PUNJAB MEMORANDUM.
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9. The quantity of bhang shown as sold by retail vendors in each of the last six years
Details of the consumption of bhang.
is—
Mds.
1887-88
3,906
1888-89
3,709
1889-90
4,238
1890-91
3,428
1891-92
3,977
1892-93
3,640
There is a certain quantity consumed without passing through the hands of licensed vendors;
but this is probably not very great, because the people of the parts in which the plant grows
wild are not addicted to its use, while the retail price (three or four annas a seer) is so small
that it is not worth while for a consumer to attempt to obtain a supply elsewhere than from
the nearest licensed shop.
Price of hemp drugs.
10. The wholesale price of charas varies very much in different localities and from year
to year, according to the state of the market. The price at
Kulu is said to have been Re. 1-4 a seer in 1892-93 as
compared with Rs. 3 to Rs. 4 in the preceding year, the prices at Hoshiarpur for the same
periods being reported as Re. 1 and Rs. 2 respectively. As already remarked, last year was
an exceptional one, and the price of the drug on entering the province varies usually from
Rs. 2 to Rs. 4 a seer, increasing at other places with the cost of carriage. The retail
price varies from Rs. 7 to Rs. 10 a seer. The cost of bhang to the licensed vendor is only
that of collecting on the spot and conveying to the place of sale. It is usually sold retail at
the rate of four annas a seer.
Regulation of import and transport.
11. The rules with reference to the import, transport, and sale of intoxicating hemp-drugs
will be found at page 107 of the Punjab Excise Pamphlet.
They were framed under Act X of 1871, and are inconveni-
ent in form, besides containing much that is now obsolete. It is sufficient to say that the
import into the province of charas and its subsequent transport, and the transport of bhang
from the districts of growth to these of consumption, are regulated by a system of passes, no
duty or fee of any sort being charged. Importers of charas must take their consignments to
the Deputy Commissioner of the frontier district which they enter and obtain from him a
pass covering subsequent transport, the packages containing each consignment being closed
and sealed. Provision is made for attesting sales en route, changes of destination, and the like.
For the transport of' bhang by a licensed vendor a permit from the district of destination and
a pass issued on this from the district of production are required. The whole system is rather
loose, and the new rules will, it is hoped, give us a much more strict control over the move-
ments of consignments of the drugs.
Licensing of retail vend.
12. The exiting arrangements in regard to taxation and vend are explained in Rule
1: "The excise income from intoxicating drugs in the
Punjab is derived from the farm of the monopoly of sale
wiihin tahsils or other sub-divisions of districts. In some districts the monopoly of opium
and other drugs prepared from the poppy is farmed separately from that of other intoxi-
cating drugs, while in others the same farm includes both." Ordinarily the farm or
license is held for the year, the fee payable being determined by auction. The present
rules make no provision for the issue of wholesale licenses (section 13, Act XXII of 1881);
but licenses have actually been given in the- Amritsar district, although there is no authority
for this. The new rules, I may say, will provide for such licenses. As to retail vend, the
practice is not quite in keeping with the rules. The hemp-drugs are in fact usually offered
for sale at the same shops as opium, though their sale is covered by a separate license. The
opium licenses are disposed of by shops, singly, or by groups of shops (by tahsils or smaller
areas); and the hemp-drugs licenses go with them as a rule. The combined licenses (except
in four districts) are held by the year, fee fee payable for each shop or group of shops being
determined by annual auction. As a matter of account the fees paid in each district in re-
spect of the combined opium and hemp-drug licenses, where these are held together, are dis-
tributed between the two heads of receipt in a proportion which is supposed to represent the
actual value of each set of licenses. This proportion varies from district to district. As a
result of the practice described above, the number and locality of the shops are fixed before-
hand from year to year (they are as a matter of fact seldom altered). In four districts the
combined monopoly of the vend of opium and of hemp-drugs at the authorized shops (of
which the number and localities are fixed) have been leased for a term of years (three to five).
I may add that in the new rules it is proposed expressly to provide for a system of
licensing under which the number of shops and the locality of each shall be fixed, i.e.; each
shop will be separately licensed, although the licenses may be disposed of either singly
or in groups.
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