2
REPORT OF THE INDIAN HEMP DRUGS COMMISSION, 1893-94. [CH. I.
Instructions to the Commission—
3. In pursuance of the wishes of the Secretary of State, the following in-
structions were issued to the Commission:—
(a) Scope of inquiry.
"His Excellency the Governor-General in Council desires that the inquiry
should be thorough and searching, but he leaves to
the Commission full discretion to determine the best
means of securing that result. Certain instructions are given in the following
paragraphs; but these are not intended to be exhaustive, and the Commission
have full authority to take up any branch of inquiry which in their opinion is
likely to elucidate the subject and to aid the Government of India and the
Secretary of State in deciding on the policy to be adopted in regard to hemp
drugs.
"It is desirable that the Commission should visit and take evidence in all or
most of the provinces of India: there are political objections to their holding
sittings in Native States, but any information similar to that required regarding
British India which can be obtained regarding Native States should be included
in the Report.
(b) Cultivation and wild growth
of the hemp plant, manufacture and
use of drugs obtained therefrom,
and the physical and other effects
of the use of hemp drugs.
"The Commission should ascertain, with as much precision as possible,
the extent to which the hemp plant is cultivated in
each of the provinces of India in which it is grown.
They should collect full information as to the manner
in which the plant is cultivated for the production of
drugs and the methods of preparing the manufactured drug from the raw pro-
duct, whether of the wild or the domesticated plant. Little is known at present
as to the extent to which the wild plant can be used for the preparation of drugs,
whether in the milder or the more noxious forms. This point has an important
bearing on the possibility of introducing restrictive measures, and will require
careful investigation. Full particulars should be obtained regarding all the differ-
ent forms of the drug which are commonly used, especially ganja, charas, and
bhang; and regarding the classes of the people by whom, and the extent to which,
each is used. The physical and other effects of the use of hemp drugs should
be thoroughly investigated, each variety of the drug being separately treated,
so far as that can be conveniently done. In conducting this branch of the inquiry,
the Commissioners should avail themselves freely of the evidence of medical
experts. They should endeavour to ascertain what proportion of the population
habitually consumes hemp drugs, and should thoroughly examine the testimony
in support of the commonly received opinion that the use of hemp drugs is a
frequent cause of lunacy. They should ascertain whether, and in what form,
the consumption of the drugs is either harmless or even beneficial as has occa-
sionally been maintained.
(c) Methods of administration.
"Full information should be compiled regarding the administrative
arrangements in force in each province for controlling
the growth of the plant, the manufacture and sale of
the drugs, and their importation from other provinces or from Native States,
and for imposing duties on cultivation and sale. It is understood that charas
is imported into the Punjab on a considerable scale from foreign territory; and
the question of the importation of hemp drugs generally from foreign territory
should receive the special attention of the Commission. The various systems