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to bring the said convention into force, and for this purpose to enact the necessary legislation without delay, and in any case within a period of twelve months from the coming into force of the present treaty. Furthermore, they agree that ratification of the present treaty shoulf, in the case of Powers which have not yet ratified the Opium Convention, be deemed in all respects equivalent to the ratification of that Convention and to the signature of the special protocol, which was opened at The Hague in accordance with the resolutions adopted by the Third Opium Conference in 1914 for For this purpose the Government of the bringing the said convention into force. French Republic will communicate with the Government of the Netherlands a certified copy of the protocol of the deposit of ratifications of the present treaty, and will invite the Government of the Netherlands to accept and deposit the said certified copy as if it were a deposit of ratifications of the Opium Convention and a signature of the additional protocol of 1914."
According to article 23 c) of the Covenant of the League of Nations the members of the League" will entrust the League with the general supervision over the execution of arrangements with regard to the trathc in women and children, and the traffic in opium and other dangerous drugs."
Similar provisions appear in the treaties with Austria (Treaty of Saint-Germain, article 247), with Hungary (Treaty of the Trianon, article 230), with Bulgaria (Treaty of Neuilly, article 174), and with Turkey (Treaty of Sevres, article 280),
This last is of special interest, as Turkey was one of the Powers which had refused to sign the original Opium Convention.
With reference to the last sentence in article 295 of the Versailles Treaty quoted above, His Majesty's Government has not been officially notified that the French Government has taken the necessary steps to bring the Opium Convention into force. Lord Derby has been informed verbally that the French Minister at The Hague waàs instructed on the 18th August last to approach the Dutch Government in the sonse desired, but that no reply had yet been received.
Signatories of the Opium Convention.
The following Powers have signed the Opium Convention
Original signatories:
Germany, United States of America, China, France, Great Britain, Italy,
Japan, Netherlands, Persia, Portugal, Russia, Siam.
Signed at the invitation of the Dutch Government:
Argentine Republic, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Columbia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Spain, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Luxemburg, Mexico, Montenegro, Nicaragua, Norway, Panamá, Paraguay, Peru, Roumania, Salvador, Sweden, Switzerland, Uruguay, Venezuela,
The following Powers, which had not signed before, became signatories through the signing of one or more of the Treaties of Versailles, Saint-Germain, Trianon, Neuilly and Sevres :-
The Hedjaz, Liberia, Poland, the Serb-Croat-Slovene State, Czecho-
Slovakia, Armenia, Turkey, Austria, Hungary, Greece.
Ratification of the Opium Convention.
The following Powers have ratified the Opium Convention :---
United States of America, Belgium, China, Denmark, Ecuador, Guatemala, Italy, Portugal, Siam, Brazil, Sweden, Venezuela, Honduras, Nether- lands, Spain, Norway, Uruguay, Great Britain, Nicaragua.
The following Powers have ratified the Opium Convention through ratification of one or more of the Treaties of Versailles, Saint-Germain and Neuilly :---
France, Japan, Bolivia, Cuba, Greece, Haiti, Liberia, Peru, Poland, Roumania, the Serb-Croat-Slovene State, Czecho-Slovakia, Germany, Austria, Bulgaria.
* See p. 8. Results obtained by the 1914 Conference, section 3.
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All the Powers have, therefore, now signed the Opium Convention in one form or another, but the following do not yet appear to have ratified :—
The Hedjaz, Panamá, Persia, Chile, Argentine Republic, Luxemburg, Mexico, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Salvador, Columbia, Paraguay, Turkey, Hungary, Armenia, Switzerland.
Signatories of the Protocol for bringing the Convention into force.
In August 1919, the only Powers who had signed this Protocol were:---
United States of America, China, Netherlands, Honduras, Norway,
Belgium, Luxemburg.
But the following signatories may now be added in consequence of the ratification of the Treaties of Versailles, Saint-Germain and Neuilly :-
British Empire, France, Italy, Japan, Bolivia, Brazil, Cuba, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Nicaragua, Liberia, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Roumania, Serb-Croat-Slovene State, Siam, Czecho-Slovakia, Uruguay, Germany, Austria, Bulgaria.
The following Powers do not yet appear to have signed the final protocol in any form:--
Chile, Columbia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Paraguay, Salvador, Argentine Republic, Denmark, Spain, Mexico, Persia, Sweden, Switzerland, Venezuela, Ecuador, the Hedjaz, Honduras, Hungary, Turkey, Armenia, Panamá.
The following newly-recognised or not yet recognised Powers have not signed the Opium Convention or the protocol :-
Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Esthonia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Soviet Russia.
1920. The Dangerous Drugs Act.
So far as the United Kingdom is concerned, legislative sanction was obtained for enforcing the terms of the Opium Convention by the Dangerous Drugs Act (10-11 Geo. V, Ch. 46), which came into operation on the 1st September, 1920. The principal articles of the Act are as follows:
1. Haw Opium.-Export and import forbidden except under licence and through approved ports, Power to make regulations for controlling or restricting production, possession, sale and distribution of raw opium.
2. Prepared Opium.-Export and import entirely forbidden; the manufacture, possession, eale and use of prepared opium, and possession of opium-smoking utensils, made a penal offence.
3. Cocaine, Morphine, &e.*-Import and export prohibited except under licence. Power to make regulations for controlling manufacture, sale, possession and distribution, &c., of these drugs.
Heavy penalties are provided for infringement of the Act, and provision is made for inspection of the premises and books of those engaged in the manufacture, sale, &c., of the drugs.
This Act, which will be administered by the Home Office, supersedes the temporary legislation on the subject introduced during the war, viz., No. 40 B, Defence of the Realin Regulations, which dealt with the internal traffic in opium and cocaine; the Cocaine and Opium (Prohibition of Import) Proclamations, by which the importation of all opium and cocaine was prohibited except under licence; and the powers granted to the Board of Trade by the general Export Proclamations for prohibiting the export of these drugs (with morphine and heroin) except under licence.
Action taken in the British Empire.
Furthermore, regulations for restricting the traffic are being brought into effect and strengthened, where necessary, in the self-governing dominions and other parts of
The drugs to which this part of the Act applies are morphine, cocaine, ecgoniue and diamorphine commonly known as heroin), and their respective salts, and medicinal opium, and any preparation, admixture, extract or other substance containing not less than one-fifth per cent, of morphine or one-tenth per cent. of cocaine, ecgonine or diamorphine.
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