304 REPORT OF THE INDIAN HEMP DRUGS COMMISSION, 1893-94. [CH. XV.
of the Act; and generally to carry out the provision of the Act or of any other
law for the time being in force and relating to abkari revenue (section 29).
No rules have been framed under section 29 and no notifications issued
with reference to any of the above quoted provisions of the Act relating to
intoxicating drugs except such as relate to the delegation of powers and the
extension to local areas of those provisions.
Supply of the drugs.
623. The hemp plant does not grow wild in the plains of Madras, and
even in the hills there does not seem to be much
spontaneous growth. But a few plants will be found
in the enclosures of houses in several parts of the province, and there is
systematic cultivation of the plant for ganja in the Kistna and North Arcot
districts, and to a smaller extent in some others. Accurate information re-
garding the area under cultivation is not available, but the amount of regular
cultivation accepted by the Commission is 350 acres. From this cultivation ganja
is produced and bhang is collected, though statistics of bhang separate from
those of ganja are not available, and the bhang of this province is probably in
many cases only refuse ganja. Charas is not known.
Ganja is said to be imported in small quantities from the Hyderabad,
Bastar, and Banganapalle States, and exports made to Ceylon, Mysore, Hydera-
bad, and Cochin territory. From other sources it has been ascertained that there
is a considerable quantity of Madras ganja smuggled to Burma and Mysore, and
that the administration of this branch of excise in the latter tract is thereby
rendered difficult. Apart from smuggling, the exports of ganja from Madras to
Mysore amounted to 1,829 local maunds (equal to 552 Indian maunds) in 1892-
93. This alone represents a considerable area of cultivation; and, judging from
the consumption within the Presidency, it appears probable that the area of cul-
tivation has been under-estimated.
System of excise.
624. The only system of administration which exists in regard to the hemp
drugs consists in the restriction of the sale of
these drugs to licensed vendors (with the proviso
contained in section 15), and no limit of retail sale having been fixed, any
person may purchase any quantity of the drugs from a licensed vendor.
Up to 1st April 1891 licenses for sale were granted on payment of fixed
fees, and the amount realised from these fees was in the year 1890-91 Rs. 8,805
as compared with Rs. 4,890 the previous year. In 1891-92 the system of sell-
ing the licenses by auction was introduced, and the amount realised was Rs.
54,989. In 1892-93 it was Rs. 47,292.
The number of shops is determined by the Collector, subject to the Board's
approval, and no increase can be sanctioned without the special orders of the
Board obtained in each case. No form of license is to be found in the Madras
Excise Manual.
There are only 246 retail licenses for the whole Presidency, or one shop
for 144,781 of the population. The evidence shows that a good deal of the con-
sumption does not pass through the shops, and that in certain tracts the drug
passes freely from the cultivator to the consumer.