92
preparations themselves with the aid of experienc
-ed persons.
18. I have no personal knowledge on this
s u b - j e c t . I c o n s i d e r t w o y e a r s t o b e t h e l o n g e s t t i m e
beyond which the drugs cannot keep good. Its
keeping in good condition or deterioration depends
upon the climate, according as it is dry or wet.
I have no experience of the causes of deterioration,
neither can I think of any means to prevent such
deterioration.
19. In this part of the country ganja is used
only for smoking.
20. Ascetics, bairagis, salis, koshtis,
M u s a l - m a n s , a n d o c c a s i o n a l l y s i n g e r s c h i e f l y s m o k e g a n j a .
Their proportion to the general population cannot
be stated in exact percentage, but approxi
- m a t e l y i t m a y b e e s t i m a t e d a t 1 t o 2 p e r c e n t .
21. In this part of the country, flat ganja only
is used for smoking, and it is considered the best of
all.
22. Charas is not at all prepared in this part of
the country.
2 3 . B h a n g i s n o t u s e d f o r s m o k i n g .
24. People of the ordinary class drink bhang.
Detailed information on this point is given in the
answer to the 17th question. On the whole the
proportion of this class of people is not greater
than 5 per cent.
25. That the use of ganja is on the increase is
evident from the fact that the ganja-revenue is
increasing every year.
26. It is very difficult to ascertain the
propro-tion of these classes to the total consumers indi
- c a t e d i n t h e r e s p e c t i v e h e a d i n g s , b u t t h e f o l l o w i n g
seems a fairly reasonable estimate
: —
(a ) 50 per cent.
(b) 10 per cent.
(
c
) 2 5 p e r c e n t .
(
d
) 1 5 p e r c e n t .
27. It has already been stated in the answer
to the 17th question what people use this drug.
The (a ) class mentioned above generally comprises
weavers and momins; the ( b), ascetics, bairagis
and fakirs; and the (c) and (d) the ordinary classes
who are occasional consumers. It is the idle
classes of people that take to this vice contracted
by association with bad company, and
g e n e r a l l y p o o r e r c l a s s e s a r e a d d i c t e d t o t h i s . T h e(
a ) c l a s s
uses this drug to alleviate fatigue in such moder
- a t e q u a n t i t y a s t o c a u s e n o o b s t a c l e t o t h e i r d a i l y
avocations.
28. The habitual moderate smokers of ganja
require from one to two tolas per head per diem,
while habitual excessive consumers require about
four tolas per diem. Its cost is half anna per tola.
29. Occasionally dhatura seed, kuchara (nux
- v o m i c a ) s e e d a n d b a c h n a k ( a c o n i t e ) a r e m i x e d w i t h
the ganja used for smoking, to make it more
intoxicating. Common tobacco is ordinarily mix
- e d w i t h i t a s a n e s s e n t i a l i n g r e d i e n t . I h a v e n o t
been able to ascertain what other ingredients, if
any, are mixed with it. It is usual to mix spices
in bhang (ghota), the process of which has been
described in the answer to the 15th question.
30. It seems necessary to specify here the
classes consuming the drug in solitude and those
consuming it in company. Ascetics and
bairagis wishing to secure concentration of mind to devo
- t i o n a n d t h o s e w i s h i n g t o k e e p t h e i r v i c e o u t o f
knowledge to others use the drug in solitude.
These classes do not generally associate with
society. Labouring classes, who have ordinarily
to come into contact with their fellow-labourers,
use it in company to a moderate extent; and some
of them use it also in solitude in their own houses
to an extent sufficient to satisfy their cravings.
The proportion of consumers in solitude is very
small. The consumption is mainly confined to
male sex. Females generally do not smoke it.
The addiction occurs at an age later than eighteen.
31. Those, who have no association with con
-sumers of the drug and those who are educated in
m o r a l a n d r e l i g i o u s s u b j e c t s , n e v e r b e c o m e p r o n e t o t h i s h a b i t . S e v e r a l o t h e r s , t o o , c o n t r a c t t h i s
habit by association with consumers of the drug.
It is very difficult to break off. Except in the
case of ascetics and bairagis and fakirs, there is
no tendency in this drug for the moderate habit to
develop into the excessive.
32. There is no custom at all, social or religi
-ous, in regard to the consumption of any intoxi
-cating drugs, like bhang, ganja, etc. On the con
-trary, their use is forbidden by religion. A con
- s u m e r o f s u c h d r u g s
i s
h a t e d b y r e s p e c t a b l e m e n ,
and so there is no religious or social binding to
use the drug. In the case, however, of ascetics
and bairagis it is regarded as a necessity for con
- c e n t r a t i o n o f m i n d i n c o n t e m p l a t i o n o r d e v o t i o n ;
but there is no authority of the shastra for such
sentiment.
33. The public opinion (social and religious)
is against the use of the drug. Consumers who
in their intoxicated state are intemperate in their
conduct and speech are shunned by respectable
societies. The addicted are sensible of their vice,
and generally avoid appearance in public, while
such societies avoid company with the consumers
for fear of contracting their habits. There is no
custom either among the Hindus or the
M u h a m - m a d a n s o f w o r s h i p p i n g t h e h e m p p l a n t .
34. It would be a serious privation to many
classes of consumers to forego the consumption
of the drug. For a few days there will be an
obstacle to their mental or physical action. Just
as the health of any ordinary man will suffer if he
is not given his daily food, so will that of the
bhang-consumer do if he is deprived of the use of
this drug. But the abandoning of this habit will
be beneficial to him in the end. The sufferance
that might be caused in consequence is only a
temporary one. After the lapse of some days in
self-denial the practice leads to the cessation of
the former habits, and the consumer's mental and
physical powers would be maintained, The pro
- p o r t i o n o f t h e p e o p l e , w h o h a v e o n c e c o n t r a c t e d
the habit and who subsequently leave it, can
har dl y be 1 per cent . of t he t ot al cons umer s .
35. It is very necessary to prohibit the use of
these drugs. The prohibition will lead to illicit
consumption. The only way to enforce the prohi
- b i t i o n s e e m s t o m e t o p r e v e n t b y l a w t h e
c u l t i v a - t i o n o f t h e s e d r u g s i n B r i t i s h a n d e v e n i n f o r e i g n
territories, a severe penalty being attached to the
breach of this rule. The police and the abkari
departments should keep watch. Informers of
illicit cultivation should be rewarded, and the
trials of such cases should rest with lower grades
of magistrates. The prohibition would, for some
time, occasion temporary discontent among the
consumers; but there is not the least ground for
apprehending that such discontent would amount
to a political danger, the people in this part of
the country being loyal and of mild nature, and the
proportion of the persons using bhang and ganja
to the general population being too small to be
taken into consideration. It cannot even for a
moment be supposed that a measure affecting only