PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
لسلانستا
Reference :---
C.O. 882
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
5 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
SIR,
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OPIUM AND BHANG.
Hambantolu, January 21, 1894. I HAVE the honour to inform you in reference to your letter of the 18th instant, that the information called for is being collected at out-stations, and the whole return will be sent in as soon as I reach Galle.
The Inspector-General of Police, Colombo.
I am, &c.
JOHN RUDD,
For Government Agent. Southern Province, in charge of Police.
OPIUM AND BHAng, Galle.
None of the women or boys shown on this return were regular consumers of opium or bhang. They were purchasing for others.
2. By the "conditions" for the licenses at Galle for 1894, no opium or bhang can be consumed on the premises licensed for the sale thereof, whether by smoking, chewing, drinking, or in any manner whatsoever.
3. The Sinhalese purchasers from outlying villages bought the largest quantities of opium, thus pointing to a rural class of consumers who depend on illicit sales.
4. The men belonging to the town who visited the shops to purchase opium, on the 6th instant seemed to be habitual consumers of opium.
5. From all I can gather, the use of opium is extending rapidly among the Sinhalese. The general opinion appears to be that opium taken in excess makes a man very useless, but is neither immediately dangerous to life, nor calculated to induce insanity.
6. The deposit left in the pipes of opium smokers is called "chandoo," and is said to be worth three times as much as opium to those who swallow opium in the“ pill "form. This "chandoo" is the perquisite of the man who keeps the den for opium smoking. No conveniences for opium smoking are now allowed at the premises licensed in the town of Galle. By boiling down the leaves, poppyheads, &c., in which opium is packed, a kind of coarse, viscous opium is obtained, and is known as * thilum.'
7. Amblangodo had a licensed opium shop last year, and I have just reported on the application for one for 1894. No licence has yet issued.
8. Of the four licenses the municipal council of Galle resolved to issue, only three had been issued up to the 6th January instant. The council, on representations made by me, declined to issue license for any house among the brothels of Talbot Town, and this apparently caused considerable disappointment and also delay. however, make any difference in the value of the return now sent in.
This cannot,
9. None but Moors and Bengalees purchased the bhang shown in the return. 10. Nearly all Natives who know anything on the subject speak of "bhang" or “ganja” as a most dangerous drug, inducing hallucinations and insanity.
11. The use of bhang seems to be chiefly confined to Moormen, .., both coast and local Moormen, and to few even of these.
12. It is supposed by some to stimulate the organs of generation if used in moderation, and to induce a condition of intoxication, accompanied with enormous appetite for food, if taken in excess.
13. Opium and bhang mixed with spices, ghee, sugar, &c., and heated in an iron pan over the fire into a thick mass, is called "laghium," and is usually sold illicitly in pellets to approved customers.
There is a legal difficulty in proving that this compound contains opium or bhang. 14. Bhang, er rather the "ganja" (fresh leaves of Indian hemp) boiled with ripe plantains in milk, with spices, &c., and taken in doses of a teacupful, causes helpless intoxication, and is known as “ subje."
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15. The dried leaves of the ganja (Indian hemp) cut into shreds and mixed with tobacco are not unusually smoked by those addicted to the use of " consumed in this form is popularly supposed to be more hurtful to the brain and ganja." Ganja nervous system than in any other.
16. Two constables at Jaffna who used ganja in this manner "peculiar" in their behaviour. One of them only indulged in the drug at rare were periodically intervals, and used to wander about talking aloud at night, being unable to sleep when under its influence.
17. The other (a coast Moorman) grow insane and had to be discharged, as he was extremely useless, irritable, and quarrelsome, and laboured under the delusion that he possessed considerable sums of money which his comrades used to steal.
18. There was a good deal of excitement and distrust among the keepers of the opium shops in December last, and all seemned most anxious to permit as little information as possible to be collected.
After the sale of the rent for 1894 matters were less strained, and the figures now furnished, were obtained by careful watching.
19. I greatly regret the delay in forwarding this return, and have hurried back from a tour of inspection to send it in. The information needed could have been better collected a month or two later.
20. At the end of the year, the licenses have to be renewed, and even in ordinary times sales of opium in the last half of December fluctuate very much owing to—
(a.) The desire of habitual opium eaters to lay in a stock in case of delay in issuing
licenses.
(b.) The trade jealousy which makes the licensee who is going out (or who fears he will be ousted) sell opium cheaply to get rid of his stock, and to damage his rival's trade for the first few weeks of the new year.
21. To these complications must be added the garbled rumours regarding the opiu crusade now in progress which reached the ears of those interested towards the end of the year.
22. All immediate fears having been allayed by the issue of the new licenses for 1894, and one of the conditions for 1894 being that of open sale in public view, the figures now submitted may be relied on as correct for Galle and Matars.
23. I submit herewith the return for Matara, with a copy of a letter received from the Assistant Government Agent,
24. The return for Hambantolu has not arrived yet, and I have called for it and will send it in. The licenses for the sale of opium at Hambantolu left the Galle Kachcheri on the 13th instant. Three licenses were so issued.
25. The Malay and Mahommedan population at Hambantolu probably numbers four-fifths of the whole. The population in all is 1,200, I believe, and the number of those who consume opium must approximate to the figures for Matara.
be fairly
26. As the license to sell opium at Amblangoda has not issued yet, itat hamlet
assumed that the retail houses at Galle supplied the consumers of opium in during January current.
27. I estimate that there must be at least 1,000 persons in this Province who habitually eat or smoke opium, and many others who take smaller quantities in the form of "thilum " and " laghium."
28. I feel that this return is incomplete, but regret that in the circumstances this was unavoidable. A more complete return could be furnished next month, if necessary.
JOHN RUDD,
For Government Agent, Southern Province, in charge of Polios.
U 19500.
F
mas.