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under the old laws was difficult to obtain, and the penalties light. Moreover, persons under foreign juridiction sometimes posed as the owners of the places where the illicit sale and smoking of opium were carried on, and this added to the difficulties of raiding such places. Nevertheless, the illicit export of opium fell off for various reasons, such as :—
difficult.
(1) The increased activity of the Customs, which made export more
(2) The ready sale of opium in the country, at enhanced prices. (3) The lessened demand from China, where opium was again being produced, notably in Szechuan Province.
The result of these various influences, as shown by the amount of opium sold during the year B. E. 2462 (1919-20) was an increase of 2% over the previous twelve months, vide Annexe V. The quantity was, however, still 7% less than during the last year of the sub-faaming system, viz., B. E. 2450 (1917-18)
26. In the present year, B. E. 3463 ( 1920-21) the conditions have been the opposite of those of the preceeding one as the rice crop of the previous season was a failure and the export of rice has been totally prohibited during the greater part of the year. The consequent stagnation of trade was at once reflected in the sales of opium, and it is expected that the reduction in sales, as compared with the previous twelve monthly period, will be in the neighbour- hood of 15%. This diminution has afforded an excellent opportunity for judging the amount of opium ordinarily consumed by persons not really addicted to the drug, and in certain Provinces the quantities allowed to retailers, for sale, have been restricted.
27. For the year B. E. 2461 (1921-22) every retailer will have his supplies thus restricted. and this renewal of the assessment system will, it is hoped, have much better results than when last attempted (see paras. 16 & 19), as the assessments will be made within narrower limits, i e. for retailers instead of for sub Farmers, who naturally handled much larger quantities. The new Opium Law, which is to come into operation, at the same time, will also give greatly increased facilities for the detection of the illicit use of the
drug, and will provide suitable penalties on conviction.
With the endof the European War, opium again become an international question-one of the obligations of the signatories to the Peace Treaty being, within a year of its ratification, to put into force the Hague Convention of 1912. As Siam ratified the Treaty of Peace on January 10th, 1920, the Convention had to be made effective by January 1921. The first step to be taken was to revise the old Opium laws completely. This matter had already been taken up, and a rough draft of a comprehensive new law was completed by 1919. But as the enactment had to apply to a large territory with a widely scattered population living under varying conditions, it was essential that all the provincial authorities should be fully consulted on the subject. This necessarily occupied a considerable time, but the law was finally promulgated on January 6th, 1921. In Annexe VI will be found a translation of this Law and of the Ministerial Regulations issued thereunder. It will, however, not come into force until the 1st April, 1921, the date on which the year B. E. 2464 commences.
29. The provisions of the law are designed to operate in three distinct and successive periods The provisions which become immediately operative are those which enforce the existing legal requirements, modified and brought up to date, and with additional restrictions as the possession of opium. Under the new law, no person may have in his possession opium of any sort or description whatsoever without a license, and the only persons to be licensed to possess opium will be retailers, smokers licensed to smoke at home, and medical practitioners and dispensaries. (Vide Opium Law, Titles II and III).
It may be mentioned here that great care is taken by the authorities in issuing licenses for home smoking, and as the holders are mainly limited to well-to-do persons, the number of home smokers is comparatively small (Vide Annexe VII, Table II). Further, since retailers are only allowed to supply opium to their customers for consumption on their premises, the legal possession of opium is necessarily confined to certain limited classes of the population.
Convictions for illicit possession will also be easier to obtain in the future because the supplementary law of B. F. 2461 (1918-19), which allowed the possession of one tamlung of opium, was a constant stumbling block,
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