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<it'?r#d or?cii -f- -f- -f. Mob* of ywokhq ? rf proc^K* but.?a?<ly troc?abif ?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, Surat, 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.