CANNABIS 



TRADE AND ADMINISTRATION SATIVA 



Revenue 



children or insane persons with any. A limit is at the same time fixed 

 on the amount that may be either sold to, or possessed by, a private person 

 time. It is universally believed by both traders and consumers 

 .ill forms of the drug deteriorate with age. This is just the opposite Deterioration 

 opinion to that held with regard to opium. It accordingly follows that wlthA *"- 

 effort is made to dispose of the produce year by year, and not to 

 ;. It is perhaps on this account that such indifferent results have 

 litained with Indian hemp as a medicine in Europe as compared 

 with India. Long years ago Honigberger (I.e. 157) deplored this fact. 



me fresh stuff it has accordingly been recommended by Prain Direct 

 all purchases by the European dealers should be made direct Recommended. 

 .L'h the (iovernment official in joint charge of the warehouses. 

 Area and Revenue. In 1895, when the Government of India pub- Area. 

 lishcd their Resolution on the Report of the H.D. Commission, the total 

 urea iii all India under regular cultivation of the plant was estimated at 

 uler 6,000 acres. In 1900-1 the Agricultural Statistics of India show 

 extent of cultivation to have been only 4,096 acres; in 1901-2 it 

 uld appear to have stood at 2,496 acres; in 1902-3 at 1,940 acres; 

 l'.'<i:j-4 at 2,637 acres; and in 1905-6 at 2,645 acres, with, over and 

 ve. 4li) acres in the Native States. If these figures denote an actual 



ilinent of area, not merely more accurate returns, they have curiously Reduction 

 ugh been coincident with increasing revenue. In the Excise Adminis- Expansion'of 

 ion Reports, the Hemp Drugs are shown to have realised a total Revenue - 

 enue of 201,344 in 1900-1, of 213,224 in 1901-2, and of 225,352 

 '2-3 later figures are not available. It would therefore seem that 

 icial returns may be accepted as exemplifying the continued careful 

 ntrol and restriction pursued by the Government. 



Prices and Duty. The prices of the various forms of Indian hemp Prices : 

 varv so greatly that it seems hardly worth while to give a quotation of Duty, 

 the figures usually recorded. The price depends upon a multitude of 

 circumstances, such as the quality, method of preparation, degree of 

 taxation, and the like. The Government of India, in their Resolution 

 on the H.D. Commissioners' Report, placed before the various Indian 

 ministrations a table of retail prices per seer (2 lb.), which was com- 

 nded to their attention with a view to gradually securing a greater 

 uniformity. To manifest the extremes exhibited in that table the Highest , 

 lowing may be abstracted : GANJA in Assam sells at Rs. 15 lowest k * 68 * 1 - 



i nd Rs. 40 highest price ; while in Bombay it is sold, lowest price 

 nnas and highest Rs. 5. CHARAS in Panjab, lowest price Rs. 4, highest 

 , 15 ; while in Bengal its lowest price is Rs. 35 and its highest Rs. 40. 

 AM; in Panjab sells at lowest price 2 annas and highest 8 annas, while 

 in Bengal its lowest price is Rs. 1 and the highest Rs. 6 per seer. These 

 variations to a large extent are the direct expression of the varying inci- 

 dence of taxation, but there can be little or no doubt that there is a con- 

 siderable variability in intrinsic merit, not only between the produce intrinsic Merit 

 of one province and another but even between the different districts of 

 the same province. 



For the rates of duty and all other particulars regarding the traffic 

 in hemp narcotics, the reader should consult the provincial Reports of 

 Excise Administration in India. Some of these annual volumes (especially 

 those published by the Government of Bengal) will be found to contain 

 the fullest possible details. 



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