112
REPORT OF THE INDIAN HEMP DRUGS COMMISSION, 1893-94.
[APP.
The local produce is not sufficient for the wants of the province, and therefore ganja is
imported usually from Khandwa in the Central Provinces, sometimes from Khandesh in the
Bombay Presidency. No duty is levied on importations. On an average it is estimated
that about 800 maunds of ganja is annually imported into the Province; this with the
ganja locally produced is apparently sufficient for the requirements of the people who in-
dulge in this drug.
There is no means of ascertaining what portion of the population indulges in hemp drugs;
therefore any calculations require us to deal with the entire census population or the total of
the male and female adult population. The Hyderabad Assigned Districts' total population
by last census is 2,897,040; the adult population, male and female, is 1,794,174. Now 800
maunds are on the average imported per annum, and about 500 raised locally, which gives a
total of 1,300 maunds. If this were all consumed, it would mean on the whole population 14
tolas per head: on adults 23 tolas per head per annum. The 500 maunds estimated as on the
average to be locally raised is arrived at by assuming that the 55 acres, the average of the
past seven years, under hemp gives 10 maunds per acre.
In reality the farmers' returns of consumption (column 42, statement C) are wholly
unreliable; therefore I have taken the whole produce raised locally and imported, to calculate
the incidence per head of consumption, as a safer guide.
Duties imposed.
No duties are imposed on hemp drugs. The only revenue that is derived from these
drugs is the price of the farm combined with opium and the
license fee on cultivation.
No fee is levied on the licenses for importation. They are granted free to the licensed
vendors.
The above information applies to ganja and bhang. Charas is not used in the province.
There is only one kind of ganja in the province, and that is the flat ganja.
(a) The system of administration throughout the province is uniform. The central
controlling authority is the Deputy Commissioner of the district.
The administration is carried on by the tahsildars with the assistance of the village
officers.
The following are Abkari officers under the rules:-
Deputy Commissioners,
Assistant Commissioners,
Tahsildars,
Naib-Tahsildars, and
Police officers of a rank not below that of Inspectors and chief constables in
charge of police stations.
(b) Wild hemp is not found in the province.
(c) As above stated, the cultivation of the hemp plant for the production of ganja or
bhang is prohibited except under a license. It is not restricted to any particular
locality. It is evident that as the area locally under hemp is small that it is
more paying to import the drug than to cultivate it.
(d) The opium and drug farmers are the only importers of ganja and bhang. No
charas is imported.
All the Abkari officers mentioned above have power to inspect the shops establish-
ed by the farmers, and to check the actual balance with the entries in the
books kept; and if any irregularities are discovered, the farmers are liable to
be prosecuted under the Abkari Rules, section 43.
All importers of ganja or bhang are required to take out a pass from the Deputy
Commissioner. No arrangements are made for controlling the storing or
transport of these drugs.
(e) The farmers are the wholesale and retail vendors. Those in the retail trade keep
books showing their sales, and they are prohibited from selling more than 20
tolas of ganja and bhang to one person and are forbidden to allow the drug to
be smoked on the premises. Their shops are occasionally inspected by Abkari
officers to enforce these orders.
(f) The only direct or indirect tax on ganja in this province is the money paid by the
farmer and the fee paid by the cultivator for a license. The latter is recover-
able as arrears of land revenue and cannot possibly be evaded. The former, if
not paid, is recoverable under rule 15 of the Abkari Rules by attachment and
sale of moveable property of the farmer within the jurisdiction of the Deputy
Commissioner. At the time of the sales precautions are taken to ascertain that
the farmer's securities are men of substance, and that they possess moveable pro-
perty sufficient to cover the amount tendered by the farmer for which they go
security.