27
out for a lump sum. No fee is charged for per--
mission to cultivate.
66. Only flat ganja is used in Khandesh.
67. The present system appears unobjectionable.
68. There are no such houses or shops and I do
not think that there ought to be.
69. The people are consulted and I think rightly.
Inquiries are made by Government officers and the
general feeling on the subject is thus ascertained.
70. I do not think that these drugs are
smuggled to a large extent. Smuggling to a
small extent for the personal consumption of the
smuggler no doubt takes place and is hard to stop.
The farmer or contractor has to pay a lump sum
to Government for his contract. He recovers
the money from the purchasers of the drugs, a
tax on which must therefore be considered to be
really paid by the consumers.
18. Evidence of the H ON ' BLE G. D. PANSE, First Assistant Collector, Ratnagiri.
51. In discussing this question I have to divide
bad characters into the following classes : —
(a) Dacoits and robbers ;
(b) Habitual thieves, who commit petty
thefts;
(c) Gamblers ;
(d) Pickpockets ; and
( e ) I d l e r s w i t h n o o s t e n s i b l e m e a n so
f
l i v i n g ,
of whom not a few are persons going
about in the characters of fakirs and
bairagis.
Of the above, persons in class (a) are rarely
found to indulge to any degree in ganja or any
other preparation of the hemp, as their calling
requires them to be always active and rove about
in search of prey, carefully deluding the eye of
the Police and the public. Ganja and all other
unmixed preparations of hemp never help persons
addicted to them in doing deeds of daring and
keeping active vigils. The effect of ganja smok-
- i n g , w h i c h i s t h e f o r m i n w h i c h i t i s g e n e r a l l y
used in the Deccan and Konkan, is to confine the
energies of those addicted to them to the parti--
cular calling in which they are engaged, but in a
subdued state. Those who are most accustomed
to it are found to be emaciated and care-worn
and scarcely capable of any active duty. Preven--
tion of cold and protection against infectious dis--
eases are the good qualities supposed to underlie
the use of the drug, while affections of the lungs
and gradual loss of blood and energy are the evil
results of its use. Those who use ganja can be
made out at a glance by the haggard and care--
worn appearance and sunken eyes. Bhang used
in the form of " gota," i . e . ,
a p r e p a r a t i o n i n
which bhang is first cleansed and well mixed with
water and pounded and afterwards mixed with
milk, is used mostly by the richer classes, and is
supposed to be a nutritive preparation, but not
possessing the intoxicating quality like ganja.
More than 90 per cent. lace-makers of the Deccan
are habituated to the use of ganja, though they
are a most peace-abiding class. Their profession
is such that it calls for the use of some stimulant
confining their energies to their calling. Under
the influence of that drug they work most elabo--
rately and turn out a quality of work which other--
wise they should not be certainly able to do.
In Sanskrit this hemp is termed "Dnyanvalli "
and " Shambhavi" in that it is supposed to
confine the attention of the individuals using it
to the particular subject on which one begins to
think before subjecting oneself to its influence,
and the jogis and the really genuine class of
bairagis never stop at a place where they are
apprised of the fact that ganja is not sold there.
Above and beyond this, it does not energize a
man ; on the other hand, it has a tendency to
come in the way of the devices of the robbers and
vol. vii.
dacoits in course of their daring and mischievous
deeds. Mangs, Ramwanshis, Talwars, Kolis, Bhils
and other aborigines, who form the greater number
of dacoits, never use ganja or other drugs in which
that article enters as an ingredient. In my
experience of the Deccan districts, I have never
come across a case of dacoity, robbery or any other
heinous offence committed by persons under the
influence of that drug.
As for class (b), criminal records of either Deccan
or Konkan will not reveal any cases of thefts or
of ordinary violence committed while under the
influence of ganja, though as far as my enquiries
and private information go, a good many petty
thefts are committed by persons who are moderate
consumers of ganja. I must qualify my remark,
however, by saying that rather than under the
influence of the drug, such thefts are committed
in furtherance of the vice by persons who cannot
otherwise obtain the means of procuring that
drug.
(c) Under this class are found good many
persons addicted to ganja smoking, in that it helps
them in keeping vigils and drown the cares and
anxiety caused by heavy losses, which is the general
lot of the class. It makes them persist in the
play in the fond hope of making up their losses.
(d) Pickpockets may be classed with persons
described in class ( b), and the remarks passed with
regard to them apply also to this class.
(e) A greater portion of fakirs and bairagis are
so only in name and are habitually given up to
the consumption of ganja. They go about from
house to house even in the smallest out-of-the-way
villages and, carefully obtaining clue to the pro--
perty in the house which they visit, remove it at
convenient hours of day or night; sometimes
they go in batches with families who conceal the
illicit acquisitions of the males in "godhadis"
and other wearing apparel. These people often
make preparations of the drugs and slily use them
in deceiving their innocent and ignorant compa--
nions (pilgrims) in travelling. I shall touch in
detail this point in replying to question 55.
Excepting in the shape described above, ganja,
bhang or charas moderately used never tends to
the commission of any crime of a general or any
special character.
52. Excessive use of these drugs utterly renders
a man useless for any human purposes, so that
crime committed under such influence need not be
even dreamt about. Among bad characters in--
stances are found of such persons as excessively
use the drug in class (e) only, and they are entirely
doomed. Most of their time is taken up in dozing
and coughing away the effects. They are rarely
of any use in domestic or public concerns, and
they are a class utterly despised. Emasculation
and emaciation are the very necessary results of
the excessive use of ganja in all forms.
G 2