Feb., 1938J THE OPIUM SMOKING HABIT IN INDIA : R. N. & G. S. CHOPRA 81

for THE OPIUM SMOKING HABIT IN INDIA its pleasure-giving effects spread very rapidly- after their discovery and became so extensive Part I. General survey in the East that prohibitory edicts and enact- isy n. A. sc.D. L'HUiJKA, C.I.E., m.a., m.d., (Uantabj, ments were rulers to M.R.C.P. (Lond.) promulgated by prevent the of the habit. In of BREVET-COLONEL, I.M.S. spread spite this, opium more more The Honorary Physician to the King claimed and devotees. drug and was at first- taken only by the mouth, but later, G. S. CHOPRA, m.b., b.s. after the introduction of tobacco, it was smoked. (Department of Pharmacology, School of Tropical Tobacco smoking is said to have been started in Medicine, Calcutta)* Asia first in the Philippine Islands by the Historical and general Spaniards and from there it spread to China There is little doubt that the medicinal in the beginning of the seventeenth century. It would that in the of properties of opium were known from very appear early days tobacco various substances were mixed early times and that its euphoric uses were dis- smoking covered later. The employment of this drug with it either to counteract its unpleasant effects or to strengthen the pleasant ones. wor'c was commenced under a grant from the T ,]? Arsenic was one of these substances and Indian Research Fund Association and during the last opium was another. year has been carried on under the Endowment. Fund of 'he Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine. The earliest record of the use of opium for smoking purposes is by Kampfer who in the end of the seventeenth century saw the inhabit- ants of Java offering for sale tobacco soaked in a solution of opium in water. In a.d. 1726 Francois a Dutchman, described the Valentyn,' presence of modak' smokers among them. With the Dutch conquest of Formosa, the custom spread to that island and also to China. By the beginning of the eighteenth century, the habit had become so widespread that the author- ities in the latter country were greatly alarmed regarding the evil effects which were being produced by it. In 1729 the first anti-opium edict was published by the then Emperor. In a Chinese work published in a.d. 1746 and translated Dr. smoking is by Edkins,' opium described as follows : Opium for smoking is prepared by mixing hemp and grass cloth plant and cutting them into small pieces. This is then boiled in water with tobacco and smoked. This was the method in which it was smoked in these countries and China before the eighteenth century'. In 1796 the import was officially forbidden and opium smoking was made an offence punishable by death. The Persians took to eating of opium early but there is no mention of opium smoking ' among them in the records of Kampfer's Travels', nor in those of Tavernier's (1657-70), though both describe eating and the smoking ' of hashish '. It appears to have been intro- duced later, probably after the Portuguese brought tobacco to the Persian Gulf in the early part of the seventeenth century. The Persians then became great smokers of tobacco and learned to grow tobacco themselves and invent- ed the water-pipe (qalian). They, however, never used the water-pipe for smoking 1 ' opium though hashish mixed with tobacco was occa- sionally smoked in it. Persians themselves admit that smoking of opium was unknown in their country until the nineteenth century and mention that the practice among them is not more than 110 years old. Other authorities assert that it did not begin there till after 1850; All agree that opium smoking was begun in 82 THE INDIAN MEDICAL GAZETTE [Feb., 1938

Khorassan, the north-eastern province of which by the mouth for its euphoric effects in the Meshed is the capital. Here the famous shrine times of Akbtar is shown the reference made by ' of Imam Rezah is situated and here are attract- to it by Abul-fazl in his book called Ain-i- ed thousands of Shiah Mohammedan pilgrims akbari \ The testimony of European travellers from all parts of the world every year. It is shows that in the sixteenth century indulgence in a fair assumption, therefore, that opium smok- this drug attained a considerable magnitude in was into ing first brought Persia by pilgrims many parts of India. It was mostly eaten at to Meshed. Certain it is that the Khorassanis that time as no mention of opium smoking is are more addicted to it than the to-day people made. Even up to the beginning of the nine- of any other province in Persia. teenth century no writer has recorded the

MAP OF INDIA Showing R?lotive Prevalence of Opium Smoking to different ports of India

K?f*r*ncM:

Pr*c+k? im?l?in9 *nor? pr?vol??t *ho? MtMq ? .IKZH

Sm*Jr?g ond ??Wnf *qu*ly pr*vol?n? ? ? ?

$rw?fcng ?f Opi?m foirly pr?vol#nt in *c

Mob* of ywokhq ? rf proc^K* but.?a?

?n c*'t?^ loc?>it*t , , . . , . ? # #

It is of note here that before the worthy smoking of opium in India, although it Great War of were prevailed large quantities morphine in China. Exactly when the preparations made sent to China in the form of of a packages for smoking were first introduced and the habit cure for the proprietary opium smoking habit; of smoking opium first obtained a foothold in a cure it have been but it might produced India is not quite clear. Fortunately, it never another vice worse. infinitely Opium smoking assumed such a menacing aspect as it did in was in vogue in some parts of the United States China. The Royal Opium Commission of 1894 where it was introduced ' undoubtedly through described the habit as comparatively rare and the agency of the Chinese immigrants. novel' in India. A careful consideration of the available data Introduction of opium smoking habit in India to the of introduction of opium in points possibility Opium, all probability, was introduced into in India by Mohammedan traders from India smoking by the nomadic Arab traders and in- Persia and Afghanistan. The stimulating and vaders. That the drug was extensively taken the narcotic properties of the drug combined Feb., 1938] THE OPIUM SMOKING HABIT IN INDIA : R. N. & G. S. CHOPRA 83 with the wonderful flow of ideas which occur some of the old Hindustani books very detailed early in the act of smoking, appealed to the and somewhat exaggerated descriptions are to of easy-going, well-to-do section of society and be found this habit and the effects produced it. dens are found in of the the habit spread among them, particularly by Opium many towns in even to during the days of decline of the Moghul large India the present day, Empire. but the proportion of people who smoke the drug is very small at the present time. Its incid- in India Present extent of opium smoking ence among the people is very irregular and, The habit of smoking opium is considered so although there are areas and certain classes of will the which are these disreputable that no self-respecting person population badly affected, own to it. Besides this, there are restrictions fortunately form a very small minority. placed on it by law, and both these factors make Our enquiries show that the habit of smoking in one form or other is met with on a an accurate survey of its incidence very difficult. opium in towns in India. We have, however, by our work in the field small scale many of the large obtained some idea with regard to its prevalence The practice is at present confined to the poorer we of in different parts of India. In this work classes. A general survey of the incidence have received the greatest help from excise the habit was carried out in different provinces officers in all provinces. It is only these officers and the results are briefly given in table I. It and the vendors who really know the persons may be stated here at once that the habit of who indulge in smoking, and it would have been opium smoking has considerably decreased in of India the last 30 to impossible to form even an approximate idea during years. According the prevalence of the habit without their active some authorities the reduction has been by as co-operation. much as 75 per cent. Opium smoking, however, Table I Showing the total consumption of opium in different provinces in 1932-33, the approximate number of smokers and the localities affected

Total Approximate Localities where the habit is to be Btill Provinces number of reported consumption in vogue to an degree. in lb. addicts appreciable

Madras 59,782 5,000 to 6,000 Ganjam, Vizagapatam, East Godaveri and West Godaveri districts and Madras town. Bombay 38,084 900 to 1,000 Bombay, Ahmedabad, Poona, Sholapore, Broach, Ahmednagar, , Nasik Thana. Sindh 8,216 2,000 to 4,000 Hyderabad, Sukker, Mirpur Khas, Shikarpore and Jacobabad and Karachi. Bengal 56,180 6,000 to 7,000 Calcutta and suburbs, Murshidabad, Dacca, Chitta- gong, Barisal and Darjeeling districts. tJnited Provinces 39,978 | 2,100 to 3,000 Shaharanpur, Bulandshahr, Muttra, Bareilly, Aligarh, Benares, Cawnpore, Agra, Fatehpur, Allahabad, Farrukhabad, Etawah and Gorakhpore districts. Punjab 63,082 800 to 900 Lahore, Multan, Gujranwala, Jullunder, Rawalpindi, Ambala, Ferozepore, Ludhiana, Amritsar and Sialkot districts. Burma 43,625 3,000 to 4,000 All over the province particularly in Northern and Southern Shan States and in all towns and Arrakan areas. Bihar 38,493 6,000 to 8,000 Shahabad, Saran, Champaran, Muzaffarpore, Bhagal- | pore, and Singhbhoom districts. Orissa I 2,000 to 3,000 Orissa province as a whole and towns like and Puri. 25,388 12,000 to 15,000 Narsingpur subdivision, Nagpur, Ellichpur, Balaghat, Jubbulpore, Akola, Amraoti, Buldana, Yeotmal, Wardha, Rajpur, Bilaspur and Mandla districts. Assam 26,765 20,000 to 25,000 Hill tracts particularly Sadiya frontier tracts, Makir hills of Nowgong and Sibsagar districts. North-West Frontier 1,682 3,000 to 5,000 Towns like Peshawar, Kohat, Hoti Mardan, Dera Province. Ismail Khan and Bannu. Administered areas 10,922 200 to 400 and Ajmer towns. (Baluchistan, Ajmer- ^00rg D lhi^ara'

still to be in of A study of the records leaves little room for appears practised many the an towns among the lower strata of doubt that opium smoking has always been large the uncommon in India. That it did exist society. practice the we the and does now certain classes is In following pages give information exist even among ' we with to its evident from the fact that the word chandu- have gathered regard prevalence in of India, baz' or opium smoker is well known and in different parts 84 THE INDIAN MEDICAL GAZETTE [Feb., 1938

Opium smoking in Assam afford to do so. Amongst those who took to During the latter part of the seventeenth opium for its pleasure-giving effects and many century, when the Moghuls came in contact with of those who used it to control the symptoms of the of Assam, it is that some diseases and smoking of was kings ' probable ailments, opium time or other opium or affing' as it was called universal. Almost every one smoked opium in was sent as a present to the Assam (Ahom) the first instance and only took to other modes kings. It would appear that from about this of consumption after he had become a confirmed time the habit of eating opium was introduced smoker and found that he could afford neither into Assam. Neither the available literature the time nor the money required for smoking. nor the local chronicles, which describe the It is difficult to form an accurate estimate of of details of the royal functions and the events the relative proportions at any one time of those each day before the eighteenth century, have any who smoke opium and those who take it by the references either to poppy cultivation or habitual mouth. The economic condition of the con- use of opium among the people of Assam. That sumer appears to be an important factor in this the royal court indulged freely in the drug by connection. When times are good and money is the end of the eighteenth century, can be easy to obtain, the stage at which smoking is gathered conclusively from the report of Captain given up and the less expensive form of indul- Welsh in 1792 to Lord Cornwallis. He describes is taken is ' gence, i.e., eating up, postponed. the King Gaurinath Singha, as a poor debili- When times are hard this is done quickly. tated man, incapable of transacting business, Similarly, the poorer classes have to give up always either washing or praying and, whenever smoking earlier than those who are well off. seen, intoxicated with opium '. Again, in Cap- According to the estimate we have formed by tain Welsh's report we read further, that he our work in the the of ' field, proportion opium required a few boat loads of opium for sale smokers to opium eaters in the province of because it was useful for the purchase of rice, Assam as a whole at the present time is one- etc., for the troops '. It is not exactly known fourth and not one-half or one-third of the total when the drug was first introduced into the opium habitues, as the Botham Committee Assam valley but it is certain that poppy was (1912) and Assam Congress Inquiry Committee widely cultivated there in 1773, and its use (1925) respectively reported. In some places became so extensive in the nineteenth century figures may be higher. In Lakhimpur Sadiya that measures had to be taken to prevent its frontier tract, for instance, we found that the abuse. It was observed by one of the writers proportion of smokers to eaters was 4 to 11 in of that period that three-fourths of the popula- several localities, but this is not the case in tion were habituated to opium. other parts of Assam. The reason why the pro- There appears to be little doubt that the habit portion of smokers is put down to be high by of smoking opium was introduced into the valley some people is partly because the evils of smok- by clandestine methods from the north. In ing bulk large in their view, and partly because Assam the inhabitants, for some reason, gave they are apt to confuse the number of those who themselves up completely to the drug and opium smokers have always formed a considerable por- Table II tion of the indigenous population of Assam. incidence per and The Kacharis were so addicted to Showing 10,000 population passionately also total consumption in pounds in various it that they sometimes demanded to be paid in districts of Assam during the year 1932-33 opium instead of money. Both men and women among the Kakhyens, Karens and Lpais, the inhabitants of the Khasi smoked Consump- Incidenco mountains, tion in lb. could small per 10,000 opium. They produce only very District during the of popula- of the on quantities drug account of the high year tion in altitude in the mountains, but they obtained 1932-33 lb. large quantities from China. The wild tribes of Tunings and Nagas descended from their hills into the in order to barter for rice Kamrup valleys ivory, Goalpara and opium. Certain tribes of the adjacent parts Cachar of Burma, the Parjii and the Kachion, are badly Svlhet addicted to this habit. Khasi and Jaintia hills .. Naga hills is said to have increased in Opium smoking Balipara frontier tract Assam after the prohibition of poppy cultiva- Darning .. .. tion- in 1860. Some of the old addicts whose Nowgong including Mikir hills. memory goes back to that period state that only Sibsagar including Mikir about 5 per cent of the consumers were hills. smokers at that time. Probably the form in Lakhimpur which opium was then commonly manufactured Sadiya frontier tract was not suitable for smoking purposes. The habit later spread rapidly and practically every Whole province opium addict preferred to smoke it if he could Feb., 19381 THE OPIUM SMOKING HABIT IN INDIA : R. N. & G. S. CHOPRA 85 have been smokers in the past with the number average consumption per month per individual is who are smokers at the present time. From our 270 grains. inquiries in different tea estates it would appear In table III we. have given the comparative that the proportion of smokers is much the same figures of consumption of opium in the hill and here among the imported labour as amongst the plain areas of two districts in which the incid- indigenous population. ence of the opium habit is high. Sibsagar and Nowgong districts adjoin each other and have The in Assam present position of opium smoking a common hilly tract called Mikir hills and the It will be seen that, with the exception of inhabitants of this area are particularly fond of Sylhet and Goalpara, all other districts show a opium smoking. rise of the curve above the standard laid down This table is of special interest in'apmuch as by the League of Nations. The consumption is it shows that the incidence of addiction to opium high in the upper districts of Assam valley, in the hill areas is almost five times that in the particularly in the hill tracts and the Sadiya plains; for example, it is 172 lb. in the Sibsagar frontier tract. The consumption of opium here Mikir hills as compared to 34 lb. per 10,000 ranges between 122 to 188 lb. per 10,000 of in the plains of the same district. There are pro- population and the opium conference at Simla in portionately more habitues in the hill areas, the ' 1930 marked these as black spots' in the prov- proportion to total population being 1 in 19 and ince. This unusually high consumption is due 1 in 34 in the hill areas of the two districts res- to smoking of opium, which necessitates a much pectively as compared with 1 in 71 and 1 in 52 it in the of the same district. larger dosage of opium per head than taking plains Further, by the mouth. We have observed that opium it will be seen that the average monthly allow- ance of same in smoking is commoner among the hill tribes. each district is practically the In the plains much less opium is consumed, the the two areas, indicating that the mode of con- consumption being the highest in Lakhimpur dis- sumption is probably the same, i.e., smoking. trict To sum the of total (124 lb. per 10,000 population per annum) up briefly, consumption excise in the whole of Assam includ- and lowest as one goes southwards, i.e., in opium was lb. 1932-33. Nowgong district (34 lb. per 10,000 persons ing Manipur State 26,765 during

Table III consumers on the register in plain in and the number of Showing difference consumption districts in 1932-33 and hill areas of Sibsagar and Nowgong

Incidence Average Percentage Total Number of per 10,000 monthly of pass | population Total consumers population consump- holders to | according consump- according tion per on the to census tion in lb. general to census individual register population j of 1931 of 1931 in grains

Plain areas 1 in 71 484,831 34 145.8 6,950 Nowgong district 1,702 1 1 in 52 877,960 88 270.0 17,399 Sibsagar district 7,866 ..: i .

Hill areas 1 in 19 77,750 172 198.0 4,016 I Nowgong district 1,350 1 in 34 55,466 122 212.0 1,628 ! Sibsagar district 682

The total population of the province of and Goal- Per The districts Sylhet to the last census was annum). lower than the according report para have a consumption even and the incidence of and 0.64 lb. per 9,247,857 opium consump- being 0.44 of annum works League standard, is high in tion per 10,000 population per 10,000 per annum. The consumption out to be 30.6 lb. per annum as compared with frontier ' Khasi and Jaintia hills and Balipara lb. in the black area and 29.4 lb. in 10,000. The 84 spot' tract where it reaches 73.8 lb. per areas and 38 lb. in the Mikir North rate in Cachar plain hills, consumption Cachar frontier tract of and Bali- pomparatively high Cachar hills are hills, Sadiya is due to that Northern un- the fact there in para, and Manipur State. The addiction is labourers employed inalarious and the under the common in Lushai and Garo hills. In Manipur timber smoke the drug the incidence is 2.8 lb. ?he industry value. Out of State very low, i.e., only belief that it has a of per annum. prophylacticthere were 1,338 per 10,000 population the total population of 32,844 this Number of consumers in the province.?The the pass holders (4 per cent of population); The number of registered opium addicts in various works out to be 1 in 25 of the population. 86 THE INDIAN MEDICAL GAZETTE [Feb., 1938

districts of the province and the average daily month, or 7.86 grains a day as compared with dose are shown in table IV. 6.8 grains per day of other areas. Decline of opium smoking in Assam.?Our Table IV enquiries show that the habit of smoking opium declined the Showing the number of registered opium addicts has considerably in Assam during 20 the in various districts in during past years, and this is borne out by fact that the of the the year 1932-33 and average daily dose consumption drug per 10,000 of population per annum has been greatly reduced during this period. This is specially Proportion ' of the the case with the black spot' areas. Number of registered Average Districts holders dose registered pass daily Table V addicts to in grains general Showing opium consumption per 10,000 population ' popula- tion in black spot' areas of Assam province in the 1927-28 ' pounds during years 1920-21, Black spot' areas and 1932-33 Darrang 7,602 1 in 77 7.02 1 in 51 5.52 Nowgong 10,966 Consumption in lb. per Sibsagar 19,027 1 in 49 8.94 10,000 OF POPULATION Lakhimpur 20,414 1 in 35 8.58 ' Black areas Sadiya frontier 1,665 1 in 32 12.06 spot' tract. 1920-21 1927-28 1932-33

Total. 59,674 1 in 48 7.96 1. Darraixg 344 118 44 2. Nowgong with Mikir 582 240 54 hills. Other areas 3. Sibaagar with Mikir 336 180 90 Kamrup 4,576 1 in 213 72 hills. Goalpara 153 1 in 5,769 72 4. Lakhimpur 610 284 124 1 in 273 7.8 5. frontier tract .. 188 Cachar 2,0S5 Sadiya' Sylhet 411 1 in 6,628 6.0 6. Black spot' areas as a 458 206 84 Khasi and Jaintia 1,765 1 in 164 7.8 whole. hills. Province as a whole .. 161.6 72.2 30.6 Naga hills 671 1 in 266 13.2 Balipara frontier 56 1 in 91 13.2 tract. The reduction in opium consumption during the past 16 years is undoubtedly the result of of the reduction in number Total. 69,391 1 in 126 6.8 registration addicts, and rationing of shops, the enforcement of the Opium Smoking Act, and also the 10 per cent As regards the actual number of opium reduction in the annual ration of each addict. It the we have addicts in these areas, survey made appears that the consumption of opium was us to that the actual on the leads believe figures rather alarming during the year 1920-21, before official register do not represent the true number the restrictive measures were adopted. As a of addicts and that there are at least half as result of these measures the habit of smoking many more addicts who still remain unregistered opium, in many localities, has been replaced by and consume the drug obtained from various that of eating which is satisfied by smaller illicit sources. As regards the proportion of quantities of the drug. In 1920-21 the con- ' pass holders to general population they form the sumption of the drug in black spot' areas was smallest percentage of population in Darrang? 458 lb. per 10,000 of population, in 1927-28 1.29 per cent. The number is very high in the it fell to 206 lb. while in 1932-33 it dropped Mikir hills of Nowgong district where they to 84 lb. only. Not only do the ' black spot' form 5.1 per cent. Taking the whole population areas show marked decrease but the incidence in the province, excluding Manipur State, there in the whole province also has fallen simul- is one pass holder for every 126 persons as com- from 161.6 lb. per 1 taneously 10,000 population with 1 in 48 in case pared the of black spot' during 1920-21 to 72.2 lb. (by 55 per cent) in areas. According to the estimate we have 1927-28 and it has further dropped in 1932-33 formed there would approximately be between to 30.6 lb. Taking the province as a whole the 20,000 to 25,000 smokers in this province. consumption of the drug has fallen from Average daily dose.?A perusal of table IV 129,190 lb. during the year 1920-21 to 57,766 will show that the average daily consumption lb. during the year 1927-28 and to 28,448 lb. per pass holder is highest in Sadiya frontier during 1932-33. Thus the present consumption tract, being 12.06 grains a day, and is the lowest has come down to even less than one-fourth in the Nowgong plain areas where it is 4.86 of what it used to be 16 years ago. This wide ' grains a day. For the black spot' areas as a range in variation can be duly explained by the whole the average dose per registered addict fact that most of the smokers have now taken works out to be 2,700 grains a year, 225 grains a to opium eating. Feb., 1938] THE OPIUM SMOKING HABIT iN INDIA : R. N. & G. S. CHOPRA 87

official record was a The actual number of the registered con- 10,345, figure probably decrease. somewhat on the low side. sumers does not show corresponding ' the Madak' is the which was There were 85,976 registered addicts during preparation prin- This used for in this The year 1927-28 and 69,605 during 1932-33. cipally smoking province. of to are reduction does not correspond with the fall of types persons given opium smoking low-class total consumption of the drug for reasons Mohammedans, artisans, hackney and a few It is already explained. Further, it may be observed carriage drivers, agriculturists. a vice of the urban rather than of the rural areas. that the average daily dose showed a reduction to the The incidence is in subdivision from 13.2 to 6.8 grains. This is due high Narshingpur in the fact that the opium smoking habit is gradually and the habit is also fairly prevalent areas of and being replaced by eating. adjoining Hoshangabad Jubbulpore districts. There are also a large number of Opium s?noking in the Central Provinces habitues amongst the Mohammedan popula- We have carried out a detailed survey of the tion of Ellichpur, Balaghat, and Jubbulpore prevalence of this habit in this province during towns. In certain areas of Akola, Amraoti, is "Yeotmal and Wardha the the last few years and find that its incidence Buldanha, districts, habit also exists in the lower strata of still high as compared with some of the other society. provinces of India. It is not exactly known Opium smoking has also spread to certain dis- when the habit was introduced into this tricts inhabited by the aboriginal tribes? The Committee Raipur, Balaghat, Bilaspur, and Mandla. The province. Opium Inquiry ' of smokers in (1929) reported that 'the opinion is pretty departmental estimate madak' generally that the habit, especially these districts in 1933 was 1,707, 868, 490 and " expressed that of madak " smoking, began among the 400 respectively. Raipur was worse even than Mohammedans and this fits in with the fact the notorious Narshingpur subdivision in which that at present the habit is most prevalent in the number was 1,500. that and with the high consumption community in Burma* in Ellichpur, which is largely a Mohammedan Ojpium smoking town'. The cultivation of poppy was started It is not exactly known when opium was first in this province about 200 years ago and the introduced into Burma. Caesar Fredericks, a smok- information available goes to show that Venetian, who travelled in the East for eighteen ing was introduced nearly a hundred years years, described at some length in a.d. 1591 his later. It would appear that the habit of smok- two ventures in importing opium into Burma ing was first contracted by a few rich land- from Cambay and the port of Chawl on the owners of the province from their retainers, who West Coast of India. F. C. Danvers of the were generally Mohammedans from outside. Dutch East Indies Company, in a memorandum It proved enjoyable in company, began to from the Hague, refers to the Company's trade was acquire a social value and at one time it in opium in the year a.d. 1613. It is mentioned offered to common for a smoke of opium to be that at that time 200 lb. of opium were Quests and visitors as a mark of hospitality. annually sold in the Malaccas and that the drug was cheap in former days was sold in Siam and Moreover, opium very ' ' profitably Pegu. Opium and was easily obtainable anywhere. Madak was thus in use in Burma over three hundred smoking thus* spread extensively in some local- years ago. ities where the idle rich class of landholders In Burma, as in China, the smoking of an resided. In the districts of Berar it is quite extract of pure opium is of comparatively recent likely that the habit was originally introduced origin. The annexation of Arracan by Bengal by the Mohammedan rulers who hailed from after the first Burmese war led to an increased handed Persia. This legacy has thus been consumption of opium by the Arracanese as the was in- down to the people and opium smoking regulation for the sale of opium in Bengal was dulged in in of restrictions that were later not at that time stringent. In the first Burmese spite has introduced. The Opium Smoking Act war, after the stockade at Kemmendine was been in full force since 1932; according to this captured, a quantity of raw opium was dis- however, covered. Even far the number Act smoking is an offence. It has, to-day by largest not been in to suppress the of consumers are to be found in Arracan. possible practice have offence entirely. The excise authorities In Burma besides the special opium pipe, pre- been to in assemblies, but is smoked in the form of what is able check smoking pared opium' the individual smoking of the drug in secret known as katpon \ It is made by mixing the The with still continues and is difficult to detect. prepared opium dried plantain-leaf torn and dried over a opium law in the province was further strength- into shreds fire, the opium it unlawful mixed with the leaf. This is ened in the year 1934 by making being thoroughly to then smoked in an for any person to smoke opium and possess ordinary pipe. a for or On account of the Chinese pipe or any other apparatus smoking large population, preparing for smoking purposes. It would the smoking of opium is very prevalent in opium total appear from the of table I that the study was * consumption of during 1932-33 When tihis survey was done Burma was a part of opium on India. 25,388 lb. and the number of smokers 88 THE INDIAN MEDICAL GAZETTE [Feb., 1938

the more Burma. Among Burman addicts, of the convict population are, as far as eaters of opium than smokers have been regis- can be ascertained, unlicensed opium con- tered. The import into Burma of opium pre- sumers. Licit and illicit traffic have been for is its manu- ' pared smoking prohibited, but aptly likened to two streams, one open to the facture and use are allowed, subject to certain day on the surface and the other hidden under- restrictions. In order to discourage smoking the ground, both closely connected and both running manufacture and sale of prepared opium were more or less in the same general direction \ It 1st discontinued in the licensed shops from the has been estimated that# approximately 7 per April, 1921. Those who desire to smoke opium cent of the non-European population of Burma now to it In 1924 a have prepare themselves. consume opium in one form or another. The was made other law prohibiting any person incidence of opium addiction runs parallel to the than a registered smoker from possessing pre- population density and the opium trade routes, pared opium, and a register for opium smokers thus it is more common in large urban centres was opened for six months from 9th January, such as Rangoon and Mandalay and the frontier 1924. Up to 31st March, 1932, no new names districts. In the deltaic areas of Burma and to the was ex- could be added register and it Arracan, where two-thirds of the opium con- pected that with the gradual disappearance of sumers in Burma reside, the drug is consumed the persons registered in 1924, opium smoking in small doses as a prophylactic against disease. would cease to be in permitted Burma, except As regards the use of opium as a stimulant, the in a few of the backward tracts. In 1929 a practice of taking the drugs is old-standing, is Commission of Enquiry into the Control of indulged in in moderation, and is believed to Opium Smoking was appointed by the Council produce no injurious effects. Burman consumers of the of Nations which visited Burma League are as a rule mostly eaters. In the year 1932-33 and the countries in the Far East. This Commis- out of a total of 16,000 registered consumers only sion condemned the system of a closed register on 4,000 were registered as smokers. With China- the ground that this did not lead to a suppres- men it is different and out of a total of 13,813 sion of the opium habit but drove the consumers registered consumers 12,720 were registered to the use of illicit opium. This and other smokers. Recent figures (March 1936) show recommendations were examined by a small the number of registered smokers at 17,388, of committee composed mainly of members of the which approximately 68 per cent are Chinese, Burma Council. The committee Legislative 20 per cent Burman and 2 per cent Indian. This after due consideration recommended that the total does not include the whole province as the Government of Burma should adopt the ultimate smokers in frontier districts are not registered. of suppression opium consumption among all Whereas amongst the Chinese opium consump- races in as Burma the goal of its policy and tion is to be found in all grades of society, in the that in order to achieve tliis end the a system of case of other nationalities it is practically closed should register be abolished. As a result entirely confined to the lower strata of society. of this recommendation the opium smokers' Opium consumption in Burma appears to be which had been closed since 1924 were registers specially confined to the male sex, excepting thrown open with effect from the 1st April, 1932. in the Kachin hills and the Shan States The total number of perhaps registered smokers of opium where female addicts are not uncommon. This the end of 1933 was About 67 by 20,678. per is indeed fortunate, as established addiction cent of these smokers were Chinese registered among women is notoriously difficult to cure. and Burmese, with only a very small proportion of Indians and others. Opium ?smoking in other parts of India the of the of Since reopening register .?Our enquiries show that Burman both eaters and smokers opium addicts, opium smoking is still met with in the Agency are forward themselves coming to, get registered. Tracts of Ganjam, Vizagapatam and East Goda- Of lb. of consumed the 43,623 opium during veri districts. In the city of Madras a few lb. were year .1932-33 approximately 26,587 smoking dens are said to exist. The habit smokers and lb. opium consumed by registered 17,036 has, however, almost from the the eaters. The Government of Burma had disappeared by southern part of the presidency. The number under consideration a to license smok- proposal of addicts cannot be more than five to six saloons with a view to reasonable ing providing thousand in the whole of this province. facilities for where such may be neces- '' smoking Bihar.?The habit of smoking madak' pre- and at the same time the excise sary enabling vails to a certain extent in some districts but is to take effective action unlicensed staff against usually confined to towns and important centres saloons. of trade. There were 5,979 individual ' regis- tered smokers under the Bihar and Orissa The extent in Burma present, of opium smoking Opium Smoking Act' up to 31st December, 1931, There were 53,000 licensed opium eaters and when the register was finally closed. There are smokers in Burma, out of a population of probably 4,000 to 5,000 opium smokers in this ' 14,667,146 in 1933. The number of illicit province at the present time. Chandu' opium consumers is probably quite large smoking is met with to a limited extent in in view of the fact that 6.15 per cent certain urban areas in the districts of Shahabad, Feb., 1938] THE OPIUM SMOKING HABIT IN INDIA : R. N. & G. S. CHOPRA 89

Saran, Muzaffarpore, Bhagalpore than 6,000 to 7,000. The Tibetans, Assamese Champaran, and in the districts of and Singhbhum. Mughs Darjeeling and ' ' smoke The madak is Chittagong rarely opium. Opium Orissa.?The habit of smoking Smoking Act and the rules made thereunder had towns and centres of encountered in some of the the desired effect the and under throughout presidency trade. The number of persons registered the number of smokers has gradually the Act up to declined, Bihar and Orissa Opium Smoking but of prepared opium are sometimes 31st when the was supplies December, 1931, register obtained from illicit sources. No an prepared was It is that 1,902. probable ' finally closed, ' opium is allowed to be sold. equal number were left unregistered. Chandu cer- .?The habit of smoking is to a limited extent in ' ' ' ' smoking practised both madak and charidu is common among tain urban areas in the districts of Cut-tack and the and Persian in Puri. Chinese population Bombay itself and it is also encountered amongst to the city United Provinces.?According reports the low-class Mohammedans and mendicants. of of is district officers in 1935, smoking opium In the town of alone there are about Provinces Bombay practised in 19 districts of the United 500 smokers, out of which 300 are the opium and 107 persons were convicted under Opium Chinese and Persians. In the following towns The towns where the Smoking Act. principal in the presidency a few smokers probably exist habit is met are Bulandshahr, with Saharanpur, but the habit is gradually dying out : Ahmed- Aligarh, Muttra, Agra, Bareilly, Farrukhabad, Ahmednagar, Allahabad, abad, Poona, Sholapur, Broach, ktawah, Cawnpore, Fatehpur, Thana, Nasik and Surat. The approximate The Smoking Benares and Gorakhpur. Opium number of opium smokers in this presidency is Act of on 1st 1935, 1934 came into force August, between 900 and 1,000. and for habitual opium provided registration by Sindh.?The practice of smoking opium is smokers within a No person specified period. met with in Karachi like other large sea-port below the of 25 can himself registered, age get towns of India. There were a number of fhe to which was period up registration smoking dens in this town which were mostly possible on 31st December, 1936. expired frequented by low-class Mohammedans, The approximate number of smokers in the whole the Chinese and Persians. Smoking is practised of the United as reported by Provinces, on a small scale in towns like Hyderabad, district is This figure is on the officers, 2,777. Sukkur, Mirpur Khas, Shikarpur and Jacob- low side as there is no information regarding the abad. There are approximately 2,000 to 5,000 unregistered smokers. in this ' ' opium smokers province. The Punjab.?The habit of smoking madak 1 Opium smoking and hemp drugs.?From the and chandu' is met with to a limited extent in survey we have made we have formed the im- most of the district towns all over the province. pression that opium smoking has greatly It was trace smokers in Lahore, possible to declined throughout India during the last few Jullunder, Rawalpindi, Multan, Gujranwala, decades and is even more rapidly declining Ludhiana, Amritsar and Ambala, Ferozepore, during recent years; this decline is due to the in small numbers in each Sialkot districts though measures taken the excise author- of the number of stringent by city. The probable estimate ities it. In some of the areas we have is 800 and against smokers for whole of the province found that its is being taken the less 900. place by expensive and perhaps also less injurious habit is North-West Frontier Province.?1 Chandu of smoking of hemp drugs. not usually smoked here and the habit although References common is met with in towns like Peshawar, and Assam Congress Enquiry Committee's Report on Dera Ismail Khan, Opium Habit, 1925. Kohat, Hotimardan, in Bannu. The probable number of smokers Botham Committee Report. Assam, 1912. this province is not more than 500 to 1,000. Report of the Committees appointed in 1927 to of opium enquire into the Consumption of Opium in Towns of Ajnier Merwara.?A number and Jubbulpore and in the Districts of and the Nagpur Amraoti, smoking dens existed in Ajmer town Akola, Buldanha, Narshingpur, Wardha and Balaghat, estimated number of smokers would probably 1929. Govt. Press, Nagpur. the mendi- of the Commission on 1894. n?t be more than 50, chiefly among Report Royal Opium, cant class. Other papers of importance is Bengal of opium Chopra, R. N. Indian J own. Med. lies., 1928, Presidency.?Smoking m Vol. 389. common amongst the Chinese population XVI, p. that Excise Administration of Various Calcutta and its suburbs and it is estimated Reports Provinces habit of India, 1932-33. i0 per cent of The them smoke opium. of Nations Commission of can and League Enquiry into the also be traced the labourers of in the amongst In Control Opium Smoking Far East?Report to mill hands in the suburbs of Calcutta. the Council, Vol. I, 1930. and smaller towns like Murshidabad, Dacca, Neligan, A. R. The Opium Question. 1927. John ^lymensingh the number of smokers is negli- Bale, Sons & Danielsson, Ltd., London. gible. The number of smokers in Report of the Assam Opium Enquiry Committee, approximate more 1933. the presidency would probably not be