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sold to the customers in retail, should, in view of
discouraging excessive use, be fixed as in the case
of opium and alcohol. The rates also should be
regulated.
64. I see no objection to the existing Regula-
tions governing the import of these drugs.
65. The present taxation on ganja and bhang
is consistent and just with reference to each other,
but as compared with other intoxicants (alcohol,
etc.) it is very low. It would therefore be expe-
dient to raise the present taxation on the drugs.
By so doing its wide use would be discouraged.
66. There should be no different rates of taxa-
tion on the three different kinds of ganja grown
in Bengal and in different localities, because the
equality of taxation is to be maintained, and the
Government will not be put to trouble in inves-
tigating the different qualities of the different
kinds of ganja.
67. As the consumers do not seem to murmur
to pay the present tax, I see no objection to the
present method of taxing ganja and bhang.
68. There are no such shops or houses here.
But there should be such, and those too should
be situated in markets and other public places.
69. At present the wishes of the people are
not consulted before a shop is opened. Local
opinion ought, I think, to be thus considered.
70. For the better administration of excise,
and to remove all doubts of smuggling, it would
be reasonable to purchase from the Native States
their rights of selling ganja and bhang by giving
them adequate compensation as in the case of
toddy, etc.
107. Evidence of NARO DHAKADEO, Brahmin, Pleader, Jalgaon, District
Khandesh.
1. I have had no special opportunities of ob-
taining information regarding the matters con-
nected with hemp drugs. I have, however,
framed the following answers from the experience
of those who are engaged in producing ganja
and who deal in it, and from local information.
2. As far as my knowledge goes about these
things, I can safely answer that Dr. Prain’s de-
finitions can be accepted for this district, and
they are not known by any other local names
than those given by Dr. Prain.
3. I have the knowledge of the Khandesh
district of the Bombay presidency, from which
I can safely say that the hemp plant does not
spontaneously grow in this district.
4. It is not known by any other name to the
people of this district.
5. Narcotic wild hemp does not grow at all
in this district. A kind of herb grows in the
jungles and is known by the name wild hemp.
It does not possess narcotic properties. It is used
in medicines.
6. As wild hemp does not grow at all in this
district, I am unable to supply any information
regarding it.
7. Hemp is cultivated in Jalgaon and Sawada
talukas of this district for the production of
ganja and for the use as bhang to the extent of
about 25 acres a year, and neither for the produc-
tion of charas nor for its fibres, nor seeds. (The
seed required for the production of ganja or bhang
is imported from Khandwa.)
8. As the ganja vendors in this district import
ganja from the Central Provinces and sell it here
on account of its superior quality, a decrease has
recently been caused in the area under such culti-
vation. About ten years ago the cultivation of
ganja was prohibited in Central Provinces, when
it was exported there from this district. The
area then under such cultivation was about 200
acres. Now there is no such prohibition in those
provinces.
9. In summer days the land is prepared for
cultivation by ploughing and harrowing it. After
the setting in of the monsoons and after two or
three rainfalls the ganja seed is sown into the soil
thus prepared by an implement of husbandry
called wokhar, driven by two bullocks, to one
end of which is attached a wooden pot through
which the seed is dropped and thus sown in a
regular line. These lines are made at the distance
of two or two-and-half feet from each other by
means of another wokhar driven by its side. Six
days afterwards the ganja plants grow up. A
month thenceforth the plants become so dense
that it becomes necessary to remove some of them
with a view to preserve the distance of three
inches between each plaint. A week afterwards
the leaves of all plants are removed, reserving
only the topmost part, with leaves about six
inches in length Then the examiner of ganja
plant examines them and removes males if there
be any. The examination is continued from week
to week until the ganja crop is reaped, Generally
this cultivation is made in rainy season, and in case
of drought water from wells is used once in every
week. Nearly six months after the date of sow-
ing the harvest of the ganja crop commences.
10. The persons who cultivate hemp for its
narcotic properties do not form a special class.
They belong to the same class as other agricul-
turists.
11. There is wild hemp in this district, and so
the plants cultivated for the production of ganja
are not raised from its seed.
12. As there is no wild hemp in this district,
I am unable to answer this question.
13. The cultivation of the hemp plant for
ganja is not restricted in this district. It is
cultivated only in Jalgaon and Sawada talukas
The ordinary rainfall in, and the climate of, this
district are respectively sufficient for, and con-
genial to, the growth of these plants. The soil
must be partly white and partly black. The
cultivation of ganja is not impossible in any part
of this district.
14.
Refer to the answer to the question 7.
15. As there is no wild ganja in this district,
no difference between the processes of preparation
of wild and cultivated ganja can be given. The
process of preparing the latter is as follows :
—
Three different parts, viz., (1) the tops of the
twigs, (2) the twigs, cut off, and (3) the n a k h i
ganja taken out of the twigs of the hemp plant
are separated and heaped apart from each other.
These heaps are heated in the sun for an hour.
They are afterwards trampled under foot. They
are turned over and again exposed to the heat of