150 REPORT OF THE INDIAN HEMP DRUGS COMMISSION, 1893-94. [CH. VIII.
to be about 1/4 tola, or 1/2 sér per annum. There would then be about 2,000 charas
smokers in the province, and these are all regular consumers. The cost at the
above rate is Rs. 121/2 per annum, which is reasonable. The district of Shikarpur
would seem to contain nearly half of the charas smokers.
Number of consumers of ganja.
400. The consumption of ganja is about the same as that of charas. The
former is, however, the cheaper drug; the individual
consumption is probably therefore larger, and the
smokers less numerous. The use is most prevalent in Karachi and Hyderabad,
and may be said not to exist in Shikarpur and the Upper Sind Frontier. Thar
and Parkar consumes more ganja than charas, hardly any of the latter.
Increase of consumption.
401. The statistics do not furnish any reliable index of the growth or decline
the use of either of the drugs.
The evidence
indicates increase, except in the case of ganja, but
not very decidedly. The Commissioner (Mr. James) bears testimony by personal
observation to the increase of the different classes of ascetics who principally are
addicted to the drugs. Their number by the census of 1891 was 18,594. He is
also of opinion that the use has spread among the labouring classes, whose wages
have greatly risen in recent years. The addition to the population during the
last 20 years, which amounts to over 30 per cent., must in the natural course of
things have caused an increase of the total consumption.
Berar.
402. The memorandum of the Hyderabad Assigned Districts throws doubt
on the figures of retail sale of ganja contained in
column 44 of the statistical table. They show an
average comsumption in the last five years of some 800 maunds. They are
fairly regular, and, but for the discredit thrown on them by the memorandum,
seem fit to be accepted as an index of consumption. It is true that the local
production and import together amount to 1,300 maunds. But the drug in
this form contains a great deal of useless material, and it is probable that when
sold retail 1,300 maunds get reduced to 800. This is not so large a proportion
of waste as was found in the Central Provinces. The imported drug seems to
come from Khandwa, and it is not likely that the local ganja is a more finished
product than that imported. If the consumption of Berar is to be compared
with that of the neighbouring Central Provinces, where the figures of retail
sale represented the consumption of the cleaned drug, it certainly cannot be
taken to be more than 800 maunds; and probably this is a high figure. In Berar
the price of the drug is one-fourth of what it is in the Central Provinces. It is
probable, therefore, that the individual allowance is very much higher. The
evidence puts it at 1/2 tola a day, or approximately 2 sérs per annum, which
would cost Rs. 5. There would thus be 20 consumers to the maund and 16,000
in the province, giving a percentage of .55 on the total population. The result
is not far different from that arrived at in the Central Provinces. As regards the
result and individual cost, it appears to be reasonable. The evidence regarding
increase and decrease of use is of the usual contradictory character. The
statistics throw no light on the point, for they are not correct as regards the retail
sales, and, as regards the imports, are not in a suitable form for the purpose.
The preponderance of evidence is in favour of increase, but the direct observation
of a witness like (31), who says that the younger men rarely smoke, must go for
something. If the evidence of the majority be accepted, it is nevertheless certain
that the increase is not very marked.