te
in number to smokers, who are addicted to the habit of swallowing dross. Owing to the harmful effects of this practice, at least two other countries have made an attempt to try and prevent it, viz., British Malaya (Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States) and Java, but up to the present this Government has taken no steps in the matter. For one thing, deprivation of dross would probably drive the poorer class of opium babitues, who are the dross eaters, to crime in order to obtain money to buy the higher priced opium, which would be their only alternative. Further it must be remembered that the consumption of dross will decline in direct proportion to the decrease in opium smoking, as without the latter no dross can be produced.
55. With the advent of registration no person not addicted to either opium or dross will take to the habit, since it is the confirmed opium smoker, of reduced circumstances, who is finally driven to dross. Young men in the absence of strict control, may take to smoking deliberately, or may be induced to do so at first for amusement or pleasure; but no one will take to swallowing dross without already being an opium smoker, since the taste is unpleasant in the extreme, with no novel sensations attending its consumption. It follows that, if registration successfully prevents new persons taking to the habit of smoking. it will also effectively prevent any increase in the use of dross.
RAW OPIUM.
56. Under the Hague Convention, the signatories are to control the production of raw opium. This country produced a certain amount, and under the new law the poppy plant can only be cultivated under license. (Opium Law, Section 4).
57. The raw opium used for the preparation of Regie opium is now obtained from the Government of India at a fixed price, under the terms of an agreement providing for a maximum supply of 1700 chests per year. From this amount, 1,850,000 tamlungs of Regie Opium are prepared.
OPIUM FACTORY.
58. This l'actory, erected at a total cost of 1,300,000 ticals, has worked satisfactorily since 1913. The machine Boiling Plant has a capacity for boiling and preparing 1800 chests of raw opium per annum, at a much lower cost than
the old method of hand boiling. The packing plant has a capacity of 60,000,000 tubes per annum, the amount of opium packed depending on the sizes of the
tubes issued.
The plant is designed to produce five different sizes of tubes, as follows:-
No. of tubes
Tube No.
to 1 tamlung,
1
10
2
20
3
30
4
40
50
Weight of opium
Equivalent in
packed, in boons.
grams.
10
3.75
5
1.87
3.1/3
1.25
214
0.94
1.2/3
0.625
Annexe V. shows the amount of opium sold in the different sized tubes
during the year B. E. 2460 (1917-18) to B. E. 2462 ( 1919-20)
SMUGGLING.
59. Smuggling is, of course, the greatest difficulty which a country
attempting suppression, has to deal with. If it were not for this question, any country would be free to take steps, however drastic, to deal with the internal traffic in opium. It usually follows, however, that measures taken for
restricting internal control are at once followed by the smuggling of opium from other countries. Opium is of such high value in proportion to its bulk, that even
with the constant detection of oases of smuggling, the traffic will continue unless
rigorous measures to prevent illicit exportation are taken by producing countries.
This has, of course, been early realised by all the Governments concerned, and is one of the principal reasons for the assembly of international Commissions and Conventions on the opium question.
60. At the present time smuggling into this conntry is not very prevalent, mainly for the reason that the Regie opium is of a high quality being pure Indian without any mixture, and is sold at a fairly reasonable price.
61. Smuggling out of this country has practically ceased, owing to there being no demand at present from China, as already mentioned in para. 25. It is now definitely known that China has resumed the production of raw opium.
18
19
92