Table of Contents

1: Introduction
2: 'Dr O'Shaughnessy appears to have made some experiments with charas': Imperial Merchants, Victorian Science, and Hemp to 1842
3: 'From the old records of the Ganja Supervisor's Office': Smuggling, Trade, and Taxation in Nineteenth- Century British India
4: 'The Sikh who killed the Reverend was a known bhang drinker': Medicine, Murder, and Madness in Mid-century
5: 'The Lunatic Asylums of India are filled with ganja smokers': Ganja in Parliament 1891-1894
6: 'A bow-legged boy running with a chest of tea between his legs': Reports, Experiments, and Hallucinations, 1894-1912
7: 'An allusion was made to hemp in the notes appended to the Hague Opium Convention': The League of Nations and British Legislation 1912-1928
8: 'An outcome of cases that have come before the police courts of the use of hashish': DORA, the First World War, and the DomesticDrug Scares of the 1920s
9: Conclusion: Cannabis and the British Government, 1800-1928
Bibliography
Index

Reviews

History Today: Book of the Year Prize: Highly Commended; Mills's conclusions are salutary in the current cannabis debate. London Review of Books; An excellent account of the changing perceptions of a substance that has once again become the focus of attention ... a judicious mix of serious analysis and interesting anecdotes that shed light on the ongoing colourful career of cannabis Zaheer Baber, Times Literary Supplement; "an amusing book to read, very well researched, and eminently readable". Ann Widdecombe, Radio 4 Today programme d