128 REPORT OF THE INDIAN HEMP DRUGS COMMISSION, 1893-94. [APP.
KASHMIR STATE MEMORANDUM.
1. Cultivation of hemp does not prevail in Kashmir.
2. The hemp plant, however, grows spontaneously throughout Kashmir proper.
3. It is abundant in
Wantipora, Haripore, and Anantnag tahsils of the Anantnag
district,
and in the Nagam tahsil of the Srinagar District, growing on both
banks of the river Jhelum
and Arveni and Kaimu nallahs.
4. The growth of wild
hemp is ordinarily dense. Almost all wild hemp which is
called
Talia in the Punjab, and is generally female plant in the
above-mentioned tahsils, is used for
the preparation of ganja locally known by name gard bhang (chura
charas).
5. The total
quantity of gard bhang annually manufactured in ordinary years is
about 70
maunds, but in the year Sambat 1950 the total production of ganja
amounted to about 35
maunds, the hemp plant having been considerably damaged by the
recent flood.
6. Four hundred
maunds of fibre are annually produced, but, for reasons stated
above, the
total quantity of fibre in Sambat 1950 amounted to 160 maunds
only.
7. Down the city on
both banks of the river Jhelam wild hemp known as Kathiya
bhang
does not produce gard bhang (chura charas), and it is only used for
its fibre and twigs for
burning.
8. About 600
maunds of fibre is annually produced down the river and in the
Utarmachi-
pura and Sri Pratap Singhpura tahsils and ilaqa Magan of the Pattan
Tahsil and
Khinhama.
9. Zamindars
pay to the lessee fixed amount as duty which varies according to
the
extent of the growth for the fibre and twigs of the hemp plant
growing down the city and in
the tahsils mentioned in paragraph 8.
10. The leaves of
the hemp plant are trodden under foot, and cleaned by sieve to
prepare
gard bhang, and this process is continued until the leaves are
reduced to powder and seeds
separated. This is always done by lessee in Srinagar, where the
leaves are brought to undergo
this process of manufacture.
11. Manufacture and
sale of gard bhang (chura charas) and fibre are auctioned,
and
the highest bid in the current year, Sambat 1950, amounted to Rs.
3,240.
12. The monopoly of
sale is practically given to the lessee, who appoints his own men
for
retail sale and makes his own arrangements for control of the
growth of the wild hemp plant,
the production of the ganja, and for its fibre.
13. The number and
sites of retail shops are not fixed, and it is optional for the
lessee
to open retail shops at suitable places not objected to by the
people according to the require-
ments of the consumers.
14. The maximum
quantity for retail sale to, or possession by, the ordinary
consumers of
gard bhang is 5 tolas.
15. No
minimum price is fixed for " gard bhang," but it is usually sold at
3 pice per
tola.
16. Illicit sale to, and
possession of gard bhang by, consumers in excess of the
maximum
amount are now generally dealt with on the criminal side under the
State Penal Code for
disobedience of rules duly promulgated. The rules are, however,
defective and make no
provision for prosecuting a man manufacturing ganja without a
license or destroying the wild
hemp plant, or for other similar cases, or binding the lessee to
keep up register of produce of
the drugs and sale. Framing of the new rules as more effective
preventive measures for such
purposes is under consideration.
17. The
illicit sale of the Yarkand charas apparently prevails, but to a
very small extent,
as the Yarkand charas is not liked by the Kashmiris, which is the
only drug passing through
Kashmir for British India.
18. The drug being
usually leased, lessee makes his own arrangements for
prevention
of the illicit sale, as he does for the control of the growth of
the plant. The contractor of
duty on custom and octroi also in his own interest has supervision
on the Yarkand charas to
see that it passes the country sealed intact, as, if sold in the
city, he is entitled to duty on the
same.