102
REPORT OF THE INDIAN HEMP DRUGS COMMISSION, 1893-94.
[APP.
SIND MEMORANDUM.
(a) There is one uniform system as regards the sale of hemp drugs for the province of
Sind. The privilege of retail sale of bhang, ganja, charas, and majum in two or three talukas
together, or in a sub-division, or in an entire district, is put up to public auction every year by
the Collector in the month of July for the revenue year commencing with the 1st August
and ending with 31st July of the following year, and sold generally to the highest bidder.
Care is taken that the bidder whose bid is accepted bears a good character, and is able to
furnish adequate security for the due performance of the conditions of the farm. Accompani-
ment A* to this note is the form of license given to the farmer, who is allowed to open a certain
number of shops within the limits of his farm. The retailers appointed by him for his shops
are first approved by the taluka officials (Mukhtvarkars) and then 'parwanas' (permits to sell)
are given to them by the Assistant Collector. The administration of the system is carried on
by the Collector and his Assistants and Deputy Collectors, subject to the general control of
the Commissioner in Sind. It is based on the Bombay Abkari Act, V of 1878, and the rules
framed thereunder by Government and the Commissioner in Sind.
(b) The wild hemp plant is not found in the province except near the hills to the west
and on the border of Baluchistan. No attempt has been made to control its possession or sale.
It is rarely used as an intoxicant, though it is believed that the intoxicating drugs prepared
from it are much more potent than those made from the cultivated plant.
(c) The hemp plant is grown only in very small quantities and in very few localities in
Sind. The largest continuous area of cultivation is in Sehwan taluka of the Karachi district,
and the bhang produced therefrom supplies the wants of the larger part of Sind. There is no
restriction whatever on the cultivation of bhang, but certain restrictions are imposed after the
crop has been reaped, in so far that the cultivator is not allowed to convert the produce into
bhang without the permission of the sub-divisional officer, and may not dispose of it by sale
to any other than the licensed farmer for the particular area in which his crop is situated.
Neither ganja nor charas are produced in Sind, but are imported, the former from Panwel in
the Kolaba district and the latter from Amritsar. Bhang is the only preparation made from
the hemp plant in Sind. The area under cultivation in the Karachi, Hyderabad, and Shikar-
pur districts for some years past is shown in the statement B attached to this report.
(d) The bhang farmer also buys the right to import charas and ganja; he imports them
under permits from the Collector and stores them in his own warehouses and distributes them
among his retail shopkeepers. Supervision is provided for under the Bombay Abkari Act in
the same manner as that described by the Honourable Mr. Mackenzie in his Note. On the
arrival of any consignment of charas or ganja the quantity is tested and compared with the
permit under which it has been imported.
(e) The cultivator may be considered to be the wholesale dealer, and, as already said, he
requires no license; nor does the contractor or farmer require any license beyond the general
license which he buys at auction for the right to sell the different hemp drugs. The retail
vendors, who are the contractor's servants, procure licenses from the Assistant Collector on the
application of the contractor. The stock in hand as well as the accounts of these retail
licensecs are examined by the sub-divisional officers, by the Mukhtyarkars, Abkari Inspectors,
and Police officers.
(f) No direct tax on bhang, ganja, and other drugs is levied; the only tax being an in-
direct tax in the shape of the amount for which the right to retail is purchased by auction, the
amount is levied in advance by instalments.
(g) The number and localities of the shops are fixed by the Collector with due regard to
the requirements of each part of the district and with reference also to area and population.
No fees are levied for shops, as all the shops situated in any particular district or sub-division
are owned by, and are under the control of the farmer of that district or sub-division, and
licenses are granted tree to persons named by him. The farmer cannot add to the number of
shops when once fixed by the Collector without the sanction of the Collector, nor can he
close or alter the locality of any shop without permission. There is nothing in Sind in the
nature of 'local option'; but of course any representations for or against the opening of shops
in any particular localities by the residents of those localities would influence the Collector's
decision. But owing to the very limited consumption in Sind of the hemp products, such re-
presentations or interference on the part of the people are practically unknown.
(h) No rate is fixed at which bhang, &c., must be supplied by wholesale dealers (i.e., the
cultivators) to retail dealers, and the retail price varies in every district.
* Not printed.