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CH. I.] REPORT OF THE INDIAN HEMP DRUGS COMMISSION, 1893-94. 7
than was at first
anticipated. During this tour this Commission as a
whole, or in some cases Sub-Committees of the Commission, visited
the head-
quarters of some of the more important Native States to make
arrangements
for the collection of information in these States as desired by the
Government
of India. Opportunity was also taken by the Commission at this
period of their
inquiries to get at facts and opinions in an informal way; and with
this object in
view many visits were made by the Commission, or by members of the
Com-
mission (generally unexpectedly and under the guidance of private
persons as
well as of officials), to see cultivation and manufacture of hemp
drugs, to ware-
houses and to shops where these drugs are stored and sold, and to
religious
places and other places of resort where the drugs are consumed in
some form or
other. The results of these inquiries were sometimes recorded in
notes, and some-
times in the statements of persons who were then added to the list
of witnesses.
Inquiries were also held at many asylums, as will be explained in
the following
paragraph, which deals with the special inquiries made by the
Commission in this
direction.
Lunatic Asylums.
9. The Commission were
especially enjoined to thoroughly examine the testi-
mony in support of the commonly received opinion
that the use of hemp drugs is a frequent cause of
lunacy, and with this object have made very searching inquiries. In
order to
make this very important branch of their labours as complete and
searching as
possible, the procedure adopted in the different asylums of India
in classifying
and dealing with cases of insanity ascribed to the use of hemp
drugs was specially
examined, and the connection, whether causal or otherwise, between
hemp drugs
and insanity was investigated in minute detail. Every asylum in
British India
was visited either by the Commission or by some members of the
Commis-
sion, and careful inquiries were conducted on the spot in every
case of insanity
attributed to the use of hemp drugs for a given period. The period
selected for
the whole of India was the calendar year 1892, the last year for
which statistics
were available at the commencement of the Commission's labours.
Every case
of insanity ascribed to hemp drugs in the asylums of India during
the year
1892 has been specially inquired into in the asylum where the
patient was
confined, the papers and records of the case have been thoroughly
examined,
and instructions were issued to have a further local inquiry made
by an ex-
perienced Magistrate, in consultation with the Civil Surgeon, to
ascertain the past
personal and family history of the patient and any circumstances
likely to throw
light on the cause of his insanity. The record of this inquiry,
where made, has
been submitted to the Commission through the Superintendent of the
asylum
concerned, who has thus had an opportunity of reconsidering the
case with
fuller information before him on which to base an opinion as to the
cause of
the insanity. Further, the statistics of insanity and the method of
preparing
and compiling these statistics have been subjected to a rigid
scrutiny, and
no opportunity has been lost of obtaining the evidence of medical
experts,
including Government officers, private practitioners of all
classes, and Superin-
tendents of Lunatic Asylums and their subordinates, as well as of
non-profes-
sional persons, as to the relation between hemp drugs and insanity.
The
Commission have endeavoured to investigate and weigh the popular as
well as
the scientific view of this subject.
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India Papers > Medicine - Drugs > Report of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission, 1894-1895 > Volume I > (25) Page 7 |
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Permanent URL | https://digital.nls.uk/74574118 |
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Description | Chapter I, cont. |
Description | [Volume 1]: Report. |
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