CH. XV.] REPORT OF THE INDIAN HEMP DRUGS COMMISSION, 1893-94. 301
Proposal to tax charas and bhang.
615. The question of imposing a duty on charas and bhang, to which
reference is made above, has been very fully dis-
cussed, and an Act (X of 1893) has been passed in
which power has been taken to impose on any intoxicating drug brought by land
from beyond the limits of India into any territory to which Act XXII of 1881
extends, or into any specified part thereof, such duty as the Governor-General in
Council thinks fit. In pursuance of the provisions of this enactment, it has been
proposed to establish golas to which all charas should be taken on entering
the province, and which it should be allowed to leave only under a license or pass,
for which a fee should be levied at the rate of 8 annas a sér. The revision of
the Excise rules so as to give effect to this proposal is under consideration.
The taxation of bhang is a more difficult matter owing to the prevalence of the
growth of the plant, and the consideration of proposals relating thereto made by
the Excise Commissioner has been postponed until the tax on charas has been
introduced. The opinion of the Punjab Government on this question is that "in
regard to matters of this sort, which involve an interference with ancient and
firmly rooted habits of large masses of the people, it is desirable to proceed cau-
tiously, doing one thing at a time."
Central Provinces.
Law in force.
616. In the Central Provinces Act XXII of 1881
is in force (see North-Western Provinces).
Supply of the drugs.
617. In this province, however, advantage has been taken of the provisions
of the law to prohibit the cultivation of the hemp plant
except under license, and licenses are now only
given in the Khandwa tahsil of the Nimar district. The plant does not grow
wild, and illicit cultivation has for the most part been suppressed. Charas is
hardly known. If imported, it pays a duty of Rs. 10 per maund. No bhang
properly speaking is produced, but the refuse ganja is used as bhang.
The supply of ganja is amply sufficient for the provincial consumption.
Import of ganja from other provinces or Native States is not permitted. There
is a certain amount of illicit import from Hyderabad, Berar, Indore, the
Bombay Presidency, Gwalior, and the Tributary States of Orissa, and this con-
stitutes the principal difficulty of the ganja administration in this province. A
little bhang is imported from the North-Western Provinces under passes.
Khandwa ganja.
618. The harvesting of the crop in the Khandwa tahsil is supervised by a
special establishment, and the cultivators are bound
to bring the whole of their produce to a Government
storehouse at Khandwa. The drug is purchased at the storehouse by the
wholesale vendors of the province, the terms of the purchase being arranged
between the cultivators and the wholesale vendors without interference on
the part of Government. Wholesale vendors of other parts of British India and
foreign dealers are also freely permitted to buy. No direct tax is imposed
on cultivation, but the following fees are payable at the storehouse:—
(1) A storage fee of 6 pies per maund per mensem payable by cultivators
or purchasers of ganja kept in the storehouse. Cultivators and
wholesale vendors of ganja in the Central Provinces are exempted
from payment of this fee for 30 days.
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