157

I caused some smokers to smoke before me, and
I supplied them with Gurjat and Rajshahi ganja.
The old smokers of Rajshahi ganja said the
Gurjat ganja produced a burning sensation in the
pit of their stomach, and also that it would
produce dysentery and similar pain if they are
unaccustomed to it. Those accustomed to Gurjat
ganja do not feel these ill-effects. There were
ten smokers, four of whom were old smokers able
to distinguish the two kinds of ganja, and the
above was the opinion of these four. The general
opinion is that Gurjat ganja is the stronger and
the more harmful.

Question 45.—The opinion regarding the tend-
ency of the drug to produce insanity in persons
of weak brains and those that have a hereditary
predisposition to it is not based on my own ex-
perience. It is derived from other persons.

The remark about the effect of the use of
dhatura and kuchila is based on a case in which
an acquaintance of mine who was unaccustomed
to ganja had ganja mixed with dhatura given to
him, with the result that he became temporarily
insane. Kuchila is stronger than dhatura, and I

presume, therefore, its effects would be stronger.
I have been told of other cases. I have also heard
that since the price of ganja was raised people
have taken to mixing dhatura seeds with it.
Some of the consumers themselves told me this—
about ten people. I have also been told that for
the same reason the kernel and root of the
kannair (Thevetia neriifolia) is mixed with ganja.
Kuchila has come into use for the same cause.
I believe this information.

Question 59.—I think that if the prohibition of
growth were enforced within the three-mile belt,
the consumption of the shops along the British
frontier would be improved, provided they were
kept well supplied with Gurjat ganja, i.e., the
cheaper drug. I say Gurjat ganja, because it is
cheaper and people are accustomed to it along the
frontier, not because I think the Rajshahi ganja
is more baneful.

Question 70.—Gurjat ganja can be got easily
within six or seven miles of the Gurjat frontier.
In one case, however, a seizure was made twenty-
five miles from the frontier, and in another within
the town of Cuttack itself.

63. Evidence of BABU ABHILAS CHANDRA MUKERJEE, Brahmin, Deputy Magis-
trate and Deputy Collector, on deputation as 2nd Inspector of Excise, Bengal.

1. I had travelled over parts of the North-
Western Provinces and the Punjab (Simla) with
the Government of India on duty.

I was Deputy Magistrate and Excise Deputy
Collector of Rajshahi, and had to control the
work of the ganja mahal at Naogaon in connec-
tion with the cultivation, manufacture, storage,
and exportation of ganja to different districts and
provinces. I had to supervise the work of officers
employed in the ganja tract and inspect the
Naogaon Ganja Office, etc.

In June 1891 my services were placed at the
disposal of the Board of Revenue, with the desig-
nation of 2nd Inspector of Excise, Bengal, and
I have to inspect the excise work of the Dacca,
Presidency, Rajshahi, Chittagong, and Orissa Divi-
sions. I have travelled over every part of the
following districts* as 2nd Inspector of Excise,
Bengal.

2. Bhang; charas; ganja, flat, round, chur may
be accepted.

There is another variety of ganja called mihidal
(small twigs); it is manufactured just in the
same way as flat ganja, and the agglutinated
flower tops assume a flattened shape. They are
the dried flowering tops of the smaller twigs of
the female hemp plant; they contain less wood and
more ganja. The duty on this ganja is the same
as that levied on round ganja. Round ganja is
used in Calcutta and the neighbouring districts,
but small twigs or mihidal ganja is largely used
in the other districts. Most of the so-called round
ganja consumed in different districts is no other
than mihidal. Round ganja is prepared by train-
ed men sent to Naogaon by the goladars of
Calcutta, and they live in the ganja tract during
the manufacturing season.

          * Table of districts not printed.

They are locally known by the following
names:—

3. I have seen the hemp plant growing in the
following districts:—

Mymensingh, Dacca, Faridpur, Backer-
gunge, in the Dacca Division.

Noakhali, Tippera, Chittagong, in the
Chittagong Division.

Rangpur, Dinajpur, Bogra, Jalpaiguri,
Rajshahi, Pubna, in the Rajshahi
Division.

Nadia, Jessore, Khulna, 24-Parganas,
Murshidabad, in the Presidency Div-
sion.