46
REPORT OF THE INDIAN HEMP DRUGS COMMISSION, 1893-34.
[APP.
PUNJAB MEMORANDUM.
The system of excise administration in respect of intoxicating (hemp) drugs in the
Punjab has been receiving a great deal of attention during the last five or six years; and it so
happens that, as the outcome of much inquiry and discussion, we are now on the eve of the
introduction of a new set of rules which will alter and improve that system in many respects.
It will, I think, be convenient if I explain how matters stand at present. The correspon-
dence on the subject is voluminous, and there is certainly no dearth of information.
General facts with regard to hemp
drugs in the Punjab.
* Note.—This does not of course apply
to the manufacture of majum, &c., by
the licensed vendors.
T. G. W.
2. The broad facts with regard to these drugs in the Punjab may first be stated.
Charas is imported across the northern and western frontiers
(mostly from Yarkand) to the extent of about 4,000
maunds (the import actually rose to close on 5,000 maunds
last year) annually. Of this quantity between one-fourth and one-fifth is retained for con-
sumption in Punjab districts, the remainder passing on, principally to the North-Western
Provinces and Oudh, the Native States under the political control of the Punjab Government
and the Rajputana States. The quantity of the other forms of the prepared drug coming
into the province is trifling and may be neglected. The supply of bhang is derived from
the wild hemp plant which grows within the province in the sub-montane tracts under the
Himalayas and the Suleiman range. The annual consumption of bhang (which is merely
the leaves of the wild plant) falls little short of 4,000 maunds in the districts of the Punjab.
The import into and the transport through the Punjab of charas, and the transport of bhang
from the districts of growth to those of consumption are regulated by a system of passes;
but no direct duty or tax of any sort is levied. With the exception of a few plots, grown by
fakirs principally for their own consumption in one or two of the western districts, there is no
cultivation of the plant for the production of intoxicants. The total area of these plots does
not, I believe, exceed 100 acres; and the produce is taken in the form of bhang. There
is, so far as I am aware, absolutely no manufacture within
the province of hemp drugs from the plant.* The only
taxation now levied is in the form of fees for the monopoly
of vend. "The excise income from intoxicating drugs in
the Punjab is derived from the farm of the monopoly of sale within tahsils or other sub-
divisions of districts" (Rule 1). The total amount of this income is between 1½ and 1¾ lakhs
per annum.
Punjab Government Proceedings
(Revenue and Agriculture) for Janu-
ary 1889, Nos. 1—5.
3. With this explanation I would invite attention to the (printed) collection of papers in
Punjab Government Proceedings, Revenue and Agriculture
(Revenue), for January 1889, Nos. 1—5. That correspon-
dence arose out of a reference from the Government of
India in connection with a draft article in Dr. Watt's Dictionary of Economic Products; but
the local Government requested the Financial Commissioner to consider "the question of the
feasibility of putting an import duty on charas," A reference to local officers produced the
papers which will be found in 1 the above quoted Proceedings, and it will be seen that they
contain a great deal of information on the subject. The Punjab Government summed up the
results in their letter No. 1, dated 3rd January 1889 (No. 4 in the Proceedings). From this
I make the following extract (paragraph 4): " In the Lieutenant-Governor's opinion, how-
ever, the whole subject is still rather observe, and is one which should be carefully studied by
the new Commissioner of Excise. The Commissioner should therefore be requested to find out
exactly what the system of other local Governments is, and from what other places ganja and
charas come to the Punjab besides Leh, and in what quantities.
*
*
*
*
*
*
The Commissioner of Excise should also study the subject and the
system and facts as regards bhang carefully, and report on the whole question after the end of
a year."
Report and proposals made in 1890.—
Punjab Government Proceedings (Re-
venue and Agriculture) for January
1892 (Nos.13—16).
4. I would next refer to the collection of papers in Punjab Government Proceedings,
Revenue and Agriculture (Revenue), for January 1892, Nos.
13—16, regarding "taxation of charas and bhang." In
accordance with the orders contained in the passage quoted
at the close of the preceding paragraph I took up the ques-
tion early in 1890. My report will be found as No. 14 of the above Proceedings (my letter
No. 76, dated 10th April 1890). I would invite a perusal of that report and more particu-
larly of paragraphs 8—11, 14, 15, and 18. The proposals which I made are summarized in
paragraph 29, and I submitted a set of draft rules with explanatory remarks. These pro-
posals were referred for opinion to selected officers. During my absence on furlough (April
1890 to December 1891) the replies of the officers consulted were received and my locum tenens,
Mr. R. M. Dane, considered the proposals in detail (his letter No. 240, dated 24th
December 1890, which will be found in the Proceedings last quoted). The proposals involved
inter alia the imposition of a direct import duty at the frontier on all foreign (hemp) drugs;