CH. VIII.] REPORT OF THE INDIAN HEMP DRUGS COMMISSION, 1893-94. 157
latifolia), asafoetida, liquorice, cubebs, chillies, and senna leaves. The juices
of fruits and trees are also employed in the concoction, such as that of the pome-
granate, grape, mango, bael, cocoanuts, and date (not toddy).
Mixture of potent drugs for
drinking.
423. The above ingredients are used by all moderate consumers according to
their taste and means. There are others which by
their potency, their uncommonness, or their quaint-
ness are designed to meet the craving of consumers whom the compounds in
ordinary use fail to satisfy. Here again dhatura takes the first place, and
evidence is not wanting that the seeds of this plant are sometimes kept in
stock by the grocers who supply the other ingredients, if not by the sellers of the
drugs. Besides dhatura, opium, arsenic, strychnine, aconite, the oleander root,
and seed of black henbane are mentioned as being introduced into hemp drinks.
A mixture of two or three of these with the hemp drugs in one or two forms,
and perhaps one or two other fanciful ingredients, goes by the cant name of
panchratna (the five jewels), panchrangi, or panjtul. The name is apparently
applied to this sort of compound, and sometimes even to more innocent ones,
whether it is to be used for eating, drinking, or smoking. The poison of copper
is sometimes utilized by making the decoction in a copper vessel, or putting
copper coins into it while it is being prepared.
Curious ingredients for drinking.
424. There is still another class of ingredients, which are used because they
are believed to have a certain efficiency of their
own, or to be instrumental in enhancing the
power of the hemp drug. These are the roots of grass, of rice, and of jawar,
the manna and rotten knots of bamboo, soot, cobwebs, decayed string, the
juice of the ak (swallow wort), and the root of mothk. These are, of course, to be
regarded as curiosities of the subject, though the mention of the jawari root
is rather frequent. As in the case of smoking, cantharides is very rarely men-
tioned as an ingredient.
Use of hemp drugs with alcohol.
425. The hemp drugs are sometimes used to doctor alcoholic drinks. In
the Punjab the name lutki is given to a concoction
of this kind. In Baluchistan there is also said to
be a drink called mudra, which is compounded of dhatura, bhang, alcohol, and
opium. The drink is also known in the Punjab. In other quarters the hemp
drugs are said to be smoked after drinking liquor to add to the intoxication.
The evidence of the association of the hemp drugs with alcohol in these ways is
fortunately scanty. The practice is probably rare, for it implies a recklessness in
intemperance which is foreign to the Indian character.
Boja.
426. There is a liquid preparation of ganja in use in the Sholapur district
of the Bombay Presidency which seems to be
little known elsewhere. It is called boja, and its
preparation is described by Bombay witnesses 25 and 47. The consump-
tion is considerable, amounting in the year 1891-92 to 138,100 sérs. It
appears to consist principally of a gruel made from jawari, and to contain a
comparatively small proportion of hemp and a little nux vomica. After brewing,
it has to be kept a day, when water is added, and it is drunk.
Hemp decoctions someti mes kept
ready made.
427. Bhang drink is kept for sale in Karachi. Witness 5 from Sind says
tha the refreshment is prepared and kept in readi-
ness to be supplied gratuitously for the use of visitors
40