Drug Abuse

1. Evidence of the HON'BLE MR. D. It. LYALL, C.S.I., Member, Board of Revenue, Calcutta.

1. I have been in the service of Government for over 32 years, and have been in charge of the Districts of Dacca, Tippera, Faridpur, Howrah, and the 21-Parganas. I have also been Commissioner of the Dacca, Presidency, Chittagong, and Patna Divisions, and have been also Inspector-General of Police, and now am Member of the Board of Revenue and in charge of Excise. In all these capacities I have bad opportunities of obtaining information and have been Administrator of Excise in the districts above named. I never made this branch over to a Deputy Collector, except in the 24-Parganas, and even there I kept administration largely in my own hands.

2. The definitions are those current in Bengal.

3. I know no district in all Bengal in which the hemp plant does not grow spontaneously. Personally I have noticed it most in Champaran and. Tippera, but it is common everywhere.

4 See reply to 2.
So far as I know the plant is the same everywhere.

5. See reply to 'No. 3.

6. Generally scattered, but I have seen also considerable fields of it

7. (a) Yes, about Naogaon.
(b) No.
(c) Yes, in Bbagalpur and Monghyr chiefly, but also elsewhere to a smaller extent.
(d) To a smaller extent only.

8. There is not much variation. The amount of land cultivated since 1877-78 for ganja is as follows

We have no details of the area under bliang cultivation.

9. I can say nothing that is not to be found in Balm Hem Chander Ker and Dr. Prain's reports.

10. Same class as other cultivators.

11. Never; so far as I know.

12. No, it is never so cultivated, so far as I am aware.

13. No man can legally cultivate plants from which bitoxicating drugs are produced without a pass from the Collector. These are only given in the tract round Naogaon in the Districts of Rajshahi, Bogra and Dinajpur.
See reply to 3. I believe ganja could be grown equally well anywhere. It used to be grown in Jessore.

14. (a) Ganja. in the parts above designated, the crop being generally six to eight thousand maunds. The highest since 1877-78 is 9,448 maunds in that year, and the lowest 3,768 in the year following. Last year it was 7,575.
(b) None made.
(c) Bbang is chiefly grown in Bhagalpur and Monghyr.

15. I can add nothing to the information given by Dr. Prain.

16. (a) Yes.
(b) Yes.
(c) No. By this reply, I mean that the amount of resin in the wild plant is so small as to be practically of no use as ganja or charas.

17. Not confined to one class.

18. I agree with what Dr. Prain has written on this point. Ganja is absolutely useless, as now kept, after two years. The result of Dr. Prain's experiments will prove whether it will keep under other conditions.

19. Solely for smoking, so far as I have seen.

20. Charae is little used. Ganja is chiefly used by the lower classes, and Bairagies, and such like.

21. What is smoked is the same thing, i.e., the flower and resin whether it comes from flat, round or chur. Round is more used round Calcutta, but in reality there is no difference, and the use of one kind more than another is quite arbitrary.

22. The dealers buy at Amballa chiefly. All that is used is foreign and comes from the hills.

23. I have never seen or known it to be so used, but have heard of it being so used in Orissa.

24. There was not in 1891-92 a single bhang license in the Rajshahi Division. Only 3 in Chittagong, 6 in Dacca, 8 in Orissa, and 9 in Bhagalpur. In the Burdwan Division there were 72, in the Presidency Division 67, in Patna 73, and in Chota Nagpur 33. It is chiefly drunk. I do not think there are classes who eat and do not drink.

25. The consumption of ganja varies little. In the five years, 1875:76 to 1879-80 it averaged 6,778 maunds a year ; in the next five years, 5,871; in 1885-86 to 1889-90 it was 6,209, and in the last three years, 5,741. The highest consumption was in 1887-88, 6,550 maunds; and the lowest, in 1892-93, maunds 5,451. This is the amount on which duty was paid. Charas has increased in the last 10 years ; but the total sales are only 10 or 12 rnaunds at most. In 1880-81 811 maunds of bhang were sold against 1,064 in 1891-92. The increase is small.

26. The great bulk of the ganja smokers are habitual moderate consumers. Bairagies and such like are habitual excessive consumers. I should say there were very few of classes (e) and (d).

27. The lower classes in East Bengal, boatmen and such like, nearly all consume ganja moderately. Hindu religious devotees are those who habitually consume in excess, and also Muhammadan debauchees,

28. (a) About a pice worth.
(b) Six or seven times that amount, or even more.

29. (a) Tobacco. (6) Dhatura
In the case of (a), it is the ordinary mixture. In the case of (b), it is used as a stimulant and drug.

30„ Both in solitude and company, chiefly the latter. It is most used by males. I have not come across any consumption by children.

31. Ube habit is easily formed and not easy to break off. Looking at the enormous preponderance of moderate habitual smokers, I should say the tendency to develop into excess was small.

32. Ganja and bhang both enter into the Hindu festivals; but on this point natives will give better evidence.

33. 0-anja smoking is not held to be respectable ; but I do not think there is much feeling against it. Seeing it is used so much by devotees, religious public opinion cannot be against it. Here again native evidence will be best.

34. I do not think the hardship is very great; but my experience is drawn from jails. I refer to moderate consumers. Excessive consumers feel it more.

35. (a) I do not think so. (b) Certainly.
(e) It could not be enforced without an enormous preventive service and much cost.
(d) and (e) I think the discontent would be great, amounting to a political danger, and that the cry of interference with religion would be raised.
(f) Yes, and to illicit growth of the hemp plant.

36. No. It is the other way, if anything, but not very markedly.

37. I know of no difference.

38. None, so far as I am aware.

39. This is more of a medical question ; but I should say smoking was the less harmful.

40. I believe so ; but the evidence of native doctors may be taken.

41. I should say yes to all questions. The boatmen of East Bengal use it largely and thrive on it. It is, like most other things, good when not taken in excess. I refer to moderate habitual use. As noted in reply to question 26, few use the drug occasionally.

42. See above.

43. Absolutely so. In this view alcohol renders those under its influence much more offensive than ganja.

44. Ganja smoked in moderation produces appetite and revives the spirits. It does not produce intoxication.
The effect lasts some time. I have never noticed any after-effects in the case of moderate consumption.

45. (a) I do not think so.
(b) I have never seen any instance ; but doctors can say.
(c) No, quite the contrary.
(d) Not to my knowledge.
(e) I do not think so.
(f) Immoderate use is said to cause insanity; but I doubt it, else the proportion of insane Bairagies and such like would be greater than it is. I fear gauja is held responsible for more cases of insanity than are really due to it. I never heard of bhang being blamed for insanity. I think ganja affects some men more than others, as 1 have seen the same man sent time after time to an asylum and always come back.

46. See above. I believe habitual use of bhang is bad for the digestion.

47 and 48. Not to my knowledge.

49. Ganja is certainly so used, also bhang, generally in the form of majum. It seems rather to strengthen existing desires than to be an active aphrodisiac, and for this purpose it is generally mixed with other drugs. A man who uses hemp for this purpose necessarily wears himself out more than he otherwise would do, and in this way it is more injurious.

50. I cannot say if hemp produces impotence.

51. My experience is that most bad characters consume ganja. I hold that in itself ganja does not dispose to crime; hut it may strengthen the will to commit crime if it is already there. I do not know that the moderate use of ganja is connected with any particular form of crime.

52. The above applies generally. Men under ganja sometimes commit murder ; but it is hard to say how far the ganja is responsible.

53. Generally premeditated.    I have known cases of temporary homicidal frenzy.

54. To some extent.

55. Dhatura is generally mixed when drugging is intended. Ganja alone, unless taken to an enormous extent, would not cause complete stupefaction. In fact, I am not sure that alone it would ever do so.

56. See question above. The ordinary ganja smoker does not use dhatura.

57. I know of no such cases.

58 and 59. On the whole it works well, but is capable of improvement.

Ganja.-I think the cultivation is sufficiently controlled, but the preparation and storage arrangements can be improved. The rules contemplate a public gola; but as a fact, there is no public gola for storage, nor, under existing circumstances, would it be possible without enormous expenditure to have a public gola.

In the first place genie as it is now prepared, the great bulk of it being " fiat," takes umeh room, and in the next place the damage from rats and mice would be very great. As a fact, at pre-sent each raiyat's house is a gola for his crop until it is sold, and this is fair, as the crop is the raiyat's property. At present the raiyat sells to a middle-man or goladar, and it is only when the sale is complete and the drug is to be removed that the crop comes to the Government gola to be weighed and packed. This goladar is the middle-man between the producing raiyat and the retail vendor, and these men make large profits. They are generally also retail vendors, and they are able to exact very high prices from the other retail vendors. These profits, I hold, ought to come into the pockets of Government; and if the experiments made by Dr. Prain turn out success-ful, it will be very easy for Government to deal with the raiyats and the retail vendors direct.

In dealing with the raiyats I would have Gov-ernment purchase the crop at once from the raiyats and undertake the preparation in the manner pro-posed by Dr. Prain (square cakes). The amount of crop varies from 3,768 mauuds in 1878-79 and 3,888 in 1885-86 to 9,448 in 1877-78 and 8,982 in 1883-84. I would buy this just as it is cut, and would fix the price yearly according to the harvest, paying higher rates in bad, and lower in good years, with a fixed minimum and maximum, which can be settled from the prices now obtained by the raiyats. The weak point in our opium system is that all the loss of a bad year falls on the raiyats, while Government pays them just as much in the bad year as in a good. If this be doue, I take it the area of cultivation could be much reduced. The statistics show that fronn one to three thousand maunds a year more are grown than are consumed, This is partly destroyed as damaged (about 4 or 5 hundred maunds) and partly never passes out of the raiyat's hands, the demand not being sufficient. This last element of uncertainty to the raiyat would go if Government bought all the crop, and if Dr. Prain's proposals succeed, Government will be able to keep the drug longer without deterioration. After the drug has been bought and pressed, and, if necessary, put up in tins, it should be made over to Collectors on in-dents, just as opium is now made over, and retail vendors should buy from Collectors direct.

The great bulk of the crop is at present at once removed from the producing district, and Collec-tors' indents could be arranged so as to continue this custom and secure the immediate removal to the districts of the bulk of the crop, and thus economise gola space at Naogaon. The pressing sheds need not be substantial, as the weather is always fine at the time of the ganja harvest. What I propose would be liked by the cultivators, and by the retail dealers, and Government would at once secure 2 or 3 lakhs of revenue, and would also have a much stronger hold on the distribution and regulation of the sale of the drug. The only men likely to object to it (besides the goladars) are those who hold that Government should have nothing to do with excise and similar matters ; but the public gain would in other respects be so great as to justify Government in disregarding their views. So far as I am aware, there is abso-lutely no desire on the part of any section of the native community to put down the use of ganja and bhang, and even those who generally support Mr. Caine and the views put forward in ilbkari do not join in this respect.

60. The cultivation is sufficiently controlled.

61. Not produced, but might be.

Charas.—No charas produced in this province is sold or goes into the market ; but Chapter VII, pages 16 aud 17 of Dr. Prain's report, shows that sorne is produced but not used, and if the pro-posals made above are accepted, the 10 per cent. of resin now lost and thrown away will be saved aud so much less hemp need be grown. G-anja and charas are really one, and in time, if the question be scientifically followed up, possibly charas will be the only form used.

62. I think it could to some extent.

Bhang.—The rules require that a license should be taken out for the cultivation of the plant for bhang just as much as for ganja ; but, as a fact, no such license has ever been taken out, and all that is used is said to grow wild. The fact is that most of the hemp used for bhang is imported from the North-Western Provinces, and only a small amount is grown in the districts of Purnea, Monghyr and 13hagalpur. The orders issued in Circular No. 6075 of 26th January 1893 were, in my opinion, in accordance with the law, and would by degrees have operated so as to give some control over the cultivation of hemp for bhang ; but the Lieutenant-Governor, Sir C. Elliott, did not approve of them, and they were withdrawn. The fact remains that there is hardly a well-to-do native gentleman who has not a few plants of hemp growing somewhere handy, and that if the cultivation or the existence of these was checked, bhang would be purchased in much (neater quan-tities by licensed vendors. I would'also press the Collectors of exporting districts to get cultivators to take license. I am opposed to any sudden drastic action, but think gradual systematic pres-sure would do much.

63. Vend of drugs.—I have already said I would knock out the wholesale vendor entirely and make the wholesale business a Government monopoly.
I have nothing to say regarding the retail vend, which seems to me to be sufficiently under regu-lation.

64. I have no objection to raise.

65. Taxation of the drugs.—This is a very diffi-cult question to answer as a whole.

As regards (a),I should say that clams and chur ganja should pay about the same tax as they now do, but that charas might bear a little higher tax than chur ganja as it is purer; but then again it is brought from a great distance. On the, whole an equal rate is not unfair, but consump-tion should be watched. I do not think bhang can be taxed higher than it is, as the result would simply be more illicit cultivation.

As compared with alcohol the taxation is low ; but alcohol is at present too highly taxed, and the result is large illicit distillation. I do not think the rate on flat ganja can safely be much raised without danger of illicit cultivation, and it is this that should guide taxation rather than a comparison with alcohol. As stimulants they can hardly be compared.

66. Yes. Dr. Prain has gone into this in Chapter X of his report, and the Board have since recommended that the rates from 1st January next shall be Rs. 6 for flat (large twigs), Rs. 7 and annas 4 for flat (small tvvigs), Rs. 7 and annas 8 for round, and Rs. 9 for chur.

67. Incidence of tax on consutner.—The tax is undoubtedly light, and it is the cheapest form of stimulant; but, looking at it in all lights, I am not disposed to recommend much of a rise,— vide what has been said under question 65.

68. There is no bar to consumption on the premises, and I see no reason why there should be. A ganja shop has no repulsive surroundings, nor do men get drunk and disorderly as a rule from its use. I know no objections to the present system.

69. Sites of shops are determined under the rules contained in section II, page 101, and sequel of the Manual. Rule 9 is the most im-portant and should be consulted, also Rule 12. Any objection is considered, but no attempt at a plebiscite or anything of that kind is made.

70. The importation from Gurjat into Orissa is provided for in the rules. There is also smug-gling, but this is a question of prevention.

Oral evidence.    -

Question 3.—I have seen the so-called wild hemp growing at a distance from habitations in the Tippera district and in Charnparan. There may have been habitations previously in those places, especially in Tippera. I am not prepared to say whether the plant is indig.,enous or no. I have not had the same opportunities of speaking. about other districts than those mentioned above. It would be difficult to eradicate such orowth, but the attempt has not yet been fairly m:de, aud I do not think it would be impossible.

Question 7.—There is no licit cultivation in British territory in Orissa, but I believe the plant is cultivated outside in Native States.

Question 44.—In the second paraffraph of this answer I mean that after the immtediate effects of moderate consumption had worn off I have not noticed any subsequent effects. I have had no moderate consumer under observation, so as to be able to speak to the remote after-effects.

Question 45.—In writing my answer regarding the re-admission of ganja lunatics, I bad in my mind particularly the case of a man in the Dacca Asylum, of which I was for many years a visitor, who was admitted not less than six or seven times. I do not remember any other case of the kind.

Question 46.—In saying that the habitual use of bhang is bad for the digestion, I am stating the impression that is left on my mind by what natives have told me. I am referring to the habitual excessive use of the drug.

Question 51.—The opinion given in this answer is largely based on opinions arrived at by Dr. Wise, who made experiments with the drugs when be was Civil Surgeon of Dacca. My meaning is that hemp would intensify a desire in a man's mind to commit a certain crime. Dr. Wise col-lected evidence from which be concluded that hemp strengthened a man's desires, criminal or other. I have tried to get Dr. Wise's notes, but am sorry I failed to do so. I can give no ex-amples to illustrate mv answers Nos. 52 and 53. They convey a general' impression, and I cannot recall any individual case. It is a long time since I had to do with magisterial work.

Question 58.—The present system is briefly as follows. A license to cultivate is given to any raiyat who applies to do so within the gauja, mahal. The area to be cultivated is entered in the license and in the Government register, and there is no limit by rule to such area. So far as I know, the Collector never refuses to grant license for any area applied for. The cultivation is inspected bv supervisors throughout the period of growth, th.e areas cultivated being compared with the licenses. The cultivator cuts his erop, not necessarily under the supervisor's eye, nor does he require to get permission, but he gives three days' notice of his intention to cut. The manufacture is done by the raiyat at his own option as to time and place. The supervisors move about and supervise the manufacture as far as they can. Practically, the bulk of the manufacture is not completed under the supervisors' eye. When the manufacture is complete the raiyat carries his produce to his own store, under the latter part of Rule 11 of Section XX of the Excise Manual, page 120, there being no public godown large enough to receive the whole crop. A license is given to the raiyat de-scribing the quantity and kind of ganja be is allowed to store, and authorizes him to keep it until be disposes of it to a licensed purchaser. 'rhe amount is arrived at by the supervisors by inspection of the crop after manufacture and the number of bundles into which it is manufactured. The crop is made up by the raiyat into two-seer bundles, and by long practice the measurement is wonderfully exact, though it is done by guess. The raiyat's store is generally- situated close to his manufacturing ground. The wholesale dealer comes to the mahal armed with a license from the Collector of his own district giving the amount he is authorized to export. He makes his own arrangement with the raiyats, visiting any store he likes, and as far as I know, unaccom-panied by a supervisor or any Excise officer. Having made his bargain, the dealer brings the ganja to the Government gola, where it is weighed and the sale recorded on the back of the raiyat's license, as well as in the Government books. No pass is required for the removal of the ganja from the raiyat's store to the Government gola. The dealers' consignment is sealed at the Government gola and then carried by the wholesale dealer under pass to his gola at the head-quarters or sub-division of the place of import. There it is placed under double lock, one being in the posses-sion of the dealer and the other in the posqes-sion of the Excise Deputy Collector. The wholesale dealer sells to the retail vendor at his own price and the retail vendor sells to the public at his own price, except in one district, where a maximum limit is imposed under the terms of an arrangement with the monopolist. This district is Cuttack. The right of retail vend is sold by auction.

I think that this system gives opportunity for illicit disposal of the ganja, but I do not believe that smuggling does occur. It is difficult to give the grounds of this belief, but one at least is that I have never come across a case of smuggled ganja, though cases of opium smuggling are not uncommon. I admit, however, that excised opium is identifiable and the possession of crude opium is punishable, xvhereas excised ganja cannot be distinguished from smuggled ganja so as to secure punishment. By excised opium I mean the cake. The facility afforded for smuggling., is undoubtedly a weak part of our system, though, as I have said before, I do not believe that smuggling pre-vails to any extent. The safeguards ag,ainst illicit practices are the concentration of the area cf growth, and the crop estimate made by the super-visors when the crop is in the ground. This estimate is generally found to agree wonderfully with the outturn, and forms one cheek on the amount of the stuff in the custody of the raiyat. The •bulkiness of ganja is an additional safeguard as compared with opium. We have never within my knowledge discovered a cultivator disposing of his crop illegally. Of course, if there were collusion between the protective establishment and the cultivators, this safeguard would be of little use, but as a fact I believe the establishment is trustworthy.

The public gain to which I refer at the close of this answer consists in the financial gain and the removal of facilities for smuggling. I wish to add that • since writing this answer the line taken by the anti-opiumists on the Opium Commission has greatly strengthened my view as to the weakness of the opposition to Government establishing a monopoly in ganja. At first we were prepared to bring forward strong evidence as regards the working of the monopoly system as regards opium. But within very few days of the opening of the Commission the anti-opiumists intimated that if the growth of opium were not entirely prohibited they considered the Government monopoly as the best and most restrictive system under which it could be grown. In Bengal the financial benefits to be gained by Government assuming the monopoly would be very great. Only the other day the Excise Commissioner found the wholesale vendor at Balasore selling ganja at the price of Rs. 3 per seer to the retail vendors, and the price there is occasionally as high as Rs. 4, while his expenses could not possibly exceed Re. 1 per seer. This occurs more or less all over the province. The wholesale vendor pays a fee of Rs. 2 for each license.

I should say that there would be distinctly less difficulty in the way of Government undertaking this monopoly than in the case of opium, on account of the limited area in which the drug is grown. The main difficulty would be the bulkiness of the crop, which would be greatly reduced if Dr. Prain's experiments turned out successful. I will place the Commission in possession of the result * of Dr. Prain's experiments so far as they will be available in March 1894 (page 22 of Dr. Prain's report). I do not think the quality of ganja varies so much as that of opium, but it is true that the latter can be accurately ascertained, whereas at present the former cannot. It is possible that if Government undertook the monopoly they would be able by chemical experiment to gauge the quality of ganja. The quality of ganja does not vary so much as opium from field to field, but does vary from harvest to harvest. Crops of inferior ganja do sometimes occur, and people do make complaints. This would be a difficulty in the way of fixing a price, but not an insuperable difficulty. It would not be so easy to fix a price according to standard as in the case of opium. The difficulty caused by the deterioration of the drug is distinctly more serious than in the case of opium, but we hope that Dr. Prain's experiments will enable us to discover a remedy for this. At present all ganja is destroyed after two years. My principal object in proposing the monopoly is to get the maximum of revenue with the minimum of consumption and to benefit the cultivators. At present a large share of the revenue goes into the pockets of the middlemen. Further, Government is unable to fix any sliding scale of price for districts where smuggling is impossible or easy, as is done in the case of opium. The price of opium in the consuming districts is Rs. 16, rising to Rs. 32 per seer in the more distant and inaccessible districts. If Government purchased the ganja crop the cultivator would have a sure market and not suffer the occasional losses he does at present. Government would of course have to regulate the area of land for which licenses should be given and not issue licenses, as at present, to all who apply.

At present the price of the crop is fixed by the ordinary rules of the market, and all risks on account of the crop are taken by the cultivator and to a less degree by the middlemen. The arrangements of the market are all made by the wholesale goladar (middleman). Government is then saved a great deal of trouble and risk in regard to the custody of the crop, the fixing of the price, and the transport of the drug. At the same time I think this relief is too dearly bought.
The system of fixing a price at which the wholesale vendors should be bound to supply retail vendors and auctioning the right of wholesale vend would to a certain extent meet the difficulty by giving a share of the goladar's profit to Government, and would also be of advantage in enabling the retail vendor to know what he was contracting for ; but I doubt if the system would result in much financial gain on account of the limited competition among goladars and probable com- bination among them. As the head of excise I should much prefer to take up a Government monopoly and would guarantee to work it.

Question 62.—I should have preferred that the circular No. 6075 of 26th January had stood. It never had a fair trial. I do not think there would have been any considerable oppression, because the people would very soon give up cultivating if they knew it would lead to prosecution. In some few cases, no doubt, prosecutions would have bad to be instituted. But, as far as I know, none were instituted as long as the circular was in force, and should have been prepared to repress any undue activity of this kind. The quantity of bhang that is now exported from the Bhagalpur Division shows that there must be cultivation to a considerable extent, though there is no licensed cultivation. The theory is that the whole of this is wild hemp.

Question 68.—Consumption on the premises is not general though it is not illegal. I know of no evil arising from the practice, and see no reason why it should be prohibited. Nothing bas come to my notice to lead me to suppose that any harm arises from it.

Question 69.—The number of shops has been greatlyIreduced of late years, as statistics will show. Further reduction would cause great discomfort to consumers' and I think they have a right to be considered. I am not prepared to say whether an appeal to public opinion would result in the closing of many more shops. The smoking of ganja is not unpopular.

The people of Bengal are distinctly a sober people, and I do not see any need to interfere further with their habits in regard to the consumption of the hemp drug. I do not think the monopoly I have advocated would be such interference.

* see Appendix to Dr. Prain's evidence.