Medicine - Drugs > Report of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission, 1894-1895 > Volume I
(301) Page 267
Download files
Individual page:
Thumbnail gallery: Grid view | List view
CH. XIV.] REPORT OF THE INDIAN HEMP DRUGS COMMISSION, 1893-94. 267
The past history of the
case how
far to be relied upon.
556. Again, there are a
certain number of persons whose evidence before the
Commission points to the
assumption that the case
for prohibition of the hemp drugs has already been
established in the records of the Government, and that further
enquiry implies
a wilful blindness to what has been abundantly proved by such
records. A
reference to Chapter XII of this Report will show how untrustworthy
these records
are in regard to the production of insanity by the use of the
drugs—an aspect of
the question which is of the utmost importance, and has formed the
basis
of nearly all the official opinion heretofore recorded against such
use. And,
after availing themselves fully of every opportunity of consulting
the official
literature on the subject, the Commission have arrived at the
conclusion that it
shows little originality, and that a very limited amount of
personal observation
has been made to do duty as the basis of large conclusions. The
want of reli-
able data has been compensated by annual reiteration until the
stamp of anti-
quity has secured for the opinions so expressed a large amount of
acquiescence
among officials who had neither the time nor the opportunity to
examine the
matter for themselves. So far, therefore, as the effects of the
hemp drugs are
concerned, the Commission have had to approach the subject as
almost a tabula
rasa, and, while availing themselves of the imperfect data
previously collected, have
endeavoured to avoid accepting any conclusions without a
substantial foundation
of well ascertained facts. The attitude, however, of the Government
in regard to
the question may be briefly described. So far back as 1798 an
inquiry was made
in Bengal regarding the quality of ten intoxicating
articles—"opium, madak, ganja,
subzi, bhang, majum, banker, charas, tobacco, and toddy—" with a
view to determin-
ing whether it might not be advisable to prohibit altogether the
sale of any of them.
The conclusion arrived at, which was stated in a letter of the
Board to the Governor-
General in Council, No. 22, dated 29th May 1798, was to the
following effect: "It
appears that the original productions are as follows: Tobacco,
opium, ganja, subzi
or bhang, banker, and toddy, and that the three remaining articles
are for the
most part compositions of those here recited, as above mentioned.
With
respect to the drugs specified in the foregoing schedule, they are
not for the
most part represented as producing any very violent or dangerous
effects of
intoxication except when taken to excess; and, although the
operation of them
may be more powerful in their compound state, we apprehend it would
be difficult
to sanction the sale of the original productions, and to prohibit
with effect the use
of compositions of which they are susceptible; to which may be
added that most of
these articles, both as original productions and as artificial
combinations, appear
to be useful either in medicine or otherwise; for these reasons we
do not deem
it necessary to recommend that the sale of any of them be
altogether prohibited,
but shall proceed to state what appear to us the best means of
restraining the
use of them, and improving the revenue by the imposition of such
taxes as are
best adapted to the nature of the case."
A complete inquiry was
made in 1871 from all provinces as to the effects of
the several preparations of hemp; and if the result should call for
any action in
the direction of restricting them by enhancement of the duty or of
limiting, or even
prohibiting, the cultivation of the plant, the advice of the Local
Governments was
invited as to the expediency and practicability of such measures.
The result is
contained in the Resolution of the Government of India, Finance
Department, No.
3773, dated 17th December 1873. The following passage shows the
conclusion
Set display mode to: Large image | Zoom image | Transcription
Images and transcriptions on this page, including medium image downloads, may be used under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence unless otherwise stated.
India Papers > Medicine - Drugs > Report of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission, 1894-1895 > Volume I > (301) Page 267 |
---|
Permanent URL | https://digital.nls.uk/74574668 |
---|---|
Description | Chapter XIV, cont. |
Description | [Volume 1]: Report. |
---|---|
Attribution and copyright: |
|
More information |