5
13. In Rajputana no attempt is made to control the cultivation except in
Dholpur, and the plant is grown generally for the production of bhang wherever
irrigation is possible.
In Central India there are no restrictions on cultivation whatever in the
State of Indore, though the area under cultivation is not large. In Gwalior
there is a tax of R6 per acre on cultivation. The total cultivation is about
400 acres, and it has a slight tendency to increase, There is also some culti-
vation in Dewas and other States, but most of it is irregular and probably for
home consumption only.
14. From the above summary of the Commission's Report on the extent of
the cultivation of the hemp plant, it will be seen that cultivation is prohibited in
Assam, the Feudatory States of the Central Provinces, Burma and the Civil and
Military Station of Bangalore in Mysore. The cultivation, except under license,
is forbidden in Bengal, the Central Provinces, Berar, Mysore, Coorg and in the
Native States of Dholpur and Gwalior. The Governor General in Council is of
opinion that there should be one system throughout all the provinces of India in
which the cultivation of the hemp plant is permitted, and this policy should be that
of forbidding all cultivation, except under license. Cultivation should also, so
far as possible, be concentrated into selected areas in each province, which
should be no larger than is absolutely necessary. The same system should, so
far as may be, be introduced in the Native States.
II.— PRODUCTS.
15. The narcotic products of the hemp plant are ganja, charas and bhang,
and the definitions of these products as
taken by the Commission from Dr. Prain's
report, and as used in their own report, are
—
"Ganja consists of the dried flowering tops of cultivated female hemp plants which
have become coated with resin in consequence of having been unable to set seeds freely."
"Charas is the name applied to the resinous matter which forms the active principle
when collected separately."
"Siddhi, bhang, subzi or patti are different names applied to the dry leaves of the
hemp plants, whether male or female, and whether cultivated or uncultivated."
The name bhang is also applied to the drink prepared by infusion of these
last.
The female plant properly is called ganja and the male plant bhang; and
ganja, as above defined, is produced by the female plant only. Ganja under
certain conditions can be prepared by infusion, as a drink similar to, and called by
the name of, bhang. In some parts of the country the name bhang is applied to
what is elsewhere called ganja. Charas is distinct from both ganja and bhang,
though the name of charas is sometimes given to ganja. These differences of
nomenclature give rise to considerable confusion in the replies given to the
series of questions issued by the Commission, and have to be borne in mind in
reading them; it was only at the later stage of the proceedings that the distinc--
tions were carefully observed.
16. It is, the Governor General in Council considers, a well-established fact
that the cultivation and preparation of the finest sort of ganja is a difficult process
requiring skill and knowledge, whilst the drink known as bhang is easily pre--
pared from the dried leaf of the plant. The majority of the witnesses examined
state that ganja cannot be procured from the wild plants, and the Commission
find that what is ordinarily accepted as ganja undoubtedly cannot be so
obtained. Charas may be prepared to a small extent from the wild plant and
from the spontaneous growth, but is almost all imported through the Punjab
from Yarkand and Bokhara.
III.—CONSUMPTION.
17. The Commission in Chapter VII notice the trade and movement of the
hemp drugs province by province, and in
Chapter VIII they describe the extent
of use and the manner and form in which hemp drugs are consumed. The
Governor General in Council observes that in Bengal only 1 in 200 of the
total population consume ganja, and not more than 1 in 20 of the con-
Narcotic products of the hemp plant.
Trade and movement of hemp drugs: extent
of use, and manner and form of consumption.