10 REPORT OF THE INDIAN HEMP DRUGS COMMISSION, 1893-94. [APP.
40. As regards
sites local opinion is not formally consulted, but attention is
paid to any
reasonable objection raised against any particular site, though
most of the sites being old
ones, it is seldom that they are objected to. Moreover, shops for
the sale of hemp-drugs are
not considered a nuisance, and are often accommodated in the same
room where other business
is carried on.
41. No rate is
fixed at which any of the hemp-drugs must be supplied by wholesale
to
retail vendors. The retail price of each of the drugs varies
considerably in different districts.
The average retail price of each is shown below:—
Rs. A.
|
Ganja |
20 |
0 |
per seer. |
||||||
|
Siddhi |
2 |
8 |
" |
||||||
|
Charas |
40 |
0 |
" |
||||||
|
Majum |
3 |
0 |
" |
42. The retail selling
price of each of the drugs in the following districts is
shown
below:—
|
NAMES OF DISTRICTS. |
RETAIL SELLING PRICE PER SEER. |
||||||
|
Ganja. |
Siddhi. |
Charas. |
Majum. |
||||
|
Rs. |
Rs. |
Rs. |
Rs. |
||||
|
Dacca |
16 |
3-12 |
40 |
3 |
|||
|
Mymensingh |
16 to 25 |
3 |
|||||
|
Rajshahi |
25 |
||||||
|
Purnea |
14 to 20 |
||||||
|
Bhagalpur |
12-8 to 20 |
1-8 |
|||||
|
Calcutta |
12 to 16 |
1-12 to 2 |
35 to 40 |
2-8 to 4 |
|||
|
Burdwan |
20 |
2-4 to 2-8 |
36 |
||||
|
Patna |
12 |
1 |
|||||
|
Muzaffarpur |
15 to 18 |
1 |
|||||
|
Lohardaga |
15 |
5 |
|||||
|
Cuttack |
12 to 16 |
5 to 6 |
|||||
|
Chittagong |
12 to 18 |
3 |
|||||
Section 15 of Act VII (B.
C.) fo
1878.
43. Yes, a maximum
amount is fixed for retail sales to, and possession by, the
ordi-
nary consumer, as regards each of the articles as shown
below:—
Rajshahi ganja, siddhi,
and majum or any preparation or admixture of the same,
one
quarter of a seer (20
tolas); Garhjat ganja (5 tolas experi-
mentally); charas or any preparation or admixture of the
same, 5 tolas.
No minimum price is fixed for any of these drugs.
44. A statement is given below showing the number of ganja cases during 1892-93:—
|
NATURE OF OFFENCE. |
1892-93. |
||
|
NO. OF PERSONS. |
|||
|
Arrested. |
Convicted. |
||
|
Smuggling of ganja or siddhi |
90 |
83 |
|
|
Illicit cultivation of ganja or siddhi |
86 |
71 |
|
|
Unlicensed sale of ganja |
154 |
128 |
|
|
Illicit possession of ganja |
77 |
64 |
|
|
TOTAL |
407 |
346 |
|
Of the 90 arrests shown
under the head of smuggling, no less than 80 were made in
Puri.
Of the remaining 10, 5 took place in Bhagalpur, 4 in Dinajpur, and
1 in Shahabad. These
figures give a fair indication of the extent of smuggling as also
of the localities where it pre-
vails. Some ganja is smuggled from Nepal into the districts
bordering on that State, but
the evil is not widespread, and does not appreciably affect the
revenue. The drug is of inferior
quality, so much so that considerable quantities of duty-paid
Rajshahi ganja is annually export-
ed to Nepal from the North Gangetic districts.
Garhjat ganja, on the
other hand, is largely smuggled into Orissa. The drug is in
great demand with the priests of the famous shrine of Juggernath,
and is affected by the
attendants of other Orissa temples. It is usually brought in small
quantities by pil-
grims, mendicants, and others as an acceptable offering to the
priests. The offence is most rife
in Puri, and also prevails in Cuttack and Balasore, though no cases
were reported from either
district in the past year.
There are thus two
distinct sources of illicit supply—Nepal and the Garhjat States
of
Orissa. The extent of smuggling from Nepal is small, and no special
measures are taken