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                 that no shop for the sale of hemp drugs should be opened without
                 consulting the Municipal Committee, and in rural centres notice
                 of the intention to open a shop should be given, and any objection
                 to the establishment of a shop which may be brought forward
                 should be considered, no shop being opened unless there is a
                 real demand for the drug.

                 (f) With regard to the maximum of possession, the Commission recom-
                mend that it should be fixed at 5 tolas for ganja and charas and
                20 tolas, or ¼ of a sér, for bhang. This limit is reasonable, and
                the Governor General in Council accepts it. In Bengal, the
                adoption of this limit requires legislation.

                 (g) A proposal to tax hemp drugs according to their strength has been
                made, but the Commission find that there are practical difficulties
                in the way of adopting this suggestion, as " the physiological
                value of the resin extraction present in all samples is not the
                same; and though two specimens may contain precisely the same
                percentage of resin extraction, it does not follow that the narcotic
                power of the drug would be equal, and also that the percentage
                of extraction in the drugs may vary from year to year;" and the
                proposal is not, in the opinion of the Governor General in Council,
                a feasible one.

    Incidence of taxation in different provinces
 should not vary much.

  64. That the incidence of taxation in different provinces ought not,
 cœteris paribus, to vary greatly, is a
 proposition which is laid down by the Com-
 mission. The table below, which has been furnished by the Commission, shows
 the remarkably unequal retail prices per sér prevailing in the different prov-inces:—

  GANJA. CHARAS. BHANG.
Minimum. Maximum. Minimum. Maximum. Minimum. Maximum.
  R a. p. R a. p. R a. p. R a. p. R a. p. R a. p.
Bengal 12 0 0 30 0 0 35 0 0 40 0 0 1 0 0 6 0 0
Assam 15 0 0 40 0 0 ...... ...... ...... ......
North-Western Prov-
    inces.
2 8 0 30 0 0 7 8 0 40 0 0 0 4 0 1 0 0
Punjab ...... ...... 4 0 0 15 0 0 0 2 0 0 8 0
Central Provinces 5 0 0 10 0 0 ...... ...... Not given.
Madras 1 4 0 4 2 8 ...... ...... 0 6 8 3 5 4
Bombay 0 6 0 5 0 0 ...... ...... 0 8 0 3 0 0
Sind 6 6 0 10 0 0 15 0 0 30 0 0 1 0 0 1 4 0
Berar 2 0 0 2 8 0 ...... ...... 0 8 0 0 8 0
Ajmere 4 0 0 5 0 0 16 0 0 20 0 3 0 8 0 1 0 0
Coorg 0 14 0 1 0 0 ...... ...... Not given.
Quetta-Pishin 7 8 0 7 8 0 20 0 0 20 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0

           65. On this table the Commission remark that—

           The figure given as the maximum for the ganja in the Central Provinces is not the
 true maximum. It is "the average retail price in most districts for small quantities of
 ganja." The maximum must, therefore, be higher. In Jubbulpore the Commission found
 that in some shops ganja was selling at R12 per sér. The maximum for the province is
 not available. A maximum quotation of 4 annas per tola, equal to R20 per sér, is given
 for ganja in Madras: this may be Rajshahi ganja. Bhang is said to reach a maximum
 price of R10 per sér in the same district. in Malabar, Vellore ganja is said to reach 4
 annas per tola, but the maximum price in North Arcot is 4 pies. Wynaad ganja in the

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