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INDIAN HEMP DRUGS COMMISSION

No. 1369 Ex. GOVERNMENT OF INDIA.

FINANCE AND COMMERCE DEPARTMENT.

SEPARATE REVENUE.

Excise.

RESOLUTION

Calcutta, the 21st March 1895.

READ—

Report of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission.

RESOLUTION.—The Report of the Hemp Drugs Commission,* which was received by the Government of India on the 7th of August 1894, has been considered by the Governor General in Council.

President:

The Hon'ble W. MACKWORTH YOUNG, M.A., C.S.I., First Financial Commissioner, Punjab.

Members :

1. MR. H. T. OMMANNEY, Collector, Panch Mahals, Bombay. •

2. , A. H. L. FRASER, M.A., Commissioner, Chattisgarh Division, Central Provinces.

3. Surgeon-Major C. 1. H. WARDEN, Professor of Chemistry, Medical College, and Chemical Examiner to Government, Calcutta ; Officiating Medical Storekeeper to Government, Calcutta.

4 RAJA SOSHI SIRHARESWAR ROY; of Tahirpur, Bengal.

5. KANWAR HARNAM SINGH Ahluwalia, C.I.E., Punjab.

6. LALA NIHAL CHAND, of Muzaffarnagar, North Western Provinces.

Secretary :

MR. H. J. McINTOSH, Under-Secretary to the Government of Bengal, Financial and Municipal Departments,

The Commission were appointed, under the orders of the Government of India contained in the Resolution quoted in paragraph 1 of the Report of the Commission, at the request of Her Majesty's Secretary of State for India, who, in answer to a question put in the House of Commons, had signified his willingness to have a Commission appointed to inquire into the cultivation of the hemp plant in Bengal, the preparation of drugs from it, the trade in those drugs, the effects of their consumption upon the social and moral condition of the people, and the desirability of prohibiting the growth of the plant and the sale of ganja and allied drugs. In view of ensuring that the inquiry should be thorough and complete, the Secretary of State was of opinion that it could hardly be confined to Bengal, but should extend to the whole of Indio, and that the Commission should ascertain to what tent the existence of the hemp plant all over India affects the practical diffilculty of cheoking or stopping the consumption of ganja as distinguished from other narcotic drugs prepared from the hemp plant, and whether there is ground for that bhang is less injurious than ganja to consumers.

2. The instructions given to the Commission are reproduced in paragraph 3 of the Report ; it was left to the Commission to take up any other branch of the method of inquiry which in their opinion was likely to elucidate the subject and to aid the Government of India and the Secretary of State in deciding on the policy to be adopted in regard to hemp drugs. The Commission were directed to visit and take evidence in all or most of the provinces of India, but were informed that there were political objections to their holding sittings in Native States, although any information similar to that required regarding British India, which could be obtained regarding Native States, should be included in the Report. This was the only restriction placed upon the scope of the Commission's inquiry, and the Governor General in Council is of opinion that the Commission have fully acted up to the instructions they received, and that the inquiry made has been as complete, full, and exhaustive as it was intended that it should be. The method of inquiry adopted by the Commission is described at length in paragraphs 4 to 16 of the Report. After distributing questions for reply by such persons as might be expected to possess information on the subject, the Commission made a tour of inquiry, lasting from the 22nd August to the 6th October 1893, and a second tour, devoted chiefly to the examination of witnesses, lasting from the 25th October 1893 till the 25th April 1894. From this last date till August 6th, the subject was discussed by the members of the Commission, and the report was drawn up.

I. CULTIVATION.

3. The information obtained by the Commission as to the existence, prevalence, and character of the spontaneous growth of the hemp plant shows that, except in a tract which may be generally defined as the area that lies within 40 or 5o miles of the foot of the Himalayas, the hemp plant does not grow wild, though there are two areas in which the spontaneous growth is of some importance. One of these areas is in the North-Western Provinces, and the second consists of the country between the Ganges and the Bhagirati on one side, and the Eastern Hill Tracts stretching down to Calcutta on the other. The plant grows wild throughout the Himalayas from Kashmir to the extreme east of Assam, though it probably disappears at a higher altitude than to,000 feet. It is generally found in mountainous regions and in the lower slopes of the hills, where it probably springs from seeds carried down from the mountains. In the populous parts of the Sub-Himalayan Tracts and in the valleys of Assam the wild growth is kept up in a great measure by fresh importation of seed from the ganja and bhang which are consumed by the people, and this is true also, though in a limited degree, of the mountain and hill ranges. The plant is hardy when once established, but would probably not long survive unaided in the low country.

4. The extent of cultivation and the total area of hemp cultivation in India are given in the following table taken from paragraph 15o of the Report, in which the area is given as far as it has been possible to state definite figures :-

Extent, either ascertained or estimated, of cultivation in the various Provinces and States.

This statement is not quite accurate, as it omits the areas of cultivation of the States in Rajputana and Central India not mentioned in the table and the irregular kind of cultivation which is carried on in the Madras Presidency, the Garhjat States of Bengal, and the plains of the North-Western Provinces. There is also a considerable area of fibre cultivation in the Native States and in British territory in the Himalayas which has not been taken into account, and probably amounts to some hundreds of acres. Deducting the fibre cultivation, which yields but little of the drugs, from the total area given in the table, and Making allowance for the narcotic cultivation which has been omitted, the Commission are of opinion that the total area of cultivation of the plant for the manufacture of hemp drugs in India does not exceed 6,000 acres, and this opinion may, the Governor General in Council considers, be accepted as sufficiently near the mark.

5. In Bengal the cultivation of plants from which intoxicating drugs are produced is forbidden without a license from the Collector. The cultivation of the hemp plant is confined to a compact area having a radius of about 16 miles and lying in the three districts of Dinajpur, Rajshahi, and Bogra. There is a great advantage to the excise administration in confining the production to one area where economical and efficient arrangements can be made for supervising it. It is remarked by the first Assistant Supervisor of ganja cultivation that the cultivation is now included within a radius of about 14 miles, having been reduced from a radius of 20 miles since 1866, and the concentration of cultivation is accounted for by the fact that jungle has been removed and more land near Naogaon, which is the central supply depot, has become available for cultivation. The area shown as under cultivation is the area in which the crop has finally matured. Eight hundred and twenty-four acres is the average area cultivated during the last five years. The area under ganja cultivation shows no material increase. Outside the ganja tracts the evidence gives reason to suppose that there is a certain amount of rearing of scattered plants. This desultory cultivation occurs everywhere, though it is not common anywhere, and is, of course, carried on secretly. In the places where the wild or spontaneous growth flourishes, detection is very difficult. This illicit rearing is most prevalent in the Bhagalpur, Patna, Dacca and Rajshahi divisions, and is rare in other parts of the province. In Kuch Behar the cultivation of the hemp plant is prohibited, though secret cultivation is, perhaps, carried on to the same extent as in the surrounding British territory. In the Tributary States of Orissa it is notorious that a considerable amount of ganja and bhang is produced in the Garhjat, and it is largely consumed in the British districts of Orissa, being either smuggled or imported under pass. Although there is no regular field cultivation in the Garhjat, it is pretty clear that homestead or garden cultivation is quite uncontrolled and extremely common. In the political States of Chota Nagpur cultivation is under restrictions, which were imposed on account of representations made about smuggling into the Central Provinces ; but still there is cultivation, though its extent is not known, and there is no decided evidence of increase in the cultivation. There is also some rude cultivation in Hill Tippera.

6. In Assam the cultivation of the hemp plant is prohibited and the clandestine cultivation is unimportant. The plant sows itself and grows vigorously all over Assam, so that there must be some instances of desultory cultivation. In the Himalayan region, on the Northern Frontier, there is more or less skilful cultivation of small patches in the immediate neighbourhood of homesteads, and this doubtless extends to the extreme north-east of the province and also to the lofty ranges towards the Hukong Valley and the north of Burma. The plant is also cultivated, both for fibre and drugs, in the Kachin Hills tract of Burma.

7. In the North-Western Provinces the hemp plant is very extensively cultivated in the Himalayan division, principally for fibre, but it yields charas, bhang and seeds as secondary products. There is also cultivation in the Farukhabad district and some cultivation in the Hardoi district, and there is scattered cultivation elsewhere. Cultivation is not actually prohibited, though there is an impression abroad that some prohibition does exist, which is based apparently on the existence of prohibition in the adjoining districts of Bengal. It seems to be certain that the local production of ganja has of late years very considerably decreased.

8. In the Punjab the Himalayan cultivation resembles that of the North-Western Provinces, and in the south-west angle of the province there is a small amount of cultivation for the production of bhang, and the desultory cultivation of a few plants is a widespread practice. There is no legal prohibition to the growth of hemp. It is probably, however, discouraged by the fact that the sale of the produce is under regulation. Ganja is not smoked in the Punjab, its place being taken by charas. The evidence and other papers do not show that the cultivation is other than stationary. In no Native State in the Punjab is there any artificial restriction on the cultivation of hemp.

9. In the Central Provinces a system of licensing cultivation has been in force since 1873-74. Regular cultivation has been chiefly carried on in the two districts of Nagpur and Nimar, but up to 1878 licenses for the cultivation of small areas were also granted in twelve other districts. Since 189o-91 it has been restricted to the western half 'of the Khandwa tahsil of the Nimar district. The normal area under cultivation is about 95o acres, and it has exceeded 1,000 acres only in four years. There may be some desultory and illicit cultivation in gardens and backyards, but it is never found in open fields. In the Feudatory States the cultivation is not allowed, but there may be some illicit cultivation, as in British territory.

10. In Madras accurate figures are not available and no accounts are kept ; but the cultivation of the plant is not prohibited. It is impossible to arrive at any definite conclusion as to whether the area of regular cultivation tends to increase or decrease. The area under regular cultivation in 1893-94 was given as 345.25 acres. In the hill tracts there is no formal restriction of cultivation, and cultivators are allowed to sell the produce to licensed dealers. In the Madras States the plant is found uncultivated in Travancore, and there is reason to believe that the spontaneous growth is associated intimately with cultivation, and that home cultivation may be presumed in all the States, though it is more common in Travancore than elsewhere.

11. In Bombay the regular cultivation of hemp is carried on in the districts of Ahmednagar and Satara, and there is a small amount of cultivation in seven other districts. The cultivation is not burdened with any regular tax or license. Home cultivation is rare. Since 1889.90 cultivation has shown a steady decrease. " In the Native States under Bombay there is no uniformity of system. In Sind the normal area of cultivation is 35o acres, arid there has been a remarkable falling-off in late years in the Karachi district and the Khairpur State. In Berar the cultivation of the hemp plant was not restricted till 1875, in which year a license fee of R8, irrespective of area, was introduced. In 1884 the license fee was raised to Rio per acre. The cultivation is insignificant, and is now confined to three districts. In the last three years there has been a tendency for the cultivation to increase, owing to the fact that the present production is not sufficient for the home market.

12. In Burma it does not appear that Burmans were ever given to the use of the hemp drugs, and there is on the whole evidence that cultivation is efficiently checked in the settled districts, though there is still some cultivation ; and in the Kachin arid Shan Hills there is cultivation for home consumption, and some quantity is smuggled into the settled country.
In Ajmere cultivation is very small, though it is under no restriction.
In Mysore the cultivation is prohibited in the station of Bangalore, but is allowed elsewhere under license. The area of cultivation is inconsiderable and the local production quite insignificant.
In Hyderabad no license is required for cultivation, but the produce must be sold to the farmer of the monopoly. There are about 35o acres under cultivation.
In Baroda there is very little cultivation.
In Coorg cultivation is allowed under license, but no one undertakes it openly.
In Baluchistan the plant is not cultivated to any great extent.
In Kashmir the wild plant satisfies all requirements, and so it is said to do in Nepal, though there is some evidence of cultivation in Nepal, as from 25 to 5o maunds of Nepal charas are imported into Lucknow.

13. In Rajputana no attempt is made to control the cultivation except in Dholpur, and the plant is grown generally for the production of bhang wherever irrigation is possible.
In Central India there are no restrictions on cultivation whatever in the State of Indore, though the area under cultivation is not large. In Gwalior there is a tax of R6 per acre on cultivation. The total cultivation is about 40o acres, and it has a slight tendency to increase, There is also some cultivation in Dewas and other States, but most of it is irregular and probably for home consumption only.

14. From the above summary of the Commission's Report on the extent of the cultivation of the hemp plant, it will be seen that cultivation is prohibited in Assam, the Feudatory States of the Central Provinces, Burma and the Civil and Military Station of Bangalore in Mysore. The cultivation, except under license, is forbidden in Bengal, the Central Provinces, Berar, Mysore, Coorg and in the Native States of Dholpur and Gwalior. The Governor General in Council is of opinion that there should be one system throughout all the provinces of India in which the cultivation of the hemp plant is permitted, and this policy should be that of forbidding all cultivation, except under license. Cultivation should also, so far as possible, be concentrated into selected areas in each province, which should be no larger than is absolutely necessary. The same system should, so far as may be, be introduced in the Native States.

II.—PRODUCTS.

15. The narcotic products of the hemp plant are ganja, charas and bhang, Narcotic products of the hemp plant and the definitions of these products as taken by the Commission from Dr. Prain's report, and as used in their own report, are-
" Ganja consists of the dried flowering tops of cultivated female hemp plants which have become coated with resin in consequence of having been unable to set seeds freely."
"Charas is the name applied to the resinous matter which forms the active principle when collected separately."
" Siddhi, bhang, subzi or patti are different names applied to the dry leaves of the hemp plants, whether male or female, and whether cultivated or uncultivated."
The name bhang is also applied to the drink prepared by infusion of these
The female plant properly is called ganja and the male plant bhang ; and ganja, as above defined, is produced by the female plant only. Ganja under certain conditions can be prepared by infusion, as a drink similar to, and called by the name of, bhang. In some parts of the country the name bhang is applied to what is elsewhere called ganja. Charas is distinct from both ganja and bhang, though the name of charas is sometimes given to ganja. These differences of nomenclature give rise to considerable confusion in the replies given to the series of questions issued by the Commission, and have to be borne in mind in reading them ; it was only at the later stage of the proceedings that the distinctions were carefully observed.
16. It is, the Governor General in Council considers, a well-established fact that the cultivation and preparation of the finest sort of ganja is a difficult process requiring skill and knowledge, whilst the drink known as bhang is easily prepared from the dried leaf of the plant. The majority of the witnesses examined state that ganja cannot be procured from the wild plants, and the Commission find that what is ordinarily accepted as ganja undoubtedly cannot be so obtained. Charas may be prepared to a small extent from the wild plant and from the spontaneous growth, but is almost all imported through the Punjab from Yarkand and Bokhara.

III.—CONSUMPTION.

17. The Commission in Chapter VII notice the trade and movement of the Trade and movement of hemp drugs : extent hemp drugs province by province, and in of use, and manner and form of consumption. Chapter VIII they describe the extent of use and the manner and form in which hemp drugs are consumed. The Governor General in Council observes that in Bengal only 1 in zoo of the total population consume ganja, and not more than 1 in 20 of the consumers are classed as excessive. The yearly consumption of a moderate consumer is 35 tolas (Nlb. avoirdupois), and the individual amount consumed by each consumer is, distributing the amount taken by immoderate users over the whole number of consumers, only 4o tolas. A maund of ganja on an average suffices 15,000 persons of the total population of Bengal for a year. In the North-Western Provinces one maund of ganja suffices for to,000 persons only, if the population of the Meerut, Rohilkhand and Kumaon Divisions, in which the drug is not used, be omitted from the calculation. In the Central Provinces 1 in 16o of the population consume ganja, and the daily ration is about 4th of a tola. In Madras only 1 in Soo of the population are ganja-smokers, and in Bombay 1 in 220. Ganja is used principally for smoking, and so is charas. Bhang is used principally for drinking, and it is not used regularly like ganja or charas ; it forms a refreshing drink in the hot weather ; it is easily procurable, and it is difficult to furnish any statistics as to the extent of its use. Ganja is usually mixed with tobacco and sometimes with spices of various kinds, and occasionally, too, ganja is mixed with the seeds of the dhatura, opium, nux vomica, kanher root, hemp seeds, the root of the jowar plant (Sorghum), the root of rice, the juice of the madar, the skins and poison of snakes, and lastly with cantharides. Bhang too is mixed with other ingredients and sometimes with alcohol. Ganja and bhang are also eaten as well as drunk, and there is a considerable consumption of sweetmeats made with ganja, bhang and sometimes charas. Hemp is also sometimes compounded into cakes.

18. Confining attention to the more important provinces, it appears that the use of ganja is not on the increase in Bengal, notwithstanding that the population increased by 7-1 per cent. between 1881 and 1891, and that liquor is much dearer than ganja in Bengal. In the North-Western Provinces the hemp drug revenue has increased from 4 to 7 lakhs, and it may be assumed that the use of the drug has increased. It must be remembered that the population has increased in the North-Western Provinces by five millions in the last twenty years, so that the increased consumption is in a measure accounted for. There is, moreover, an intimate relation between hemp drugs and alcohol ; when alcohol is dear, the use of hemp drugs increases, and when alcohol is cheap, the use of hemp drugs decreases. Now, during recent years, hemp drugs have not grown dearer whilst the price of alcohol has been raised.
In the Punjab the use of charas, which in this province takes the place of ganja, is on the increase, though the figures are open to some doubt, as the increase may be due partly to improved registration and to the increase of the population. In the Central Provinces the evidence points to an increased use of ganja. In Madras ganja is both cheap and inferior, and it is used much less than in Bengal or Bombay ; the use is no doubt increasing. In Bombay little reliance can be placed on the figures of retail sale, and there is no satisfactory basis on which an opinion can be formed. As regards the minor provinces, the evidence is conflicting. It is found that there is little evidence of excessive use of hemp drugs in the Army.

19. On a review of the whole evidence the Governor General in Council is not convinced that there is anything to show that the use of hemp drugs is increasing in a greater ratio than can be accounted for by the growth of the population and by improved administration and means of information. As to the use of bhang, the information is so imperfect that no opinion can be formed whether it is increasing or not.

20. The use of hemp drugs by religious devotees and ascetics and its employment in religious ceremonies was one of the subjects to which the special attention of the Commission was directed. Paragraph 450 of the Report, in which their conclusions are summed up, may well be quoted at length-

" 450. In summing up their conclusions on this chapter, the Commission would first remark that charas, which is a comparatively new article of consumption, has not been shown to be in any way connected with religious observance. As regards Northern India, the Commission are of opinion that the use of bhang is more or less common everywhere in connection with the social and religious customs of the people. As regards ganja, they find that there are certain classes in all parts, except the Punjab, who use.the drug in connection with their social and religious observances. The Commission are also of opinion in regard to bhang that its use is considered essential in some religious observances by a large section of the community, and in regard to ganja that those who consider it essential are comparatively very few. The Commission have little doubt that interference with the use of hemp in connection with the customs and observances above referred to would be regarded by the consumers as an interference with long-established usage and as an encroachment upon their religious liberty. And this feeling would, especially in the case of bhang, undoubtedly be shared to some extent by the people at large. Regarding Southern India, the same remarks apply, with this reservation, that the difference between ganja and bhang as materials for smoking and drinking respectively is much less marked there, and the distinction between the two forms of the drug is much less clearly recognised, although by the term `bhang' is generally meant the drug as used for drinking, and by ganja' the drug as used for smoking."

21. His Excellency in Council is prepared to accept the conclusions of the Commission upon this point. In this connection the following paragraph from Raja Soshi Sikareshwar Ray's dissent is worthy of attention:—
"Although I am fully convinced of the injurious effects of ganja and the benefit which will be derived by its total prohibition, I think I would not be justified in advocating a sudden prohibition, having regard to the dissatisfaction which it may likely cause to a class of people known as sanyasis, bairagis, and fakirs, whose facilities for giving trouble are very great owing to their peculiar position and habits of life. I do not think, however, that this dissatisfaction of certain classes of people on account of the prohibitory measure in itself is likely to cause any serious annoyance to Government, but this, when added to other similar causes of dissatisfaction, might bring about discontent. It is scarcely necessary to point out the nature of the influence which these sanyasis and fakirs still exercise over a vast number of people who have not received English education."
It should, however, be mentioned that the use of hemp drugs in connection with religious or social observances is confined to Hindus, and in no way affects the Mohamedans, as the Mohamedan religion condemns such practices (paragraph 437 of the Report).

IV.—EFFECTS.

22. Turning next to the effects of the use of hemp drugs, the Commission have divided their report into three heads—
Effects of the use of hemp drugs.
Physical, Mental, and Moral, and they have prefaced their remarks on these three heads by certain general observations. The main difficulty in dealing with this subject is the remarkable want of definite information on matters relating to hemp drugs. The subject has not hitherto attracted special attention, but it is, nevertheless, very noteworthy that there should be so very little accurate information available. Vague impressions exist, but they are not founded on close or recorded observation. And in many cases even professional witnesses, who had given fairly definite answers to some of the questions circulated by the Commission, turned out, when subjected to oral examination, to be speaking from general impressions, and not from facts that had come before them in their professional experience.

23. The Commission justly found upon this an argument that if the effects of ganja were such, or so common, as they have often been alleged to be, much more would be known about them. It is impossible to imagine any vagueness or indefiniteness in the information that would be available to a Commission of enquiry into the extent and effect of the habit of alcohol consumption in England ; and the fact that so many differing opinions are held, and so little precise information is generally possessed, with regard to ganja, makes it evident that it cannot be the cause either of much mischief to the individual or of much harm to the public.

24. The subject of bhang may be disposed of in a word. It is a harmless and refreshing drink, used as such, especially during the hot weather, by the best classes of native society. Even the two members of the Commission who advocate prohibitory measures with respect to ganja object to interference with bhang, and even to its being subjected to taxation.

25. As regards the effect of the evidence relating to ganja, there is great difficulty in distinguishing with any precision when the witnesses are referring to moderate use, and when they are referring to excessive use. To say that excessive use causes harm to the smoker of ganja, is merely to say that there is a point, just as there is with the most harmless articles of consumption, where consumption becomes harmful, and therefore excessive. The real question is to what extent among the smokers of ganja the consumption of it is pushed to the point where it causes harm. And even in this respect further difficulties arise ; for injurious effects, when they occur, often arise, not from the smoking of ganja pure and simple, but from the habit of smoking it mixed with other ingredients. As remarked by Raja Soshi Sikareshwar Ray in his dissent-
" At present we have not sufficient means to ascertain how far the injury caused to the consumers of the drug is due to the pure drug itself, and how far to the other poisonous substances that are occasionally mixed with it."
Of these the most injurious is dhatura, and the opinion that the consumers of hemp drugs, and especially, though not exclusively, excessive consumers, would take to dhatura if hemp drugs were denied them, is, as the Commission point out, entitled to much weight. There is a medicinal use of hemp drugs, and moderate consumers would feel a sense of deprivation if they were unable to obtain what they regard as a beneficial stimulant. This deprivation would be chiefly felt by the poorer classes, who are, as a rule, admittedly moderate consumers ; for those who, according to many witnesses, suffer harm from hemp drugs are persons who lead sedentary or idle lives, or, in other words, the richer classes.

26. Ganja is held by a proportion of seven to five of the witnesses to be harmless if taken in moderation ; but charas is a more potent form of the product, and is generally considered to be more injurious. On the whole, if moderation and excess in the use of drugs are distinguished, which is a thing that the witnesses examined have, as just remarked, found it very hard to do, the weight of evidence is that the moderate use of hemp drugs is not injurious. This conclusion of the Commission the Governor General in Council feels bound to accept. It is also found that the habit of using hemp drugs is easier to break off than the habit of using alcohol or opium. It is a very striking fact that of the small minority of witnesses who compare the effects of alcohol and hemp drugs, a majority of nine to one declare alcohol to be more injurious than hemp drugs. There is a significant remark made by Khan Bahadur Kadir Dad Gul Khan, C.I.E., Sind Witness No. 4, on this point. He says-
" All classes of the people, from the most influential spiritual leader to the lowest beggar, will say that the British Government, while not interfering or prohibiting the use of alcohol in their own country, are stopping them here from the use of less intoxicating drugs, which they have been using from time immemorial, and which is also religiously respected."
Paragraphs 496, 497, and 498 of the Report are too long to be quoted in extenso in this Resolution, but they will well repay perusal. They indicate, in a general way, the manner in which the witnesses in many cases, and the public generally, have formed opinions or impressions on matters relating to ganja consumption, which, when brought to the test of examination, prove to go beyond any of the ascertained facts. As a rule, the presumption based upon the evidence is, as has been already said, that the moderate use of hemp drugs does not cause injury, though exceptional cases do arise in which this rule does not hold good.

27. As to the physical effects of the use of hemp drugs, the Commission consider that the moderate use of ganja and charas is not appreciably harmful.

28. The question of the mental effects produced by hemp drugs has been (b) Mental effects produced by hemp drugs, examined by the Commission with great
care. The popular impression that hemp drugs are a fruitful source of insanity is very strong, but nothing can be more remarkable than the complete break-down of the evidence on which it is based. Popular prejudice has over and over again caused cases of insanity to be ascribed to ganja which have had no connection whatever with it ; and then statistics based on this prejudice are quoted as confirming or establishing the prejudice itself. Of 222 cases of insanity ascribed to hemp drugs in the lunatic asylum statements of 1892, only 98 are found, on careful enquiry by the Commissioners, to have any connection with them. The result is that of the whole number of cases admitted to lunatic asylums in that year, only 7.3 per cent. can be ascribed to hemp drugs, and if cases in which hemp drugs have been only one of several possible causes are omitted, the percentage falls to 4.5. Of course some cases in which the cause of insanity is entered as " unknown " may be due to hemp drugs, though the Commission put forward the view that there is little difficulty in ascertaining the existence of the hemp drug habit, and therefore do not reckon cases in which the cause of insanity is returned as " unknown " as cases in which the cause maybe referred to the use of hemp drugs. But even if the percentage of cases in which the use of hemp drugs may be reasonably taken as one of the causes of the insanity be reckoned on the total admissions to asylums, and not only on the cases in which the cause of insanity is recorded as " known," still the percentage would be only 12.6. Moreover, the duration of insanity in hemp drug cases is shorter than in cases of insanity due to other causes, and temporary intoxication has been frequently confounded with insanity in the case of consumers of hemp drugs. Whilst allowing that hemp drugs do cause insanity, the Governor General in Council finis that they cause insanity in far fewer cases than has hitherto been popularly understood, and that the insanity so caused is usually of a temporary character and is of shorter duration than insanity which is due to other causes.

29. The moral effects of the use of hemp drugs and the connection between hemp drugs and crime next come under discussion.
Out of 700 witnesses 600 say that moderate consumers are not offensive to their neighbours, and the Governor General in Council accepts the conclusion of the Commission that moderate consumers are not offensive as a rule, and indeed are not distinguishable from total abstainers.
As to the connection of hemp drugs with crime, the excessive use of hemp drugs may bring the consumer to poverty and so lead him to dishonest practices, and cases have been known in which excessive use of hemp drugs has induced to violent crime. There are, however, the Governor General in Council considers, no such marked ill-effects, physical, mental or moral, attendant on the use of hemp drugs as there were popularly believed to be before the present inquiry was made.

V.—POLICY OF GOVERNMENT.

30. Having now reviewed the information collected by the Commission, the Recommendations made by the Commission. Governor General in Council will proceed to consider the recommendations made by the Commission before passing orders upon them.

31. The remarks of the Commission on the general principles which should govern sumptuary laws and their application to India are as follows :-

"553• The question of prohibiting the growth of the hemp plant and the sale of ganja and allied drugs is one which stands in the forefront of the present inquiry. It has been remarked by a well-known historian* that no laws are of any service which are above the working level of public morality, and the deeper they are carried down into life, the larger become the opportunities of evasion.' If these words are true as applied to England under a feudal system, they are much more true in the present day as applied to British India. The Government of this country has not grown out of the forces contained within it, but has been superimposed upon them, and the paternal system of government which may have been suitable in England during the sixteenth century, and in the initial development of some Indian provinces during the period immediately following their annexation, becomes purely visionary when public opinion is in process of formation and the needs of the people are year by year finding more ready expression. Occasionally, no doubt, the Legislature in India has anticipated a standard of morality not universally accepted by the people, as in the case of laws relating to infanticide or the burning of Hindu widows ; but these measures were passed under an overwhelming sense of the necessity of correcting popular notions of morality in matters coming well within the sphere of Government, and in the assurance that in thecourse of time they could not fail to secure the assent of all intelligent members of the community. In the chapter of Mill's Political Economy which treats of the non-interference principle, a distinction is made between two kinds of intervention by the Government--the one authoritative interference, and the other giving advice or promulgating information. And the following remarks are made regarding the former : It is evident, even at first sight, that the authoritative form of Government intervention has a much more limited sphere of legitimate action than the other. It requires a much stronger' necessity to justify it in any case, while there are large departments of human life from which it must be unreservedly and imperiously excluded. Whatever theory we adopt respecting the foundation of the social union, and under whatever political institution we live, there is a circle around every individual human being which no Government, be it that of one, or of few, or of the many, ought to be permitted to overstep : there is a part of the life of every person who has come to years of discretion within which the individuality of that person ought to reign uncontrolled either by any other individual or by the public collectively. That there is, or ought to be, some space in human existence thus entrenched around no one who professes the smallest regard to human freedom or dignity will call in question : the point to be determined is where the limit should be placed ; how large a province of human life this reserved territory should include. I apprehend that it ought to include all that part which concerns only the life, whether inward or outward, of the individual, and does not affect the interests of others, or affects them only through the moral influence of example. With respect to the domain of the inward consciousness, the thoughts and feelings, and as much of external conduct as is personal only, involving no consequences, none at least of a painful or injurious kind, to other people, I hold that it is allowable in all, and in the more thoughtful and cultivated often a duty, to assert and promulgate with all the force they are capable of their opinion of what is good or sad, admirable or contemptible, but not to compel others to conform to that opinion, whether the force used is that of extra-legal coercion, or exerts itself by means of the law. Even in those portions of conduct which do affect the interests of others, the onus of making out a case always lies on the defenders of legal prohibitions. It is not merely a constructive or presumptive injury to others which will justify the interference of law with individual freedom. To be prevented from what one is inclined to, or from acting contrary to one's own judgment of what is desirable, is not only always irksome, but always tends, pro tanto, to starve the development of some portion of the bodily or mental faculties, either sensitive or active; and unless the conscience of the individual goes freely with the legal restraint, it partakes, either in a great or in a small degree, of the degradation of slavery. Scarcely any degree of utility short of absolute necessity will justify a prohibitory regulation, unless it can also be made to recommend itself to the general conscience ; unless persons of ordinary good intentions either believe already, or can be induced to believe, that the thing prohibited is a thing which they ought not to wish to do.' These remarks have been given at length, because the Commission believe that they contain a clear exposi. tion of the principles which should guide them in deciding whether the prohibition of the hemp drugs should be authoritatively enforced by Government"

Without feeling himself called upon to pronounce an opinion on all the psychological and moral considerations raised in the previous quotation, the Governor General in Council observes that in framing laws on sumptuary matters, Government ought to be careful to keep touch with public opinion and ought not to interfere in matters affecting the conscience of individuals, in which the exercise of individual freedom is not harmful to the public. In connection with such sumptuary matters it is also generally accepted that acts which are in themselves injurious to nobody except the doers of them should not be made penal, and also that it is not expedient to make prohibitions which cannot be enforced.

32. The previous history of the action of Government with reference to hemp drugs is given in paragraph 556 of the Report. The policy of the Government is thus summarised :—
" Thus restraining the use and improving the revenue by the imposition of suitable taxation,' discouraging the consumption by placing restrictions on the cultivation, preparation, and retail, and imposing on their use as high a rate of duty as can be levied without inducing illicit practices,' limiting the production and sale by a high rate of duty without placing the drug entirely beyond the reach of those who will insist upon having it," restricting consumption as far as practicable, minimising the evils, and discouraging the use of the drug wherever it is a source of danger to consumers,' have from time to time been the watchwords of the Government in the matter of the hemp drugs, a policy only once definitely abandoned, viz., in the case of Burma, where total prohibition was introduced in 1873.

VI.—QUESTION OF PROHIBITION.

33. It is true that in the Resolution of the Government of India, Finance Department, No. 3773, dated the 17th December X873, it was said of hemp—. " There can be no doubt that its habitual use does tend to produce insanity. The total number of cases of insanity is small even in proportion to the number of ganja-smokers ; but of the cases of insanity produced by the excessive use of drugs or spirits, by far the largest number must be attributed to the abuse of hemp." The enquiries of the present Commission cast grave doubts upon this conclusion, but it is accepted as the result of the inquiry that hemp drugs do cause insanity, and it is shown in paragraph 524 of the Report that the percentage of known cases of insanity which are due to hemp drugs, including mixed cases, is for 1892 7.3 per cent. of the total admissions to lunatic asylums, whilst the percentage due to alcohol is 4.4 per cent., so that hemp is a more potent cause of insanity than alcohol in India. The total number of cases of insanity due to hemp is, however, so small with reference to the whole population—the actual admissions to asylums are only about I for every 24 millions of population —that the Governor General in Council is not of opinion that the prohibition of the use of hemp is necessary because of its tendency to produce insanity.
34. In considering the question of prohibiting the use of hemp for reasons other than its tendency to cause insanity, the several preparations of hemp will be considered separately.
With regard to bhang, the Commissioners say
564. "The effects of the hemp drugs have been treated in Chapters X to XIII of the Report ; and as the first result of these conclusions, the Commission are prepared to state that the suppression of the use of bhang would be totally unjustifiable. It is established to their satisfaction that this use is very ancient, and that it has some religious sanction among a large body of Hindus ; that it enters into their social customs ; that it is almost without exception harmless in moderation, and perhaps in some cases beneficial ; that the abuse of it is not so harmful as the abuse of alcohol ; that its suppression, involving the extirpation of the wild hemp plant, would in some tracts be a matter of great difficulty ; that such a measure would be extremely unpopular, and would give rise to widespread discontent ; and, finally, that, if successfully accomplished, it would lead to the use of more hurtful stimulants. The Commission deem it unnecessary to traverse the evidence further than has been done in the preceding chapters of this Report in support of these propositions. It is almost unanimous in regard to them. The utmost that is necessary in regard to this product is that it should be brought under more effective control, and this matter will be dealt with further on. But absolute prohibition is, in the opinion of the Commission, entirely out of the question."
The Governor General in Council is entirely in agreement, and is not prepared to prohibit the use of bhang.
35. The question of prohibiting the use of ganja and charas may be considered together, as their effects are similar, though charas is the more potent drug.
First, as regards the mere question of practicability. Charas is an imported drug, and its import could be easily prohibited, but to prohibit it would paralyse the trade with Yarkand, the importation of charas being the means by which Yarkand makes payment for its consumption of Indian products. Ganja is cultivated in Bengal, the Central Provinces, Madras, Bombay, and Berar. In Bengal and the Central Provinces the cultivation is under complete control, and the control of the cultivation is possible everywhere. It does not, however, the Commissioners think, follow that it would be possible to prevent cultivation altogether. It would be necessary to induce the Native States to prohibit cultivation, which would be difficult, and, even if this were done, it would be necessary to suppress illicit cultivation. This would, though not impossible, be a matter of difficulty, for ganja of an inferior kind can be manufactured from the spontaneous or casual growth, which is found near human habitations in many parts of India, and its suppression would require the entertainment of a large preventive force and considerable interference with individuals. Moreover, there would be a great risk of oppression on the part of preventive officers.

Summing up the evidence, it is found that of 575 witnesses who have expressed a decided opinion on the subject of prohibition, only 99 advocate it (paragraph 569 of the Report). Amongst no class of witnesses is there a preponderance of opinion in favour of total prohibition.
36. On the question of policy, the general conclusions of the Commission are contained in paragraph 585 of their Report :-
585. " A general review of the evidence relating to the question of prohibition of ganja
General conclusions in regard to total prohi- and charas brings the Commission to the same bition of ganja, charas, and bhang. conclusion as that which they have framed upon a consideration of the evidence on the ascertained effects alone. The weight of the evidence above abstracted is almost entirely against prohibition. Not only is such a measure unnecessary with reference to the effects, but it is abundantly proved that it is considered unnecessary or impossible by those most competent to form an opinion on general grounds of experience ; that it would be strongly resented by religious mendicants, or would be regarded as an interference with religion, or would be likely to become a political danger ; and that it might lead to the use of dhatura or other intoxicants worse than ganja. Apart from all this, there is another consideration which has been urged in some quarters with a manifestation of strong feeling, and to which the Commission are disposed to attach some importance, viz., that to repress the hemp drugs in India and to leave alcohol alone would be misunderstood by a large number of persons who believe, and apparently not without reason, that more harm is done in this country by the latter than by the former. The conclusion of the Commission regarding bhang has been given in paragraph 564. Under all the circumstances they now unhesitatingly give their verdict against such a violent measure as total prohibition in respect of any of the hemp drugs."
37. The prohibition of ganja is an interference with liberty which the Government of India is not justified in undertaking, except upon evidence which clearly establishes the fact that the harm permitted by non-prohibition is great and manifest. Not only is this not the case, but the evidence has rendered it abundantly manifest that those who have hitherto recommended the prohibition of ganja have done so under an erroneous, or at least a greatly exaggerated,
impression as to its real effects. To a million people in India, ganja affords a harmless pleasure, and in some cases even a beneficial stimulant. It would, in the opinion of the Governor General in Council, amount to oppression to take active measures to suppress it, on the mere ground that it is possible to quote isolated instances in which individuals have received injury from its use. Nor can the Government commit themselves to so unequal a measure as the suppression of the use of ganja (which is the form in which the poor man uses the drug) and the permission of the use of bhang (which is the milder form in which the better situated classes enjoy it). There seems to the Governor General in Council no argument in favour of the prohibition of ganja which would not equally apply to the enforcement, by State Agency, of total abstinence from intoxicating or stimulating liquors and drugs throughout India—a proposal which is not within the range of practical politics.

VII.—DISSENTS.

38. This seems the proper place to notice the dissents of two members of the Commission, Raja Soshi Sikareshwar Ray and Lala Nihal Chand, which refer mostly to the question of prohibition.
39. The former sums up his opinion on the evidence in the following paragraph :—
" Consideration of all these leads me to come to a conclusion which is not quite in agreement with that of my colleagues. I believe that the injurious effects of the hemp drugs are greater and their use more harmful than one would naturally suppose to be the case after reading the concluding portion of Chapter XIII of our Report, although I think I should say that the facts elicited by our inquiry do not go to support the extreme opinion held by some well-intentioned people that these drugs in all their forms and in every case are highly pernicious in their effects. We have seen in almost all parts of India people connected with temples and maths who are quite healthy, strong, and stout, who excessively indulge in bhang. Instances were not rare in which habitual ganja-smokers were seen to be quite healthy and strong. It is among the very poor and the mendicant classes that shocking instances of human wrecks caused by over-indulgence in hemp drugs can be found. The general opinion that I have been able to form is that ganja and charas are no doubt injurious in their action on the constitution of certain people, specially those who are weak and underfed, even when they are taken in comparatively moderate doses, and only for a short time. When they are consumed in excess and continuously for a long time, their effects are undoubtedly most ruinous. It should be remembered that it is the men of the poorest class generally, who cannot afford to pay for the luxury of spirituous drinks, who take to the use of ganja. It is also a fact that men who are naturally weak, and who suffer from some sort of bodily or mental indisposition or discomfort, to obtain temporary relief generally indulge in ganja, at first in medicinal doses, and then gradually turn to be excessive consumers of the drug. This accounts for the fact why so large a number of the consumers of the drugs are often found to be in a most deplorable condition. On the whole, therefore, I am inclined to believe that the pro• hibition of the use of ganja and charas would be a source of benefit to the people."
40. He goes on to discuss the practical difficulties in the way of prohibition, and comes to the conclusion that the prohibition should, for practical reasons, be attained gradually and not immediately. After referring to a political phase of the question in a paragraph already quoted under paragraph 21 above, he says :-
"There are other grounds besides the one mentioned above which lead me to recommend a gradual prohibition. If, instead of adopting a sudden prohibitory measure, the Government adopt a gradual one, it will get time to institute further inquiries, should it be considered advisable, with a view to ascertain the exact physiological action of ganja. If it be found possible to refine the drug and make it less injurious by. diminishing its narcotic effect, the question would then arise whether, like opium, it would not be advisable to make a Government monopoly of the drug. If, however, on moral or other grounds, this course does not commend itself to Government, it would be a question for further consideration whether the cultivation and manufacture of ganja might not be concentrated at one place under direct Government supervision."
"Another great advantage to be derived by the adoption of this course is, if after further consideration and investigation, as suggested above, the Government decides for total prohibition, that nothing would be more easy than to give effect to such a measure."
41. With reference to this the Governor General in Council must observe that, even accepting to the full the Raja's estimate of the effect of the evidence b.s to the injurious nature of ganja, and its possible confirmation by future enquiries, he cannot consider that prohibition would become the duty of Government, or would even be justifiable. There are many matters in which adults must be allowed to judge for themselves and to use their own discretion, and the mere fact that some of them would be benefited, morally or physically, by abstention from any particular indulgence, does not warrant the Government in making that indulgence penal. For it is beyond a doubt that it is only by attaching to the cultivation, or sale of hemp drugs, the penalties of the criminal law, that prohibition could be made effective.

42. The dissent of Lala Nihal C hand takes somewhat different ground ; he has made a laborious numerical analysis of the evidence, and practically comes to the conclusion that the evidence is so various in character that the conclusions as to fact arrived at by his colleagues ought not to be accepted. The vagueness of the witnesses' answers and the absence of definite information as to facts is a characteristic to which the Commission have called attention ; they tried to remedy it as far as possible by making a second tour of India, and calling the witnesses before them for cross-examination upon their written replies. Lala Nihal Chand was unfortunately unable, by reason of bad health, to be present on more than 5 days out of the 86 on which these cross-examinations were recorded, and it is not surprising that he should be more impressed with the discrepancies and differences in the evidence, and less confident of the establishment of any conclusions upon the basis of it, than the other members of the Commission.
43. The Lala's dissent was drawn up after the dispersal of the Commission, and his opinions were not submitted to, or discussed by, his colleagues ; but it is quite clear that his estimate of the value and tendency of the evidence of particular witnesses differs from that of the rest of the Commission. It is not improbable that this difference arises, in a large measure, from the want of precision, and the tendency to state opinions and impressions rather than facts, which characterized the first collection of evidence. The Governor General in Council, however, has thought it due to the dissentient to make a careful examination of the evidence regarding which this difference of opinion exists, so as to arrive independently at an estimate of its value. A summary of that examination is appended to this Resolution, and the conclusion at which the Governor General in Council has arrived is that the evidence has been correctly analysed and its effect correctly set forth by the Commission in the body of their report.
For this reason the Government of India, after duly considering the dissent of Lala Nihal Chand, do not find in it any reason to reject the conclusions which the Commission have reached as to the general effect of the evidence.
44. But again, even admitting to the full the arguments of the Lala as to the inconclusiveness of the evidence, the practical result must be that which the Commission have recommended. The question is whether the cultivation and sale of ganja products are to be taxed (and taxed as heavily as possible), or whether they are to be prohibited under a penalty. The prohibition of the use of ganja is, in the opinion of the Governor General in Council, an interference with individual liberty which requires for its justification the strongest and clearest evidence of the noxious character of the drug, both as it affects private persons and as it affects the public generally ; it cannot be based upon evidence of which the most that can be said is that ganja is not proved to be harmful. The penalizing of cultivation and sale involves, to the public generally, an amount of interference, and only too probably an amount of oppression and harassment, which it would require not merely vague possibilities, but the strongest grounds of evident public advantage, to justify.
45• The Lala refers in his dissent to the decision of the majority of the Commission not to append to their report the replies given to their printed circular of questions by the Commanding Officers and Medical Officers of Native Regiments, and by the witnesses who gave information as to Native States. The Commission have in their report stated the general effect of this evidence (see paragraphs II and 12) ; but as the subjects referred to were, by the express orders of the Government in one case, and by considerations of military administration in the other, placed outside the limits of the Commission's enquiry, they were unable to carry their investigations beyond the preliminary stage, or to supplement them either by local inquiries or by oral examination of witnesses ; and it appears from the Commission's proceedings of 5th to gth June, when the question of the treatment of this evidence was before them, that they felt themselves unable to found very largely upon evidence which they had not submitted to these tests. For political reasons the Government of India do not consider themselves at liberty to publish the evidence relating to Native States ; and that, relating to the Army, as it contains particulars and details of a confidential character, can be published only after the eliminat ion of names and regimental numbers. Under these circumstances, the Governor General in Council considers that the Commission were right in abstaining from appending the evidence as part of a report intended for ultimate publication. It has, however, been separately received by the Government.

VIII.—CONTROL, AND TAXATION,

46. Prohibition therefore being put aside, the question must be taken up to control and taxation.
As to what should be the policy of the Government of India in regard to hemp drugs, the policy already in force has been stated in paragraph 32 of the Resolution, and to that policy the Governor General in Council has decided steadily to adhere. The best way to restrict the consumption of drugs is to tax them, and to urge that Government should not derive revenue from the vices of the people (admitting for the moment that moderate indulgence in stimulants is properly called a vice) is tantamount to saying that the Government should suppress these vices, for if Government were to leave hemp drugs untaxed and still not suppress them, very great encouragement would be given to their use. To control the consumption of hemp drugs, and especially their harmful use, and with this object in view, to make them as expensive as possible without driving people to resort to more noxious intoxicants than hemp, is obviously the wisest course the Government can adopt.
47. The Commission have described the different systems of excise administration in force in various provinces with regard to hemp, and their suggesgestions are as follows :-
".74I. The above-mentioned conclusions embody the general principles and procedure recommended by the Commission. With a view to bringing the systems in different parts of India into harmony with these conclusions and generally improving the adminis tration, the Commission have made the following suggestions :-
(a) That in Bengal, Government warehouses for the storage of ganja should be constructed in Rajshahi (Chapter XVI, paragraph 643).
(b) That, subject to this addition, the Bengal system of ganja administration should be generally followed in the Central Provinces, Madras, Bombay, Berar, and possibly in Ajmere and Coorg (Chapter XVI, paragraphs 656, 67!, 672, and 673).
(c) That in the Central Provinces all ganja should pay a direct duty, whether consumed in the province or exported ; that the rule under which ganja is supplied by wholesale to retail vendors at a fixed price should be abolished ; and that the number of wholesale licenses should be granted more freely and without charge (Chapter XVI, paragraphs 649, 654, and 655).
(d) That in the North-Western Provinces the cultivation and manufacture of ganja should be prohibited and the system of bonded warehouses introduced for its storage (Chapter XVI, paragraph 657).
(e) That in Madras and Bombay cultivation of the hemp plant should be prohibited except under license, and that the licensed cultivation should be restricted to limited areas ; also that a fixed duty should be imposed on ganja, such supervision of the manufacture and storage of the crop being maintained as is necessary to its imposition (Chapter XVI, paragraphs 662, 669, and 67i).
(f) That similar measures should be introduced into Berar and possibly Ajmere and Coorg (Chapter XVI, paragraphs 672 and 673).
(g) That on all charas imported into the Punjab a duty of not less than R8o per maund be levied, the drug being stored in bonded warehouses, and duty paid when it is taken out by the vendors. Inter-provincial arrangements regarding the crediting of duty to different provinces to be made under the orders of the Supreme Government (Chapter XVI, paragraphs 674 and 675).
(h) That, where possible, a duty should be levied on bhang. Where refuse ganja is used as bhang, the rate may have to be fixed at a higher figure with reference to this fact (Chapter XVI, paragraph 677).
(i) That, as a rule, separate licenses should be granted for the sale of the different kinds of drugs (Chapter XVI, paragraph 68o).
(j) That licenses for retail sale should not ordinarily be granted to wholesale dealers (Chapter XVI, paragraph 682).
(k) That a separate license should be granted for each shop (Chapter XVI, paragraph 683).
(1) That licenses for retail vend should contain a provision prohibiting the vendor from selling the drugs to children or insane persons (Chapter XVI, paragraph 684).
(m) That when new shops are proposed, municipal bodies, rural notables, zamindars, or headmen, as the case may be, should be consulted as to the necessity of opening them and as to their location, and that objections, if made, should receive the most careful attention (Chapter XVI, paragraph 688).
(n) That the limit of legal possession of the hemp drugs should be the same for the whole of British India, viz.,—
Ganja and charas, or any preparation or admixture thereof, 5 tolas. Bhang, or any preparation or admixture thereof, one-quarter of a ser.
And that Native States should be invited to adopt this maximum (Chapter XVI, paragraph 69o).
48. The Governor General in Council approves generally of the suggestions of the Commission. There can be no doubt that the systems in different parts of India should be brought into harmony, and that the Bengal system of administration is the one which should be generally followed as being on the whole the best. The different provincial systems of administration will be described in the ensuing paragraphs, and the general policy which the Governor General in Council desires each Local Government to follow will also be indicated.
49. The system of hemp drug administration in force in Bengal is thus described in the Report of the Commission :—
" Though the hemp plant grows spontaneously in many districts of Bengal, this fact does not seem to affect the ganja administration to any great extent, as ganja, except of a very inferior sort, cannot be manufactured from the wild plants. Cultivation of the hemp plant for the production of ganja is only allowed in an area of about 64 square miles in the Rajshahi Division. Every cultivator has to take out a license, for which no fee is charged. Within the area above mentioned, which, for the purposes of ganja administration, is placed under the jurisdiction of the Collector of Rajshahi, though it lies in the three districts of Rajshahi, Dinajpur, and Bogra, applications for licenses are granted, unless there be any valid objection, and remain in force for one working year. The average area of ganja cultivation is •2,220 bighas, equal to 74o acres. What follows is in the words of the Honourable D. R. Lyall, C.S.I., Member, Board of Revenue : The cultivation is inspected by supervisors throughout the period of growth, the areas cultivated being compared with the licenses. The cultivator cuts his crop 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 supervisor's eye. When the manufacture is complete, the raiyat carries his produce to his own store under the latter part of Rule II of Section XX of the Excise Manual, page 155, there being no public godown large enough to receive the whole crop. A license is given to the raiyat describing the quantity and kind of ganja he is allowed to store, and authorizing him to keep it until he disposes of it to a licensed purchaser. The 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 2-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 Colllector of his own district, giving the amount he is authorized to export. He makes his own arrangements with the raiyats, visiting any store he likes, and, as far as I know, unaccompanied 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 raiyats' store to the Government gola. The dealer's 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 possession of the dealer, and the other in the possession 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 the arrangement with the monopolist. This district is Cuttack. The right of retail vend is sold by auction.' "
The rules require that ganja shall ordinarily be stored in a public storehouse, and that it shall only be stored in private storehouses as an exceptional case, where the cultivator can satisfy the supervisor that he has a secure private storehouse of his own. As there is, at present, no public storehouse, the exception has become the rule.
5o. Ganja is not ordinarily imported from any other British province into Bengal, but ganja grown in the Orissa Tributary Mahals (Garhjat) is imported under passes in small quantities into the districts of the Orissa division. The rules as to storage and levy of duty on Rajshahi ganja apply, mutatis mutandss, to Garhjat ganja. Any vendor licensed to retail Rajshahi ganja may sell Garhjat ganja under the same license. The Excise Commissioner states that Garhjat ganja is largely smuggled into Orissa, but with this exception, the growth and trade in ganja in Bengal are fairly under control. The cases of illicit cultivation are few ; they are all of a petty description, such as the growing of a few plants (very often only a single plant) in the courtyards of houses, more for the purpose of using the leaves as bhang than for manufacturing ganja, Cases of unlicensed sale of ganja, though comparatively numerous, generally represent sales of the excised drug by petty dealers who have obtained their supplies from licensed vendors, and often arise from the licensed shops being too few to supply the local demand. •
51. Charas is not made in Bengal, but a small amount is imported from Upper India under passes and is sold by licensed vendors after paying duty.
52. There is also no licensed cultivation of the hemp plant for the cultivation of bhang in Bengal. Bhang is either imported from the North-Western Provinces or collected for the market from the spontaneous growth which abounds in Bhagalpur and in districts north of the Ganges, and especially Monghyr and Purnea. Legal possession, except by licensed persons, is limited to one-fourth of a set, but there is no restriction on the use of the hemp plant in its green state. It is only when prepared to be used, stored, or sold as a narcotic or stimulant, that it comes under excise rules. Passes are required for the import or sale of bhang, and the rules for its storage are the same as for ganja. Practically bhang is under little control, as is natural in the case of a plant which grows spontaneously over wide areas. It is observed that certain rules made by the Board of Revenue, with the object of extirpating the spontaneous growth, were cancelled by the Bengal Government as impracticable and tending to have no result, except petty oppression. The Governor General in Council is doubtful if the Commission are right in advocating this extirpation ; considering the generally innocuous character of bhang, it hardly seems worth while, except where it interferes with the control of ganja production ; but the Government of Bengal will be asked to re-examine the subject. The revenue from bhang has increased, but this is because the duty is low and not worth evading.
53. Wholesale licenses are issued free and the revenue is all realised in the form of direct duty and license fees for the right of retail vend at fixed shops only. The direct duties per ser levied are calculated on the actual weight of the drug issued, except in the case of charas, half the duty on which is levied at the time of taking out a pass for importation of the drug.
54. The weak points in the Bengal system of administration are said by the Commission to be—
(i) the defective arrangement for the storage of the Rajshahi ganja ;
(2) the smuggling into Orissa of the produce of the Tributary Mahals.
To these the Governor General in Council would add the defective control over the production and use of bhang. The first defect is, in the opinion of the Governor General in Council, not a serious one, as there is a conflict of opinion as to whether Government storehouses are required, and it is certain that they would be very costly. The attention of the Government of Bengal is called to the second and third defects, and it is requested that His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor will make suggestions for their remedy, and also give his opinion as to whether public storehouses are required in Bengal.
But the complete control obtained by the Government over the supply of ganja in Bengal has enabled that Government to gradually increase the rate of taxation till it now very greatly exceeds anything possible, under present arrangements, in any of the other provinces.
55. The system in force in the Central Provinces is stated by the Commission as follows :-
61. "The present system of ganja administration in the Central Provinces has been in force since 1882-83, previous to which there were several changes, which may be briefly recapitulated. In 1871-72, the first year during which Act X of 1871 was in force, the monopoly of vend of drugs (which included madak) was put up to auction for each district as a whole, or for smaller areas, and knocked down to the highest bidder. The contractors were free to make their own arrangements for obtaining the drug from cultivators, and cultivation was free. In 1873-74 the Local Administration had to consider complaints by the retail contractors to the effect that the extensive cultivation of ganja for home consumption by private individuals seriously interfered with their profits, and prevented them from paying to Government as high a revenue as they otherwise might. Meanwhile the Government of India had issued instructions to all Local Governments to discourage the consumption of ganja and bhang as far as possible by placing restrictions on their cultivation, preparation, and retail, and imposing on their use as high a rate of duty as could be levied without inducing illicit practices. Accordingly, in April 1875, rules were introduced prohibiting cultivation except under license, for which the levy of an acreage fee was authorised, and embodying other provisions for inspection of stocks and licenses to cover the possession of the produce until its purchase by the licensed vendor. The acreage fee was fixed soon afterwards at RI, and in 1876-77 a special penal fee of Rio per acre on unlicensed cultivation was introduced. These acreage fees were, however, pronounced illegal by the Judicial Commissioner in 1878, and new rules were framed providing for the storage of all ganja in Government godowns or in authorised private storehouses and for levy of duty on the drug when removed. The duty was fixed at RI per set-. Difficulties were experienced in working these rules, the cultivators not being able to dispose of their produce to the licensed vendors. The wholesale vendors held aloof, feeling uncertain of the effect which the enhanced duty might have on consumption, and the retail vendors would not purchase direct from the cultivators. The Local Administration accordingly purchased nearly the whole crop, amounting to some 6,856 maunds, at a cost of nearly R5o,000. The Government of India, however, objected to the creation of a Government monopoly of ganja ; so in 1880.81 the monopoly of wholesale vend for the province was granted to a single individual, who agreed to pay A duty of R2 per sec on all ganja sold by him to retail vendors, and to supply them with the drug at R3 per ser. It was contemplated in the agreement that the price might be raised by increments of 4 annas to R4 per ser, and the duty by increments of 3 annas to R2-12 per ser within the year 188o-81. At the same time the system of auctioning the monopoly of retail vend by circles was done away with, and monthly licenses were issued at fixed rates, varying according to the size of the town or village, and without limit as to the number of licenses existing in one place. 1 his system, however, was abandoned in the following year, and the auction system was again for the most part introduced. This was the origin of the system of monopoly of wholesale which exists to the present time in the Central Provinces. Since 1882-83, by which time Act XXII of 1881 had become law, the wholesale monopolist has been called upon to pay a certain amount per ser in addition to the direct duty of R2 per set-, the rate varying in different districts and being generally determined by tender. Such tender is limited by the necessity of supplying retail vendors at R3 per ser to an amount per ser less than R i. The object of this measure was to fix the difference between the duty on the drug, R2 per ser, and the price at which it was to be sold to retail vendors, R3, at a figure considerably in excess of the cost price of the drug, and to put up the gross profits thereby secured to the wholesale vendor to auction in the form of tender. It was thought that this would practically raise the direct duty in the districts where the cost price of the drug was least, and so equalize prices throughout the province. Cultivation in British territories has been concentrated, and.since 189.1 it has only been allowed in the Khandwa tahsil of the Nimar district."
56. The defects in the Central Provinces system are,. the Governor General in Council observes,—
(t) The low rate of fixed duty, R2 per ser is too low a rate. There should be no fixed price of supply by wholesale to retail dealers. It is not desirable to create a monopoly of wholesale vend and then temper it by conditions of selling at fixed prices. Comparative freedom of wholesale vend enables the !Government to levy whatev,r direct tax it finds possible, and ensures the retail vendor getting the drug at a price which will not leave a margin of taxable profit to the wholesale dealer. In the Bengal system the wholesale dealers are not required to pay fees for their licenses.
(2) Exported ganja should be taxed adequately under arrangements to be made with other British Provinces and with Native States—at present Government licensed vendors exporting to the North-Western Provinces or other British Provinces pay only a small storage fee, RI per maund, by way of registration fee, and foreign purchasers pay only R2 per maund for permit and registration fees.
The Chief Commissioner should arrange to remove these defects.
57. As to the system in force in the North-Western Provinces, the Commissioners say-
657. "The statistics for the North-Western Provinces are regarded by the Excise Commissioner as very defective so far as regards the amount of imports and exports. In the absence of any fixed duty, and with a revenue determined solely by the license fees, no provincial record of the traffic has been kept up. Mr. Stoker is not confident that allowance has been made for transfers from district to district, and he thinks there is much risk that the same drugs may have been counted twice, and the provincial total thus exaggerated. Moreover, licenses for the sale of the different kinds of drugs have not been sold separately. All that can be gathered from the statements furnished is that the total amount of the license fees has increased by about 75 per cent. in the last 20 years and the number of retail licenses by 50 per cent., and that the imports and consumption of ganja seem to be on the increase. The excise ganja of Bengal is being displaced by the drug from the Central Provinces and Native States, which is almost wholly untaxed, and this is one of the weak points in the North-Western Provinces Administration as pointed out in. Chapter XV, paragraph 609. The total revenue from license fees is in 1892-93 87,04,788, but from this would have to be deducted the amount due to licenses for the sale of charas and bhang which cannot be ascertained. At a rough guess, it may he put at one-third, leaving R4,7o,000 due to ganja. To this must be added the duty on Bengal ganja levied in Bengal (about 141,12,60o) and the registration fees at R r per maund levied on Central Provinces ganja at Khandwa, making a total of about R6,00,000, or R3.2-3 per ser on all imported ganja reckoned on an average of 4,774 maunds. On the whole this does not appear to be a very inadequate incidence of taxation, but it must be remembered that there is no control of production in the province,. and that the taxation on the different kinds of ganja imported is very unequal. The number of shops is very large, nearly double in proportion to population of that which is found in Bengal. There can be no doubt that in this province more control is necessary, and some measures are urgently required for reducing the taxation of the different kinds of ganja which are brought into the province to some kind of uniformity. The need of remodelling the system has been fully recognised by the officers in charge of the excise ; and the proposals of the Excise Commissioner, which have the support of the Member of the Board of Revenue in charge of excise, include the following measures : —

(I) Prohibition of cultivation except under license.

(2) Prohibition of manufacture of ganja.

(3) Establishment of bonded warehouses, with control of storage and issue of ganja."

58. In these proposals the Commissioners agree and the Governor General in Council is willing to accept them. The Commissioners add that it is proposed to levy an import duty of at first from R so to R8o per maund on pathar ganja from the Central Provinces and Native States, to be increased by degrees. The Commissioners hold that it is better that the drugs should be taxed at the source of supply, and that in this case no import duty is necessary ; and in this view the Governor General in Council concurs.
59. In Madras the only system which exists in regard to the hemp drugs consists in the restriction of the sale of these drugs to licensed vendors, and no limit
of retail sale has been fixed. Cultivation is not controlled, and cultivators are not required to take out licenses. The manufacture and storage of ganja is under no supervision, and though the Madras Act contains full provisions regarding the import and export of drugs, these provisions have not been carried into operation in spite of the facts that export to Calcutta by sea has been proved to exist, and that there are illegal exports from Madras to Burma.
60. In Bombay the system of administration is somewhat more formu-
lated, and the law in force is thus stated by the Commission :—
625. " The system of administration is based upon the Bombay Act V of 1878, and rules and notifications thereunder. The principal provisions are as follows :-
Import of intoxicating drugs into any part of the Presidency is prohibited save under permit and after payment of duty, if any. If the drugs have paid customs duty, this provision does not apply (section 9).
Export is prohibited save under the same conditions. This provision does not apply to drugs imported by sea, the export of which is permitted on payment of any fee or duty, if any, leviable by law on its transhipment or exportation (section io).
Transport of any quantity of intoxicating drugs exceeding 4o tolas is prohibited save under permit (section 12).
Manufacture is prohibited save under license (section 14).
Sale is prohibited save under license : provided that no such license is necessary for the sale by a cultivator or owner of any plant from which an intoxicating drug is produced of those portions of the plant from which the intoxicating drug is manufactured or produced to a licensed vendor, manufacturer, or exporter (section 16).
The maximum quantity which may be sold by retail, at one time or to one and the same person in the aggregate on any one day within any defined local area or place is half an Indian ser or 4o tolas (section 17 and notifications thereunder).
Whenever a license is granted for the manufacture or sale of any intoxicating drug; and whenever the import, export, transport, or removal from place to place of any intoxicating drug is permitted, such duty shall be levied as the Collector, acting under the general or special order of Government, thinks fit (section 27).
Under this section notifications have been issued prescribing that the duty leviable on account of a license for the joint privileges of manufacture and retail sale of intoxicating drugs shall be fixed by the Collector, who, before granting any such license, shall put up the said privileges to auction.
For a permit for the import or export of any intoxicating drug, or for its transport between any two places not situated within the same district, duty subject to certain exemptions is levied at the following rate :—

If the amount does not exceed so Indian maunds • • • . .
For every additional 2 Indian maunds or fraction thereof . . . .

Every license, permit or pass granted under the Act is granted—.

(a) on payment of such fees, if any,,
(b) for such period,
(c) subject to such restrictions and on such conditions, and
(d) shall be in such form and contain such particulars as Government directs (section 30)."

61. The Governor General in Council considers that both in Madras and Bombay the excise administration of hemp drugs might be greatly improved, and that the taxation in these two presidencies is capable of considerable development. The area under cultivation should be restricted in both presidencies, no cultivation should be permitted without license, and arrangements should be made in them for the supervision of the manufacture and storage of the crop in order to the imposition of a fixed duty on ganja in addition to the fees for licensed vend which are already levied. In Madras too the import and export of the drugs must be placed under control.
62. In Berar, Ajmere, Coorg, and Quetta-Peshin the system should be assimilated to that in force in other provinces. In the Punjab an import duty ought to be levied on charas, it being provided that all charas shall be taken to bonded warehouses, and a duty, which the Commission propose to fix at R8o per maund, must be levied on all charas issued from ale warehouses. The duty may, the Governor General in Council considers, be all levied when the charas is issued from the bonded warehouse ; it does not seem expedient to make the duty in part payable on issue from the Punjab bonded warehouse and in part in the provinces to which the charas is removed, as this proposal of the Commission would tend to complicate the levy of the duty. The credit of the duty to the province of consumption is a matter of account that can be separately arranged.

63. The recommendations of the Commission, which are general to all of India--

(a) As regards bhang, that such measures as are possible should be taken for controlling and taxing it.
In Bengal a duty of 8 annas a ser is levied on all bhang brought to the storehouses under Government supervision. In the Central Provinces a duty of R 2 per ser is levied on foreign bhang, which limits the import, and is, as the Commission remark, excessive. Where there is considerable spontaneous growth nothing can be done except to regulate the traffic and to auction the monopoly of retail vend. In other parts the cultivation should be prohibited except under license, and arrangements should be made for the transfer of the whole crop from licensed cultivators to authorised vendors. These recommendations have the approval of the Governor General in Council. It is doubtful if any attempt should be made to extirpate spontaneous growth by rendering the occupiers of land responsible if it is found on their land ; although in ganja-growing tracts it may be necessary to treat bhang as ganja, otherwise the ganja administration will be imperilled.
(b) Import, export, and transport duties on ganja are not required except, perhaps, on imports from such Native States as do not assimilate their system to that in force in British India. Imports from such States should, however, be as far as possible prohibited.
(c) The sale of licenses for the different drugs separately is advocated by the Commission, but this is a matter which the Governor General in Council thinks may well be left to Local Administrations. Retail licenses should not, the Governor General in Council agrees, be granted to wholesale vendors because, if both retail and wholesale vend is in the same hands, the holder has a practical monopoly, which is not desirable ; and the Governor General in Council also accepts the recommendation that shops should be sold separately, and not sold at all unless a sufficient sum is bid for them.
(d) As to consumption on or off the premises of hemp drug shops, this is a matter which should be regulated by Local Governments. Licenses for the sale of hemp drugs should not be granted to females, and the sale of the drugs to children or insane persons should clearly be prohibited.
(e) The question of local option is next discussed by the Commission. In Municipal towns the Governor General in Council considers that no shop for the sale of hemp drugs should be opened without consulting the Municipal Committee, and in rural centres notice of the intention to open a shop should be given, and any objection to the establishment of a shop which may be brought forward should be considered, no shop being opened unless there is a real demand for the drug.
(f) With regard to the maximum of possession, the Commission recommend that it should be fixed at 5 tolas for ganja and charas and 20 tolas, or I of a ser, for bhang. This limit is reasonable, and the Governor General in Council accepts it. In Bengal, the adoption of this limit requires legislation.
(g) A proposal to tax hemp drugs according to their strength has been made, but the Commission find that there are practical difficulties in the way of adopting this suggestion, as " the physiological value of the resin extraction present in all samples is not the same ; and though two specimens may contain precisely the same percentage of resin extraction, it does not follow that the narcotic power of the drug would be equal, and also that the percentage of extraction in the drugs may vary from year to year ;" and the proposal is not, in the opinion of the Governor General in Council, a feasible one.
64 That the incidence of taxation in different provinces ought not, caeteris paribus, to vary greatly, is a proposition which is laid down by the Commission. The table below, which has been furnished by the Commission, shows the remarkably unequal retail prices per ser prevailing in the different provinces :--

65. On this table the Commission remark that—
The figure given as the maximum for the ganja in the Central Provinces is not the true maximum. It is "the average retail price in most districts for small quantities of ganja." The maximum must, therefore, be higher. In Jubbulpore the Commission found that in some shops ganja was selling at R12 per ser. The maximum for the province is not available. A maximum quotation of 4 annas per tola, equal to R20 per ser, is given for ganja in Madras : this may be Rajshahi ganja. Bhang is said to reach a maximum price of Rio per ser in the same district. In Malabar, Vellore ganja is said to reach 4 minas per tola, but the maximum price in North Arcot is 4 pies. Wynaad ganja in thesame district is said to reach a maximum price of 2 annas per tola. With these exceptions, no district shows a higher maximum price than that given in the statement.
It is evident that if the systematic treatment advocated by the Commission is to be applied, some means must be taken, especially in regard to ganja, of removing the extraordinary inequalities disclosed by this comparison. Up to year 1892-93, notwithstanding the high price of Rajshahi ganja, the cost of the daily average allowance of liquor to the habitual consumer in Bengal is, according to the memorandum, much higher than in the case of ganja. Judged by this test, there is room even in Bengal for increased taxation. A fortiori is this the case in other provinces except Assam. No doubt the quality of the drug varies in different provinces, but there is nothing in the analysis of the different kinds of ganja which points to such marked discrepancies in the price. And the general conclusion which must be drawn from these figures is that in all the provinces, except Bengal and Assam, taxation is totally inadequate to the due restriction of consumption. The same may be said of charas. As regards bhang, many witnesses are of opinion that there is no need to impose the same restrictions upon its consumption as in the case of ganja and charas, and the difficulty of doing so in the Himalayan region is considerable. But the Commission concur with the majority of the witnesses in thinking that the same general principles apply, and that, so far as may be possible, this product of the hemp plant should be brought under more efficient control and taxation.
66. The Governor General in Council recommends the study of this table to all Local Governments. Except in Bengal and Assam the incidence of taxation is very much too low in all provinces, and very notably so in both Madras and Bombay. The standard of taxation in Bengal should, in the absence of any special reasons to the contrary, be worked up to everywhere with due regard to the remarks made in paragraph 49 onwards, and in Bengal also the question of whether any increase in taxation is feasible should be carefully considered.
67. The Commission recommend that the sale of ganja to natives of India should be licensed in Burma under proper control and taxation where there is a demand for it among such persons. The prohibition of cultivation in Burma, as well as the use by Burmans, should, the Commission recommend, be maintained. The Governor General in Council is assured that the prohibition of the sale of ganja in Burma is ineffectual so far as natives of India are concerned, and that there is a large illicit traffic in the drug which is demoralising to those who engage in it, and which the Government of Burma is powerless to stop. Under these circumstances, and having regard to the fact that Burmans have never taken to the drug, it seems to His Excellency in Council that it would be better that the existing demand should be met licitly rather than illicitly. The amount of illicit ganja seized in Burma is given in paragraph 693 of the Report, and shows that there must be a considerable traffic in the drug, and that in spite of every effort to keep ganja out of the country it will still come in, so long as ganja is wanted in Burma ; those who want it will get it, though they have to pay highly for it and to incur some risk in obtaining it. Before, however, deciding to license the sale of ganja to natives of India in Burma, the Governor General in Council will refer the question to the Chief Commissioner with a view of ascertaining the opinion of the local officers on the subject.

IX.—CONCLUSION.

68. In conclusion, the Governor General in Council desires to thank the President, Mr. Mackworth Young, and the members of the Commission for the exhaustive inquiry they have made. The investigation has been a laborious one, but it has been very complete, and the manner in which the Commission have pursued, to definite conclusions, the various matters arising out of the evidence brought before them, leaves nothing to be desired. The general ignorance on the subject of hemp drugs will, it is trusted, now be dissipated by the attention which the investigation of the Commission has directed to the subject. The want of uniformity in the excise administration of hemp drugs which has been found by the Commission to exist, will, no doubt, in due time be set right, and this most valuable result is of itself sufficient to justify the appointment of the Commission. The Report of the Commission has shown how little foundation there is for many of the popular beliefs and impressions which have pre. vailed in regard to the preparations made from the hemp plant and the effect of the use of hemp drugs upon their consumers, and the information which has been brought together on the subject in the Report of the Commission is of great interest and value, not only to Government and its officers, but also to the general public.
69. The acknowledgments of the Government are especially due to the three unofficial gentlemen, Raja Soshi Sikareshwar Ray, Kunwar Harnam Singh, and Lala Nihal Chand, who at great expenditure of time and comfort, and, in one case at least, at some risk to health, took part in the investigations of the Commission. The inability of the Governor General in Council to agree with two of these gentlemen, in the points on which they dissent from the views of their colleagues, does not diminish his appreciation of the care and labour they have bestowed on the task entrusted to them.

ORDER.—Ordered, that a copy of this Resolution and of the Report be forwarded to all Local Governments and Administrations and to the Agent to the Governor General in Baluchistan.
Ordered also, that copies of the Resolution be forwarded to the President and Members of the Commission.
Ordered further, that the Resolution be published in the Gazette of India.

STEPHEN JACOB,
Ofg. Secretary to the Government of India.

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