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Bearing in mind the fact that, as the Royal Commission of 1893 had pointed out, any attempt to confine the use of opium in India to strictly medical needs vouched for by medical practitioners would be not only inhuman, but absurd, the regulations of the Government of India effected more than was likely to be required of them. Cocaine and morphia, on the other hand, the use of which for other than medical purposes invariably takes the form of dangerous vice, were becoming a menace to the entire world, but were not included within the scope of the proposals submitted by the United States of America for the consideration of the Conference. It was mainly owing to the pressure exerted by the Government of India that these drugs were included within the terms of the Convention finally concluded, and a rigid and universal application of the articles which apply to them would rid the world of the drug evil.
In view of the amount of misapprehension that continues to accumulate round the provisions of the Hague Convention, it is necessary to lay stress on its actual meaning. As regards raw opium, the contracting Powers undertook to control its production and distribution; to limit the number of ports from which it might be imported or exported; to prevent its export to countries which prohibit import, and to control export to countries which restrict import; to mark opium consignments as such; and to confine its import and export to authorised persons. As regards prepared opium, that is to say, smoking opium, which India does not, and never has, exported, and the sale of which in India is prohibited, the Powers agreed to aim at the gradual suppression of manufacture, internal trade, and use, with due regard to the varying circumstances of each country concerned, unless regulations on the subject are already in existence; and to prohibit import and export immediately, or as soon as possible. As regards medicinal opium, morphine, cocaine, and allied drugs, it was agreed to enact regulations confining manufacture, sale and use to medical and legitimate purposes, and to pass measures for controlling manufacturers, traders and exporters.
This summary contains the chief provisions of the Con- vention, which was no less than a complete vindication of Indian policy. The anti-opium party in Great Britain and in the United States of America has, however, completely failed to understand its purport, and has continually attacked the Government of India for not carrying out its provisious.
A second Opium Conference met in 1913 and decided that, although certain Powers who had been invited to sign the Convention had not then done so, the deposit of ratifications might, nevertheless, take place. A third met in 1914, and recommended early ratification by all the Powers who had not yet ratified, in order that the Convention should come into force as soon as possible. Progress was then suspended by the
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outbreak of war, but finally, under Article 295 of the Treaty of Peace with Germany, it was provided that ratification of that treaty should imply ratification of the Hague Convention and a promise to enact the necessary legislation within a period of 12 months. Similar provisions were included in the treaty with Austria (Article 247). Hungary (Article 230), Bulgaria (Article 174), and in the unratified Treaty of Sèvres with Turkey (Article 280). It is important to note that Turkey, the chief Middle Eastern source of opium, the fountain from which American supplies are drawn, refused to sign the Convention. Persia was among the signatories, but with a reservation of a number of articles, among these Article 3 (a), which requires the contracting parties to prevent the export of raw opium to countries which should have prohibited its entry."
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The preceding chapters have shown how rigidly the Government of India's practice conforms to, and in many respects goes beyond, the requirements of the Hague Convention. a summary of which was given above, but it may be as well to set out these requirements in detail, and to show categorically how they are satisfied by the law or regulations in force in India.
The principal articles of the Convention are as follows:--
CHAPTER 1-RAW OPIUM.
Definition. By "raw opium" is understood-
The spontaneously coagulated juice obtained from the capsules of the papaver somniferum, which has only been submitted to the necessary manipulations for packing and transport.
Article 1.
The contracting Powers shall enact effective laws or regulations for the control of the production and distribution of raw opium, unless laws or regulations on the subject are already in existence.
The laws and regulations in force in India have been described in Chapters II. and 11.
Article 2.
Due regard being had to the differences in their commercial conditions, the contracting Porcers shall limit the number of towns, ports, or other localties through which the export or import of raw opium shall be permitted.
Opium is only allowed to be exported from British India through the ports of Calcutta and Bombay.
Article 3.
The contracting Powers shall take measures-
(a) To precent the export of raw opium to countries which shall have prohibited its entry, and
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