer
these questions.
58. I have nothing to say on these questions.
Further written statement put in by
DR. CROMBIE.
The statistics of Indian asylums show ganja as
the alleged cause of insanity in nearly 30 per cent.
of the cases as against 5.3 for spirits and 0.36 for
opium. In none of these is it contended that the
alleged cause is the actual cause either predisposing
or immediate in all the cases. Certainly with
regard to opium it may be said with every con-
fidence that the figures given are merely statistics
of the number of inmates who are known to
have been addicted more or less to the habitual
use of opium previous to their confinement in a
lunatic asylum; and the number of these is so
small taking into consideration the great pre-
valence of the opium habit (it may be said with-
out fear of contradiction that probably 1 per cent.
of the entire population of India are opium-eaters),
and as they exhibit no signs by which they can
be distinguished from other inmates, either by
their physique or the character or type of insanity
they exhibit, that the use of opium in no way
favours the development of insanity among the
population. Keeping in mind the prevalence of
the alcoholic vice in European countries, where
some 25 per cent. of all the cases of insanity are
traceable directly or indirectly to drink, it must be
admitted as more than probable that the cases of
lunacy attributed to alcohol in this country must
be regarded differently, and that a considerable
proportion of them are in reality due to the
alleged cause. The same objections might be
raised in the case of alcohol as in that of hemp,
namely, that previous mental disease and especially
mental weakness may have led to the indulgence
in the drug to obtain relief from mental distress,
etc.; but there are I believe better grounds for
regarding ganja as the actual effective cause of
insanity in a larger proportion of the cases attri-
buted to it than holds even in those attributed to
alcohol in Europe. I refer to the peculiar characters
of this form of toxic insanity by which it can be
recognised just, or nearly, as readily as those of
delirium tremens distinguish alcoholic intoxication.
To enable me to do so clearly it is necessary to
distinguish between acute ganja intoxication due
to a single debauch, or to continuous excessive use
of it of what might be called a bout of ganja
drunkenness, and the effects of its continued
immoderate use over a lengthened period of time.
(a) Acute ganja intoxication is marked by the
extreme vehemence of the mania. In its mental,
moral, and muscular manifestations it bears no
resemblance to alcoholic intoxication whatever.
The maniac is excited in every fibre, His aspect
is infuriated, his eye glares and is tense and glis-
tening, while at the same time the conjunctiva is
red and injected. He shouts, vociferates, sings,
walks quickly up and down or round his cell, and
shakes the door out of its fastenings. If at
liberty, he is violent and aggressive and may run
amok. In other cases the mental disturbance is
less marked, but the demeanour is excited, and he
suddenly seizes some weapon and slays one or
more of the people in his neighbourhood without
apparent reason. The attack is of short duration,
being limited to a few days. There is then per-
fect recovery and the patient is oblivious of things
which took place during the period of intoxication.
In a good many cases there are relapses of similar
maniacal attacks without the possibility of a
renewal of the cause; but this especially happens
when there has been a habitual excessive use of
the intoxicant. Most cases entirely recover, and
those in which the mania was caused by a single
debauch in a person unaccustomed to its use
almost invariably do so, there being no sign of
insanity any time subsequent to the disappearance
of the original symptoms.
(b) The insanity produced by the long-con-
tinued immoderate use of ganja has also features
of its own. The patients are hilarious, attitudinise,
and are full of the sense of well-being; they as
a rule are good-natured and trustworthy, and re-
cover in a large proportion of cases under confine-
ment and deprivation of the drug. These cases
characterise Indian asylums by the large number
of happy amusing lunatics they contain. They
are, however, very subject to relapses even
after lenghthened periods of freedom from symp-
toms. Melancholia is in my experience never
caused by ganja, and dementia only as a second-
ary effect of chronic mania.
I am unable to give specific cases in illustration
of these remarks, because I have no longer access
to the books of the Dacca Asylum where my ex-
perience was gained. I have, however, clearly in
my mind one case of a Bengali Babu, who, as
the result of a single debauch, in an attack of
ganja mania, slew seven of his nearest relatives
in bed during the night, made a rapid recovery,
and never again exhibited signs of insanity during
the ten years he was under observation.
Oral Evidence.
I have been about twenty-two years in the
service, and almost the whole of that period in
civil employ. I have served only four years out
of Lower Bengal (two years in Simla and two
in Burma). I was seven years Superintendent
of the Dacca Asylum and am a visitor of the
asylums in Calcutta. I am also a member of the
Committee for advising Government about crimi-