CO129-482 - Public Offices - 1923 — Page 663

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It indood became apparent th ́t with tho

greas could not be sufficiently ilable monns the forbidden maintained everywhere, and there was justification for the fear. that, if no other means were sought, the Government would fail to do what was expected of it, and would not succeed in causing

many, the use of opium to diminish to the extent desired by While the prohibition laws would in the long run be broken too frequently. One thing and another would bring about more ond moro dissatisfaction with an otherwise excellent system of per- sonal licences.

The Introduction of it in the near futuro

in larger contres of population such as Palombang and Choribon 79 considered undesirable. In those plocs the number of buyers was considorod too large, and tho trafis too consider blo, to permit of prepor supervision of where the opium bought goes to. The requirmenta oro therefore first restricted to ʼn proper identification of all buyers, later on to strive for a reduction of the amount bought, firstly by generally reducing the quantity of opium; "hich at the very outside one person might possess, and thereafter probably by fixing for every buyer soparately, họ much he was allowed to buy, the result therefore being a systom. whereby only those persons were allowed to buy, who had a personal permit to do so, The great difference botwoon this and tho licenco systoms then in oxistonco, was therefore, that although the buying of opium was only permitted to possessors of an identifiontion card, the possession of opium (provided it was not in oxcoss of tho

For, s ha lrundy goncral maximum) was not forbidden to others, boon said, it was fonrod, that a prohibition "grint the possession of opium, wouldbe difficult to enforco, and that it would exposo the population to numerous sonrchos in the houses and would very easily lead to illegal proticcs.

one therefore wished to begin with a proper identification of all buyers, so that these would all bocomo known at the opium-retail-shops. The buyers woro formorly already

that they vero registered, but it was far from being the onso thoroby all known. Firstly, for proction1 ronsons, " portion of the buyers

at the largost opium-rotril-shops novor como on the

ns extended rogistors, But oven though the registration include all the buyers, na vrs the case in Palombang and Cheribon for inst^noe, its utility in those large placos wna nevortholoss comparatively small, mongst othor ronsona boeruso it was orily too onay for the buyers to give up fictitious nomos and wrong narosscs. This thon was often done,

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