MADRAS MEMORANDUM.
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16. Exception of medicated articles.—Under
section 71 of the Madras Abkari Act, the
provisions of the Act do not apply to the sale inter alia of bond fide medicated articles for
medicinal purposes by medical practitioners, in which term are included, native hakims. No
abuse of the privilege has us yet been brought to notice.
17. Shops.—Information
regarding the number of shops licensed each year from
1889-90 is embodied in the accompanying statement. In fixing the number of shops the
Board is chiefly guided by the demand for the drug in the presidency, do more shops being
licensed than are absolutely necessary. The question of area and population is considered
only as bearing on the probable consumption. No considerations of pushing sales or raising
revenue are allowed to operate in fixing the number. The number of shops is first determined
by Collectors subject to the Board's approval and no increase to the prescribed number can be
sanctioned by them without the special orders of the Board obtained in each case.
18. The sites of shops are as far as possible kept at a distance from market places, bath-
ing ghats, schools, hospitals, places of worship and public resort, and factories. It has also
been directed that in cases of alterations in the nuinbar or sites of shops in the municipalities
a list of the proposed shops with their sites should be forwarded to the Council in sufficient
time to admit of its remarks being received and considered; and though in the rural tracts the
location of shops is at the discretion of Revenue officers, representations from District or Taluk
Boards or Taluk Unions would invariably be received with attention.
19. In licensing shops care is taken to see that the traffic does not drift into the hands of
opium contractors and that the grant does not lead to a monopoly in favour of particular
individuals. Persons belonging to the same family were also precluded from holding interests
in intoxicating drugs within the same district.
But when the fixed license-fee system was
replaced by the system of auction sales, the restrictions on the grant of licenses to the members
of the same family, or such as would have the effect of creating a monopoly in favour of
particular individuals, were done away, free competition rendering them no longer necessary.
Arrack and toddy renters are, like opium contractors, disqualified from bidding at auction sales.
It may here be observed that in this presidency there is no distinction between wholesale
and retail shops, no limit being placed on the quantity that can be sold by licensed vendors of
drugs.
20. Consumption.—In
July 1889 an attempt was made to ascertain the quantity of each
kind of intoxicating drug prepared from the hump plant sold during a period of four months
from 1st April 1889, but as the information called for related to a period when the rules
regarding the sale of ganja and other intoxicating drugs were but imperfectly known to the
people in general, and as it was doubted whether in the majority of shops anything like
intell gihle accounts were maintained, it was considered by the Board that no definite conclu-
sions could be drawn from the statistics collected as to the extent of consumption in the
presidency.
21. The enclosed statement shows the consumption of ganja, bhang, and other intoxicating
drugs prepared from the hemp plant during 1892-93. In the existing state of the law, which
restricts sale, but not the manufacture, possession, or transport of these drugs, it is unsafe to
draw definite conclusions as to consumption. Moreover, the figures given in the statement
are entirely based on information furnished by shopkerpers, which is far from reliable in the
absence of a definite form of account, prescribed for their use. Steps have accordingly been
taken in the current year for the supply of the necessary account books to licensed vendors,
and Collectors have also been requested to furnish separate figures for sales under the different
descriptions of drugs during 1892-93.
22. Prices—Accurate
information regarding the prevalent retail prices of the different
preparations from the hemp plant is not available at present, but has been called for. A mini-
mum retail selling price of 4 pics per tola has, however, been in force since April 1891.
23. Revenue.—No direct duty is imposed on the drug. The only source of revenue is the
disposal of the privilege of vend. In 1889-90 and 1890-91 it was collected in the shape of
fixed fees from licensed shopkeepers, and from 1st April 1891, when the auction system was
introduced, it has been realized by the auction sales of shops.
24. The accompanying statement shows the revenue derived from ganja for the last four
years. The increase in 1890-91 was due to the enhancement of license fees in the year, lis. 30
in the mofussil and Rs. 45 in Madras, against Rs. 15 and Rs. 30 respectively in 1889-90.
In 1891-92, the first year of the auction sale system, there was an enormous increase, brought
about by reckless bids at the sales owing to ignorance of the true value of shops under the
former system. The decrease in 1892-93 is but the natural reaction after the unduly high
bids of the previous year.
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