212
the difference between the effects of the three
different drugs, round ganja, flat ganja and chur
or broken ganja. Some however say—I cannot
myself say how far it is a truth—that the chur
or broken ganja is held to be more powerful than
either round or flat ganja, hence it may have a
greater power of intoxication.
39. The use of drink of hemp would doubtless
be more injurious than smoking ; because drinking
is always practised in company, and as a rule leads
to excess. But its preparation is costly and is
only arranged for in companies. A drink is not
therefore very frequently resorted to. Smoking,
on the other hand, is cheaper, more frequent, and
pervades all the lower classes. Practically, there-
fore, it causes more havoc than drinking.
40. Ganja occupies an important place in the
Pharmacopœia of the Hindus. Its qualities as de-
scribed in one of their medical works are given
below :—
Bhang, ganja and dhatura (seeds) are intoxi-
cating, victorious and triumphant (over pain),
extreme heat-producing, bilious and pro-
ducing reluctance* to speak, and increases fire (of
the stomach), i.e ., appetite.
Ganja is also rubbed over the tongues of the
bullocks to sharpen their appetite. It is also
mixed up with the " massala" prepared for horses.
It is sometimes administered in very small
doses, diluted with sugarcandy, in order to induce
sleep.
41. The moderate use of ganja, as the moderate
use of liquor or nux vomica, is beneficial especially
as digestive; its capacity for alleviating fatigue
or sustaining a consumer under severe exertion or
exposure is inconsiderable when it is taken in a small
dose.
I am not aware whether it has ever proved of
any use as au antidote to malaria. In the jungles
of Kanara and its neighbourhood it is rarely used
and liquor has been a great favourite. It must, how-
ever, be understood that it is only the occasional
use of ganja in the form of a drink which is
necessarily moderate, because the drink is indulged
more as a form than as a necessity ; but with the
habitual consumer, "moderate " can only be used
comparatively. A may be more moderate than
B, and B than C ; but the quantity consumed by
A exceeds that which a man can consume with
benefit to himself. It is therefore only in theory
that one can speak of the habitual use of ganja
as moderate, and the beneficial qualities attributed
to the drug have rarely been realized.
but ganja-consumers, when hungry, may feel
slightly relieved if they smoke. Drink prepared
with milk will, of course, afford substantial relief.
The use of ganja does sharpen appetite, and I
am aware of instances where the ganja consumers
eat recklessly, with a full belief in the efficacy of
this drug to help speedy digestion.
The effect of smoking is believed to last two
hours at the least. That of drinking ghota
depends on the strength of the mixture and the
quantity taken. It is notorious that few smokers
will stand the temptation, if they have the means
and the time to indulge in repeated doses.
But in the case of occasional consumer, the
effects of smoking ganja are much different from
those on the habitual smoker. The effects are : the
tongue feels dry and there is a peculiar sensation
of that organ being drawn down the throat. The
body becomes warm, the eyes contract and there is
a constant tendency to laughter. There is, as it
were, a procession of incongruous and incoherent
ideas, marching across the brain, one fancy dissipat-
ing the other in quick succession. The mucous
membrane of the stomach becomes insensible,
accompanied by an insatiable longing for food,
Time becomes lengthened, a second is expanded
into a minute, a quarter of an hour into an hour.
The head gets confused and the smoker becomes
dogmatic and argumentative. He is never vio-
lent ; the smoke mounts to the head in five minutes.
After an hour's sleep the individual generally gets
up light and refreshed. Lamplight promotes and
accelerates the action of the smoke.
The effects of ghota even in the case of an
occasional drinker of it are more serious than
when the drug is taken in the gaseous form. The
action of the liquid and mixture is slower and
culminates at the end of seven or eight hours ac-
cording to the absorbing power of the stomach.
Lamplight has the same effect on the drinker and
smoker. The effects of ghota are of longer
duration than those of smoking, though their
nature is the same, varying only in intensity.
Should there be any over-dose of ghota, the
drinker hears strange noises, feels the limbs of
his body torn and scattered in all directions,
thinks he has no control over them, and at times
is under the impression that a general dissolution
of the body is coming on. He becomes senti-
mental, a little quarrelsome and peevish. There
are amongst the general confusion of the brain,
sudden and evanescent flashes of sensibleness
accompanied by a persistent desire to impress upon
the minds of his friends that he is in his senses. It
is only after full twenty-four hours that the person
regains a perfect command over his ordinary and
moral thinking powers. The frame of mind in
which a good dose of ghota leaves a person after
twenty-four hours is one of melancholy and lassi-
tude. When the moderate quantity of ghota which
a novitiate ought to take is exceeded, the person
at the height of its operation is sometimes known
to weep in despair of life.
45. I am acquainted with a few cases of ganja
consumers ultimately dying insane. None of
them were in good circumstances.
A was at first a religious preacher (Haridas).
He subsequently took to the profession of a singer
(gawai) ; was possessed of more than ordinary
intelligence; was extremely poor, but of an ex-
cellent moral character ; he would rather starve
than beg. The first symptom of his insanity that
struck his friends was his excessive talk. Three
months after he became mad. He was not under
42. The habitual use of the drugs is never harm-
less, because it is never moderate.
43. So far as I have seen, consumers of ganja
even when they are immoderate are as a rule
inoffensive to their neighbours. They may talk
much and talk loudly, and may be of irritable
temperament, but they are never dangerous
neighbours, except when they have become insane.
44. With the habitual moderate consumers,
ganja can hardly have any particular effect, except
that of giving temporary satisfaction, just as in
the case of tobacco, or snuff or tea, the man feels
slightly refreshed. There is, however, one differ-
ence, There is a limit beyond which consumer
of tobacco or snuff or tea does not go. In the
case of ganja, each dose increases the desire
for another. It does not allay hunger as food does,
* NOTE.—These are the effects of " moderate" use. Ex-
cessive talk always proceeds from immoderate use.