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no doubt, possessses valuable medicinal properties,
which might, with profit, be taken advantage of,
but the method in which the officinal preparations,
extract and tincture, are made, is, in my opinion,
unsatisfactory, and accounts for the disappoint-
ment in the expectations of those who have given
the drug a trial. In both these preparations, the
resin occurs in abundance. This should not be.
The draught as prepared by bhang drinkers would
be a better form for therapeutic administration.
It is made by maceration of the bhang in cold
water and repeated strainings, the fluid thus ob-
tained being merely a watery solution of the leaves
and capsules, with but little or no traces of the
resin, which, being insoluble in water, is precipi-
tated. In this dilute form it might advantageous-
ly be used as a stimulant and stomachic tonic and
carminative, serving to invigorate the system,
increase the appetite, and relieve temporary abdo-
minal pains and flatulency. When its anodyne
and hypnotic powers are required, the preparation
should be made from ganja or charas (pure), and
not from . bhang, as these forms of the drug, em-
ployed in their natural state, seem to possess soothing
and depressant effects rather than stimulant. A
poultice of ganja, or of the capsules of hemp, makes
a good anodyne application to painful piles (external)
and ulcers. Ganja, in proper doses, would, I think,
if used in the form of cigars, or burnt in a pipe,
prove serviceable for the relief of certain forms of
asthma, especially those complicated with bronchial
catarrh and a weakened heart. In severe types of
asthma unattended by such complications, charas
smoking might, perhaps, prove invaluable in cut-
ting short the spasms, but the drug being a power-
ful sedative will have to be employed with great
caution. The uses of hemp as above described are
put forward merely in the light of suggestions.
Definite and careful experimental researches are
necessary to ascertain the real value of hemp as a
medicinal agent in the conditions and diseases speci-
f i e d . I r e g r e t t o s a y , I w a s u n a b l e t o a c c o m p l i s h
this in any part, on account of the shortness of
time allowed for the getting up of this report, and
the want of convenient opportunities.
I will add, in conclusion, a few notes on the
popular notions and ideas of the effects of hemp in
one or other of its various forms, and I cannot do
this in a more striking and interesting manner than
by quoting verses of folk-songs on the subject. Of
the three forms of hemp, bhang is regarded by the
people as the least noxious and the most beneficial.
The following verse illustrates the ideas as they
emanate from a Sindhi mind, of the beneficial
effects of bhang:—
Should you want your body
clean,
Then drink it in the morning.
Should you wish to cool your
een,
Then drink it in the noon.
Should you want a restful
night,
Then drink it in the evening.
If home and comfort you
would blight,
Then drink it at midnight.
That charas is by all regarded as the worst form
in which hemp could be consumed is emphatically
expressed in the following doggerel verse :—-
"Charas nahi, kahir
Kang, kurun, kasi kurun;
hai;
Anku se anda. kurun,
Keleja to jal gaga;
Pam se langra kurun,
Anki me lahir hai;
Ne murre to me kyakarun."
which, rendered into English,would be:—
I am not charas, but a To blind the eyes I never
curse;
fail,
I burn the liver to its Or cripple limbs that once
worse;
were hale,
I bring on dryness of In what but death ends my
the eyes;
sad tale?
To phlegm and cough I
must give rise,
" Safo hoje saf ,
Te subujo piti ker.
Je nene mendi lai,
Te bepari je piti ker.
Je sukhi vihame rath,
Te sanjeji piti ker.
Je jhugo hoje chor,
Te adhi piti ker."
21. Evidence of Assistant Surgeon, MULCHAND GANGARAM, in charge Larkana
Dispensary.
1. I have been in service, either Government or
Municipal, for the past five years, and during that
period I have come across patients who were in the
habit of using hemp drugs. Further, after my
appointment as a witness by the Commissioner
in Sind, I have instituted special enquiries in the
town of Larkana about the matter.
2. Yes; the definitions given here may be accepted
for the province. The products are known as
bhang, charas and ganja.
19. Yes; ganja and charas, so far as I am aware,
are used only for smoking.
23. I have never seen nor heard of any one
smoking bhang.
28. (a ) Bhang, 1⅛ t o l a s , c o s t ¼ a n n a .
Charas, 1/16 tola, cost ¼ anna.
Ganja, ⅛ tola, cost ¼ anna.
( b) Bhang, 10 to 20 tolas, cost 2 ¼ to 4½ annas.
Charas, ¼ to ¾ tol a, cost 1 to 3 annas.
Ganja, ¼ to ¾ tola, cost ½t o 1 ½ a n n a s .
29. Bhang is ordinarily used without any ad-
mixture by both classes of consumers. Exception-
ally sugar, cardamoms and pepper are added by
both classes to sweeten and flavour it. Habitual
consumers sometimes add gram, sometimes til
seed, and sometimes both together to the solution
to increase, as it is alleged, its intoxicating proper-
ties. Milk is also occasionally added to the solu-
tion, to diminish the sensation of dryness of throat
that is felt by the consumers. Hemp seeds are also
sometimes added to make the solution less green.
Charas and ganja are always smoked with tobacco
by both classes of consumers. Nothing else is
added to them. Dhatura is sometimes mixed up
with bhang; but this is used only for criminal
purposes. Opium, so far as I know, is never
mixed with it, but is taken along with it by those
who are in the habit of using both of these drugs.
I do not know whether nux vomica, cantharides or
betel-nut is so used. I have no knowledge of any
such preparation as bhang massala.
30. Bhang is used both in company and in soli--
tude, but mostly in company. Its consumption is
mainly confined to the male sex, and is used mostly
by the young and middle-aged men. Charas and
ganja are almost always used in company by young
and middle-aged men. They are not used by
females. I have never seen or heard of children
using any of these drugs. Bhang is more used in
summer, charas in winter, and ganja to an equal
extent in both the seasons.
31. Yes ; the habit of consuming any of these
drugs is easily formed. It is also easy to break it
off, more easy to break off in the case of charas