From the 1st of March, 1910,
Opium, with due protection for the Opium Farmer,
will be
declared a Poison and will be placed with Morphine in Part
I of Schedule A of Ordinance No. 12 of 1908.
Some amendments are also being
made in Ordinance 15 of 1906 having for their object the
better control in the meantime of Compounds of Opium and
Morphine in the Colony and the prevention of these articles
being smuggled out of the Colony or through the Colony to
China or elsewhere. I have taken this opportunity also for
the same reason of enacting Regulations concerning the
wholesale trade in Cocaine (which is also included as a
poison). These various Regulations for the control of
these drugs will be submitted to you later.
It is necessary that tenders for
the Opium Farm should be received in August in order that
there may be time to adjust the Estimates for the following
year, which are of course largely affected by the amount of
the tender and are introduced in the Legislative Council
in September. It is desirable therefore that tenders
should be invited as early in June as possible in order
that intending bidders may have time to study the
conditions and make their calculations and financial
arrangements