The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1934-10-06
BY NED BROOKS
Times Special Writer

WASHINGTON, Oct. 6.-The an
Gent Egyptians punished users of
hemp drugs By extracting their
teeth. Today finds modern law
makers still enacting penalties, less
violent but still lettering, against
those who traffic in marihuana, the
American name for bhang or has
heesh.
One Of the Oldest narcotics, this
plant which has gone society"
traces its history as far back as the
sacred books Of the Brahmans, writ
ten before the year A. D. In the
fourteenth century, records were
found in Egypt revealing the dire
penalties of the year 70 Of the He
gira (about 700 A. d..
Oriental history Is speckled with
crusades against the drug and its
resultant crime. degeneracy and in
sanity. Experts say cannabin, the
hemp-derived drug. is now used in
some form in all Oriental countries
and its devotees number countless
millions.
Grown for Cloth
Indian hemp, best known here as
marihuana, is not a native Of Amer
lean soil Early cultivation here was
of the small European variety which
was grown in the New England
colonies for fiber in making home
spun. It also was grown in Virginia
and Pennsylvania colonies and was
cultivated in the early settlements
of Kentucky, from whence it spread
to Missouri.
The European variety was sup
planted by the larger Chinese plant
about 1857 and has been grown at
various times in Illinois. in the Kan
kakee river valley of Indiana, in
southeastern Pennsylvania and in
Nebraska. Iowa and California.
Today it grows in either a wild
- cultivated state. At one time
rf acres in this country we're de-
rp-ae to it; today the acreage cul-
sara / for legitimate uses is hardly
ever 300. according to agriculture
esBsr ment estimates. But it is
~haraant as a wild plant in the
nd southwest and this growth,
.rr with that cultivated for mar
lot.c Uses, furnishes state and fed
. authorities with their present
n of control.
Smoked in Cigarets
III name "marihuana" is Mexi-
ss- origin. but the plant and
a.- re known by a wide variety
O. na les in foreign countries. Many
a lhrn are of Indian and Persian
rer ion. In Turkey it is hasheesh,
tr - ia it is bhang. elsewhere 1t
8 n gania, charaS, Siddi, subj,
pat. momeka and gangjah. The
b s narcotics bureau describes it
oHe as "a potent aphrodisiac,
14o ltive of crimes of singular
a.r.c T." It is used most in cigar
plant, known botanically as
En- is saliva, has an angular
s bears palmately-compound
lea and may attain a height OF
t-I Z. It is the same ''loco-weed"
,oduceS madness in grazing
r0
- narcotic uses, the Towering
the pistillate or male plant
is gathered just before pollination.
The female plant also has drug con-
tent. but in weaker form. The flow
ers lose their strength rather rap
idly and after a year or two are
practically harmless.
Also in the HoOkah
Although thirty-four states forbid
its sale. the cigarets are bootlegged
widely by peddlerS at from nickel
to a quarter a piece.
In Oriental countries, particularly
India, the weed is smoked in the
hookah, or waterpipe. or in the
chilum-the ordinary tobacco pipe.
Frequently it IS diluted with tobacco
and, because of its offensive smell, is
sometimes mixed with herbs.
While the plant, according to
government experts, can be grown
in almost any soil, it produces the
greatest drug content in tropical
climates. In cold sections, it re-
mains a fiber containing little of
the drug cannabin.
Its medical usage has dwindled
greatly. It relieves neuralgia pain.
encourages sleep and soothes rest
lesSness. but it has been largely re-
placed by other drugs.
Mexican laborers Of the southwest.
the narcotics bureau has found,
often plant the drug producing
hemp between rows of corn and
harvest it for their own use or sale.
In recent years the practice has
spread eastward. Several years ago
a large field was found under cul-
tivation on Long Island.