CENTRAL INDIA MEMORANDUM. 163
who use ganja and bhang.
But it is only the smoking of ganja that is distinctly regarded
as
disreputable. The social drinking of bhang, referred to in the last
paragraph, is of course
not regarded as in any way reprehensible.
24. It is generally
agreed that for an habitual smoker to forego the use of ganja would
be
a serious privation. The habitual users of hemp drugs, and
particularly ganja, are mostly
ignorant and fanatical men. Among religious mendicants the habit of
smoking ganja
is hereditary and inveterate. Nothing can take the place of ganja
to these men, and the
deprivation of the drug that their order has used for so many
centuries would, there is every
reason to suppose, be a serious political danger. The matter of
bhang is not so serious, its
users belonging, as a rule, to a better class; but in this
connexion it has been pointed out by more
than one witness that both opium and drink are dearer than bhang;
that Kshattriyas are the
only twice-born Hindus to whom strong drink is not prohibited; and
so that Brahmans, for
instance, if they wanted an intoxicant, would take to opium; while
Sudra users of hemp drugs,
to whom strong drink is not forbidden, would not be able to afford
it. On this point the
Political Agent in Bhopawar writes:—
"Prohibition would
probably be as ineffective as were the numerous attempts
formerly
made in all countries to prohibit the use of tobacco. The drug
would certainly be consumed
whether permitted or not. Interference would undoubtedly cause
discontent, but any political
danger would mainly arise from the opportunity afforded to the
authorities for harassing
the people. It is also possible that the Bhil tribes might show
their resentment by open
resistance. Witnesses are unanimously of opinion that prohibition
would be an act of
arbitrary injustice, and this would probably be the general popular
feeling. The prohibi-
tion of ganja might lead to increased consumption of alcohol. The
bhang-consuming classes
generally disapprove of the use of alcohol, and would not be likely
to take to it."
25. Generally
speaking, there appears to be no reason to suppose that alcohol is
to any
extent taking the place at present of any of the hemp drugs. But
the Indore Minister is of a
different opinion.
26. In none of the
States in Central India do there appear to be any restrictions on
the
manufacture or on the import and export of hemp drugs. Duties are
charged on importation
as on the other articles of merchandize. In some States the sale of
the drugs is to some extent
restricted. In Indore, as the Minister states, the wholesale dealer
requires no license; there is
no maximum limit to the quantity he may sell at a time, but there
is a minimum limit, viz.,
60 seers. The right to sell
the drugs in retail is farmed out by public auction, and the
retail
sale is confined to the farmer and his agents. At present the
retail farmer has one shop of his
own in the city, and fifteen tobacconists in the city and
twenty-five more in the mofussil,
sell the drugs as his agents, there being as a rule a shop at the
head-quarters of every mahal.
The only other state in which there appears to be any restriction
on the sale of the drugs is
Rewah, where the "contractors" (meaning apparently the wholesale
importers) are said to
pay a fixed duty and license fees to the State. Shops in which
there is consumption on the
premises are not mentioned as existing anywhere. In the State of
Bhopal there is a licensed
contractor for each pargana, who makes retail sales in his own shop
and authorizes others to do
so as his agents.
For Cantonments and
Agency head-quarters very little information about the sale
of
hemp drugs is available. In M how there is one "sanctioned" shop,
and the Cantonment
Magistrate reports that the daily sale is only about four seers. In
Nowgong cantonment
the Abkari contractor holds a license to sell hemp drugs, for which
he pays specially. In
Nimach there is one licensed vendor, who is said to sell the drugs
at 50 per cent. over the
price in adjoining native territory. In Sehore bazaar there is one
licensed shop. In the
Indore Residency Bazaar the right to sell hemp drugs retail is a
part of the abkari contract,
supposed to be worth Rs. 20 a month.