PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
C.O. 882
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5 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
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is so little that it does not pay anyone to sell it after paying a heavy fee for a license, In the neighbouring Province (North Central) I learn it is sold somewhat largely and this, I have reason to think, is due to the circumstance that a good many Natives there are affected with parangi, and, though they may be free from the disease, they use it medicinally, as it has been found to relieve that peculiar pain which the patient describes as “running pain," which is a characteristic sequela in this disease.
Jaffna, October 2, 1893.
JOHN ATTYGALLE, M.D., Colonel Surgeon.
&
Postscript.-In my memorandum on the use of opium and bhang in Ceylon, I find I have omitted to mention the use to which it is being put of late by the native cartmen. It is largely used by them for rheumatic bulls. I happened to travel last double bullock cart from Purmegala to Gallagadera, and at one of the halting stations
year in on the way, I observed the cartman mixing some opium with the food (poonac) given to one of the bulls. He informed me that this bull two or three years previously was affected very much with rheumatism in its legs, especially during wet weather, and it was quite unfit for use. It was suggested to him by another cartman to give him some opium with his food, and' since that was done the animal had been quite free from the disease, and had been doing two trips a week regularly almost throughout the year, drawing heavy loads of plumbago between Dodangaslanda and Kurunegala, a distance of 16 miles, on a very rough road.
JOHN ATTYGALLE, M.D.
REPORT of Dr. DIAS, Colonial Surgeon, Galle; Dr. Misso, in medical charge, General Hospital, Galle; and Dr. SPITTEL, in charge of Gaol,
We have the honour to report that, as far as our experience in hospital, gaol, and private practice extend-
1st. The use of opium and bhaug has no bad effect on the system; the abuse of these no doubt will lead to disorder of the digestive and nervous systems.
2nd. The use of these seems more prevalent among the Malays than
other races.
among the
3rd. There is no increase in the use of these drugs that is appreciable by us; at the same time, it is necessary to add that the proportion of those who use and abuse these intoxicants is so small that if the numbers are increasing, even to the extent of double, or quadruple the former numbers, it is quite possible it may escape our observation.
REPORT Of Dr. SPENCE, Medical Superintendent, Lunatic Asylum, Colombo.
I have the honour to report that during the time of my charge here, I have not traced any case of insanity to the habitual use of opium, nor do I think it likely that any of the cases coming under my observation during that time were due to this
cause.
I have not been able to trace any case of insanity of a permanent kind to the habitual use of bhang. There have been a few cases in which the patient stated that he had been for a longer or shorter time a bhang consumer, but almost all of these were cases in the House of Observation that suffered merely from brief mental excitement, and were discharged without passing into the asylum at all, and I have no independent testimony as to the origin of their attacks, such as they were. In one case, admitted to the asylum from Kandy, there was independent testimony to the effect that the mental attack was due to the use of bhang, but by the time the patient came here he appeared to be sane, and he was discharged soon after. I have heard nothing more of him.
3. It is possible that the consumption of bhang may lead to insanity, it is also possible that of the cases I have seen here, some may have been caused in this way. have obtained no satisfactory proof of this however, and while the difficulty (in many cases the impossibility) of obtaining a history of patients here has to be taken into account, there is another fact which should also be considered, I believe the habitual use of any intoxicant tends to develop a craving for it, which persists, at least for a time, even in the event of insanity supervening. It is significant that a request for
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opium or bhang on the part of a patient here is of very rare occurrence judging by my experience. I do not think it is likely that many cases of insanity in Ceylon are caused by the habitual use of either opium or bhang.
Enclosure 2 in No. 6.
SIR,
Colombo, February 8, 1894. In reply to your letter of the 8th December 1893, I have the honour to submit such information as I have been able to collect, with regard to the consumption of opium and bhang and the uses and abuses of these drugs in Ceylou.
2. I selected the large towns of the island for the detailed information as to the exact number of daily consumers. It would have made a more perfect return had I obtained these details from every licensed shop in the island, but to do so would have taken considerable time, and in places where there are no police the return would probably have been very inaccurate. I think that the details which I have obtained sufficiently show the average consumption of opium and bhang in the island, and as the towns selected represent every part of Ceylon, a reasonable deduction may be made as to the consumption of the drugs in proportion to population throughout the island.
3. It appears that there are in Ceylon 64 licensed opium and bhang shops, divided among the Provinces as follows:-
Western Province Central Province
Northern Province
Southern Province
Eastern Province North-western Province North Central Province Uva Province Sabaragamuwa Province
19, includes Colombo.
15
0
9
5
6
2
3
64
4. It may be well to mention that the opium and bhang, licenses nearly always run together. In obtaining the detailed returns from the shops, I have been able to separate the purchasers of one drug from those of the other, and I will deal with opium first.
5. The return (Appendix A.) is based on observation in 10 of the largest towns in Ceylon. It shows the population of each town, the number of opium and bhang shops therein, the number and race of the consumers, and some other details in regard to the consumption of opium.
6. It will be seen from this return that the total number of persons who purchased opium in these towns on one day was 2,196, or 1·02 per cent. of their population. But many of the shops in these towns supplied the surrounding country also, and we may safely add 20 per cent. of population for this, which would make the per-centage ·85. And this, I believe, to be the truer figure of the two. The largest consumption in proportion to population was at Kurimegala, where it reaches 6-24 per cent. of popula tion, and at Galle, where it reaches 194; but in both these places the country purchasers would considerably affect the per-centage. The greatest number of pur- chasers were Singhalese, but this race, of course, greatly outnumbers others in the island. It will be noticed that very little was consumed on the premises whore it was sold.
The return shows a certain number of women and children who purchased the drug, but I attach little importance to this, as they none of them consumed it on the premises, and were nearly all, probably all, merely messengers sent to purchase for
others:
י
7. I have been unable to obtain any definite return of "habitual consumers." The term has such a wide range-from the person who takes a moderate dose every day, perhaps medicinally, to the much rarer individual who abuses the drug by over indulgence in it-and it is so differently understood by different people, that no return under such a heading could be accepted as having any value. I may, however, add that in many cases the human wreck pointed out as the victim of opium is, in reality, C 2