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and thick in appearance is called pounded bhang,
and bhang so prepared is then called panga.
Pounded bhang mixed with water and sifted,
whether thick or thin, is by Hindus called sukho.
The Mussalmans also call it by the same name;
some call it sai; others call it pounded plant.
This is the process which is most commonly
adopted. The seeds and leaves of the plant are
used as medicines in many diseases. It would be
tedious to enumerate all; but suffice it to say that
majums (stimulating preparations) are made from
it.
(2) Ganja .—The ghundi ganja which is prepared
in Sind is pounded and drunk in the same way as
described above, and is also smoked as ganja is.
Ghundis are distilled, and the essence is used as
charas by some fakirs. But no charas is prepared
in Sind for trade purposes. The processes given
above can be distinguished.
16. Bhang is not generally prepared in houses,
but if people want it they can do so in their houses,
and some do so. Bhang can be prepared wherever
the plant is standing. Ghundi ganja can be
prepared wherever the wild plant grows, and is
smoked to pass the time. But charas requires
some skill to prepare it.
17. In Sind no special classes of people make
these preparations.
18. All the three drugs deteriorate by keeping
long. They keep good for the first six months after
harvesting and produce intoxication. In the next
six months their intoxicating effects diminish; after
twelve months ganja and" charas generally lose
their effect, and they are not used except in rare
cases. After the lapse of twelve months the
intoxicating effects of bhang also diminish; but
such bhang is very willingly used by well-to-do
persons. According to physicians in Sind the
effects of old bhang are cooling, and it is beneficial
in cases of syphilis, and old bhang is very useful
in other diseases, which are produced by excessive
heat. These drugs can keep good longer if they
are not much exposed. There is no means of pre-
venting deterioration. In my opinion, from ex-
perience, I should say that all the products of the
soil must grow old and lose their effect by time.
19. In Sind ganja and charas are used for smok-
ing only and for no other purpose. Nor have I
learnt from enquiries made that they are used for
any purpose other than smoking; but in excep-
tional cases, where it is difficult to get bhang,
persons addicted to these drugs pound and drink
ganja in place of bhang. This is rather an excep-
tion than a rule. Therefore no accurate estimate
can be made.
20. Persons of all classes smoke ganja and
charas; but some classes, a limited portion of them,
use it in moderation, and others, and a considerable
portion of them, use it extensively. I have had no
occasion to enquire what portions of each class use
ganja and charas. Persons of means smoke the
drugs in their houses, and poor Hindu persons
smoke them in tikanas and dewaras, and Mussal-
mans do so in otaras and dewaras. In big towns
they are smoked in special places established for the
purpose. Besides there are charas and ganja
houses, where poor persons and labourers can smoke
the drugs on payment. But fakirs and labourers
have charas and ganja always ready with them,
and have also got handy the pipe in which they are
smoked, so that they can use them wherever they
feel inclined.
21.
Flat and round ganja produce similar effects,
and they are equally popular. Chur ganja con
- s i s t s o f p i e c e s o f c r u m b s a n d i s n o t l i k e d . T h e y
are not used in different localities. Every kind of
ganja is smoked in the same way.
22. No charas is made in Sind for trade pur-
poses. Generally foreign charas is used for sale pur-
poses. One kind is imported from the Punjab and
is much preferred, and the Kandahari charas is less
liked.
23. Bhang is commonly used for drinking; but
those who are strongly addicted to intoxicating
drinks, such as Gooshees, Brohees, Pathans, Hindu
and Mussalman fakirs smoke bhang mixed with
tobacco when they cannot get ganja or charas for
smoking; but this practice is very rare.
24. People of all classes in Sind drink bhang,
and roaming Hindu fakirs and owners of tikanas
and dharamsalas, and Mussalman fakirs at otaras,
and about one-third of other classes drink it.
Hindus drink it at appointed times as a religious
drink or sukho. Certain mawalis (persons strongly
addicted to intoxicating drugs) sometimes eat
bhang. This has been touched upon in question
15. Men first pound it, mix water with it, and
sift and then drink it in the hot weather as a cool-
ing drink. Persons of means mix almonds,
suc-cory, aniseed, coriander, other seeds, and sugarcandy
or sugar with it as stimulants, and pound all to-
gether and drink the mixture. And Mussalmans,
although prohibited the use of bhang by their
religion, often use it for its beneficial effects.
25. The use of all the three drugs is on the
increase. The following reasons have, in my opin-
ion, contributed to this fact:
—
(1) The population has increased.
(2) The present generation is more fashionable
and more showy than the last generation.
(3) The use of liquor has also increased, and
the contagion has spread to bhang drinkers too.
26. Few persons eat bhang. This has been
touched upon in question 15.
28. ( a ) One-fourth of a tola of bhang per day
.
( b ) From one tola to 20 tolas bhang.
(a ) Charas, and ganja. From quarter of a
tola to 3 or 4 tolas per day daily. Cost to each
cannot be estimated, for there are no uniform
rates; hence the quantities alone are given.
29. The following ingredients are mixed with
bhang. By poor people aniseed, succory, and
coriander, and such other cheap drugs. By rich
persons, in addition to the above, oily substances,
sugarcandy, almonds, cardamons, and such other
strengthening ingredients, all are pounded together
and drunk. But it is not customary to do so. The
above ingredients are only mixed occasionally.
Bhang seeds are always pounded with the leaves.
Ganja and charas are smoked with tobacco;
dhatura is not ordinarily mixed with bhang.
Dhatura is a strong narcotic. Strong drinkers
(who are very few), if they find that bhang and
other ingredients do not produce sufficient intoxi-
cation, drink and smoke dhatura; and fakirs too,
who induce the people to give their charities, eat
the raw leaves and pods of dhatura. This is done
to gull the people into the belief that they are
Sidhs, as they can eat raw dhatura without injury.
Bhang, if mixed with dhatura and drunk, produces
excessive intoxication, and a man in that state
loses all consciousness and all sense. Dhatura is a
strong narcotic, but it has no connection with hemp
drugs.
30. All details about the consumption of these