REPORT BY ASST. SECY. TO FINANCIAL COMMR., BURMA.
259
Report regarding ganja (Financial Department No. 357—116-E).
Ganja was prohibited in Burma in 1873. At that time I was in Thayetmyo, where there
was a ganja-shop. Burmans who smoked ganja then were afraid of being punished for being in
possession of it and took to using kunbon, which is prepared from opium, betel, and other leaves
cut fine, dried, and fried with opium; then they smoke it. Natives—especially those be-
longing to the Commissariat Department, elephant and cattle drivers and lascars—did not give
up the use of ganja, but they smoked it secretly, as ganja grew round about there, especially
at Allanmyo. The natives also use ganja for medicinal purposes for their cattle. At that time
the native troops in the station for two or three days found it very difficult to get ganja; they
soon got their supply cheaper than the license-holder sold it to them, as some men started on
illicit traffic. In 1875 I came to Rangoon; then I found ganja, although prohibited, was used,
and men were pointed out to me as ganja-smokers. They did not smoke in public, and how they
got their ganja was very difficult to find out. After some time it was discovered that large
quantities of ganja were imported through banghy post direct from Madras, addressed to
butlers of different gentlemen in cantonment, and to the native regiment. This matter was
represented to the Local Government, and at that time large quantities of ganja were seized in
post.
Since the annexation of Upper Burma in 1885, large numbers of native troops and
followers and cattle-drivers have come to Burma, and the demand for ganja has increased.
I have heard that there is no difficulty in getting ganja in up-country. Rangoon is now be-
coming thickly populated with natives of India who are in the habit of using ganja. As it is
not sold in Burma they get it from elsewhere. In the last two or three years large seizures of
ganja have been made by the different departments, which plainly shows that smuggling of
ganja is on the increase. There is a great demand for ganja by natives of India in Rangoon
at present.
The abolishing of the sale of ganja in Burma has not, I think, reduced the use of it with
the natives. It has increased illicit traffic, and has let people in other places know what the
value of ganja in Burma is.
As the native population is so largely increasing in the town of Rangoon, and the demand
for ganja so great, I would beg to suggest that, so long as ganja is allowed to be used and
sold in India, that the same privilege be granted in Burma, with this restriction, that it be
only sold to the natives.
The license-holder should be allowed to sell at one time one tola to a person, except on an
order from the Deputy Commissioner granted to a person or persons who require a larger quan-
tity of ganja for medicinal purposes.
No. 315—56-E., dated the 20th November 1893.
From—The Commissioner, Pegu Division,
To—The Secretary to the Financial Commissioner, Burma.
With reference to your letter No. 335—116-E., dated 11th November 1893, I have the
honour to report that, in compliance with your instructions, one copy of the questions, with
my replies to the few questions that I am able to answer, has been this day (20th November)
posted to the address of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission, and a second copy is enclosed
herewith.
With regard to paragraph 2, I have the honour to say that my views on this point are
given in my answer to question 35.
Question 35.
Would it be feasible to prohibit the use of any or all of these drugs? Would the
drug be consumed illicitly? How could the prohibition be enforced? Would the prohibition
occasion serious discontent among the consumers? Would such discontent amount to a
political danger? Would the prohibition be followed by recourse to (a) alcoholic stimulants
or (b) other drugs?
Colonel C. B. Cooke's answer.
The use of the drug is prohibited in this province. The prohibition is intended to
protect the indigenous population from acquiring a habit which is by some persons held to
be a cause of insanity. The alien population of Burma at the time that the prohibition was
ordered was insignificant in number: in the twenty years that population has probably increas-
ed five hundred-fold, and the difficulties of enforcing the prohibition have also increased. But
still I think the prohibition should not be omitted.
No. 494-20, dated the 2nd December 1893.
From—The Officiating Chief Collector of Customs, Rangoon,
To—The Secretary to the Financial Commissioner, Burma.
In reply to your letter No. 336—116-E., dated the 11th November 1893, I have the
honour to submit a memorandum by Mr. R. G. Culloden, Assistant Collector of Customs