TNAG-0414-FCO40-460-Review-of-narcotics-problem-in-Hong-Kong-1973 — Page 35

Mr Wotton

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THE DRUG PROBLEM IN HONG KONG

1.

I would be grateful if you would master-mind

a study of future action.

2.

I think the first thing to do is to get the papers concerned, including the separate paper on the Illicit Opium Traffic from Burma, circulated to interested departments. I believe these are SEAD, UND and the Home Office, but there may be others. Our friends might also be interested in the paper on the Burmese traffic.

3. Thereafter we will need to review both what we have already done (eg the current UN action on the ad hoc committee and the proposed Sub-commission), and also proposals for future action, including the recommendations in Mr Rolph's second paper.

4. When you have discussed all this with the relevant departments (including the Legal Advisers for the Law of the Sea questions) I think we shall need to set up an inter-departmental meeting, probably chaired by me. An anotated agenda prepared by you would be useful for this. Could you put both these in hand?

5.

Thereafter we shall probably need to get involved in wider consultations, eg with the Treasury (for consideration of extra expenditure) and with the Americans, before we take any action on the diplomatic moves in South East Asia suggested by Mr Rolph. But we do not need to make definite plans for this stage yet.

28 February 1973

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A C Stuart

DD 897261 230443 500M 5/72 GM 3643/2

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