Cannabis Indica acts as a powerful excitant of the nervous system, perverting the functions of the brain, and increasing both intellectual and motor activity. For this reason, in India it is used as an intoxicating exhilarant. Its action depends largely upon the temperament of the individual in whom it is employed, varying from a mild exhilaration and happy reverie in some, to a most intense and highly exalted ecstasy in those most susceptible to its influences ; in such, all sensations, perceptions, and conceptions being exaggerated to the utmost degree. "Distances seem infinite and time endless ; pleasure is paradise itself, and any painful thought or feeling plunges at once into the depths of misery." As the action varies in intensity, so also does it to some extent in character, according to the natural disposition of the person, the existing state of mind, and the quantity of the drug employed ; the exhilaration and activity sometimes giving place to sadness, depression, and weakness ; and those possessing evil and malignant dispositions sometimes become extremely vicious and violent. In short, those faculties most active in health are most powerfully affected by the drug. Its special effects may be better understood from a detailed study of the symptoms which arise. Characteristic symptoms.