306 REPORT OF THE INDIAN HEMP DRUGS COMMISSION, 1893-94. [CH. XV.
Sources of supply in Bombay.
626. The wild plant is not much found in Bombay. There is cultivation of
hemp for the production of ganja in a few districts,
principally in Ahmednagar and Satara. The aver-
age for five years is 874 acres. The cultivator has to obtain a permit, for which
no fee is levied, to enable him to dispose of his produce. The Excise Commis-
sioner states that the cultivation is noted and watched by the village officers,
and he cannot dispose of his crop without obtaining the necessary permit.
There is not much evidence of the cultivation of plants in homesteads and
enclosures for private use, but Mr. Sinclair, Collector of Thana, alludes to
such cultivation as occurring in many private gardens. The amounts of imports
of ganja from other provinces given in the statistics supplied by the Commis-
sioner of Excise show an average for the last ten years of 1,820 maunds, and that
officer in his memorandum states that the imports are chiefly from the Central
Provinces. In view of the evidence the figures seem excessive, and a doubt sug-
gests itself to the Commission whether imports from district to district have not
been included.
Charas is imported in very small quantities from the Punjab. Except in
the City of Bombay, it is hardly known. Bhang is produced to a small extent
in Gujarat and Palanpur. It is imported from Ujjain. The average imports
for the last ten years amount to 87 maunds, but not much reliance can be placed
on these figures. Probably wherever the hemp plant is grown for ganja, a certain
amount of bhang is also produced.
Bombay is intersected with a large number of Native States, in some of
which ganja is grown. The illicit import of this ganja does not seem to be very
extensive, but owing to the cheapness of the drug in these States, and to the
high maximum of legal possession (40 tolas), it is inevitable that a certain
amount of smuggling should take place, and this is considered to be the case by
several witnesses.
System of vend in Bombay.
627. The rules provide that the joint privilege of manufacture and retail sale
at one or more shops shall be auctioned. The ven-
dors are the only importers of the drugs, and there are
no wholesale dealers acting as middlemen between the cultivators and the farmers
of retail vend. The farmers pay import and transport duties as above described.
As a rule the farm of the drugs for a whole district is sold to a single vendor.
The retail shops are usually fixed by the Collector. The total number of retail
licenses has been very constant for some years, the average for the last ten
years being 373. The number of shops, however, is larger, averaging 647 for
the last ten years. The form of retail license contains no provision regarding
consumption on the premises, nor regarding the persons to whom the drugs may be
supplied. There is no fixed rule regarding "local option." In some districts it
is attended to carefully. Any representation by the inhabitants would have full
consideration, but representations relating to the location of shops are seldom
received.
Sind.
628. The system of administration in Sind is in almost every respect the
same as in Bombay, but there is some difference
in the conditions. Neither ganja nor charas are
produced, and the consumption of both is not large, though that of the latter