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recognized. The resinous tops, largely of unfertilized female plants, are cut about 5 months after
sowing and pressed into cakes. The yield is about 120 kg per acre.

Preparation:

• The collected tops are tied together into bundles, allowed to wilt and are pressed by
treading them under the feet or rolled between the hands.

• The resinous secretion causes the parts to adhere together and form flattened or rounded
masses which are dried in shade (Cannabis).

• A variety of common names and synonyms have been attributed to Indian Hemp and its
products. There are, however, specific terms for the various plant parts and its products.
Names vary with local customs.

Hemp products:

1. The Indian hemp or ganja of the Indian Pharmacopoeia (1955) is required to contain ‘not
more than 10% of its fruits, large foliage leaves and stems over 3 mm’. This is the flat- or
Bombayganja, which was formerly official in many pharmacopoeias. Round- or Bengal-ganja is
prepared by rolling the wilted tops between the hands.
2. Bhang (Hindustani) consists of the larger leaves and twigs of both male and female plants.
It is used in India for smoking, either with or without tobacco and drugs such as opium or datura,
or is taken in the form of an electuary made by digestion with melted butter.
3. Charas or churrus or Hashish (Arabic) is the crude resin. This is obtained by rubbing the
tops between the hands, beating them on cloths or carpets, or by natives who wear leather
aprons walking among the growing plants. The resin is scraped off and forms an ingredient of
numerous smoking mixtures. Like bhang, it is also used with butter.
4. In America and Europe the dried leaves and flowering tops without compression is known
as marihuana or marijuana.

Macroscopical characters:

The flat- or Bombay-ganja occurs in agglutinated flattened masses of a dull green or
greenishbrown colour. The resin is no longer sticky but hard and brittle; the odour, which is very
marked in the fresh drug, is faint. The drug has a slightly bitter taste. Here and there ovoid hemp

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