SMUGGLED HASHISH

Taranaki Daily News, 13 May 1930, Page 3

SMUGGLED HASHISH

EASTERN SHIPS WATCHED.

INTRODUCING A NEW DRUG?

Sydney, May 2.

Discovery of a large quantity of hashish in the possession of a man in Sydney on Thursday, has led the Sydney police to undertake investigations with a view to tracing the source of his supply. It is feared that an effort is being made to smuggle the drug into Australia in big quantities and thus introduce a rival to the cocaine and opium traffic, which has grown so much during the past few years in Australia. Suspicion has fallen on a certain ship which calls at Indian ports on the voyage out from England, and when the ship next arriyes in Sydney- certain members of the crew will be questioned closely. The man, when arrested, is alleged to have been peddling the drug in the Assyrian and .Hindu quarter of Sydney, at Redfern, and the amount found on him was valued at £2BO.

Hashish is a poisonous drug, and is known by other names. It is taken in big quanties by Egyptians and came before the notice of Australians. and New Zealanders when they were encamped at Cairo and other Egyptian towns. Unlike cocaine and morphia, it is not habitforming, but it can cause temporary insanity, and if taken consistently it will break down the system and cause death. It is an Arabian preparation of Indian hemp, and is known in India as bhang or siddhi. It has medicinal value.

The drug is smoked alone,' or with tobacco, and the effects differ according to the dose and the individual. While it makes some people pugnacious, it produces a loose train of thought in others. Laughter is brought on by a small dose. Illusions in regard to distance, sound and sight are the most noticeable effects —an inch may seem a mile, while the ripple of a brook may take on the roar of Niagara. Police have suspected that the drug was being smuggled into the city for several months, but until this week were unable to trace either the' seller or the smugglers. At the Central Police -Court, Patrick J. Byrne, 65, who entered the court in a tottering condition, was charged with having the prohibited drug in his possession. He pleaded that he did not know that he was doing wrong by'carrying it, and on the application of the police he was remanded for a fortnight on £5OO bail.