195
drugs does not incite to unpremeditated crime,
violent or otherwise. No case have I come across
in which it has led to homicidal frenzy.
54. No ; the criminals do not use the drug to
fortify themselves to commit a premeditated act
of violence or other crime as those who indulge
in alcohol do.
55. No; the criminals do not use the drug to
stupefy their victims. It does not produce com-
plete stupefaction without admixture.
56. The effects of hemp used in moderation are
modified by the massala, It renders the drug
palatable and mild, and after-effects are not so
bad as if the drug was used by itself. So with
ganja when tobacco mixed before smoking modifies
the action of the drug. It is never mixed with
dhatura for personal consumption, but it is used
to induce stupefaction of victims by criminals.
57. Ganja and charas are not eaten or drunk
in this district. They are only smoked.
58 The present system of Excise Administra--
tion in respect of hemp drugs is not satisfactory.
It is capable of improvement.
59. The only chance of improving the present
system is to make rigid rules like country liquor
and opium. Monopoly must be made and the rates
of the sale must be fixed by Government and not
by the contractor, who has the option of increas--
ing the rates as he chooses. Government store--
houses should be built, where it should be allowed
to be stored up by the planter, and a strict watch
kept on this will prevent the illicit sale of the
drug.
60. The cultivation is not under sufficient con-
trol. Many people plant the tree for private con--
sumption, and the cultivation of the plant is not
forbidden, nor excess assessment is levied on the
plantation. Licenses should be issued for such
cultivation, and not mere permission granted as
is now done.
61. Charas is not produced in this district, and
nothing can be said to it.
62. The real bhang is not produced and culti-
vated in this district, but round ganja or chur
is used and sold as bhang, which is more injurious
than real bhang. It may be controlled as stated
in answer to the question No. 60.
63. The present system of wholesale or retail
vend of ganja and other hemp drugs is not satis-
factory. Planters of those drugs have only to
ask for permission from local authorities to plant
the hemp tree, and before cutting down they have
to obtain permission also ; but there is no special
duty for the cultivation of hemp. The hemp
plant after it is cut down is stored up for drying;
when it is ripe for market, it is sold to the con--
tractor of the district, or anybody else, who is
licensed to purchase at the rate the owner chooses.
There is no control over the preparation. There
is every chance of smuggling. The planter stores
up the whole in his house and can keep away some
out of the products, and sell the same where the
market runs higher, illicitly. The rate of sale
must be fixed by Government.
64. Export and import of these drugs from
and into this province must be governed by more
strict rules than now existing. There is so much
of illicit sale now going on, and that can only be
stopped by making uniform rates ; and taxation
should be made upon the quantity sold and not as
now given to the contractor for particular fixed
SUM.
vol. vii.
65.
Bhang should be a little more taxed than
ganja, and charas still more than either ganja or
bhang. The taxation on alcohol may proportion--
ately be increased ; otherwise there will be more
consumption of alcohol, and many consumers of
ganja, bhang and charas would go in for alcohol.
69. The wishes of the people are never consulted
or considered in any way before opening a shop.
There is no necessity of local public opinion in
opening such shops.
70. Yes ; there are some grounds to think that
there is smuggling going on. People in Native
States grow the plants and sell the same to the
shopkeepers privately from the British parts.
There is no taxation or rules for growing the plant
in Native States. In my opinion Government
must take the whole and sole right over these nar-
cotic drugs, even from the Native States. This
will make the matter safer. The rate should be
made uniform and thereby illicit sale will be put a
stop to.
Oral evidence.
Question 1 .—The written answers I have
given are based upon my own knowledge.
Question 30.—There are no shops licensed for
consumption on the premises in the district of
Satara. The places where people meet to smoke,
drink or gamble are called " akhadas," and the
word has a somewhat disreputable meaning, If
places were licensed for smoking and drinking of
hemp drugs, they would not be frequented, and,
if they were frequented, it would be worse than
the present state of things for the morals of the
people, because consumers would cease to feel
shame, and the use of the drugs would be
increased,
There are no shops in my district
where ready-made massala can be bought. I
mentioned them because I had seen them in
Benares.
Question 35 .—The drugs I have named at
the end of my answer are some intoxicating and
some not. Nux vomica is intoxicating. I have
seen a man who began to take one seed, and
increased his dose to three seeds a day, and
finally died. I do not know that aconite and
arsenic are intoxicating. Other drugs that
might be taken are opium and jaipal (croton ?).
The effect of the latter is strongly purgative. I
have known men to use these drugs as stimulants.
I am only well acquainted with the use of nux
vomica for the purpose. The seeds are soaked in
cow's urine for seven days ; then they are put seven
days into cow-dung, after an interval of seven
days during which they were drying. The seeds
are then boiled in milk and dried seven times.
The beginner takes one quarter of a seed, and I
have known a man increase his dose to three seeds.
A great many bairagis and fakirs visit Wai
where I live. Dhatura is used by them, but not
commonly. It is smoked with ganja. I never
knew of the root or leaves of dhatura being used.
I don't know why the process of treating nux
vomica seeds I have described is adopted, but I
suppose it is to make them less strong.
Question 46. — I h a v e p e r s o n a l l y k n o w n t w o
instances of temporary insanity caused by the
hemp drugs, and one instance of a man who
became permanently insane. I know the parti--
culars of these cases well. The men are perso-
-nally known to me. Two of them I have known for
thirteen years, and one of them is dead. One case
of permanent and one of temporary insanity
occurred six or seven years ago, and one case of
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