95
ments and restlessness; he had a great idea of
himself and resented restraint. The case was
improved by treatment and cutting off the use of
the drug, but recurred on his being discharged the
service and resuming its use. I am of opinion
that once insanity is induced, unless the person can
be kept under constant control it is sure to be per¬
manent.
46. The habitual excessive use of bhang, charas,
or ganja produces all the symptoms previously
noted, and leads to more rapid deterioration, mental,
moral and physical, and generally ends in hopeles
insanity.
49. Yes, by those that take them.
51. There are none in this regiment.
53. I have no means of judging.
54. Not that I am aware of.
55. (a) No; they usually give (so I am in¬
formed) a drug called dhatura, either as a smoke
or drink, or mixed with some eatable.
(b) Yes, but dhatura is not usually taken alone.
Answer No. 140.
20. Total strength of the regiment
912
(a) Combatants—
Muhammadans of Panjab and
Hazara
342
Trans-Indus Pathans
114
Sikhs, Jat, of Punjab
342
" others of "
Dogras and hillmen
114
TOTAL
912
(c) Authorised camp followers
138
No one in the regiment smokes ganja, but
amongst Muhammadans 3 sepoys (Khattaks)
smoke charas regularly. There are also some others
who take it very occasionally.
24. No one in the regiment eats bhang. In
the hot weather 30 to 40 per cent. of the Sikhs
very occasionally drink a weak decoction of bhang.
Amongst Muhammadans those who smoke charas
would usually also drink bhang.
25. The use of these drugs is on the decrease,
because it is being realised that the use of them
is inconsistent with the proper discharge of a
soldier's duty. Those who are at all given to the
habit are gradually leaving the regiment; the men
as a body see that they are certain to get into
trouble through the habit.
28. Charas is generally smoked from one hukka
by several men taking it in turns. There would
be about 1 anna's worth of charas in one fill-up
of the hukka, to smoke which in this fashion
would take less than five minutes. A man's daily
expenditure of money on this drug would prin¬
cipally, therefore, depend on the number of times
he joined one of these smoking parties.
32. I have not been able to discover any customs,
social or religious, in regard to the consumption of
any of these drugs.
33. The consumption of each of these drugs is
generally regarded as highly injurious. In the
native army there is a very decided opinion that
even a moderate consumption of these drugs is
injurious. The use of the narcotic in any form is
in disrepute, because its ill-effects, in the way of
causing neglect of duty and madness, if the drug
be taken constantly in excess, are so well known.
I have not been able to ascertain that there is any
custom in the Panjab of worshipping the hemp
plant.
39. The smoking of the narcotic in the form of
charas or ganja is more injurious than the eating
or drinking of the narcotic in the form of bhang,
because with the two former the fumes of the
burning drug act directly on the brain, whereas
with bhang the drug is largely diluted with water,
and has to be absorbed into the blood through
the stomach before it can act on the brain.
41. Even the moderate use of charas, ganja, or
bhang is looked on by natives generally as by no
means beneficial.
42. The moderate use of any of these drugs is
not harmless either to the body or to the mind.
It creates a state of semi-unconsciousness, during
which a man is liable to all the ills that beset a
man intoxicated by alcohol.
43. Even moderate consumers, after they have
been accustomed to take the drug habitually, are
apt to become offensive and abusive to their
neighbours.
44. As regards the habitual consumer, bhang,
which is generally mixed with various condiments
before having water strained through it, is certainly
refreshing, as most drinks are. A feeling of
drowsiness quickly comes on, followed by intoxi¬
cation, if taken in excess. If a man is hungry, his
taking the drug in any of its forms will make him
feel more so. The drug is generally considered to
create appetite. A man who is not an habitual
consumer would be under the effects of the drug
for about seven hours. The habitual consumer,
with an equal dose, would not be affected for so
long a time. As regards after-effects, a man gene¬
rally becomes depressed and quarrelsome, and
will not be happy until he can get the drug again.
45. The moderate habitual use of these drugs
does not produce any noxious effects—physical,
mental or moral.
No, it does not.
No, it causes increase of appetite.
No, it does not.
It induces some laziness of habits.
It does not deaden the intellect or produce in¬
sanity.
I have no knowledge of alleged insanity from
use of the drug.
Am acquainted with no cases of use of the drug.
46. The habitual excessive use of the drug pro¬
duces physical, mental and moral deterioration,
impairs the constitution, injures the digestion and
causes loss of appetite. It does not cause dysentery;
but perhaps predisposes to bronchitis when smoked.
It impairs the moral sense, and induces laziness. It
deadens the intellect, and, I am informed, acts as an
exciting cause of insanity in persons otherwise pre-
disposed. Have no experience of any cases of in-
sanity directly or indirectly attributed to the use
of the drug in any form.
49. These drugs have the effect of an aphrodi¬
siac to a certain extent. None of them, however,
are used purely as an aphrodisiac.
51. The use of these drugs has a tendency to
make a man insubordinate and quarrelsome, and
gradually leads him on, unless he is checked in his
downward course, to commit offences of the gravest