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4. The general name is bhang. I believe it to
be exactly the same plant everywhere.
5. I can't say what conditions of climate, &c.,
are necessary to the growth of the wild hemp, but
I found it growing in elevated lands abundantly.
It appears to require sun, free ventilation and a
well drained soil.
6. The growth of the wild hemp was found to
be dense.
7. There is cultivation of the hemp plant in
the Naogaon subdivision in the district of Raj-
shahi and in the adjoining districts of Bogra and
Dinajpur, within an area of about 20 square
miles:—
(a) For the production of ganja.
(b) No cultivation for production of charas.
(c) Rarely for use as bhang.
(d) For use as fibre, the plant would have to be
destroyed before the leaves could be of use as ganja,
and seeds only by local cultivators.
The seed is not parched, neither is oil extracted
in this part of the country.
8. I am not in a position to say if there is at
present any increase and decrease in the area
under cultivation of ganja. It depends upon
seasons and ruling prices.
9. In August and September seedlings are pre-
pared like winter paddy crops, and then trans-
planted into well-manured and ploughed fields,
which from time to time are irrigated.
10. Those who cultivate hemp for its narcotic
properties are not a special class. They are the
ordinary agriculturists of the locality.
11. I should say not.
12. I have no knowledge or reason to suppose
that wild hemp is anywhere cultivated for the pro-
duction of ganja, but I have often found a single
plant which might be used for ganja-growing in
the gardens of well-to-do men.
13. The cultivation of ganja is restricted to the
Naogaon subdivision and some villages of Bogra
and Dinajpur, under the control of the Superintend-
ent of Ganja Cultivation, Rajshahi.
I am not in a position to say why the Naogaon
subdivision has been selected. I should say
that any part of the Bogra district would do
as well; in fact, any well-drained area where a
sufficient (but without an excessive) rainfall can
be secured. I should have thought a cooler climate
under above conditions would have been better.
Naogaon is about the only dry place in this
district.
14. (a) Ganja is prepared in Rajshahi.
(b) Charas is not prepared here. I believe it
can be got almost anywhere in Behar, but I
do not know who it is prepared by.
(c) Bhang, as a rule, is not manufactured any-
where, but the leaves of wild hemp are collected
by those who like bhang, and prepared by them
as required.
Ganja is prepared to the extent it is necessary
for the consumption of Bengal, Behar, Orissa, and
Assam. Bhang is prepared very rarely in Bengal,
but in Behar to a greater extent.
15. I cannot answer this question. Cultivated
ganja is prepared for smoking only.
16. Bhang is generally prepared by the people
in their houses. Yes; it can be prepared from
hemp plant wherever grown. I do not think
ganja and charas can be prepared from the wild
plant in any district.
17. There is no particular class of people by
whom the preparations of the hemp drugs are re-
spectively prepared.
18. Each of the three drugs deteriorate after the
lapse of a couple of years. Damp, rats, etc., are the
causes. The cultivator is too poor to invest in
chests or iron golas.
19. Ganja and charas are only used for smoking.
I have seen ganja and water drunk by servants
out shooting, and by up-country fakirs and forest
rangers.
20. Ganja is generally smoked by the lower
classes of people of Eastern Bengal—that is, that
part of Bengal which is for the greater part of the
year under water and damp. It is, I think, a mis-
take to suppose that the Behar and the Rajput
landlords do not also use ganja.
(a) Bairagis, sanyasis, and all religious men-
dicants.
(b) Fishermen.
(c) Boatmen.
(d) The labouring classes, earth-cutters.
(e) Muhammadan.
(f) Chandal, cultivators.
(g) Even men of the middle and higher classes
smoke ganja in Eastern Bengal, the
proportion being quite 20 or 25 per
cent. of the whole population.
21. Flat ganja is generally consumed by the
people in all districts except Calcutta. I cannot
give any reason for this preference of flat ganja
to other kinds. What is known as mohini ganja
is prized, but it is scarce. It is very strong.
22. I have no knowledge about charas.
23. To my knowledge bhang is never used for
smoking. It comes into use in some of the Hindu
religious ceremonies.
24. The sanyasis and other religious mendicants
generally make pills of bhang and eat them.
Other people drink bhang. Fifty per cent. or
more of the up-country people drink bhang, and
about 20 per cent. of other places use it.
25. I do not think the use of ganja is on the
increase. The use of bhang may be on the in-
crease. Owing to high price of ganja, the people
can hardly afford to pay for it, and in lieu of
ganja many people, especially the sanyasis, baira-
gis and other mendicants, use bhang. In every
large village there are ganja smokers, but on ac-
count of the high price of the intoxicating drugs,
the number of such men is very small.
26. (a) About 75 per cent. of the ganja smok-
ers are habitual moderate smokers.
(b) Habitual excessive smokers may be 10
per cent.
(c) Occasional moderate smokers may be 13 or
14 per cent.
(d) Occasional excessive smokers may be nil,.
or at most 1 to 2 per cent.
27. From all classes of people are these taken.
The fishermen and the cultivators are led to the
practice for preventing rheumatism from cold and
damp, and so also those who lead the life of as-
cetics, who sleep in the street, under trees, and on
banks of rivers, etc. The labouring class is habi-
tuated to ganja for the purpose of avoiding
exhaustion from fatigue. Higher classes are
usually first led to the habit by association with
prostitutes, who nearly all use the drug in moder-
ation.