CH. X.] REPORT OF THE INDIAN HEMP DRUGS COMMISSION, 1893-94. 193
are stated to have induced slight excitement within half a minute, lasting for a few
seconds. In fifteen minutes a feeling something allied to the early stage of intoxi-
cation came on. Three grains of extract gave rise to no symptoms for one hour
(Medical Times and Gazette, 1852). Speaking generally, however, smoking
produces far quicker effects than the exhibition of the drug by the stomach, as
in the latter case in India the resin in bhang is associated with a large amount
of inert insoluble matter, and absorption is thereby delayed; but with pure
resin, administered in a finely divided state, absorption from the stomach may
occur with great rapidity.
After effects.
487. Various replies are given regarding the after effects induced by the
drugs. A very common answer to this question is
that no immediate after effects are induced. Others
say that "scarcely" any after effects follow the moderate use. Dr. Crombie
(Bengal witness No. 104) says: "I have not seen any after effects in these cases,
and have spent days in company with native boatmen habitually using ganja in
moderation." Another witness states (Sind No. 20): "With bhang none of
any importance. Ganja and charas, especially the latter, give rise to a dull
frontal headache, singing in the ears, weakened mental power, much thirst,
impair the appetite, constipate the bowels, and concentrate the urine." Other
witnesses describe the after effects as laziness and languor, stupor, drowsiness,
melancholy, weakness, laxity of the body, disinclination to do anything, exhaustion,
depression, pains in the body, headache, giddiness, and gnawing at the stomach,
nauseous taste in the stomach, and thirst. O'Shaughnessy gives a succinct
account of the after effects of bhang and charas. In the case of bhang, "the in-
toxication lasts about three hours, when sleep supervenes; no nausea or sickness
of stomach succeeds, nor are the bowels at all affected: next day there is slight
giddiness and vascularity of the eyes, but no other symptoms worth recording." In
the case of ganja, "heaviness, laziness, and agreeable reveries ensue, but the person
can be easily roused, and is able to discharge routine occupations, such as pulling
the punkah, waiting at table, etc." The Commission consider it very probable that
in regard to the after effects of the moderate use of these drugs, the evil after
effects described by some witnesses are really due to the excessive use, and that
witnesses have not always discriminated between the effects of the moderate
and excessive use of the drugs.
Replies to the question whether the want of subsequent gratification pro-
duces any longing or uneasiness are answered by some witnesses in the negative
as regards moderate consumers; others say that a little longing or even uneasi-
ness is experienced for want of gratification. There appear to be no valid reasons
why the want of gratification of even a moderate habit should not cause "uneasi-
ness" in some cases, and a "sensation of longing" in many: it is certainly the
case with the majority of habitual moderate tobacco smokers, in whom the want of
an accustomed smoke certainly does produce "longing," and which may even
amount to "uneasiness" in some instances. In no case, however, is the longing
or uneasiness experienced by users of hemp drugs for want of subsequent gratifi-
cation comparable to the cravings of an opium smoker or eater. This matter
has, however, already been discussed in dealing with the formation of the habit.
49