91
54. These drugs are used by criminals to fortify
themselves to commit a premeditated act of vio
- l e n c e o r o t h e r c r i m e . I h a v e o b s e r v e d o n e o r t w o
cases of this nature in the Chopda taluka during
the last six months.
55. Criminals, in order to further their designs,
do, in rare cases, induce their victims to partake
of majum (a sweet preparation of bhang), and so
stupefy themselves. Complete stupefaction cannot
be induced by the hemp drug without admixture.
I observed a case three years ago in the Nandgaon
taluka of the Nasik district, in which a gosain
administered majum to a person, and while the
latter was in the drowziness of the drug, commit
- t e d t h e f t o f s o m e r u p e e s h e h a d i n h i s t u r b a n .
41. Evidence of RAO SAHEB SHESHO KRISNA MUDKAVI, Mamlatdar of Taluka
Bijapur, Bijapur.
1. I had no opportunity before of collecting the
information I am now giving on this subject.
Still I have attempted to answer the questions
with the aid of statistics I have obtained from the
ganja contractors, the Abkari inspectors, persons
using bhang and ganja, and from my own scanty
experience.
2. In this part of the country charas is not
manufactured at all. The definition given of
ganja is correct. The kind of ganja manufac
- t u r e d h e r e i s f l a t g a n j a , k n o w n b y i t s g e n e r i c t e r m
ganja, instead of champta ganja.
3. As far as I know from my experience in the
Belgaum, Dharwar and Bijapur districts, hemp
plant does not grow spontaneously in any of these
districts.
7. In Bijapur town 6 acres and 13 gunthas
were cultivated for bhang and ganja.
8. The cultivation is so infinitesimally small
that it seems unnecessary to answer the question.
9. After the opening of the monsoon, ganja is
sown at the end of June or beginning of July in
plough land in the same manner as jawari. The
plant needs no irrigation (artificial) during the
monsoon, after which it is watered by means
of " mote" (water bucket). From the month of
September male plants begin to come up among
crops, and they are at once removed, for their
presence causes the female plants to seed and in-
j u r e s t h e c r o p s . G r a s s o r d i r t a m o n g t h e g a n j a
crops is weeded out from time to time.
10. Here there is no separate class of ganja cul
- t i v a t o r s . T h e y b e l o n g t o t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l c l a s s .
But, in order that the female plants may not be
injured from the growth of male plants, experts
are imported from other districts, and the cul-ti-
vation is managed under their supervision.
11. The plants cultivated for the production of
ganja are not raised from the seed of wild hemp.
1 2 . W i l d h e m p i s n o t s o w n .
13. The cultivation of ganja is not restricted
to any part of the country. Moisture and a sup--
ply of water are essential conditions, but rocky
soil is unsuitable.
14. In this part of the country ganja is culti
- v a t e d t o a s m a l l e x t e n t . B h a n g i s a l s o p r e p a r e d
from it. Charas is, however, not prepared. The
cultivation in Bijapur of bhang and ganja this
year will, it is estimated, produce about 60
maunds of ganja and 15 maunds of bhang.
15. In this part of the country ganja is not
produced from the wild plants, which do not exist
here at all.
(A) Ganja used for smoking purposes. About
the end of December, when the crop of ganja is
ready, the tops of the plant, otherwise called the
buds, are pulled out. These are placed in a pile
vol. vii.
four inches thick. It is then spread out on the
ground and trodden under foot by coolies for
three or four days, and then the ganja thus pre
-pared is filled into bags. The ganja thus pre
-pared becomes ready for sale. The people pur-
- c h a s i n g t h e g a n j a s o p r e p a r e d , i f t h e y w i s h t o
use any portion of it for smoking, squeeze it with
their hands mixed with water, which is then
thrown out and water mixed afresh. This pro-
- c e s s i s r e p e a t e d t e n t i m e s a t l e a s t . T h e g a n j a
thus prepared, though fit for smoking, is not so
used without a mixture of tobacco.
(B) No ganja is eaten in this part of the
country.
(C) The powder left after the process of tread
-ing, to which the buds placed in heaps are subject
- e d , a n d f r o m w h i c h t h e g a n j a i s s e p a r a t e d , i s c a l l e d
bhang. That powder is sold to consumers using
it for drinking. To render it fit for drinking
purposes the consumers soak it in water. It is
then rubbed with hands and cleansed with water,
the process being repeated so often as to cause its
green colour almost to disappear. The bhang so
prepared is then fried on a pan mixed with ghi.
It is then mixed with water, poppy seeds, almonds,
cardamoms, ginger, pepper and aniseed, and
grounded on a stone and rolled into balls. Then
a tinned pot or an earthen pot with a broad mouth
is taken, and its mouth closed with a piece of cloth
tied round it. On the cloth is then placed one of
these balls, about four or five tolas in weight ;
water is then poured down on the ball in small
droppings, and the ball is then dissolved with
hands. The proportion of water to be put in
is 80 tolas for each ball. When the dilution thus
prepared is ready, the cloth is removed and sugar
or gule mixed with the dilution. Afterwards two
receptacles are used. The one (empty) is placed on
the ground, and the other containing the dilution
is held over it at some distance, which is gradually
increased to the height of a man ; and the dilution
is then dribbled down into the empty receptacle
. When the pouring is finished, the process is re
- p e a t e d a s o f t e n a s i s n e c e s s a r y t o p r o d u c e t h a t
amount of intoxicating power in the dilution which
the drinker wishes it to possess, a repetition forty
times being considered as a maximum. The mix
-ture thus obtained is termed ghota. It then be
- c o m e s
f i t
f o r d r i n k i n g . D u r i n g t h e h o t s e a s o n , t h i s
is used without anything else lacing mixed with it.
In other seasons milk is mixed with it.
16. Smokers prepare the ganja they buy for
smoking. Ghota-drinkers prepare ghota in their
houses from the bhang they purchase. These
smokers or drinkers are
ascetics, bairagis, salis, koshtis, Marathas, and Musalmans.
17. There is no limitation as to the class or caste
of the persons making the preparations of the
hemp drug. The ganja cultivators therefore
belong to the agricultural class, and they make the