224
tola of mace, ¼t o l a o f s a f f r o n , ½ t o l a o f a l m o n d s ,
4 or 5 cloves, all powdered together are put
together with the cream of ganja, and the
whole is poured on a smooth board and slices
cut as above stated. Habitual eaters take
about a tola of this majum for a dose.
Dudhia.—Bhang is cleaned and washed clean
as above stated, and then pounded with water
till it becomes very fine. The lump is then
mixed with milk in the proportion of 2
tolas of the former to 4 kacha seers of the
latter, and about a kacha seer of sugar is
added to the whole. The above spices and
dried grapes are also put in the mixture, which
is then poured from a height of about 5
feet into a pot placed on the flour. This
operation of pouring continues till the fluid
becomes so sticky as to form one single thread
from the upper pot to the lower. The more
the fluid is sticky, the better is its narcotic
quality and flavour. An expert drinker of
dudhia can drink about two kacha seers of it
at a time. Poor people mix milk and water in
equal quantity or use water alone for prepar-
ing this beverage.
Some people swallow the lump of the bhang
mixed with raw sugar or even alone, and some
mix bhang with vegetables and flesh at the
time of cooking.
Bhang powder mixed with bread or husk is
given to cattle which have become lean. This
medicine makes them healthy.
18. It keeps good for one year; after that it
loses half its property and causes cough if smoked.
It becomes totally useless after three years. The
cause of deterioration seems to be the dampness of
the climate. In dry climate it is said to continue
undeteriorated for a longer time.
19. Ganja is used for smoking and eating.
Charas is generally not known; if specially
brought, a very little quantity of it is used for
smoking with ganja or tobacco, the proportion
being about 1 to 20.
20. All bairagis, gosains, fakirs and such other
wanderers, Rajputs and Mussalmans, generally
Marathas, Lengayets and artizans are less addicted;
Jains and Brahmins rarely smoke; Parsis and
Hindu cultivators never, perhaps Christians also.
I speak of ganja alone, and not of charas.
21. Round ganja is not sold here, the flat is
most used, the chur is not sold separately. Well-
to-do smokers bring ganja from bazar and se-
parate chur from it for their smoking; chur is
thus much more costly and it is more effective
than ganja.
22. Charas is generally not known in this part.
23. Not used for smoking.
24. Bairagis and fakirs drink bhang prepared
in the manner stated under question 15. Other
people are not addicted to it. Some persons
prepare dud hia on festive occasions, especially in
the hot season and take it at night as a luxury.
25. More ganja is consumed every year. The
number of consumers is therefore on the increase.
The general increase of population seems to be the
chief if not the only cause.
26. Respectable people of the classes stated
under question 20 smoke ganja stealthily and
moderately. Excessive smokers among them are
very rare. Occasional moderate consumers can
be found here and there among most classes, but
occasional excessive consumers are not to be found
anywhere.
27. Bairagis and fakirs smoke ganja or drink
bhang to make attention steady and to wipe off
fatigue. But among other people, want of occu-
pation is the principal cause which leads to the
habit of using the hemp. Association with
smokers and drinkers may be said to be the next
cause leading to the habit. But in this case also
want of occupation is requisite. Traders, shop-
keepers, cultivators and such other people who
are engaged in their daily work from morning till
a late hour at night never think of ganja or bhang,
though they are associated with persons addicted
to them.
28. Moderate habitual consumer requires about
an ounce of ganja daily and an excessive consumer
about double of that quantity. Ganja is sold at
annas six per seer, or quarter anna's weight per
quarter anna when purchased in small quantity.
The rate of bhang is half of ganja, i.e., annas
three per seer, or half anna's weight per pice.
29. Ganja is first washed clean by rubbing it in
the hands with water and then it is put in the
chillum for smoking with about half of its quantity
of tobacco. Ganja smoked alone without the
accompaniment of tobacco is believed to cause
madness. If the quantity of tobacco exceeds that
of ganja, it produces cough. I have not known
anybody using dhatura with ganja or bhang; nor
do I know bhang massala. See majum and du-
dhia under question 15.
30. Ganja is generally smoked in company ex-
cept in the case of respectable people, who smoke
it stealthily in solitude. Women are seldom
known to smoke ganja or drink bhang. Majum
is sometimes used by them. Children are not
addicted to any of these. The habit of smoking
begins with youth and grows to its utmost in old
age.
31. Bairagis and fakirs who have some good
objects in view, as stated further on, cannot do
without ganja and bhang, and in their case the
habit rarely grows to excess, But in the case of
other people want of occupation and association
with consumers of ganja and bhang is the chief
inducement for forming the habit; laziness being
next to it. The same causes may be said to
develop the habit into the excessive. The habit
once formed is not easy to break off.
32. People come from Northern India consider
themselves bound to use ganja and bhang in the
festival of Durgapuja in Navaratra. The lower
classes in these parts take the liberty of smoking
ganja moderately in fairs, but that does not neces-
sarily lead to the formation of the habit.
33. It is regarded with contempt in these parts.
Public opinion (both social and religious) is de-
cidedly against the practice. For the Hindu Dhar-
mashastra is strongly opposed to the use of any
narcotic or intoxicating drug. A verse of the
R i g v e d
c o u n t s d r i n k i n g a m o n g g r e a t s i n s a n d
classes it wit stealing gold, embracing a Shudra
woman, acceptance of donation from sinful per-
sons, etc. The word surá pana in this verse in-
cludes all drinks affecting the brain. Manu counts
madam, which means both intoxication and narco-
sis, among the ten vices caused by lust (ch. 7,
verses 47, etc.).
34. Certainly so. Bairagis and other wanderers
cannot live without ganja for a moment, as they
value it even more than food. The other classes
enumerated under question 20 would also feel it
very hard to give up their habit, simply because it
is the only luxury they enjoy and because they
cannot kill their time without its help. The