354 REPORT OF THE INDIAN HEMP DRUGS COMMISSION, 1893-94. [CH. XVII.
These measures proved ineffectual; and, although the consumption of Raj-
shahi ganja may have increased somewhat in all three districts of Orissa, it was
believed that smuggling still continued to a considerable extent.
The
policy of total prohibition of cultivation naturally suggested itself again,
and in 1884 was carried out in Mohurbhanj, which happened to be under the direct
control of the Bengal Government. Rs. 300 a year was given to Mohurbhanj as
compensation, and Rajshahi ganja was imported into the State under the ordinary
Excise rules.
In June 1882 the importation of Garhjat ganja and bhang into British terri-
tory was entirely prohibited, but it was not till 1884 that the prohibition was actually
enforced. Further, from the same year (1882) the policy was adopted of levying
duty in Orissa on Rajshahi ganja at rates lower than elsewhere in the province.
Attempts were also made to entirely suppress cultivation in several of the States
with the co-operation of the chiefs, and in 1889 the Superintendent of the Tribu-
tary Mahals reported that prohibition had been enforced in eleven of the States,
but that the chiefs of four other States objected to the measure.
In 1889 the Bengal Government finally concluded that the experiment of
entirely prohibiting cultivation must be abandoned as useless and inefficacious,
and that the only way to prevent smuggling was to legalise importation under
suitable regulations. Doubts were also entertained as to the real nature of Garhjat
ganja. It was suggested that Garhjat ganja in a particular form was looked upon as
an absolute necessary of life with certain influential classes in Puri, and that injury
might be done by encouraging the use of the strong Rajshahi drug in place of
the milder local article. The Government after some hesitation arrived at the
distinct conclusion that Garhjat ganja was taken as a drink and not smoked, and
that it was "on a different footing altogether from the well known deleterious
drug imported from Rajshahi." It was accordingly proposed to legalise the im-
portation of Garhjat ganja at a duty of eight annas a sér (the rate prevailing in
Bengal for bhang), and at the same time the orders prohibiting cultivation, whe-
ther within the three miles limit or not, were withdrawn.
In 1890, after further consideration and with fuller information on the subject,
the Bengal Government altered the opinion they had formed that Garhjat ganja
was merely a form of bhang, and arrived at the contrary conclusion, viz., that
Garhjat ganja is a true ganja like the Rajshahi article, but inferior, and that it
is used for smoking exactly as that drug is. The Government of India were
accordingly requested to sanction a duty of Rs. 2-8-0 a sér on Garhjat ganja,
which was done.
In December 1890 the orders prohibiting the possession of Garhjat ganja
in Orissa were rescinded, and in March 1892 orders regulating its import were
issued.
From 1st April 1893 the duty on Garhjat ganja was raised to Rs. 3-8 a sér
to assimilate it with a rise in the duty on Rajshahi ganja.
Under existing rules, any licensed wholesale or retail vendor may import.
Garhjat ganja under a pass from the Collector, for which a fee of Rs. 2 is charged.