1 ( 33 )
2 _ 33. The Excise duties in the Punjab comprise spirits, drugs, and salt,
3 The Salt Excise will be treated of presently. The
4 Excise now to be treated of relates to drug»
5 technically called “ muskerat,” and spirits, technically called “ Abkaree.”
6 The spirits are a decoction from molasses and the
7 bark of the “babool,” a common tree growing in
8 the Plains. The drugs consist, firstly, of the articles named “ Bhung,”
9 “Ganja,” and “Churrus,” obtained from the leaves and flowers of
10 the hemp plant (Cannabis sativa), a shrub-like tree, which grows best
11 in the Hills, but can also be reared in the Plains ; secondly, the drugs
12 consist of “ Post” or the Poppy-head or pod (without the seed), used both
13 for smoking and for’ decoction, and Opium obtained from the same
14 Poppy. It will be remembered, however, that the two articles are
15 quite distinct; Opium is one thing and Poppy-head another. Now
16 the above spirits and drugs have been heretofore dealt with under
17 one category. The monopoly of all these articles is ‘made over to
18 one or more farmers, who pay a tax to the Government. Also, on
19 the Kangra Frontier, an Import. duty is levied on the Opium and
20 the Churrus, both of a superior kind, produced in Ladakh and other
21 Himalayan regions, This is the single exception above noted to the rule,
22 which abolishes all Customs dues in these Territories. Having paid the
23 duty, the traders in the two last-named drugs may carry the article into
24 any District they please, but they must sell to the Government farmers.
25 The Revenue on the spirits and the drugs, Bhung and Churrus (exclusive
26 of the Opium and Poppy-head, has increased slightly year by year:
27 A very large increase would not be desirable, as that would indicate
28 intemperance.
29 - 54. The circumstances regarding Opium and Poppy-head are some-
30 what different. The Poppy is cultivated both in
31 the Hills and Plains of the Punjab, In some
32 parts of the Hills good Opium is obtained from the plant, .In the Plains,
33 however, the Poppy-heads chiefly are useful, and the amount of Opium
34 obtained is comparatively small. The cultivation is aot considerable at
35 present, and might be largely increased, Under the Sikhs, there were
36 no separate fiscal arrangements regarding the Poppy cultivation. High
37 rates of Land Tax only were levied on it, in common with many other
38 _ superior products, and in accordance with the same system as agricul-
39 . F $ “
40 Excise,
41 e
42 Spirits and drugs,
43 Poppy-head and Opium.