CO129-384 - Public Offices - 1911 — Page 54

[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]

OPIUM.

CONFIDENTIAL.

[23514]

C O 23533

218 JUL IL

II

No. 1.

53

[June 16.]

SECTION 2.

(Confidential.) Sir,

India Office to Foreign Office.-(Received June 16.)

India Office, June 15, 1911.

I AM directed by the Secretary of State for India in Council to enclose, for the infor- mation of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, a copy of a letter from the Government of India, calling attention to the spread of the cocaine habit in Burmah and other parts of India, and expressing the view that their efforts towards the suppression of the habit will be fruitless unless something is done to restrict the export of the drug and its congeners from the chief manufacturing countries. The information now supplied by the Government of India affords further evidence of the importance of bringing the morphia and cocaine questions before the proposed Opium Conference.

Meanwhile I am to suggest that, with Sir E. Grey's permission, a copy of the Government of India's letter and enclosures might be communicated by your depart- ment to the Board of Trade with reference to previous correspondence regarding the trade in morphia and cocaine in this country, as to which it is understood that the Board of Trade are now making enquiries. A copy of the papers has been sent to the Colonial Office.

amı, &c.

Enclosure 1 in No. 1.

ED. MONTAGU.

(Confidential.) My Lord,

Government of India to Viscount Morley.

year

Simla, May 11, 1911. WE have the honour to invite your attention to the enclosed extracts of paragraph 43 of the report on the administration of the Excise Department in Burmah for the 1909-10, and of paragraphs 6 and 5 respectively of the reviews thereof by the financial commissioner and lieutenant-governor, regarding the spread of the cocaine habit in that province.

2. It will be observed that this pernicious habit is growing rapidly in Burmah, and that cocaine is said to be taking the place of opium in certain areas. The fact is viewed with considerable apprehension by the local authorities; but they despair of arresting the progress of the habit unless action is taken to stop the supply of cocaine at the sources from which it is imported into this country. As the financial commis- sioner points out, the difficulties in the detection of the smuggling of the drug are even greater than in the case of opium, inasmuch as in proportion of value to bulk and in portability it is superior to opium, while it has no strong smell which needs to be disguised.

3. Since the year 1905 special restrictions have been imposed upon the import, possession, and sale of cocaine and its congeners in Burmah. Import and sale of the drugs have been wholly prohibited except under a licence from the local authorities, while their possession is permitted only in restricted quantities by (a) licensed vendors; (b) qualified medical practitioners in the exercise of their profession; and (c) private persons on the prescription of such practitioners. The import of the drugs through the post, which affords the readiest means of smuggling, has also been prohibited, and special powers have been conferred upon the postal authorities at the ports of entry (viz., Rangoon and Akyab) to search all postal articles in course of transmission which may be suspected to contain illicit drugs. In spite of all these precautions a very large illicit trade in cocaine is carried on, as will be seen from the following figures of seizures of the drug in Burmah for the periods named :---

For 1907-08

1908-09

11

1909-10

"

490,885 grains. 389,636 939,685

24

33

This traffic the existing preventive establishments are unable to put a stop to,

[2066 q-2]

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