Based on the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission's report of 1894-95, this article includes:
- My overview of cannabis usage in the native state of Mysore and Bangalore city of 1894-95
- The Indian Hemp Drugs Commission's findings regarding Mysore State and Bangalore city
- Memorandum on Ganja in Mysore, by Mr. L. Ricketts, Excise Commissioner
- Memorandum regarding Ganja and its preparations in Mysore, by Mr. J. G. McDonnell, Special Assistant Excise Commissioner in Mysore
- Memorandum by Colonel Magrath, District Magistrate and Collector, Civil and Military Station of Bangalore.
Overview
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| (Image source: Wikipedia) |
Mysore State was a native state in 1894-95, when the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission carried out its study and report. According to Wikipedia, 'A princely state (also called native state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British Indian government, but rather by an indigenous ruler under a form of indirect rule, subject to a subsidiary alliance and the suzerainty or paramountcy of the British Crown.' Being a native state, the information regarding the Mysore State is provided by a few British officials holding various positions in the Mysore Government. Unlike in the British Provinces, the Hemp Commission did not submit extensive questions and examine lists of witnesses to obtain its information. Therefore, the information regarding the native Mysore State is much less than that obtained from British Provinces, with information such as individual witness statements being absent.
The districts that made up the Mysore state during the Hemp Commission's study were Bangalore, Kolar, Tumkur, Mysore, Hassan, Kadur, Shimoga and Chitaldrug.
By the time of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission's study in 1894-95, Tipu Sultan had been defeated, and the British had installed Krishnaraja Wodeyar III on the throne. During Tipu's rule, and before that, for as long as the Mysore State had been inhabited by humans, cannabis had been grown and used by the people without any form of regulation just like any other commodity. It is possible that even during Tipu's rule there were wild native species growing in the Western Ghats that run along the side of the state. Bangalore was captured by the British in the Third Anglo-Mysore War and became a British military stronghold.
"Bangi-soppu" was the local Canarese name for ganja, as it still is today. As a result of the Hemp Commission's report, the cannabis plant became two drugs. The terms 'ganja' and 'bhang', that refer to the cannabis plant by two names based on the linguistic roots of the people who use these terms, strangely became the basis of discrimination of the lower castes and classes by the upper classes and castes. The upper-castes and upper-classes of north India, with their linguistic roots in the Aryan languages refer to cannabis as 'bhang' while the people of south India, with their linguistic roots in the Dravidian languages refer to cannabis as 'ganja'. The people who use the term 'bhang' for cannabis prefer to drink it as a beverage, while the people who use the term 'ganja' prefer to smoke cannabis. Throughout the Hemp Commission's report, we see the upper-castes and upper-classes of north India denigrating the ganja-smokers as the lowest castes, classes, prostitutes and criminals. The confusion was further amplified by a botanist from the Calcutta Herbarium, Dr. Prain, who gave the definition for 'bhang' as the leaves of the cannabis plant, and 'ganja' for the flowers of the cannabis plant. Most ignorant witnesses who had not consumed cannabis ever in their lives agreed with this definition. But as the Hemp Commission's report shows in various places, the beverage bhang contained the flowers of cannabis as well as the leaves. In the Canarese-speaking parts of south India, ganja was, and still is, called 'bhangi'. This further throws a spanner in the works of those who claim that ganja and bhang are two separate drugs, including Dr. Prain, whose definition of ganja and bhang caused the schism that divides not just the cannabis plant, but also north and south India, with the error being carried forward to this date, calcified in the NDPS Act of 1985 that governs cannabis prohibition in India where, most absurdly, bhang is legal but ganja is illegal.
The arrival of the British, much like the plague, resulted in the beginning of hard times for cannabis and the people who consumed it in the Mysore State. By 1894-95, there were only a few plants growing here and there as a part of homestead cultivation. But even this was targeted by the British, who made it a point to have the plant uprooted, and those suspected of cultivating it, prosecuted. The Hemp Commission reports that 'The seed thrown away on dust heaps finds its way with the manure into fields and gardens. It is reported both from Mysore and Bangalore that when such plants are discovered they are uprooted, and that prosecutions are instituted if there is evidence of their having been cultivated.' The city of Bangalore was a place that the British took a particular liking to, most possibly because of its excellent climate, much like the way it draws people from everywhere today. The British set up a military station in Bangalore and decided that there was no place for cannabis in the city, unless it was through the British-controlled excise system. Prosecutions for homestead growing were particularly harsh in Bangalore. The Hemp Commission reports that 'In the civil and military station of Bangalore the cultivation of the hemp plant is prohibited, and in the last seven years there have been two or three prosecutions for breach of the regulation. There can be no cultivation except a stray plant here and there.' Colonel Magrath, District Magistrate and Collector, Civil and Military Station of Bangalore, states that 'The cultivation of the hemp plant in Civil and Military Station is interdicted, but there were two or three instances within the last seven years in which persons, in spite of Government order to stop the growth, allowed the growth of one or two plants in each case in the backyards of their houses and in the fence of their gardens. They were prosecuted and punished.' One of the reasons for the extra rigorous prohibition in Bangalore is most likely that the British feared that ganja-smoking Indian soldiers might get it into their heads to mount a rebellion against the colonists. There was also probably the fear that ganja-smoking Indian soldiers might seduce the British women, or far worse, the women themselves might smoke ganja and elope with a despicable native Indian soldier. Then there was always the unstated intent of promoting western alcohol and the favorite drug of the British, opium.
In 1894, the Mysore State was regulated by the Excise Act XXII of 1881 that regulated cannabis in various British-controlled provinces - Ajmere-Merwara, Coorg, Baluchistan, North-Western Provinces, Berar and Assam. This excise act granted permission for cannabis cultivation under license, and the selling of cannabis to contractors who possessed the license to vend. On the face of it, this appears to be a very fair and noble system. But the underlying reality is that no small farmer ever took up a license to cultivate cannabis. In some of the other British-controlled provinces, we saw some amount of cultivation under license, mainly by one or two rich zamindars for an entire province. The reasons why the rule that cultivation under license killed all the cultivation in a state are, as I have stated in other places, one needed to approach the Collector for a license. Such a requirement would have been sufficient to discourage the small farmer, for fear of intimidation and prosecution if he approached the Collector. Then there was the fact that a farmer would have had to travel far in order to meet the Collector. As if all this was not bad enough, once a farmer cultivated cannabis, he could only sell it to the licensed contractor, and this had to be done within one month of harvest.
There was usually only one licensed contractor in a province, meaning that one had to be able to reach and access this person. The contractor, who was, no doubt, an influential person who had secured the license to vend through an auction or tender, dictated the price at which he would buy the produce from the farmer, and more often than not, could reject the produce if he had sufficient stock or if the farmer wanted a better price. In the Mysore State there appears to have been two contractors - one for the entire Mysore State, and one exclusively for Bangalore city. At least, the rules for contract appear to be slightly different for the state and for Bangalore. Whether this translated into two contractors, or a single contractor catered to both is not clear. Colonel Magrath, District Magistrate and Collector, Civil and Military Station of Bangalore, states that 'The system which controls the sale of the drugs commonly known as ganja and majum in the Civil and Military Station is almost the same as that prevailing in the Mysore State. Up to 31st March 1886 the contract of the Civil and Military Station for raising Government revenue was joint with that of the Mysore Darbar, the assigned tract receiving its share proportionately on the population. Since 1886-87 the contract is distinct, but the Darbar's subordinate executive staff for city also exercise supervision over the wholesale and retail drug shops in the Civil and Military Station under the orders of the Collector, the cost of establishment being also proportionately adjusted annually between the two tracts.' Considering that there was a single contractor for the entire Mysore State, and one for Bangalore city, the contractor would have been a very wealthy and influential person, and this makes me think that he was powerful enough to discourage any person from taking up a license to cultivate cannabis in the Mysore state. In this he would probably have had the support of the British authorities, as local cultivation would have meant more administration overheads for the excise department, the headache of haggling with the farmer for the procurement price, and the reduced quantity imported from the British presidencies that this would have resulted in. The Hemp Commission seemed to think that this was 'a very complete system', with the only drawback being the low prices in the neighboring Madras and Bombay Presidencies.
Both these rules of the Excise Act XXII of 1881 - the requirement of a license to cultivate and the requirement that produce could only be sold to a licensed contractor - effectively killed all cannabis cultivation in a state. This appears to have been the precise objective of the British. When a state or province had little or no cultivation, then the demand would have to be met through importing cannabis from a neighbouring British province. The licensed contractor was, of course, the only person who could import cannabis under the excise act. The British government benefitted in numerous ways though this: cannabis cultivation was drastically reduced in a province; it had to be imported from a British province; duty was paid by the contractor for wholesale vend; the stock in the neighbouring British Province that had excess in storage was utilized; the government could keep a close watch on the proceedings with lesser administrative staff and be informed about the amount of cannabis flowing through its systems and being consumed by the people. In the Mysore State there was no zamindar taking up the license to cultivate. So, the state imported its cannabis from the British-controlled Madras and Bombay Presidencies. Similarly, we see Berar importing cannabis from the Central Provinces, Ajmere-Merwara importing cannabis from the Bombay Presidency, and the North-Western Provinces and Assam importing their cannabis from the Bengal Presidency. The Excise Act XXII of 1881 was implemented in those British-controlled states or provinces where the government wished to completely suppress local cultivated and turn the state into an importer of cannabis from one of the larger British Presidencies where there was surplus cultivation under license. All this meant that cannabis become a monopoly, completely in the hands of the licensed farmer - if he existed that is - and the single contractor (or at most two) for the province and the British government.
The fact that the Excise Act had served to kill nearly all local cultivation can be seen from the Hemp Commission's report stating that 'The Excise Assistant Supervisor, Tumkur district, says, however, that the hemp plant "is cultivated for the production of ganja, but to a very small extent, all over the province. The extent of cultivation has considerably decreased since the introduction of the rules...............for regulating and restricting the cultivation, possession, sale, import, and export of ganja;"' The Commission states that 'Thus, although the climate and soil of the State are well adapted for the production of the ganja plant, the regulations introduced by the State authorities for controlling its production have had the effect of stopping it altogether owing to the want of system in British territory and the facility with which it is procurable thence at a much lower rate;' According to the Memorandum on Ganja in Mysore, submitted to the Hemp Commission by Mr. L. Ricketts, Excise Commissioner, 'The cultivation of the above hemp in Mysore is forbidden except under a free license granted by the Deputy Commissioner of the district on condition that, within one month after the preparation of ganja, the latter shall be sold to the licensed ganja contractor at a fair valuation, or exported under the Deputy Commissioner's pass, and that the licensee may, if he so desires, retain for his own private consumption ganja not exceeding 14 lbs., provided that the area of the land cultivated with hemp is not less than one acre.' Mr. J. G. McDonnell, Special Assistant Commissioner, Mysore, states in his memorandum submitted to the Hemp Commission that 'Results of Ganja Rules as indicated by statistics of consumption.— The enforcement of the ganja rules has removed the open cultivation of the drug and to some extent also to its growing spontaneously. The keeping of accounts has been rendered compulsory and the rules as to their retention and production " true and correct" are rigidly enforced.' So, as stated above, the hurdles posed for cultivation of cannabis in the Mysore state were enough to drive the small farmer, who would surely have been the major cultivator of cannabis in the past, away from cultivating it under the new rules. Part of the reason why the small farmer would have cultivated cannabis in the past would have been for his personal use first, and then to sell the surplus to supplement his income. Now, one could retain the produce for one's personal use only if the area of cannabis cultivation was greater than one acre. Most farmers in India, and the Mysore state, then and now are small farmers, with possibly less than two acres of holdings on which they grow multiple crops. To state that one had to dedicate half that for cannabis cultivation in order to retain some of it for personal consumption was surely one way to dissuade the farmer. Then, with a single contractor for the entire Mysore state, and one for Bangalore city, making up a total of two contractors for the entire province. Where was the possibility of a poor small farmer connecting with this person within a month of harvesting the produce? The new rules appear to have drawn three or four persons without any prior experience in cultivating cannabis, possibly people known to the contractor, who failed in producing good quality cannabis through their efforts and so gave up the attempt.
In the Mysore State, the contractor with the license to vend paid a fixed annual guaranteed amount to the government as a part of the license requirements. This fixed guaranteed amount appears to have been fixed by tender. In 1892-93 this minimum guaranteed amount was Rs. 8000 and for 1896-97 Rs. 14,000. The contractor paid duty on the wholesale vend of cannabis as ganja and majum at fixed rates per ser. He was required to sell the ganja and majum at fixed prices to the retail vendors. He was required to sell above a certain minimum quantity to the retail vendors. The last two rules seem a little nonsensical to me. Wholesale and retail outlets could be set up with licenses that were free of charge, except in Bangalore and Mysore cities. If the contractor himself was setting up the retail outlets, employed by his own people, as was the case in all other places regulated by the Excise Act XXII of 1881, then there really was no question of selling the ganja and majum to his own staff or having to sell above the prescribed minimum quantities. He effectively supplied it to his retail outlets as and when the situation demanded. There was a prescribed retail price at which the ganja and majum were to be sold at the retail outlets. There was a limit of 4 tolas that could be sold to a single person in a day in the entire Mysore state barring Bangalore city where it was 5 tolas. Colonel Magrath, District Magistrate and Collector, Civil and Military Station of Bangalore, states that 'The maximum amount sold to a consumer is limited to 5 tolas in one day; any quantity over this required for special purposes must be purchased under the Magistrate's pass.' There were a total of 57 wholesale outlets and 109 retail outlets in the Mysore State, including Bangalore City. The contractor himself may have indulged in smuggling in ganja and majum from the neighboring presidencies, in order to avoid paying the wholesale duty on it.
Almost all the official ganja demand for the Mysore state, and the Bangalore city were met through imports from the Madras Presidency, and some from the Bombay Presidency and some from the Hyderabad State. The Hemp Commission reports that 'The figures of import and retail sale of ganja on the five years' average are respectively 400 and 300 maunds. The drug is brought principally from North Arcot. There is reason to think that some comes into the northern districts from Dharwar in the Bombay Presidency and from the Hyderabad State... The latter remarks apply also to Bangalore, where the average import of ganja is 57 Indian maunds. This also comes from the Madras districts'.
Only ganja and majum were imported into the Mysore state and Bangalore city. Bhang and charas were not imported or sold through the existing regulatory system. Mr. J. G. McDonnell, Special Assistant Commissioner, Mysore, gives in his memorandum submitted to the Hemp Commission some recipes for the preparation of bhang, ordinary alwa for adults, special alwa for children, a variety of ganja alwa called 'alwa kamera jafran' and ganja medicine called 'churun'.
The fact that cannabis was cultivated locally quite extensively before the Excise Act was introduced, and that it was superior to the ganja imported at present from the Madras and Bombay Presidencies can be seen from the Hemp Commission's report which states that 'Mr. McDonnell, the Special Assistant Excise Commissioner, who seems to have made a study of the whole subject of the hemp drugs, describes the method by which a superior quality of ganja is produced locally, and he thinks that its great value in the market as compared with imported ganja must be a strong inducement to clandestine cultivation in yards and gardens.' Mr. J. G. McDonnell, Special Assistant Commissioner, Mysore, states in his memorandum submitted to the Hemp Commission that 'Mysore suited for growth — Results in two taluks noted. — The climate and soil of the Mysore Province are well adapted for the production of the ganja plant. It has been found growing even in the Malnad after the heavy S.W. rains are over. Some first class ganja was raised 15 years ago and later in Chickballapur taluk of the Kolar district of this province. This was evidently due to the cultivator knowing when to put down the seed and how to deal with the picking and curing of the spikes properly after being harvested.'
The fact that the people of the Mysore State were adept at cultivating ganja before the practice was completely suppressed by the British can be gauged from the unique method of cultivation practiced in the state, unlike anywhere else that the Hemp Commission did its study. The Commission states that 'A peculiar method of cultivation is described by the Special Assistant Excise Commissioner and the Excise Assistant Supervisor, Tumkur district: "The seeds are sown in a nursery at the beginning of the south-west monsoon. A month after sowing the seedlings are transplanted into pits, each one foot deep, and dug at intervals of three feet, and well manured. The young plants are watered daily for a month or so. The stem of the plant is twisted just above the ground, and the plant itself is bent horizontally to the level of the earth in order to induce the growth of side branches and prevent the vertical growth of the plants like a stick. Just after the appearance of blossoms on the female plants, male plants are destroyed, etc."' The Commission further states that 'Mr. McDonnell describes a very similar, but even more remarkable, method, to judge by its results in the size of the plant: "When specially cultivated, a circular pit two or three feet in diameter and a foot or so deep is excavated, and well manured with cow-dung and ashes. The plants are made to form a circle round the edge of the pit, and the centre is heaped up with manure as required. The stems rise five to seven and often twelve feet high, each as thick as a man's wrist, and are supported by staves secured with ligatures from the aloe leaf. In other cases single plants are raised in each pit. The stem is then the thickness of a man's arm, five feet high, and as much in diameter. The stem is taken in both hands, and twisted at the root just above the surface of the ground to stunt the growth'.
The majority of consumers are stated to be Mahomedans, barring a few religious mendicants. On the one hand, this indicates that during the rule of Tipu and Hyder Ali, there was almost no regulation whatsoever on cannabis. On the other hand, this statement appears to have been made with the express intention of projecting that the consumers were minority communities and so insignificant. But the fact is that cannabis was consumed by almost all communities, especially the working classes and lower classes that belonged to these communities and the spiritual mendicant. We saw in response to Question 20 by the Hemp Commission on the classes that consumed ganja, that the Lingayats - one of the upper caste communities that were among the largest in the Mysore state - were some of the major consumers. Adaki Jagannadha Rao, Brahmin, Acting Tahsildar, Hindupur, Anantapur District, says in response to question 20 on the classes that smoked ganja that 'Muhammadans, lingayats, bairagis and boyas smoke ganja in this taluk.' K. Rama Kristna Bramham, Brahmin, Stationary Sub-Magistrate, Kudlighi, Bellary District, says in response to Questiion 20 that 'Lingayets and religious mendicants of whatsoever class also use it... Amongst Lingayets it can be said that one-fourth of the males have been so addicted.' K. C. Manavedan Raja, Collector, Anantapur, states in response to Question 17 regarding the classes that prepare ganja from the cannabis plant that 'Generally by consumers : these are fakirs, dasaries, lingayats, boyas, and weavers.' Regarding Question 24 about the classes that eat or drink ganja, he says 'Fakirs, dasaries, lingayats, boyas, weavers, and marvadies are said to both eat and drink bhang'. P. Ram Rao, Tahsildar of Hadgalli, states that 'Ganja is used in smoking by bairagis or sanyasis, fakirs, linuayets, jengamas.' Rao Bahadur Venkat Rango Katti, Pensioner, Dharwar, says 'All bairagis, gosains, fakirs and such other wanderers, Rajputs and Mussalmans, generally Marathas, Lengayets and artizans are less addicted;' Gurappa Rachappa, Lengayet, Office of Shetti (Revenue and Police), Dharwar, says 'Ganja is used for smoking by all classes of people, except Europeans and Parsis, to the proportion of about 1 to 400 Lengayet and Brahmins, 1 to 100 other Hindus and Musalmans.'
In the Hemp Commission' report on the Bombay and Madras Presidencies, we have seen that the Commission and various government officials demanding that the system in these two presidencies be made in line with the Central Provinces and the Bengal Presidency because the price of ganja in the Bombay and Madras Presidencies were much lower. Besides this, the import of ganja from the Bombay and Madras Presidencies into other British-controlled states, including the Mysore state, did not attract any duty. This was seen as a major loss of revenue for the administration, as well as an inducement for smuggling into the states that imported ganja to meet their needs. We see similar recommendations being made by the British excise officials in the Mysore state.
Mr. Ricketts, Excise Commissioner, states in his memorandum on Mysore that 'The arrack and toddy revenue for 1892-93 being Rs. 15,92,475-5-6 and Rs. 13,89,054-8-8, respectively, the ganja revenue for the same year is inconsiderable when compared with the arrack and toddy revenue and also with the total population of the province, excluding the Civil and Military Station of Bangalore, namely, 4,843,523 inhabitants.' The ganja revenue for 1892-93 provided by Mr. Ricketts for 1892-93 is Rs 14,197 while that provided by Mr. J. G. McDonnell, Special Assistant Commissioner, Mysore, is Rs. 20,833. As we can see, this is far below the revenue earned from arrack and toddy. This indicates that a large part of the people had shifted to arrack and toddy consumption by 1892 with the increased regulation on cannabis and the prohibition on homestead cultivation. The upper classes would have surely shifted to western alcohol in Bangalore by then, given that the British had firmly established their presence in the city.
What is unstated in the report is the rise of opium, in addition to alcohol, accompanying the increased regulation of cannabis. The British brought opium, along with western alcohol, wherever they came to India. They taught the locals how to consume it. For the British, the sale of opium (and western alcohol) was far more lucrative than the sale of ganja as opium brought far greater revenue. We can see from the report of Mr. J. G. McDonnell, Special Assistant Commissioner, Mysore, that the price of opium in the Mysore state was less than what it was in the British presidencies. This appears to have resulted in the reverse smuggling of opium from the Mysore state to the Madras and Bombay Presidencies, in parallel with the smuggling of ganja from the Madras and Bombay Presidencies into the Mysore State. Mr. McDonnell recommends the raising of opium prices in Mysore state along with the increase in ganja prices in the Madras and Bombay Presidencies. Mr. J. G. McDonnell, Special Assistant Commissioner, Mysore, states in his memorandum submitted to the Hemp Commission that 'I proposed that the price of opium be raised to that at which it is sold in Her Majesty's territory, and that the price of ganja in the latter be raised to that sold in Mysore. This would remove the inducement of opium, the property of the Mysore State, after being sold to the shop-keeper, being smuggled into Her Majesty's territory; while ganja raised in Her Majesty's territory will not then find its way into Mysore. Both Governments would be benefited and each would be restricted to its own legitimate wants, and know its own consumption more accurately. To ensure both Governments realizing a fair and just revenue from this source the production of ganja must be worked on the same lines as opium is with special concession to those who want to raise the plants for fibre only.'
As we have seen the world over, prohibition of an essential commodity of the people increases the suffering of not just the people, but also the state. Numerous knowledgeable individuals were opposed to cannabis prohibition in India when the question was posed by the Hemp Commission because they stated that the prohibition would be impossible to implement, even with a large preventive machinery by the government, and that the illegal trade would increase. But the government has always been determined to oppress the people and shoot itself in the foot, and so we saw in the past, as we see today, that illegal sale of the essential commodity will continue and the government will always be left chasing its tail. But that is what happens when imbeciles are appointed to govern the people. In its report on the Madras Presidency, the Hemp Commission reports that 'Apart from smuggling, the exports of ganja from Madras to Mysore amounted to 1,829 local maunds (equal to 552 Indian maunds) in 1892-93.' The consumption and revenue statistics provided by Mr. J. G. McDonnell, Special Assistant Commissioner, Mysore, in his memorandum submitted to the Hemp Commission for the years from 1886-87 to 1892-93 show a steady increase in the consumption of ganja and the revenue derived from it. Mr. McDonnell however states that this is only a part of the overall consumption as illegal local cultivation and smuggling from the neighbouring British presidencies of Madras and Bombay account for a large part of the overall consumption that is not on the records. Mr. J. G. McDonnell, states in his memorandum submitted to the Hemp Commission that 'The Government returns, however, do not at all represent the actual consumption, as both the clandestine production of the drug in the Province and the import thereof prevail to a very considerable extent. This is mainly due to the superior qualify and freshness of the contraband "kulli" or " mulki" stuff over the stale and very inferior article offered by the Government contractor. The lack of encouragement afforded to informers and the very light sentences passed by the Magistracy for this offence greatly conduce to the rules being infringed as also to the existence of clandestine cultivation which is hard to detect and the import of the contraband drug which can be readily done with impunity.' Mr. J. G. McDonnell also recommends the recruitment of local Municipal and Octroi owners as government informers with suitable rewards to check the smuggling and clandestine cultivation and sale of ganja. He states in his memorandum submitted to the Hemp Commission that 'In large towns I suggested that the Municipal and Octroi owners be invested with powers of "Excise officers." They might be paid by results in the shape of rewards. Government approved of the step, but local action does not appear to have been taken. Considering that Government have made over several items of revenue to local bodies and in some places also the license fees on spirits, while mohatarfa as a separate cess is levied on drug-shops, the casual aid of such Municipal officials might, with propriety be legitimately claimed by Government from such local bodies, especially as this will not interfere with their legitimate duties as the aid thus given will only be occasional.'
J. G. McDonnell, Special Assistant Commissioner, Mysore, submits in his memorandum information regarding the use of ganja as medicine according to the British Pharmacopeia with a brief summary giving the analysis, mode of preparation and doses, and medicinal properties of the drug, the antidotes applied in case of overdoes, and the actions and uses thereof extracted from standard medical works. The various illnesses that it is used to treat, in these medical texts, include - delirium tremens (caused by alcohol abuse), tetanus, whooping cough, dysmenorrhea, megrim, menorrhagia, hydrophobia, restoring appetite including that lost by chronic opium and chloral drinking, infantile spasms, uterine bleeding, etc. Some of the effects described can be attributed to the fact that they are most likely to be produced in first time users, especially Europeans who have had absolutely no contact with the healing herb. The strangeness that the new experience brings gives a feeling of loss of control causing hysteria and panic in some people, especially those who are control freaks. Also, the addition of toxic plants like belladonna are bound to produce dangerous side effects like violent behaviour, and the irony is that this then gets attributed to the ganja in the medicine.
J. G. McDonnell, Special Assistant Commissioner, Mysore, in his memorandum, briefly describes the use of ganja in cooking, especially the cooking of meat. He also describes the storage of ganja and its extracts in glass and ceramic jars and airtight earthen vessels to keep the potency intact for long periods of time. We see the use of glass jars for storing cannabis in the retail outlets of US states with legalized adult use cannabis today.
Even though the cultivation of cannabis for its fibre was much less in the southern states as compared to the northern states of India, we do see instances of its use for fibre. For example, we see the memorandum submitted to the Hemp Commission by Mr. J. G. McDonnell, Special Assistant Commissioner, Mysore, that the ganja from Vellore and Cocanada in the Madras Presidency were packed in hemp sacks and transported to other places. Mr. McDonnell encourages the use of cannabis for its fibre in the Mysore state reasoning that the product has great value in Britain. He states that 'Preparation of fiber and its market value.— All that is required to prepare the fibre is to strip the leaves off and sever the branches, leaving clear switches or canes. These are tied into sheaves and cast, into the first convenient pit of water and allowed to soak there. When the rind slips off readily between the fore-linger and the thumb pressed against the branch it is ready to be removed. This rind is beaten or trampled with the foot in the water to remove the outer coming. The result is a clean soft fibre which makes excellent cordage, cloth for packing, and bags for grain, &c. The following extract from Dr. Balfour's Cyelopodia (pages 43 and 44) will prove interesting and gives the market price of the fibre in England and Lahore:— Agricultural and Commercial. "The hemp plants grow in Persia, Syria, Arabia, and throughout India. In some places for its fibre; in others, and generally, for its intoxicating products. In Kangra and the Punjab it grows spontaneously and in abundance everywhere in the submontane tracts in the Sutlej Valley, between Rampur and Sanganam, at an elevation of 3,000 to 7,000 feet, hut is cultivated for the fibre only in the eastern portions of Kangra and Simla Hills. In 1859 an experimental consignment of two tons of Himalayan hemp was valued in the English market at from £30 to £32 per ton. The price at Lahore is about £15 to £16 per ton."'
The situation today
In the state reorganization of 1956, Mysore State was expanded to include the Kannada and Kodagu speaking areas from the adjoining Bombay, Madras and Hyderabad states. In 1973, the Mysore State was renamed as Karnataka. Bangalore, now renamed as Bengaluru, was made the capital city. Archaeological artifacts indicate that Bengaluru was inhabited from as early as 4000 BC. The city proper was created by Kempe Gowda 1 in the 16th century. The British influence on Bengaluru can be seen quite clearly in the buildings and construction from that period. Music, especially rock and jazz have been a part of Bengaluru's culture, as has been beer drinking, from the last 100 years or so.
My parents migrated from Kerala in the early 1960s to find employment in the large public sector undertakings that had been created in Bengaluru. I was born in Bengaluru and studied in one of the English public schools. Rock music influenced me from an early age. I remember receiving a Rolling Stones cassette tape around the age of 8. Relatives returning from the Middle East used to bring me music. I distinctly remember asking for rock music and being given a couple of cassette tapes around the age of 10 - Aerosmith's Permanent Vacation and Kiss's Crazy Nights. In my school years, exchanging cassette tapes of rock and reggae and creating copies using two-in-one stereo tape recorders exposed me to a lot of rock, and some blues, jazz and reggae. I had my first contact with ganja around the age of eighteen. The combination of rock and ganja became a permanent part of me. During those early years of ganja smoking, my friends and I would source our ganja from places within the city, including the legendary Amma of Jayanagar, who sat on the pavement and kept her ganja under the sack cloth on which he sat. I could afford it and the quality to my mind remains excellent. As the city started changing in the early 1990s with the IT industry, many of the old places within the city where we could source our ganja from disappeared. The prices too started to climb as the higher salaries of the working crowd increased both demand and prices. We started to procure our ganja from places on the outskirts of Bengaluru where it was still affordable. I remember us buying 100 grams of excellent ganja for Rs. 500 in the early 2000s. Then, even the sources in these places surrounding Bengaluru went beyond our reach as the sellers started hiking their prices as more people from the city located them, willing to pay for it. For some time, as long as I was a part of the IT industry, this did not matter much. But as I started my descent down the economic ladder, in order to keep my feet on the ground, the prices continued to climb upwards. These days, I hear that 100 grams of ganja of questionable quality, sells anywhere between Rs. 8000 to Rs. 16,000 or more. I, these days, have to rely mostly on the occasional handouts of ganja from friends. This too has reduced greatly in the recent past because of not just the price, but also the difficulty in sourcing it. In this, I am sure I share the suffering of most people of the lower classes who seek ganja. Most ganja these days come to the city from Odisha and Andhra, and some amount from Kerala and the migrant workers traveling to Bengaluru from North India for work.
With the emergence of Bengaluru as the IT capital of India, land prices skyrocketed. The real estate industry became one of the most powerful lobbies. Farmers suddenly turned into millionaires but their biases against the precious cannabis did not change. They embraced western alcohol instead, with great pride. Much like the Middle East, where oil turned an agrarian and pastoral community into overnight millionaires but did not result in a similar increase in intellectual wealth, Bengalureans and the people of Karnataka embraced fast cars, alcohol, synthetic pharmaceutical drugs - legal and illegal - to mimic the western upper classes and the bias against cannabis that the British planted in the heads of their ancestors. The real estate boom resulted in all political parties and their leaders plundering vast wealth. All Bengalureans swell their chests when they claim that it is the Silicon Valley of India. The difference between California and Karnataka cannot be more stark. The cannabis communities of California worked relentlessly, fighting the administration, including demons like Nixon, to protect their precious herb, resulting in California State being the first state in the US to legalize cannabis for medical use. The legendary Californian counter-culture is at the heart of the global cannabis revival which today has 24 states in the US with cannabis legalized for adult recreational use. In India, even though states like Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh have legalized cannabis for industrial and/or medical use, with Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh having legalized cannabis as bhang, in Karnataka the myths and propaganda against cannabis remain more strongly rooted than they probably were during the 19th century.
Successive governments in Karnataka - the JDS, BJP and Congress have used the wealth accrued from the state to fund their political parties at the cost of the people and the welfare of the state. The leaders of the JDS and BJP behaved like the stereotypical zamindars when they were in power, plundering wealth through various scams in real estate, public infrastructure and illegal mining, besides committing atrocious crimes like rape against women with impunity. The loot raised by the BJP in Karnataka provided funds for the party at the center, enabling it to pull away from the other national parties and become the richest political party by far in the last decade or so. This has been central to how the right-wing BJP with the despot Narendra Modi have been able to secure and retain power in the last three national elections. The Congress party in the state works as the employee of the 'high command' at the national level. All these political parties have upper-castes and upper-classes at the leadership level who work to ensure that the industrialists, who also belong to the upper-classes and upper-castes, have ample opportunities to loot the state, while the people toil to enable these politicians and industrialists to live in luxury and decadence. The previous chief minister of Karnataka, Siddaramaiah, rose to power on the back of the AHINDA vote comprising primarily of the backward classes and communities and the minorities, besides the votes brought in by his 'deputy' DK Shivakumar. Once in power, Siddaramaiah failed to take the opportunity to provide the greatest welfare possible to the lower-castes, lower-classes, minorities and the people of Karnataka in general - the complete legalization of cannabis. In that sense, successive governments of Karnataka, irrespective of the political parties that they belong to, have had one thing in common - the ignorance of what cannabis can do for the state. It could well be more than ignorance. It could be the caste-system playing out with the upper-castes and upper-classes keeping cannabis prohibited in order to retain their power over the people, the power that they secured with the help of the British colonists. In this regard, political parties are only superficial facades, while the real game being played out is by the upper-castes and upper-classes to retain power at any cost. The zeal to crack down on ganja appears to be only increasing with each new government, even as methamphetamine, cocaine, MDMA and opium become increasingly prevalent. Alcohol, of course, has been a major contributor to state revenue irrespective of the political party at the helm. Tobacco too contributes significantly to state revenue. Despite the massive harms to public health caused by these two legal drugs, the state employs various methods to further increase its revenue from these commodities. The powerful alcohol lobby works closely with every government that governs the state.
The dominant upper castes maintain a stranglehold over the state, while the vast majority of the people who belong to the lower castes, lower classes and minority communities remain as second-class citizens. The people of Karnataka think that they are changing the narrative by voting for a different political party but they fail to see that it is the upper-castes who are at the helm of all political parties in Karnataka, and their sole objective is to maximize the wealth of the upper-castes across all areas - business and politics. The current Chief Minister, D. K. Shivakumar (meaning 'son of Shiva') exhibits megalomaniacal tendencies, focusing on glamourous projects like constructing tunnel roads and tall monuments like the despot Narendra Modi, possibly to leave his imprint on a city whose infrastructure crumbles through unstructured planning and the influx of industries and migrants. Massive kickbacks from public infrastructure projects have long been one of his revenue-generating methods. Don't be surprised to see him jump to join the BJP in the near future if he sees a chance to become the next prime minister of India there. The city today appears to be permanently under construction. One of his first statements when he took over office was that he would make Karnataka 'a drug-free state'. Alcohol, I am sure, is not something that he considers as a drug...
The government of Karnataka keeps looking to address its revenue shortfalls through oppressive and harmful methods, ignoring the treasure that cannabis can be for the state - for intoxicant, medicine, agriculture, economy, spirituality, society and industry. As stated by the Hemp Commission, the Karnataka region can produce some of the best ganja in India, possibly the best, barring Idukki and Manali. Cannabis grown for its fibre can create a sustainable renewable industry that heals the state, addressing and mitigating the harms done from the excessive cultivation of sugarcane, the vagaries of drought and the issues of unemployment. Cannabis for construction can quickly convert a city like Bengaluru from the nightmare it is today to a paradise. The heat-island effect of construction with concrete has resulted in major rainfall deficits in the city. Construction debris management is a nightmare with the debris finding its way to verdant land around the city. Bengaluru is one of the most water-stressed cities in the world and the reliance on concrete is one of the root causes. The use of non-biodegradable petrochemical plastics has resulted in a garbage nightmare. The abuse of alcohol and legal and illegal synthetic drugs has created a public health crisis. The reliance on fossil-fuels and private vehicles for commutes has resulted in Bengaluru becoming the second-most congested city in the world besides one of the cities with the worst air-qualities. The massive wealth and income divide between the upper and lower classes is only increasing every day. Bengaluru is now a hub for 'medical tourism', where people from poorer nations across the world arrive to be administered the dangerous synthetic pharmaceutical drugs at lower costs, even as the poorest sections of society can barely access any sort of medicine - be it natural or synthetic. All these issues, and much more, can be addressed through the complete legalization of cannabis. The teachings of great philosophers and reformers like Basavanna and Allamma Prabhu about casteless societies are buried in the scramble for wealth and material power led by the upper castes. Karnataka was the first state to implement the panchayat system of self-governance. Bengaluru was the first city in Asia to get electricity. Today, both the state and the city are far behind when it comes to building a world that can sustain itself against the destruction caused by humans and the resulting pushback that mighty mother nature has already started to inflict. The denial of cannabis, of the favorite herb of Siva, will only result in increasing suffering, unless the state and the city wake up...Quickly...
The Indian Hemp Drugs Commission's findings
THE EXISTENCE, PREVALENCE, AND CHARACTER OF THE SPONTANEOUS GROWTH
EXTENT OF CULTIVATION, AND ITS TENDENCY TO INCREASE OR DECREASE.
METHODS OF CULTIVATION AND MATTERS CONNECTED THEREWITH.
PREPARATION OF THE RAW DRUGS FROM THE CULTIVATED AND WILD PLANT
TRADE AND MOVEMENT OF THE HEMP DRUGS
SYSTEMS OF NATIVE STATES
The system of licensing sale and levying fees therefor in Mysore may be thus briefly described. A contract is given to a single person on condition that—
(2) he sells at fixed rates to retail vendors, viz., ganja 10 annas per sér, and majum, etc., 4 annas per sér;
(3) he sells to retail vendors in quantities not less than 10 sérs of ganja and 5 sérs of majum in Bangalore and Mysore, and 5 sérs of ganja and 2 sérs of majum elsewhere;
(4) the drugs shall be of good quality, and that registers are kept, etc.;
(5) he guarantees a fixed sum to the Darbar.
The sér in Mysore consists of 24 tolas. The amount guaranteed appears to be fixed by tender. There are 57 wholesale shops licensed free, and 109 retail shops which are not ordinarily sold by auction, but licensed free, except in Mysore and Bangalore, where Rs. 3 per mensem is paid for each license. Retail vendors have to sell to the public at the rate of 13 annas per sér for ganja and 6 annas per sér for bhang, and may not sell more than 4 tolas to any person on the same day. Charas is unknown, and bhang is the refuse of ganja.
Thus there is a very complete system at work in this State, though some of its details may be open to criticism, and the principal difficulties attending its administration arise from the want of system in British territory. Ganja is freely imported into the State from Madras, and it has been shown (Chapter VII) that it is also probably imported from the Dharwar district in Bombay. This appears to the Commission to afford a cogent argument for the introduction of control in the Madras and Bombay Presidencies.
Memorandum on Ganja in Mysore, by Mr. L. Ricketts, Excise Commissioner
The ganja powder is put into syrup made of jaggery and water and boiled. The mixture is then boiled with ghee and the other ingredients above referred to to form what is called majum. Halva is also a condiment prepared from the expressed juice of ganja powder boiled in water. In the liquid so obtained, sugar is dissolved and mixed with almonds, plums, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamoms, anise-seed, and other spices.
Majum or any other preparation of ganja except halva per seer of 24 tolas... 2 Annas
No duty is levied on halva.
Majum or any other preparation except halva per seer of 24 tolas... 4 Annas
It will be seen from the above figures that the rates of gross profit allowed to the contractor by the Darbar are 4 annas per seer of ganja and 2 annas per seer of majum. It has been ascertained that the contractor's costs per seer of ganja are 8 annas and 11 pies, so that he gains 1 anna and 1 pie on every seer of ganja sold by him.
Mysore town, 1 to 12,341 inhabitants.
In the mofussil, excluding the above towns 1 to 46,892 inhabitants.
Majum or any other preparation, except halva, per seer of 24 tolas... 6 Annas
The rates of profit allowed to them by the Darbar are therefore 3 annas per seer of ganja and 2 annas per seer of majum.
(1) The minimum amount guaranteed by the contractor is payable to the Darbar in 12 equal monthly instalments on or before the 20th of each month.
(2) The contractor shall pay into the local treasuries of the State duty on wholesale sales of the drugs at the prescribed rates. If the total amount of the duty accruing on the wholesale sales be not sufficient in any month to make up the instalment of the guaranteed amount for that month, the contractor shall pay such further amount as may be required to make up the deficiency. On the other hand, if the said duty exceed the said instalment, the excess shall be available to make up the deficiency in any other month of the same official year, this deficiency being adjusted by short payments into the treasury when the instalment for the month is tendered to the extent of such net excess sales as may be available when such instalment fell due. If the total amount of duty due on the wholesale sales for any year of the contract period exceed the guaranteed amount for that year, the contractor shall not be entitled to the benefit of such excess.
(3) To secure the duty leviable on the drugs imported and consumed the following precautions are adopted:—
(b) Any person found in possession of more than 5 tolas of the drugs shall be liable to prosecution.
(c) No person except licensed vendors shall sell the drugs in any form whatever.
(d) No one except the licensed contractor shall purchase the drugs from any one permitted to cultivate the hemp.
In the year 1878-79 the privilege of selling ganja in the province was partly rented out and partly worked under a system of license fees. The gradual fall of the revenue from 1879-80 was due to the contract system having been replaced by the amani management. In consequence of efficient preventive measures adopted since June 1889 to put down illicit cultivation of the hemp and smuggling of the drug, the revenue increased from Rs. 9,400 in the year 1889-90 to Rs. 14,197 in the year 1892-93. In 1891-92 the official year was ordered to be reckoned from 1st July to 30th June instead of from 1st April to 31st March, and therefore that year consisted of 15 months, during which period the revenue amounted to Rs. 15,517, the average for 12 months being Rs. 12,414. As the ganja contract of the Civil and Military Station of Bangalore has been given out separately by the Resident since the year 1886-87, the ganja revenue thereof is not included in the abovementioned figures from 1886-87.
L. RICKETTS, Excise Commissioner.
EXTRACT FROM MEMORANDUM REGARDING GANJA AND ITS PREPARATIONS IN MYSORE BY MR. J. G. MCDONNELL, SPECIAL ASSISTANT EXCISE COMMISSIONER IN MYSORE.
Pros. of the Government of Mysore, No. 212, dated 27th February 1885, covering Notification No. 229, dated 27th idem. (2) Notification No. 2531-2756, dated 11th September 1886, by the Resident of Mysore.
(1) I.- I framed the two sets of draft rules to deal with the check and supervision over drugs falling under the Excise Act for both the Mysore State and the Civil and Military Station of Bangalore, vide references quoted in the margin. The new rules (draft) printed and sent up to, and now before the Mysore Government, were originally drawn up by me in 1889, in co-operation with Colonel Campbell, the first Excise Commissioner in Mysore. For the purposes of the present enquiry I have made it my special duty to conduct personally a thorough investigation again into the whole subject, and the results recorded in this paper have thus the benefit of having been effected by an officer who has had 14 years' experience of this subject, and who has, moreover, been brought in constant and direct contact with both sellers and consumers at Bangalore and throughout the Mysore State during his tours of inspection. To render this paper as complete as possible I have enlisted the aid of a medical practitioner to give me the help required to dispose of the medico-legal queries put by the "Indian Hemp Drugs Commission."
II.-The following may be accepted as the definitions of ganja and the names under which the different productions and preparations thereof are locally known in the Province of Mysore:—
(1) Botany.* (* Note - From Dr. Alexander Milne's "Manual of Materia Medica and Therapeutics," Second Edition, p. 49, modified to suit the circumstances in Mysore) - It is an annual, generally dioicous. Root, white, fusiform. Stem, three feet to six, or twelve or more feet high in Mysore, erect, simple when crowded, branched when growing apart, angular, pubescent. Leaves, on long weak petioles, opposite or alternate, digitate, scabrous, leaflets 5 to 7, narrow, lanceolate, sharply serrated. Stipules, subulate. Inflorescence, males, racemose; females, in spikes. Fruit, ovate, one-celled, with a solitary seed.
(2) Characteristics of Ganja * (* Note - From Dr. Alexander Milne's "Manual of Materia Medica and Therapeutics," Second Edition, p. 49, modified to suit the circumstances in Mysore) - The flowering tops of the female plant bearing the remains of flowers, the ripe fruit and seed, the whole forming with the resin exuded and moistened with dew an agglutinated spike - rather longer than broad - carefully picked off and dried. It is of a dusky green colour and a characteristic odour.
(3) Designations of Ganja, its products, and preparations. — The "Indian hemp" referred to in the Ganja Rules and by the Indian Hemp Commission is the Cannabis sativa, Linn. N. F. Urtricaceœ of the Pharmacopœia. Hindustani — Ganja; Canarese — Bangi-Soppu; Tamil — Ganja-Yela; Telugu — Bangi-Aku. The intoxicated native productions and preparations of the plant are known as (1) ganja, (2) charas (resin), (3) bhang, (4) majum, (5) alwa, (6) churun, (7) curry, (8) preparations accoring to pharmacopeia, (a) Cannabin, (b) Extractum Cannabis Indica, (c) Tinctura Cannabis Indica, (d) Cannabis Tannas, and (e) Cannabinon.
1. Ganja - There are three varieties of ganja, which are or have been utilized in the Province of Mysore:-
(a) Mulki or Kulli Ganja - sample in bottle marked (A) - See para. II, clause (2), above for a description of the plant and para. III (a) for mode of cultivation, &c. As a rule the tiny leaflets are picked out by hand from the tops or agglutinated spikes as they appear when the plant is growing and the leaves are only seen on the larger branches and stems. The sample sent was not preserved by a professional cultivator, and clearly appears to have been prematurely removed from the plant, as the leaflets are apparent and large instead of being absent. The tops or agglutinated spikes are pinched off after heavy dew has fallen. In the sample sent it has been pressed instead of being preserved as usual in spikes. It will thus be seen that in good mulki or kulli ganja there should be very few or no tendrils at all: the resin, the flower, the ripe fruit, and a few immature seed all combined constituting the drug. The price is Rs. 75 to 80 per maund of 25 libs. This ganja, when moistened with dew or water, is clammy to the touch as the resin is thus partially dissolved. The tops or agglutinated spikes when plucked are then piy omtp a pot, the mouth secured against the action of air cloth covered with a coat of moistened clay and preserved for use. Thus treated and preserved from the action of the air, damp, etc., it retains all its virtues for a very long while. In one chemist's shop I saw the ganja preserved in a large glass-stoppered jar. In another I observed the "tincture" to be kept in a crystal-stoppered bottle, while the "extract" was kept in a loosely covered porcelain cup. In the latter case it must necessarily lose its virtues sooner than in the two former. In out-lying villages, where it is not pressed, it is exposed to the sun for three days, and them made into bundles, each containing twenty-four stalks 12 to 18 inches long with the tops or agglutinated spikes attached thereto as originally severed from the plant.
(b) Vellore Ganja - sample in bottle marked (B) - This ganja is imported from the Vellore district in the Madras Presidency. It is obtained as the "kulli" is in Mysore, but the tops or agglutinated spikes are spread out on a date mat and packed quite closely together. Another mat is then placed over this and heavy flat stones laid thereon to compress the drug into flat cakes half an inch or so think and several inches wide. The ganja is them made into parcels of two and a half maunds each, which are covered over with goni (hemp) cloth. It is then ready for the market. It is not so much appreciated as the "kulli" or "mulki" ganja. There is a good deal of powdered ganja added in packing. This is generally due to some of the larger leaflets being utilized; but more frequently the parcels made up by the cultivator are opened by the "chetti," trader, and some of the rejected power is a regular item of trade for this fraudulent purpose. The presence of the resin is not so marked in the Vellore ganja as in the "kulli" or "mulki" ganja. In many cases I was informed the resin or charas has been extracted by the application of warm water over the mats and then dried to prevent its becoming mouldy.
(c) Coconada Ganja - sample is bottle marked (C) - The spikes have been removed from the stalks. They seem fresh. This ganja is imported from the district of Cocanada in Her Majesty's territory. When the ganja has become matured branches 6 to 9 inches long are wrenched off. A large goni-bag, about five feet long, to one end of which another circular piece of goni three feet in diameter has been stitched on, is provided. Into this goni-bag the ganja branches with the tops or agglutinated spikes on, after being dried, are thrown in and two men trample them down. Another armful of ganja is then thrown in and trampled down; and so on till the bag is quite full. The bag holds about 10 to 12 maunds. The upper opening is then closed in with branches of the ganja plant with hemp cords passed through and laced to the edges of the goni-bag. It is thus easily tampered with en route. From the careless manner in which the drug is gathered, the larger leaflets are utilized. The longer it is kept the darker the colour becomes. The light green colour observed in the fresher stuff is generally absent in the drug imported into Mysore. The price is Rs. 3 to 4 per maund delivered in Bangalore. This is the rate when purchased from the producer (see para. III (b) under Cultivation).
2. Charas - This is the concentrated resin exudation collected from the leaves and tops or agglutinated spikes of the ganja plant. Men dressed in complete leather suits pass through the ganja fields rubbing and crushing themselves roughly against the plants early in the morning, just after sunrise and when a fall of dew has taken place. The gummy matter is then scraped off from the leather suits and forms the ganja-resin of commerce. There are other ways of collecting the resin, either by rubbing the leaves between the palms of the hand or over a cloth, and then collecting the resin deposited from the leaves, &c., which in that case is naturally mixed with the chaff. To test the vitality of the drug a pinch of ganja is placed in the palm of the left hand and pulverized with the thumb of the right hand, and a little water is then added. If the powder becomes adhesive and can be formed into a ball, it is good. If not, it is mere chaff, especially if it appears stake and mouldy and is dark in colour and the drug has lost its characteristic odour.
3. (a) Bhang - This preparation of ganja is made upf of the ingredients in the proportions noted against each in the table as per margin. The ganja was put into 10 oz. of cold water and boiled for 5 minutes. The ganja was kneaded into the hot water with the hand, and the moisture drained and expressed with the hand therefrom. The stalks and seeds were then removed. The residuum was ground on a curry-stone into a fine paste and milk added to keep up the consistency. The other ingredients were then cast in and ground with the ganja into a fine paste. The weigh of this ball was 530 grains. The cuscus and cucumber seeds were ground and kept separately in one ball, the weight of which was 440 grains. Both these balls were dissolved in 20 oz. of milk and passed through muslin, and the sediment, which weighed 340 grains, was then thrown away, as it was of no use. Sugar was then put in and the whole mixture was again strained. This mixture is enough for two men in one day. One-fourth of the quantity was taken before, and the other after meals, by each of the two men to whom it was given by me. Bhang is sometimes eaten dry without the addition of water or milk. A man will take one and half tolas (270 grs.) in two doses or the whole at once as he is habituated to its use or not. "Bhang" is not sold in the bazaar in the Mysore Province. Marwadis. when making bhang (a), omit items 4, 6, and 7, but use milk only at the Holi (Kama) feast and on other occasions they add ghee.
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| Bhang |
(b) "Bhangi-Subjee" is that to which "subjee (Ocimum Basilicum) seeds" have been added - All the ingredients used for bhang (3a) above, except sugar and milk are used for the "bhangi-subjee." Water is substituted for milk. It is a cooling drink, especially in hot weather.
4. Majum - A recipe for making six maunds of majum is given in the margin. It is that adopted at the Government Central Distillery in this province by the contractor. The ganja powder collected in vending is utilized if not too old. It is broiled in an iron caldron. The ganja and the spices are all then pounded and kept separately. All the ingredients are now sifted, cleaned, and mixed. The jaggery is made into a thick syrup. The granular kind of jaggery is selected, as otherwise the majum will become a hard and ropy mass quite unfir for sale or use. The ghee is then put and well stirred in. While the mass is hot the other ingredients are added little by little and the whole mass thoroughly stirred up again and allowed to cool a little. Before it becomes quite cool the mass in manipulated with both hands and reduced to powder without leaving clots. The bazaar price of majum is 3 cash per tola. In every tola of majum there are 48 3/4 grains of ganja. The Government duty is 2 annas per seer (24 tolas) and the contractor's cost Re. 0-1-6. He sells it to the retail vendors at Re. 0-4-6.
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| Majum |
5. (a) Ordinary Alwa - A recipe for this preparation as made and sold in the bazaars is given in the margin with the proportions noted against each. The rollong is kneaded into a stiff paste with water. The paste is then washed over and over again with clean water and all the fluid collected in a vessel till the water runs clean from the rollong. The glutinous matter is rejected and the fluid allowed to stand for four hours. The supernatant liquid is then decanted off and the residuum alone retained. The sugar is boiled into a thick syrup, the residuum of the rollong added and stirred, till the whole mass thickens, when the ghee is poured on and is thoroughly amalgamated. The almonds are shelled, the kernels put into boiling water and allowed to soak till the outer jacket can be slipped off readily when pressed between the fore-finger and thumb. The essence of rose is then added. If a small piece of the alwa is applied to the tongue it does not adhere to it, it is a proof that the process is completed. The almonds cleaned are placed entire on top of the alwa after it has cooled. When private parties want ganja added they supply the needful to the sweetmeat-man, who boils it with water till ebullition ensures the water is then expressed out of the drugs and rejected, and the residuum is put into the ghee and boiled again and the syrup and residuum of the rollong are then added and the process completed as set forth above.
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| Ordinary Alwa |
* According to the requirements of each private party needing the alwa. The quantity for adults in ordinary cases is given in recipes No. 5 (b) and (c).
(b) Alwa - A recipe for the preparation of alwa for children. (1) One tola (180 grs.) of ganja should be boiled with a quarter seer (5 oz.) of cold water for quarter of an hour, the ganja is then taken in the hand and all the water expressed out of the residuum. The stalk and seeds are then removed. The ganja is now boiled with half a seer (12 tolas) of ghee for half an hour and then strained and the sediment rejected. (2) The sugar is now boiled with quarter seer (5 oz.) of cold water till it becomes a thick syrup. (3) The poppy-seed, dry figs, almonds, and rose petals should be well ground and put into item (2) and well mixed. The other ingredients should be well pounded. Koonkum flower and pachchai-kurpoor should be ground with a little water to form a sauce. All the ingredients are now cast into one vessel and the honey added and well mixed. This preparation is sold at one cash per ball of 54 grains which is a dose for a child eight years old. The ball contains 2/3 grs of ganja.
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| Alwa |
(c) Alwa - Kamera-Jafran - A recipe for this preparation for adults is given in the margin. (1) The ganja should be boiled well and the water expressed out and rejected. The residuum is then ground. (2) The other ingredients should be pulverized and mixed with the ganja powder after it has been well boiled with ghee. This preparation is sold at five cash per ball of 180 grains, which contains 14 2/5 grs. of ganja. The material difference between the two preparations b and c consists in the liquid infusion of the ganja after being boiled with the ghee being retained for children while in that for adults the "sediment" of the ganja after being boiled with water is bodily added to the preparations while the water is rejected.
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| Alwa Kamera Jafran |
(6) Churun - A recipe for the preparation of churun is given in the margin. The ganja is mixed with 6 1/4 oz. of cold water and boiled for 20 minutes. The water is all expressed out of the ganja with the hand and the other ingredients are all fried properly on a metal or earthen platter and then ground to a fine powder on a curry-stone, except the cocoanit, which is cut up into minute pieces. The whole is lastly mixed with the sugar. The ghee is first dissolved and then added to the mass and well mixed up. The total quantity weighed about 22 tolas. This is enough for five men for one day, but only three men ate of this quantity - 4 tolas (720grs.) each. It is eaten little by little at intervals during the day. It will keep for six months. Each tola of churun contains 16 1/8 grs. of ganja.
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| Churun |
(7) Curry - With other ingredients of a native curry a tola (180 grs.) of ganja is ground on a curry-stone and added to every 1/2 seer (one lb.) of mutton used and partaken of by the meat-eating classes.
(8) The following are the preparations of ganja according to the British Pharmacopeia with a brief summary giving the analysis, mode of preparation and doses, and medicinal properties of the drug, the antidotes applied in case of overdoes, and the actions and uses thereof extracted from standard medical works. I have given at the end of this paper, under head VII, the results of two special experiments made, under my personal supervision, with the native drug and that obtained from the chemist, prepared according to the Pharmacopeia.
* Analysis -
(a) Cannabin, a resin on which its properties depend and developed only in a warm country, a small quantity of volatile oil. extractive, &c. The resin is of a dark green colour, has a fragrant odour, a warm, acrid, and bitter taste, and is soluble in alcohol and in ether and in the fixed volatile oils.
Dose - 1/4 to 1 grain in pill.
+ In delirium tremens, 2 grains of extract of Indian hemp given every hour for four times gave relief. L. M. R. '81, 192.
+ Extract of Indian hemp varies, considerably in strength, consequently the dose should always be small to commence with; toxic symptoms have been produced with 1 grain.
Dose - 5 to 20 minims with one drame of mucilage, adding 1 oz. of water.
In prescribing the tincture it should be previously triturated with the mucilage, or the resin will be precipitated by the water.
Dose - 1/2 to 8 grains mixed with sugar and taken as a powder was introduced as a hypnotic, but its effects were uncertain - T. G. '85, 329, 379.
+ Medicinal Properties - Sedative, anodyne, and hypnotic, has been used with success in megrim and delirium, also in menorrhagia and dysmenorrhea. It is combined with belladona in whooping cough, in tetanus, and hydraphobia. It does not produce constipation or loss of appetite, on the contrary it restores the appetite which has been lost by chronic opium and chloral drinking - L. '80, i, 625.
+ Antidotes - In case of over-dose, hot brandy and water may be given, vegetable acids, such as lemon-juice, vinegar, and the like, and the patient be allowed to sleep. A blister to the nape of the neck is recommended to control its violent action.
+ Actions and uses - Narcotic, antispasmodic, intoxicant. Like alcohol it produces a veriety of effects on different individuals: in one a dull heavy state of pleasant reverie, with a rapid succession of unconnected ifeas; in another a cheerful activity with gidiness. Taken as an intoxicant in large doses D. Angus MacDonald says: "it quickens the circulation and exhilirates the spirits, producing a kind of mirthful or extravagant delirium, during which its victim alterantely laughs, cries, sings, dances, or craves for food, all the while believing himslef to be in a normal state of mind. Sometimes, however, it makes its victim ill-tempered, violent, and pugnacious. It usually produces an inordinate appetite for food, and acts powerfully as an aphrodisiac. In medician doses it acts upon the cerebro-spinal system, causing, in moderate doses, exhilaration of spirits, a kind of inebriation and hallucination followed by confusion of intellect and tendency to sleep; in large doses it causes stupor. After the primary effects of a full dose have passed off, the patient is said to be left in a state of catalepsy." Dr. Milne adds that it alleviates pain and subdues spasm, and for this purpose it has been given, but with extremely variable results (it may be owing to the inert specimens of it) in neuralgia, chronic rheumatism, painful menstruation, infantile convulsions, hydrophobia, and tetanus. In the latter disease a few striking cures have been achieved, but in other cases it has failed. Spasm and spasmodic coughs are frequently relieved by it; and some obtain sleep from it who are debarred the more certain soporific opium, owing to its evil effects. "It differs from opium in its effects, chiefly in not contracting the pupil, and in not causing loss of appetite, dry tongue, or constipation." In uterine hemorrhage it often arrests the flooding and it relieves pain in dysmenorrhea.
III (a) Cultivation.—It is grown as an ordinary dry crop. The soil should be light and red and very deeply ploughed and well manured. There should be seasonable rain, and when crop is ripe heavy dews. The most efficacious, productive, and certain way is by raising the plant in pits. When specially cultivated a circul r pit two to three Feet in diameter and a foot or so deep is excavated and well manured with cow-dung and ashes. The plants are made to form a circle round the edge of the pit and the centre is heaped up with manure as required. The stems rise 5 to 7 and often 12 feet high, each as thick as a man's wrist and are supported by staves secured with ligatures from the aloe leaf. In other cases single plants are raised in each pit. The stem is then the thickness of a man's arm, five feet high and as much in diameter. The stem is taken in both hands and twisted at the root just above the surface of the ground to stunt the growth. It is said that this operation produces better and a more plentiful crop of spikes. There are two distinct varieties raised, one with a dark green and the other with light green coloured-stem. The dark-stemmed variety is more potential in its effects than the other. A maund or two of good first class "kulli or mulki" ganja can be obtained from each pit treated either way. The male plant is profitless and is uprooted and thrown away.
(b) Costs, profits, Government duty, hints to trader.—A maund of kulli ganja is sold for Rs. 75 or 89, while the drug imported and offered by the Government contractor sells at 33 1/2 per maund (25 lbs). The former is all profit as the labour is but casual tending, while in the other Rs.3 1/2t o 4 a maund go to cover the original cost, including carriage (Re 1 per maund) to Bangalore when purchased from the Government cultivator in Her Majesty's territory. If purchased from the monopoly farmer it is double that price and more. The former price, plus Government duty, Rs. 15—Rs.18 1/2 to1 9 1/2 per maund, or, say, roughly, Rs. 20 per maund of 25 lbs. The Mysore Government contractor's profits are thus Rs. 12 1/2 per maund. But this will all depend on how he sets about making his purchases, whether from the cultivator or Government monopoly farmer and in season. He should make his arrangements ere the crop is picked if he wants to purchase from the producer, while if from the monopolist he should time it, so as to secure his stock just as the new supply comes into market. If he delays, prices rise rapidly, and stocks are exported and he has naturally to pay more therefor than if secured in season. He thus loses a large slice of his profits per maund.
(c) Clandestine cultivation — cause of.— Clandestine cultivation pays well. There is no doubt that it is cultivated in backyards of many dwelling houses, hitlus (gardens attached to backyards), and in other gardens also. This is particularly the case in large towns and villages, where such privacy affords great facilities to do so. The heavy dues imposed by Government, Rs. 15 per maund of 25 lbs., and the abnormally low price across the frontier offer strong inducements to commit this fraud on the Mysore revenue.
(d) Spontaneous growth—not wild—Government patta.—It has been and is still often found in all the eight districts of this province growing spontaneously but not wild anywhere in Mysore, as in some parts of India. This spontaneous growth is most marked in towns and large villages. It is found in backyards and in dry fields and gardens. This is due mainly to the seed when thrown away on dust heaps finding its way with the manure utilized in the fields and gardens, and germinating there after the first rains set in. It is not more abundant in one district than another now. The cultivation is not restricted to any locality. It can be raised anywhere under the conditions imposed in the Government patta. The fibre can be utilized by the cultivator. The drug must be disposed of to the Government contractor less two seers, if so required, for the private consumption of the producer, but not for sale, provided one acre has been cultivated. The drug should be weighed by the village officers and disposed of in one month or it will be confiscated.
(e) Mysore suited for growth — Results in two taluks noted. — The climate and soil of the Mysore Province are well adapted for the production of the ganja plant. It has been found growing even in the Malnad after the heavy S.W. rains are over. Some first class ganja was raised 15 years ago and later in Chickballapur taluk of the Kolar district of this province. This was evidently due to the cultivator knowing when to put down the seed and how to deal with the picking and curing of the spikes properly after being harvested. A trial at Dodballapur in the Bangalore district on the other hand failed as it was harvested prematurely and the immature stuff, about 14 maunds, was destroyed. The cultivator was ignorant of the value of the plant as a fibre producer and failed to utilize even this part of the produce.
(f) Results of Ganja Rules as indicated by statistics of consumption.— The enforcement of the ganja rules has removed the open cultivation of the drug and to some extent also to its growing spontaneously. The keeping of accounts has been rendered compulsory and the rules as to their retention and production " true and correct" are rigidly enforced. These returns show the consumption to be on the increase, for it was 26,554 seers seven years ago, while in 1892-93 it was 57,045 seers for Ganja and majum.
(g) Causes of rise indicated and improvements suggested.— The rise is not wholly due to either the increase in population or to more persons taking to the consumption of the drug, but partially to these two causes combined with the enforcement of the rules generally for the whole province. In the City and Station of Bangalore, however, this increase is not so marked as in the outlying districts, but the reverse. The Government returns, however, do not at all represent the actual consumption, as both the clandestine production of the drug in the Province and the import thereof prevail to a very considerable extent. This is mainly due to the superior qualify and freshness of the contraband "kulli" or " mulki" stuff over the stale and very inferior article offered by the Government contractor. The lack of encouragement afforded to informers and the very light sentences passed by the Magistracy for this offence greatly conduce to the rules being infringed as also to the existence of clandestine cultivation which is hard to detect and the import of the contraband drug which can be readily done with impunity. The Excise staff is too weak to cope with this evil, and but little encouragement is given to the men to stimulate their zeal. I proposed that the price of opium be raised to that at which it is sold in Her Majesty's territory, and that the price of ganja in the latter be raised to that sold in Mysore. This would remove the inducement of opium, the property of the Mysore State, after being sold to the shop-keeper, being smuggled into Her Majesty's territory; while ganja raised in Her Majesty's territory will not then find its way into Mysore. Both Governments would be benefited and each would be restricted to its own legitimate wants, and know its own consumption more accurately. To ensure both Governments realizing a fair and just revenue from this source the production of ganja must be worked on the same lines as opium is with special concession to those who want to raise the plants for fibre only. In that case the village Revenue officers should see that Government revenue does not suffer by the disposal of the drug to the consumer or retail dealer, but only to the Government farmer. The surplus crop of drugs should be destroyed after 6 months if not sold to the farmer or exported. Preserved as it is in bulk and so carelessly secured from atmospheric air it rapidly deteriorates and becomes stale and unfit for use as the resin is dissipated. The drug turns black and mouldy and becomes noxions. The matter of equalizing the prices of the two drugs was referred to the Resident by the Durbar, but I am not aware of result. In large towns I suggested that the Municipal and Octroi owners be invested with powers of "Excise officers." They might be paid by results in the shape of rewards. Government approved of the step, but local action does not appear to have been taken. Considering that Government have made over several items of revenue to local bodies and in some places also the license fees on spirits, while mohatarfa as a separate cess is levied on drug-shops, the casual aid of such Municipal officials might, with propriety be legitimately claimed by Government from such local bodies, especially as this will not interfere with their legitimate duties as the aid thus given will only be occasional.
(h) Preparation of fiber and its market value.— All that is required to prepare the fibre is to strip the leaves off and sever the branches, leaving clear switches or canes. These are tied into sheaves and cast, into the first convenient pit of water and allowed to soak there. When the rind slips off readily between the fore-linger and the thumb pressed against the branch it is ready to be removed. This rind is beaten or trampled with the foot in the water to remove the outer coming. The result is a clean soft fibre which makes excellent cordage, cloth for packing, and bags for grain, &c. The following extract from Dr. Balfour's Cyelopodia (pages 43 and 44) will prove interesting and gives the market price of the fibre in England and Lahore:—
IV - Ganja Statistics - The following tables I and II give the consumption of drugs in the province and the Civil and Military Station of Bangalore for the past 7 years and Government revenue for the same period respectively. The contractor is bound to pay a fixed guaranteed amount yearly which is obtained on tenders. This is realized in twelve monthly instalments. Fees of six and two annas per seer of ganja and majum respectively sold to licensed retail dealers are levied. It a larger amount is obtained by the rates prescribed than that guaranteed yearly, it is retained by Government, and booked as "excess sales" for that year. This additional precaution was adopted from the 1st April 1889 with advantage to Government: -
MEMORANDUM BY COLONEL MAGRATH, DISTRICT MAGISTRATE AND COLLECTOR, CIVIL AND MILITARY STATION OF BANGALORE.
The system which controls the sale of the drugs commonly known as ganja and majum in the Civil and Military Station is almost the same as that prevailing in the Mysore State. Up to 31st March 1886 the contract of the Civil and Military Station for raising Government revenue was joint with that of the Mysore Darbar, the assigned tract receiving its share proportionately on the population. Since 1886-87 the contract is distinct, but the Darbar's subordinate executive staff for city also exercise supervision over the wholesale and retail drug shops in the Civil and Military Station under the orders of the Collector, the cost of establishment being also proportionately adjusted annually between the two tracts.
The rules framed (copy enclosed) by the Resident under the Excise Act provide for the control of the growth of the Indian hemp plant from which ganja is prepared; there was no occasion to issue a license for its cultivation. The drug is easily imported by the licensed contractor from Vellore and Cocanada in the Madras Presidency. The Cocanada drug is much appreciated by the consumers in this province; better sales and greater revenue are effected by such drug. The bulk of the drug imported lately has been that of Vellore. Appendix N of the ganja rules gives a full description of the drugs known in this country as ganja, majum, and bhang used by consumers in Civil and Military Station. Charas is little known in this country.
(a) The system obtaining in the Civil and Military Station is briefly stated above. The chief executive officer is the Collector; the Resident is the chief controlling authority. Act XXII of 1881, as amended by subsequent enactments and the rules framed thereunder by the Resident, is the law on which the system is based.
(b) Wild hemp is scarcely grown in Civil and Military Station. Any plant found growing spontaneously is uprooted by the Excise officers and destroyed under the Collector's orders.
(c) The cultivation of the hemp plant in Civil and Military Station is interdicted, but there were two or three instances within the last seven years in which persons, in spite of Government order to stop the growth, allowed the growth of one or two plants in each case in the backyards of their houses and in the fence of their gardens. They were prosecuted and punished.
(d) The importer of the ganja drug is the contractor for Civil and Military Station. He is also the wholesale vendor. Whenever the contractor wants to lay in a stock according to the terms of his agreement, an import pass is issued by the Collector for the required quantity. This pass is produced by him before the executive revenue officer of the district from whence the drug is imported. He is thereafter allowed to purchase the drug to the extent permitted in the import pass. On the arrival of the consignment of the drugs in Civil and Military Station, the Government Head Supervisor verifies the quantity with the Collector's pass and then it is booked and stored in the Government warehouse. The daily issues by the wholesale to retail vendor are checked by the Excise officers.
(e) The wholesale and retail vendors are under the control of the officers of the Excise department. They are licensed; full details of the conditions and restrictions will be found in Appendices B, H, and I of the Ganja Rules.
(f) The tax or duty on ganja is levied through the licensed contractor. The contract generally extends for a period of three years at a time. Government duty is fixed at the rate of 6 annas for ganja and 2 annas for majum on a seer of 24 tolas. The contractor guarantees a fixed minimum annual revenue to Government which he is allowed to pay into Government treasury by twelve equal monthly instalments. If the sales in any month are found to realize more than the guaranteed revenue for that month, then an excess fee at the above rate is levied from the contractor; if deficient, the contractor will make good. He is, however, allowed credit for this deficiency in excess sales (if any) in any subsequent month within the same official year. Illicit smuggling of ganja tending to evasion of payment of duty is made punishable. All officers of police and municipality take precautions against smuggling; persons detected are prosecuted by the Excise executive officers before the magistracy.
(g) The sites for retail shops are fixed by the Collector in consultation with the District Superintendent of Police, who makes a local inquiry as to the complaints of general public and other objections to the opening of the shop in a particular locality; the Collector's sanction will be based on the result of such inquiry.
They are not auctioned. No upset prices are fixed. The number is determined with reference to the area and population. The present number in the Civil and Military Station is 6. Nothing in the nature of "local option."
(h) The rates at which ganja is sold in Civil and Military Station to retail vendors by the Government contractor (wholesale vendor) are —
Majum... 4 Annas per seer of 24 tolas.
The rates at which the vendors sell to consumers are —
Majum... 6 Annas per seer of 24 tolas.
(i) The maximum amount sold to a consumer is limited to 5 tolas in one day; any quantity over this required for special purposes must be purchased under the Magistrate's pass. The prices are those fixed by Government (vide h). Sales over and below the fixed price are made punishable.
(j) The careful check placed by the officers of the Excise, Police, and Municipality prevents illicit cultivation, smuggling, and illicit sale. Such instances are rare in Civil and Military Station.
(k) No modification of the present system is under consideration.
(l) The following table shows the quantity of imports of drugs from the Madras districts, the sales, and the amount of revenue from 1886-87 (the year from which contract was separated from that of the Darbar) to 1892-93:—
21st September 18