SIND MEMORANDUM.                                                           103

The following table shows the average retail price of bhang, ganja, and charas in the four
districts, Karachi, Hyderabad, Shikarpur, and Thar and Parkar:—

(i) The amount fixed for retail sales to, or possession by, the consumer is 40 tolas, under
Government Resolution No. 4681, dated 14th July 1888. No minimum price is fixed for re-
tail sales of the drug.

(j) A certain limited amount of smuggling of bhang takes place from Khairpur State,
which is adjacent to the Hyderabad, Shikarpur, and Thar and Parkar districts, and the
reason for this is that the hemp plant is cultivated and bhang manufactured and sold without
any restriction in Khairpur. There is no doubt, also, that some small amount of charas and
ganja is smuggled into Sind from Jesulmir through the Thar and Parkar district. No special
measures are taken to prevent this smuggling, as every kind of abkari supervision is entrusted
to the salt and opium preventive establishments. As for smuggling in the form of illicit cul-
tivation of hemp or manufacture of bhang there is little chance of such occurring, because
cultivation is inspected and noted by no less than three different officers in turn, viz., the
Tapadar, Mukhtyarkar, and Assistant Collector, and it is easy to see that such cultivators as
obtain permission to manufacture bhang, dispose of it all to the licensed vendor, and do not
keep a portion of their produce for private use or. illicit sale.

(k) No modifications of the present excise system in respect to hemp-drugs are under
consideration, nor do any appear necessary. The reasons given in his note by the Commis-
sioner of Customs for deprecating any interference with the present system apply even more
forcibly to Sind, where the consumption of the hemp drugs is proportionately smaller than in
the presidency, and where, on account of the small number of producers and licensed vendors,
no hindrances or hardships have ever been experienced.

(l) The extent of cultivation of bhang is shown in the statement marked B attached to this
report, and it need only be observed here that the growth of the plant is practically confined
to the Karachi and Shikarpur districts. From the figures* of revenue, which are at present
available only for the Karachi, Hyderabad, and Thar and Parkar districts, it will be seen that
during the last 20 years there has been a steady increase of revenue derived, which, seeing
that the only item of revenue is the amount paid by the farmers for the right to vend, implies
increased competition among bidders, and that again implies an increased demand for the
drugs. The amount of revenue derived in the Hyderabad district, after fluctuating and fall-
ing considerably, is now very little in excess of what it was 20 years ago.

(m) On this point it need only be said that as bhang is used in moderation by Hindus
and Mahomedans alike, and as even an excessive use of it is not attended by nearly such serious
consequences as an excessive use of alcohol or opium, any measures for modifying the present
system, or restricting its free use by the people are likely to cause widespread discontent.
Interference, however, with the present system of administration as regards charas and ganja
would not be so unpopular on account of the very small extent to which these drugs are used
in Sind, and because their use is generally admitted by the people themselves to be harmful.

R. I. CRAWFORD, Colonel,

Acting Commissioner in Sind.

* Note.—The Shikarpur and Upper Sind Frontier figures have been subsequently received and are included in the
statements attached.