៩៨៥
To
SIE,
No. 21 of 1921.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA,
FINANCE DEPARTMENT,
SEPARATE REVENUE.
Opiam.
56
2002
21
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE EDWIN MONTAGU,
His Majesty's Secretary of State for India.
Delhi, the 4th March 1921.
We have the honour to forward our views on the suggestions put forward by the Foreign Office in the correspondence forwarded by the Secretary in your Revenue and Statistics Department in his letters No. R. & S. 6478-20, dated the 17th September 1920, No. R. & S.-8057-20, dated the 13th October 1920, and No. R. & S. 8695-20, dated the 26th October 1920.
2. From the correspondence forwarded it appears that His Majesty's Gov- ernment, in order to give effect to the provisions of the International Opium Convention of 1912 and generally to prevent the improper consumption of opium, morphine, cocaine and similar drugs, have under consideration a draft form to be utilised in the exchange of letters with foreign countries on this matter, in which it will be stated that the exportation of specified drugs from the United Kingdom to all destinations has been prohibited except under license, and that applications for the grant of licenses for exportation will in future be considered only in those cases where the application is accompanied by a certificate previously issued under the authority of the Government of the country to which the export is made to the effect that they are satisfied that the consignment is required for legitimate medicinal or scientific purposes and will not be re-exported. The drugs specified are raw opium, morphine, cocaine, ecgonine, 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 of morphine or one-tenth per cent of cocaine, ecgonine, or diamorphine. Our opinion is asked whether wo would like arrangements similar to those proposed for the United Kingdom to be inade on our behalf, and whether we would be prepared to grant reciprocity in the matter of issuing certificates for our own imports. We shall send to you shortly the report asked for in your despatch No. 98-Revenue, dated the 9th October 1919, containing a comprehensive survey of the existing laws, regulations and practice with regard to the traffic in opium and other drugs, and reviewing the whole position in the light of the terms of the Hague Opium Convention." But the proposals contained in the correspondence referred to above can most conveniently form the subject of a separate despatch, since they appear to us to be entirely outside the proposals made in the terms of that Convention.
3. We are unable to understand why it is proposed to treat raw opium in the same manner as the other drugs mentioned in the draft note. We have never admitted, nor did the Opium Convention admit, that it should be so
d.
vs.