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| The Traffic in Narcotics by Harry Anslinger |
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THE TRAFFIC
by H. J. ANSLINGER United States Commissioner of Narcotics And WILLIAM F. TOMPKINS United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey Former Chairman, Legislative Commission to Study Narcotics, General Assembly of New Jersey
Page iv *************** Copyright, 1953, by Funk & Wagnalls, Company
The Traffic in Narcotics Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 53-6984 Copyright under the articles of the Copyright Convention of the Pan American Republics and the United States. Printed in the United States of America *************** CONTENTS
Page v PREFACE THAT THERE IS A PRESENT PROBLEM IN NARCOTICS IS WELL EVIDENCED by the continued stream of stories that appear in the daily press and in other journals---stories of teen-age addiction, of smuggling rings, of brutal crime with narcotics and drugs as a concomitant. The reports are in fact not particularly new in substance, nor are they peculiarly an attribute of our own times. But there has been too long an attitude of withdrawal from discussion of unpleasant topics on the part of the general public resulting, most unfortunately, in an almost total unawareness of many serious social problems. That attitude has undergone a notable change with a generation that has been embroiled in two world wars and that has felt the tremendous impact of the technological advances reflected in the art of modem communication, whether used with objectivity or as propaganda. No longer does the general public reject discussion of problems that it recognizes as a true part of its social responsibility. It has come to feel that what benefits the whole must inherently benefit the individual, that what has become a problem for the individual may well become a serious problem for the community. One of these Problems of which there is an awakening social awareness is that of narcotics. One of the recognized ways of solving a basic problem is to endeavor to understand it. The Traffic in Narcotics is an attempt to present the facts, to review, if you will, the evidence, and to reach some conclusions that may help in establishing sane, progressive, and healthy public attitudes and public action. It is earnestly hoped that those in the professions who are often personally concerned with one or another aspect of this
Page vi PREFACE problem will find here helpful information and perhaps a wider appreciation of just what they have to contribute to the eventual control and amelioration, if not complete elimination, of this source of human degradation.
That the reader may gain an understanding of the terms involved and just what the narcotic drugs are, their origins and principal characteristics are reviewed in a generally non-technical but sufficiently detailed way. Included, of course, are the various derivatives and the synthetic drugs which have made their appearance from the laboratory. There follows discussion of the international scene. This is of major importance in any understanding of the subject, as it covers some forty-four years of international efforts, going back to 1909. No discussion would be complete without this survey, which is reflected in the body of laws operative in the United States, Canada, and many other countries in the pattern of international cooperation. To highlight the political factor inherent in the narcotics traffic, excerpts from several recent official discussions of the Commission on Narcotics of the United Nations illustrate points of conflict as well as present for review a public record not often accessible to the general reader. Other chapters present the national, State, and local levels of control and law enforcement. Case histories are primarily used to characterize the scope of the traffic in its economic and social implications both for the individual and for the community. Particular attention is called to the account of the medical aspects and of the treatment of the addict. Both the general reader and the general medical practitioner will find here, it is believed, much that is genuinely informative and encouraging in the broad sense. The authors are grateful in being able to present the outstanding work of their colleagues in tangent fields of research and public service.
Page vii PREFACE For the legislators in the various governmental units and for those in positions of authority the presentation of the Uniform Narcotics Drug Act will prove helpful in furthering the cause of narcotics control and interstate cooperation. This model law is reprinted in its entirety for reference in the Appendix. It has been with genuine regret that any discussion of the role of education has not been found possible in this book. It would appear that as yet no consensus has developed among educators that would indicate any discernible trend for or against inclusion in the curricula or cocurricula. However, that there is here a subject of sufficient import to the community and to the individual suggests that the problem will bear careful watching and consideration by those who guide the youth of the nation in their formative years, their susceptible years. In this connection it is to be observed that the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs in 1951, following a League of Nations report of 1936, recommended "that propaganda in schools" could be used in certain areas of addiction and that "in other countries where it is of more sporadic character (Europe and North America), such measures would be dangerous . . ." Throughout The Traffic in Narcotics the fact that there is a grave moral problem involved is clearly in evidence. It need not be labored here. Whether it is political, economic, or social morality the reader will quickly decide for himself. But that it is some man or woman, some child, who is the victim, is an inescapable conclusion. And it is this individual who must never be lost sight of in the consideration of the broader aspects of the problem. The fact that millions of sufferers have had their pain assuaged throughout the ages by the opiates lessens not one whit the importance of a full understanding of the problem of narcotics and of the dissipation of public and individual ignorance. This understanding involves a knowledge of how the trafficker in narcotics operates, of what is being done to stop him and what still remains to be accomplished, and of why the citizen must not turn aside and rely on another to be the good Samaritan. For drug addiction is murder on the instalment plan. The authors are convinced that though the situation today is disquieting despite forty-four years of striving for a system of
Page viii PREFACE international control, it would have been disastrous without those years of effort. It is a little known and too seldom mentioned fact that there is one important field of international diplomacy in which the United States Government has for several decades met with amazing and continuing success. There have been few more dramatic or more fruitful efforts at international collaboration than those in the field of the control of narcotic drugs. The results obtained are outstanding. In this book three essentials have been stressed: international cooperation, compulsory hospitalization for the addict, and stringent penalties for the trafficker in narcotics. These are immediate steps toward the final goal. It should be said by way of dedication that this study is presented with the sincere hope that it might contribute something of genuine value to an alerted general public and to those organizations within it which strive so consistently in the public weal: to the lawmaker who faces the problem of establishing public policy; to the law enforcement officers on all levels who serve to protect the public as well as to apprehend the criminal; to the physician in whose hands lies the gravest responsibility of use and abuse and of beneficent cure; to the pharmacist who dispenses the drugs for good or evil; to the social worker who must process his "cases" with humanity and broad understanding; to the educator who shares the responsibility in the guidance of youth; to the scientist whose researches are so important; and to all those who labor in the field of international cooperation. THE AUTHORS
Page ix ACKNOWLEDGMENTS GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENT FOR ASSISTANCE IS EXTENDED TO: Dr. Nathan B. Eddy, National Institutes of Health Dr. Lyndon F. Small, National Institutes of Health Dr. Harris Isbell, Director of Addiction Research Center, U. S. Public Health Service Hospital, Lexington, Kentucky Dr. Pablo Wolff, Expert Committee on Drugs Liable to Produce Addiction, World Health Organization Honorable William T. McCarthy, Federal Judge. Boston Massachusetts Honorable Twain Michelsen, Superior Court Judge, San Francisco, California Mr. R. S. S. Wilson, former Superintendent of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Mr. Herbert L. May, President, Permanent Opium Board, United Nations Colonel C. H. L. Sharman, President, Supervisory Body, United Nations Dr. Tsungming To, Dean, Faculty of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Formosa Detective Leonard J. Iatesta, Narcotic Squad, New Jersey State Police Mr. D. Knowlton Read, Chairman, Narcotics Commission, American Prison Association Congressman Hale Boggs of Louisiana Congressman Gordon Canfield of New Jersey Congressman Cecil R. King of California
Page xi
CONTENTS
I
THE PATTERN OF MAN'S USE OF NARCOTIC DRUGS THE POPPY, THE SYMBOL OF SLEEP AND DEATH, IS AGE-OLD IN THE lore of antiquity. On the clay tablets of the Sumerians it was recorded that the juice of the poppy was "collected in the early morning," perhaps before the Eastern sun should have tempered its anodyne. This people of the land of Sumer in lower Mesopotamia--- now the Arab kingdom of Iraq--- cultivated the poppy plant five thousand years B.C. in order to extract its juice; gil was the name they gave it which translated means joy or rejoicing, and this name is still used today for opium in some parts of the world. It was the Babylonians, inheritors of the Sumerian civilization, who, with their expanding empire, spread the knowledge of the poppy's medicinal properties eastward to Persia and westward to Egypt where its use as a remedy for human ailments was known as early as 1550 B.C. The Greeks, too, early learned its uses, for it is from their word, opion, juice of the poppy, that our Latinized word comes. The poppy was old in Greek legend before Homer in the Iliad, recounting a decoction of it used by Helen Of Troy, said that it had the power of "inducing forgetfulness of pain and the sense of evil." In the fourth century B.C. Hippocrates of Cos thought well of it and recommended "drinkIng the juice of the white poppy mixed with the seed of the nettle." From then on many well-known writers extolled with enthusiasm the virtues of confections containing opium, and the use Page 1
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 2 of the therapeutic drug spread quickly through the Roman world, with itinerant quacks the means of popularizing it for a variety of lesser ailments. The rise of Mohammedanism provided another stimulus with its concept of the separateness of the spiritual and physical nature. This doctrine permitted a freer approach to scientific observation and analysis, much less trammeled by the philosophic and religious mores of their contemporaries. Arabic doctors, both Moslem and Christian, were prodigal in the use of opium in their cures; among others, it became used as a specific for diarrhea and scores died of overdosage of the drug. It can be said, in passing, that until the twelfth century the use of opium was largely confined to medicinal purposes. It was during the tenth century that knowledge of the famed Arabic pharmaeopoeia was taken to China by Arab traders and traveling physicians and with them went the drug itself. In China, too, it was first used as a remedy for dysentery. Later its use became wide-spread when it was found that it enabled a teeming people to exist on very little food during times of famine, a problem current throughout Chinese history. Eastward from its ancient home through Persia to India was another road the poppy traveled to become naturalized. That it thrived there is evidenced by the Portuguese Barbosa, companion and friend of Magellan, who in 1511 could write of the "opium which the most of the Moors and Indians eat." It is also thought that, because their religion forbade the use of alcohol, the Brahmin priesthood of India became users of opium as a sublimating substitute. To India Chinese junks sailed the long, arduous voyage around the Malayan peninsula to secure the opium that became the beginnings of the "traffic" as we use the word today. As the eighteenth century approached, a rapid increase in the importation of opium began through the hands of the Portuguese, and still later through the agency of the famous--- or infamous--- East India Company. Opium was not unknown in western Europe. A famous physician climbed the proverbial ladder of success in the 1500's as a result of his bold dosages of the drug for his patients. That the drug would resist poison, deafness, asthma., coughing, colic,
MAN'S USE OF NARCOTIC DRUGS Page 3 jaundice, fever, leprosy, female troubles, and melancholy was among the claims of these practitioners of the healing arts. Turner, first English herbalist, in 1551 says of the poppy, "how excellent is that flower in the disease of the pleurisie." And again quaintly says of an over-dosed patient, "Put stynkynge thynges unto hys nose," to awaken him. FOREIGN MUD At first used medicinally in China, opium was no serious social problem--- with the exception of the unaccounted-for deaths from overdosage--- until a Manchu emperor from the North conquered Amoy, in Fukien Province on the coast, and the island of Formosa in 1683, and his soldiers learned of the "delight" of opium smoking from the inhabitants there. Still it was not a serious menace to Chinese civilization until European traders began their work of exploitation. Portuguese traders from their footholds in India were the first of these Western traffickers; their initial freight of 200 chests in 1729 increased fivefold within the ensuing forty years. Increasing use of the drug created a widening demand for it among the Chinese and eventually the wall of Chinese isolation was broken through by the British who secured the open-door policy for trade. The British-chartered East India Company and its successors (1600-1874) sold freely to Chinese merchants. By 1796--- short sixty years-the welfare of the Chinese people was menaced seriously by what, a century before, had been considered "a minor article of domestic commerce." The Emperor Yung Chen was the first to issue an edict against the habit-forming smoke. His proclamation, initiating a series of laws against opium smoking, said nothing, however, about the steady tide of opium flooding China from foreign ports. Finally, in 1800, the problem waxed grave in China, and the importation and the cultivation of the opium poppy were prohibited. But in spite of the law, the opium trade continued, growing unabated. "How much foreign mud [opium] do you have on board?" The speaker--- a corrupt Chinese port official; the person to whom the inquiry was directed-the captain of a British clipper; the year---
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 4 1834; the place--- the deck of the clipper, anchored some five hundred yards off Swatow. This scene was repeated innumerable times at ports up and down the China coast in the early 1830's. It was not long before the foreign mud became the casus belli for the Opium War between Great Britain and China which was terminated by the Treaty of Nanking in 1842. A résumé of the first great traffic in opium and its impact upon subsequent events provides an excellent backdrop for the situation today. BACKGROUND FOR WAR In the early days of the eighteenth century the British, following the venturesome Portuguese, Dutch, and Spanish had established a trading base at Canton where they soon outstripped in activity their European competitors. From the beginning and, in fact until the Treaty of Nanking abrogated them, the trade of the British, together, with that of other Europeans, was restricted by regulations devised by the Chinese to keep the foreigners at arm's length, yet permitting the Chinese to continue to export their teas and silks and to receive desired English goods. The export of Chinese commodities far exceeded the imports of British goods and this resulted in an adverse cash balance to the British traders.. Initially these debits had been discharged by silver payments, but by the close of the nineteenth century there was found a new commodity that balanced the books and ultimately provoked a war; that commodity was opium. The East India Company had exercised a controlling government-sponsored monopoly of all British-Asiatic trade since the early 1600's. The cultivation of opium in India was included in this monopoly. The entire Indian crop was sold to independent merchants at the famous Calcutta auctions. In turn, these firms shipped opium to the China coast where, with the aid of dishonest Chinese officials, it was smuggled into the country. This illicit opium traffic, it has been estimated, was several times as great as all the legal trade combined. A clear picture is presented by relating how Anglo-Chinese
MAN'S USE OF NARCOTIC DRUGS Page 5 trade operated around the 1830's. Imported into China through legal channels were chiefly cotton and woolen goods worth approximately three million dollars. British interests, however, were exporting from China almost five times that amount in tea and silk and, in addition to and despite this adverse trade balance, were actually exporting Chinese silver, whereas normally they should have been importing it to pay the trade balance between their exports and imports. By what device was this accomplished? The opium traffic provided the means. Under the aegis of the East India Company the independent trading companies would export a few million dollars worth of tea and import many times that amount in opium, thus acquiring large silver balances in their favor. These firms then gave to the East India Company the use of these balances and in return received payment in London. Thus, because the trade balance was tilted in their favor by the opium revenue, British interests were enabled to export considerable silver from China. The East India Company had obtained virtually a world monopoly of opium due to their control of its cultivation in India, and the funds derived from the yearly auctions at Calcutta comprised a very large and important part of Indian state revenues. This government-granted monopoly was thus the source of a vicious traffic, which the Crown could have effectively delimited, had it so desired, by limiting cultivation in India and prohibiting export. This course, however, would have seriously impaired Indian revenues. In addition to Indian revenues, the opium trade provided the wherewithal to finance the tea and silk exports from China, and all this was what the mercantile group had carefully encouraged and nurtured and which ultimately was to open up China to free trade. Speaking of the merchants, while their main avowed intent was to open up China to free trade without burdensome restrictions, the fact remained that such a result could only be, and ultimately was, a real boon to the opium traffic, a fact which should not escape unnoticed. Following minor outbreaks and incidents and futile attempts to compromise the situation, the whole problem really started to localize in early 1839. The Chinese Emperor conferred with one
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 6 Lin Tsê hsü, the governor-general of a neighboring province, a completely honest official who had been most successful in suppressing the traffic within his own jurisdiction. The Emperor, concerned both because he received no customs income from the illegal traffic in Indian opium and also because too much silver was leaving the country, was most receptive to the Lin plan for terminating the opium traffic. Lin's solution was twofold: first, to use whatever pressure was necessary, and second, in order to prevent further traffic in opium, to compel the British to submit to the jurisdiction of the Chinese courts and to accept the death penalty upon conviction if any merchant was found to have violated the Chinese opium laws. Unfortunately for Lin, he grossly underestimated both the rising power and the reaction of the British Government to the idea of being forced to terminate its opium traffic without gaining any other compensating concession. The Emperor was convinced, however, that it was the correct course to pursue and accordingly appointed Lin commissioner to Canton with the powers necessary to stamp out the opium traffic. Immediately after Lin's arrival at Canton he issued an edict which required that all opium stocks be surrendered within three days, and furthermore that bonds be posted guaranteeing no future imports of opium, and, if any were imported, that the offending individual submit to a Chinese court trial and death by strangling on conviction; the penalty for non-compliance--- the closing down of all trade with China plus the use of force by its army and navy. The pressure was on; a crisis had arrived. There was considerable demurring on the part of the merchants; additional sanctions by Lin; an attempt to bargain by the merchants; and finally, threats of death to some members of the mercantile community. To this gradual and effective pressure the chief superintendent of the British Colony, a Captain Elliot, finally succumbed since he feared for the lives and safety of the resident merchants and their families. He, therefore, was forced to order that all of the opium be surrendered with the promise that the British Government would then indemnify the merchants for their loss. The opium was turned over and destroyed. This act, of itself, undeniably constituted complete and full recognition
MAN'S USE OF NARCOTIC DRUGS Page 7 by the British Government of the illegality of the opium traffic. However, this act of recognition only rounded out the picture because Parliament at London had already been studying the problem and concluded it was unwise to abandon this important and lucrative source of revenue. THE OPIUM WAR, 1840-1842 Such was the situation when the Foreign Minister, Lord Palmerston, prepared to debate the strained Chinese situation in Parliament. Palmerston, under the tutelage of William Jardine, the greatest and most influential of the opium smugglers, expressed a desire that the China market remain open and that he was prepared to employ military force to accomplish it. However, such a war could never be sold to the British people on the basis of Lin's seizure of the opium. The only tactical ground would be a flag-waving appeal to Britain's honor with the hope that all mention of opium would be suppressed. Furthermore, the Chinese could then be forced to reimburse for the opium (which Lin had seized and for which Captain Elliot had agreed, in the name of his Government, to indemnify the British merchants), for it was a certainty that this indemnity consisting of several million pounds sterling, would never be approved by the man in the street if it were to come from his own pockets. Suffice it to say and without relating the intricacies of the parliamentary debate, Palmerston prevailed by a narrow margin and the war was on. No purpose is served by describing the war itself, which resulted in an overwhelming victory for the English, who then proceeded to dictate the Treaty of Nanking, of August 29, 1842. Under the terms of the treaty five ports, Shanghai, Canton, Foochow, Amoy, and Ningpo, were opened to free trade; the Chinese were required to pay for the opium which Commissioner Lin had seized; Hong Kong was ceded to England; and the Chinese were compelled to bear the cost of the British expedition. The merchants' group had now succeeded. China was opened to free commerce, and the opium traffic continued to flourish because of its tremendous benefit to Indian revenues. Within ten
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 8 years after the war its volume increased almost threefold, and until the traffic was finally terminated by an agreement of May 8, 1911, it continued to be an important source of revenue. NOT WITHOUT FAULT While British policy in connection with this pernicious traffic was inexcusable and indefensible, the fact should not be overlooked that the policy of American officials and merchant-traders in the Far East greatly paralleled that of the British. Commodore Kearney, visiting Hong Kong in 1842, found abundant evidence of American participation in the opium traffic. Two American companies, Russell & Company and Augustine Heard & Company, both of Boston, were large participants, as were other Americans. While American merchants condemned the opium traffic during the critical period of 1839, by 1853 American traders were again enmeshed in the traffic. The United States Commissioner to China, Humphrey Marshall, was shocked at "the wholesale system of smuggling that is carried on both under the English and American flags, almost in view of Chinese ports, and which in my opinion amounts to a gross and abominable violation of our treaties (in their spirit) with this government [China]." William B. Reed, in 1858, calculated that approximately one fifth of the opium entering Shanghai was carried by American ships. It is thus patent that Americans were as well involved in this disgraceful business, and accordingly must share the onus with the British. TOOL OF WAR Opium has become an effective and subtle tool of war. The second time China was impregnated with it was before World War II, when Japan was preparing for its invasion of the Chinese mainland and correctly had estimated the power the drug had of undermining the Chinese people, both morally and physically. The Japanese had coldly calculated its devastating value as forerunner to an advancing army; long before the steel missiles began
MAN'S USE OF NARCOTIC DRUGS Page 9 to fly, opium pellets were sent as a vanguard of the military attack. Thus there was carried on what can be called a "chemical" warfare against the Chinese. It was the invasion of the country by drugs which some say is just as destructive as a whole series of successful bombing raids. Drugs can all too thoroughly demoralize a nation and expedite its conquest. Its effectiveness was visible wherever the Japanese army had been. A systematic attempt was undertaken to undermine the Chinese population by making new addicts and by encouraging participation again by those who had once been addicted. Poppy cultivation was re-introduced and followed up by the establishment of a drug factory. The Japanese left no effort unattended. The story of opium was not a new one to the Chinese and with it they could perhaps deal, but heroin and morphine were different. The first hypodermic syringe of morphine can easily lead to addiction for life. A few whiffs of heroin may be the start of a deadly habit. To cope with the new problem, the Nanking Government passed a law in 1936 declaring that addicts must present themselves for a cure within a year or suffer the death penalty. Remedial work was accomplished during this period. But when the Japanese set up the Peace Preservation Council in Tientsin in 1937, the Nanking law, it was announced, would no longer apply to the district. The drug habit spread and the function of the anti-narcotic hospital, set up under the law, ground to a halt. Japanese drug-joints sprang up almost in the streets. The proprietors, Japanese and Koreans, were not allowed to sell to the Japanese, but open offers of drugs were made to foreigners and to the Chinese. Tientsin became a drug-ridden city. During the Japanese occupation, huge quantities of Iranian Opium were arriving at Shanghai for consignment to the Japanese army and to Japanese companies. This was in 1938. The explanation the Japanese gave for the importation was that the opium was being shipped into China for use by a large heroin factory at Shanghai. In Nanking four groups were chiefly responsible for opium circulation.
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 10 They were the Special Service Section of the Japanese army, the so-called Reform Government of Nanking, independent Japanese and Korean drug runners, and Japanese firms. In 1938, one eighth of the Chinese in Nanking were slowly being poisoned by drugs. Foreign observers, medical men, journalists, and missionaries had reported a year earlier that the drug situation there was steadily worsening, for the Chinese local officials and magistrates were unable to prevent its sale. The Japanese did much to insure the merchandising of drugs. Well-lighted and attractive clinics were opened. Some of them displayed a deceptive red cross. Illuminated street signs led victims from the highways, byways, and side streets to the opium stores and dens. Newspaper advertisements told of the various diseases the drug would allegedly cure. Patients entering a clinic were given a cursory examination by a quack doctor or drug dispenser and then they were listed as sufferers of some disease the cure for which was drugs. Thereafter, as often as they wanted it, heroin or morphine was sold to the patients and in amounts unlimited. THE TABLES TURN The Report was dated March 10, 1952; it was from the United States Representative to the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs; it showed that the tables had turned. The title of that report was "The Source and Extent of Heroin Traffic in Japan." The Communists were smuggling opium and heroin from China into Japan, the United States, and other countries. Again, the policy of trying to weaken an enemy by subsidizing addiction was at work. This time the free people of the world, fighting against communism and its spread, was the objective, with an enemy who was spreading addiction to swell its coffers and finance a war. Studies clearly show that the major illicit sources of the world's narcotic supply today are Communist China, Burma, Malaya, India, Japan, Turkey, Thailand, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Italy, and Mexico.
MAN'S USE OF NARCOTIC DRUGS Page 11 Beginning in 1951 investigations conducted in Italy proved that Italian heroin has been smuggled into the United States and elsewhere since 1948. Five licensed factories there diverted one ton of heroin into illicit channels for smuggling. The Italian Government, recognizing this shocking situation, has undertaken certain remedial measures. In October 1951 the Italian Commission of Public Health passed a decree indefinitely suspending the further production of heroin. It is apparent that further production of heroin in Italy is unwarranted and unnecessary since possibly only 20 kilograms of heroin of the annual production of 200 kilograms were used or needed for Italian medicinal consumption. Twenty kilograms is about 44 pounds. The pattern of the criminal investigations conducted in Italy by agents of the United States Bureau of Narcotics with the cooperation of the Italian police has been consistent. Gangsters had a virtual monopoly over all of the diverted Italian heroin which they were supplying to the organized narcotic gangs of principal east-coast, midwest, and west-coast American cities. Internationally notorious deportee gangsters in Italy are in control of this traffic. The foregoing facts, brief and with little detail, supply but the background, since this book is not intended to be a history of the opium traffic. But that history does point up the fact that the present wave of drug addiction in the United States, Canada, Turkey, Egypt, England, Germany, Japan, and in fact, all countries is not something previously unknown to mankind. The misuse of opium has occurred since its discovery. If it weren't for the boon it has afforded in medical therapy, decent people everywhere would certainly never have tolerated its continued existence. For centuries the poppy has been the symbol of a dangerous instrumentality-of traffic fraught with evil, of unprincipled men who satisfied by it their lust for wealth and power, of amoral nations who compromise for economic reasons and of a potent weapon of aggression. And today it is the Communists of Red China who are exploiting the poppy, who are financing and fostering aggressive warfare through depravity and human misery.
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 12 Drug addiction is a cold, calculated, ruthless, systematic plan to undermine by creating new addicts while sustaining the old. It requires all-out action on all levels of government, local, state, and national, as well as by international cooperation. it will take that kind of concerted effort to stamp out drug addiction. CONTENTS
II THE ANATOMY OF NARCOTIC DRUGS THE DESCRIPTION AND DISCUSSION THAT IS PRESENTED IN THIS CHAPTER will provide the reader with a survey of the narcotic drugs and, it is believed, with a better understanding of the problems to be discussed in later chapters. While not exhaustive in detail, sufficient information is given to establish clearly the various characteristics of the drugs that contribute to what is in this book called the traffic in narcotics. OPIUM AND ITS DERIVATIVES The use of opium in medicine and surgery is indispensable. The famous English physician of the seventeenth century, Sydenham, once wrote, "Among the remedies which it has pleased Almighty God to give to man to relieve his sufferings, none is so universal and so efficacious as opium." There can be no doubt that opium is a blessing when properly utilized; but, as has been indicated earlier, a vast illicit use for it has unfortunately been prevalent through the centuries and probably will always continue. The term opium is defined by the United States Pharmacopoeia as the "air-dried milky exudation obtained by incising the unripe capsules of Papaver somniferum Linné, or its variety album De Candolle (Fam. Papaveracea)." Opium is obtained from the Poppy plant, which is an annual herb, and in commerce must be cultivated. The plant is probably indigenous to Asia Minor; it is now most widely grown in China, India, Turkey, Macedonia, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, and Iran. Page 13
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 14 By the middle of the sixteenth century, the use of opium was both accepted and fairly well understood by the physicians and pharmacists of Western Europe. Paracelsus first used the term laudanum in 1537, and in the eighteenth century Le Mort made the first preparation of paregoric. In 1805, a German pharmacist named Sertürner first isolated morphine from opium. This was the beginning of modem alkaloidal medicine. In 1832 Robiquet isolated codeine, and sixteen years later Merck discovered papaverine. The alkaloids, comprising about 25 percent by weight of opium, represent its pharmacologically active constituents, and the most important of these are morphine, codeine, and papaverine. Other natural alkaloids of lesser import are thebaine (1835), narcotine (1803), and narceine (1832). Additionally, there are many derivatives of morphine, among which are heroin, dionin, codeine, dilaudid, and dicodid. There are two preparations of opium which are therapeutically employed today, laudanum and paregoric. These compounds, however, have been used with decreasing frequency since the isolation of morphine, and today the customary use of paregoric is with children and in the treatment of diarrhea. There follows a brief description of the principal opium derivatives. MORPHINE The most commonly used and best known of the alkaloids is morphine, the principal medical function of which is the relief of pain. Its greatest drawback is the danger of addiction. It is usually prescribed in the form of its salts and the two most familiar of these are morphine sulfate and morphine hydrochloride. Morphine may be given orally or by subcutaneous injection, and under emergent conditions it is given intravenously. Dosage, of course, depends upon the patient, the nature of the illness, and varying other factors of diagnosis. The therapeutic uses of morphine may be summarized as follows: * *Pharmacologic Principles of Medical Practice, by John C. Krantz, Jr. and C. Jelleff Carr.
THE ANATOMY OF NARCOTIC DRUGS Page 15 1. The principal use is to relieve pain. Its use here is indicated only when those analgesics which do not produce addiction have failed. 2. It is useful in checking diarrhea. 3. It is valuable in the treatment of dry non-productive coughs which have failed to yield to codeine. 4. It is excellent for pre-operative medication. 5. It is indicated in surgical hemorrhage, whereby the blood pressure is reduced and bleeding diminishes. 6. It is useful as a hypnotic when pain interferes with the ability to sleep and when potentially less harmful narcotics have failed to induce sleep. HEROIN Heroin (diacetylmorphine), which is about five times as potent as morphine, can produce a most vicious addiction. Because of this potency, together with the concomitant strong euphoric effects, this drug is always in great demand by addicts, and, accordingly, it has become the foundation of the illicit traffic. In view of the fact that its value from a therapeutic standpoint is no greater than that of morphine and since its toxicity is higher and objections to its use greatly outweigh its advantages, the United States prohibits the importation, manufacture, or sale of heroin. Some fifty nations now prohibit the manufacture of heroin. DILAUDID Dilaudid (dihydromorphinone hydrochloride), used mainly as a substitute for morphine, is also more potent than morphine. It has a much greater analgesic effect, but of shorter duration, than morphine. Both tolerance and addiction to dilaudid occur. DIONIN Dionin (ethylmorphine hydrochloride) generally has the same pharmacological qualities as codeine. Formerly used as a cough remedy, its use is presently mainly employed in treatment involving the eyes.
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 16 CODEINE Codeine, widely used and frequently prescribed in the phosphate or the sulphate form, is a derivative of morphine, and tolerance and addiction to it can occur as well. While it is employed in several ways, its primary use is in the treatment of cough. it is much less potent than morphine and, for that reason together with the fact that it generally fails to produce euphoria, is rarely used by drug addicts. PAPAVERINE Papaverine hydrochloride is the salt of an alkaloid contained in opium and as such is embraced within the scope of the Federal narcotic laws and regulations. It is unlike morphine both pharmacologically and chemically, and has only a mild analgesic effect. COCAINE Cocaine is obtained from the leaves of the Erythroxylon coca Lamarck, and also from other species of Erythroxylon, a shrub indigenous to Peru and Bolivia. Peru provides the bulk of coca leaves for the commercial trade. But the, species are grown successfully elsewhere in tropical regions. Their leaves can be harvested from two to four times annually depending on climatic and other growing conditions. There are four principal uses of coca leaves: (1) in medicine; (2) for the manufacture of cocaine; (3) for the manufacture of non-narcotic flavoring extracts; (4) for chewing. The Incas of ancient Peru believed that coca-leaf chewing both. diminished hunger and lessened fatigue, and thereby enhanced their endurance and they considered it of paramount importance in connection with high-altitude labor, particularly in the Andes mountain regions. Coca-leaf chewing, or coqueo as it is called, is habitual in several South American countries, notably in Peru and Bolivia, but it is also prevalent in Colombia, northern Argentina, and Brazil. While many local factors probably are involved, coca-leaf chewing
THE ANATOMY OF NARCOTIC DRUGS Page 17 has been considered in some areas a practical necessity in overcoming the effects of climate, altitude, and nutrition. Recent studies, however, indicate that neither climate nor altitude has been a determining factor since the practice occurs in varying climates and in widely differing altitudes. Coca-leaf chewing, by inhibiting the sensation of hunger, maintains a constant state of malnutrition, ultimately undermining the health and stamina of the user. The conclusion, therefore, is clear that in its effects it is injurious and not beneficient. The discovery of cocaine is usually credited to Nieman, who reported it in 1859. It has been claimed, however, that the real credit belongs to Gardeke, who produced it under the name of erythroxyline in 1855. Subsequent to its introduction, toward the close of the nineteenth century its growth as a local anesthesia drug in medical practice increased tremendously. However, as its use spread, it became evident that it was not only very toxic but also habit-forming. Cocaine may be classed in the stimulant or excitant group of drugs as far as its effects on the nervous system are concerned. It is patent therefore, that its very nature makes it a most dangerous drug, particularly so when the user has a maladjusted personality. The drug causes mental deterioration; and, physically, nausea, digestive disorders, sleeplessness, loss of appetite, emaciation, and tremors result from its continued use. In medicine, cocaine is used principally as a local anesthetic. It produces desensitization of the sensory nerve endings and because of this is often employed as a nasal, oral, or ocular anesthetic before treatment or surgery. Due to its dangerous characteristics, however, it has been replaced in medicine by preparations, such as procaine and Novocaine. Because of its toxicity, it is rarely used hypodermically, inasmuch as less toxic compounds are readily available for the purpose of injection. Addicts prefer to sniff the drug, absorbing it through the mucous membranes of the nose. The cocaine powder used in this way is commonly known as snow, and its continued sniffing can cause the nasal septum to become perforated. Cocaine is very scarce on the illicit market because the international
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 18 movement of coca leaves is strictly controlled. Peru, it might be mentioned, has closed all cocaine factories. MARIHUANA Delving back through the centuries, we find references to the hemp plant as early as three thousand years ago in China-about 1200 B.C.--- hence its description as a drug of the New and Old World is apt. It is probable that central or southern Asia was its original habitat. Today it is found growing either wild or under cultivation in wide areas of India, the Shan States of Burma, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Greece, Brazil, Mexico, the United States, and in Africa. In Western European countries only small quantities are grown. Because of its wide-spread distribution, it might be helpful to identify some of the names by which it is known throughout the world. The name marihuana, of Mexican-Indian origin, has become the general term in North and South America. In the United States the word reefer has through popular usage come to mean a marihuana cigarette. In England, which is experiencing an increase in its illegal use, it is popularly known as Indian hemp. Then there is the hashish of the Middle East, which is sometimes used in the United States. In Morocco and Algeria it is called kif; in Tunisia, takrouri; in South Africa, dagga; in India, bhang, charas, and manzoul. It is the maconha and djamba of Brazil, and the esrar and manzoul of Turkey. What is this substance and whence does it come? Marihuana, to use its popular name, belongs to the genus Cannabis, of which there is only a single species, Cannabis sativa L. Varieties, grown in different sections are botanically described as Cannabis indica (Indian hemp), Cannabis mexicana, and so forth. Since the bulk of the resin is contained in the flowering tops, the term marihuana has been relatively limited to those portions of the plant, while hashish refers to a special form of recovered resin of the plant. Commercially the plant, aside from its drug-producing properties, is used in the production of textiles, cord, and twine; depending on climate and soil, plants in
THE ANATOMY OF NARCOTIC DRUGS Page 19 different areas will have a greater or lesser commercial value due to the relative softness or hardness of the fibers. Numerous products are made from the hemp plant that are used by drug addicts. Bhang is obtained from the leaves, the whole substance of which is reduced to a powder. The powdered leaves are frequently mixed with spices, honey, or water. It is eaten or drunk as well as smoked. Ganja consists of the flowering tops of the plant and is prepared by crushing it into a sticky mass. it is for the most part smoked in pipes or as cigarettes, but on occasion is eaten. From the resin extracted from the tops is secured the charas of India and central Asia; the chira, chiras of Egypt, Syria, and Greece; the hashish of Egypt, India, and Syria. The raw resin extracted from the tops is either kneaded into sticks or reduced to powder. In discussing its use, one fact should be emphasized at once. Whereas the opiates can be a blessing when properly used, marihuana has no therapeutic value, and its use is therefore always an abuse and a vice. This important fact should never be forgotten, and pharmacopoeias throughout the world have generally expunged it. At present the consumption of hemp is allowed by law in only three countries, namely, India, Tunisia, and Morocco. The oral consumption of bhang has always been permitted in India and the smoking of ganja is still permitted in many Indian states, but all states have now decided to restrict progressively the consumption of Indian hemp. Only Indian hemp mixed with tobacco is permitted to be used in Morocco. Hemp in the form of takrouri is legally consumed in Tunisia. Hemp is either smoked or taken orally depending upon the individual, the place, or local customs. By absorbing it through the digestive tract, some experts feel that the effect is stronger. However, smoking is undoubtedly the most prevalent method of use in the Americas and in England. Cigarettes are prepared from the tops and leaves of the plant, and they are typically about the size of an American king-size cigarette, but somewhat thinner and more loosely packed. A cheaper grade is also prepared from the leaves and other parts of the hemp plant which, since the
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 20 resin content is less, results in a product less effective for the smoker. Marihuana is grown illegally in some States of the United States. While the Mexican variety, some of which is smuggled over the Texas border, is preferred by some smokers, there is always a ready market for all types. It is cheap compared to the price of heroin and cocaine since the price of a cigarette on the illicit market averages from fifty cents to one dollar. The user of marihuana, unlike the heroin addict, seems to prefer to pursue his vice in groups or, in the vernacular, at tea parties. He (and here it might be interjected that men far outnumber women in this vice) has been well termed by one authority as a "gregarious addict." Like all narcotic addicts, any reasonable conception of hygiene on the part of the smoker is sorely lacking. At gatherings a cigarette is passed from lip to lip. Cupping the hands to prevent the loss of the fumes, the greatest amount of smoke possible is deeply inhaled and retained for a maximum length of time. At times several consecutive short puffs are taken, and on occasion the smoke is swallowed. And so it goes until eventually the cigarette is entirely consumed. As a result of this habit, the inveterate smoker will have the same tell-tale stains of any heavy smoker of ordinary cigarettesthe yellow or dark brown stains accompanied by a hardening of the skin of those portions of the fingers which have held the cigarette. EFFECT ON THE INDIVIDUAL What are the physiological and psychological effects of the use of marihuana? What does it do to the individual? First of all, marihuana does not create physical dependence as do the opiates. Habituation occurs in the average case, but experts have observed the development of a special tolerance in instances of prolonged and excessive use. Collaterally, the danger of progression to the use of and addiction to the opiates always lurks in the background for the user of marihuana. A further distinction between the opiates and marihuana has been touched on before but bears repeating. While opium can be a blessing or a curse, depending on its use, marihuana is only and always a scourge
THE ANATOMY OF NARCOTIC DRUGS Page 21 which undermines its victims and degrades them mentally, morally, and physically. Medical experts agree on the complete unpredictability of the effect of marihuana on different individuals. A small dose taken by one subject may bring about intense intoxication, raving fits, criminal assaults. Another subject can consume large amounts without experiencing any reaction except stupefaction. It is this unpredictable effect which makes of marihuana one of the most dangerous drugs known. Moreover, every individual will react in a different degree to the same dosage of this narcotic, depending on his physiological and emotional constitution. Certain physical effects appear to be present in the majority of cases of marihuana intoxication. The first reactions appear, an hour or so after consumption, in the form of muscular trembling, increased heartbeat, acceleration of pulse. This is accompanied by a ringing in the ears, an intense feeling of heat in the head, dizziness, and sensations of cold in the hands and feet. Constrictions in the chest, dilation of the pupil of the eye, and muscular contraction follow. The physical reactions increase in intensity until either vomiting or complete stupefaction occurs. Initially the individual is excited, restless, and boisterous, over-garrulous and uninhibited. Next comes a period of dissociation of ideas and exaggeration of emotions. judgment and concentration are impaired; the subject shows a marked inability to judge both time and space; perceptions are distorted; in short, mental confusion occurs, accompanied by hallucinations. Marihuana sharpens the sensibilities, and in this stage the addict is prone to suggestion, violent or otherwise. The intense overexcitement of the nerves and emotions leads to uncontrollable irritability and violent and irresponsible acts due to irresistible impulses of suggestive origin. The last stage might include hallucinations, varied and often terrifying. Restless sleep, accompanied by bizarre phantasmagoria, then overcomes the victim. In the earliest stages of intoxication the will power is destroyed and inhibitions and restraints are released; the moral barricades are broken down and often debauchery and sexuality results. Where mental instability is inherent, the behavior is generally violent. An egotist will enjoy delusions of grandeur, the timid
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 22 individual will suffer anxiety, and the aggressive one often will resort to acts of violence and crime. Dormant tendencies are released and while the subject may know what is happening, he has become powerless to prevent it. Constant use produces incapacity for work and a disorientation of purpose. The drug has a corroding effect on the body and on the mind, weakening the entire physical system and often leading to insanity after prolonged use. BY WAY OF ILLUSTRATION The following are summaries of a few of the many cases recorded in the files of the U. S. Bureau of Narcotics which illustrate the homicidal tendencies and the generally debasing effects arising from the use of marihuana:
THE ANATOMY OF NARCOTIC DRUGS Page 23 The effects he experienced are characteristic, particularly with regard to the distortion of space and lack of restraint or memory by individuals of their own actions while under the influence of marihuana.
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 24
The following cases were taken from police records of several cities:
On a Saturday evening in November, 1945, a pretty seventeenmonth-old baby girl was left in the family car while her parents went in search of a relative. When they returned to the car less than ten minutes later, the baby had disappeared. The next afternoon, scarcely 200 yards away, the body was found in the furrow of a cotton field. The baby was naked except for one small white shoe and a red-knitted bonnet. She had been violated. Teeth marks covered her body. Her tiny contorted face had been shoved into the mud and particles of dirt in her lungs showed that she had been alive at the time and suffocated later.
For what the district attorney described as "the most horrible, the most brutal crime in the history of the area," Paul G. was sentenced
THE ANATOMY OF NARCOTIC DRUGS Page 25 to death. The final words of his counsel are well worth remembering: "The real criminal in this case is marihuana!"
THE SOCIAL ASPECTS In addition to showing a link between the use of marihuana and crime, these cases emphasize the serious social menace to the community which results when an individual with criminal tendencies uses this narcotic. Many times the false courage to commit overt crime has been supplied by marihuana, and often violence is perpetrated without the culprit being able to recall anything about it. Pathetic cases have been reported wherein the offender fancied an approaching member of his family as an enemy and killed him. Because the narcotic affects the judgment of speed and distances, a man under its influence at the wheel of an automobile is capable of leaving a trail of fatal accidents in his wake. One can readily see the menace a marihuana-user
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 26 would present wherever the safety of others depends upon the proper discharge of his duties. It takes but little imagination to picture the chaos and injury which might occur if the user were a locomotive engineer, for example, or the operator of steam or electrical equipment. Since the enactment in 1937 of Federal control legislation, considerable progress has been made towards a solution of the nation-wide marihuana problem. In the first five-year period, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, cooperating with State and municipal enforcement agencies throughout the country, conducted a program of eradication in which approximately 60,000 tons of marihuana were destroyed. In addition, the Bureau has seized large amounts of marihuana, both bulk and as cigarettes, in the illicit traffic, and has arrested. about 1,000 persons annually for violations of the Federal marihuana law. Due to the ease with which it grows, marihuana presents a continuing problem. Numerous police departments have educated their personnel to recognize the plant and have initiated local campaigns to eradicate it from vacant lots and roadsides in localities where it has been found growing. Many State and city officers throughout the country have been quick to realize the dangers of the drug and to assist in its suppression. The fact that the price of marihuana cigarettes is not prohibitive like that of other drugs makes it a definite menace to the youth, who seem to be its chief victims. SYNTHETIC NARCOTIC DRUGS Demerol was the first drug produced synthetically and designed for analgesic use as a substitute for the pain-relieving opium derivatives. The new drug bore no chemical relationship to morphine. When the result of official tests indicated that the new drug possessed addiction-liability similar to morphine, the Bureau of Narcotics proposed and obtained enactment of a special statute, approved July 1, 1944, making the Federal narcotic laws applicable to the new drug under the statutory designation isonipecaine. However, it was known that other new synthetic drugs being
THE ANATOMY OF NARCOTIC DRUGS Page 27 developed had comparable analgesic properties and might be found to possess addiction-liability. The Bureau of Narcotics recommended successfully the enactment of a statute, effective March 8, 1946, which established a general procedure for the expeditious application of control measures to any drug found to be dangerous from the addiction-liability standpoint. Under this statute, the Federal narcotic laws are made applicable to any drug found by the Secretary of the Treasury (after due notice and opportunity for public hearing) to have addiction-liability similar to morphine and cocaine, and proclaimed by the President to have been so found by the Secretary. The Secretary, in making such findings, and the Bureau of Narcotics, in determining general questions of policy where chemistry and pharmacology of narcotics or marihuana are involved, receive invaluable cooperation by way of scientific research, and advice, and technical service, from the United States Public Health Service and the Committee on Drug Addiction and Narcotics of the National Research Council. Eleven of the new synthetic analgesic drugs have been made subject to narcotic control by this procedure, but only a few of these drugs have been made available for general medical use, examples being Methadon (Dolophine or Adanon), Nisentil and Dromoran. THE PROTOCOL OF 1948 The U. S. Representative on the United Nations Narcotic Commission proposed an international agreement in the nature of an addition to the 1931 Convention, which was adopted and became effective as the Protocol of 1948. This Protocol establishes international procedure, analogous in principle to that established in the United States by the Act of March 8, 1946, whereby new drugs found to have dangerous addiction-liability are promptly brought under control imposed by the 1931 Convention, the definite finding in this case being made by the World Health Organization. Up to the present time, the findings of the Secretary of the Treasury under the national law and the findings of
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 28 the World Health Organization under the 1948 Protocol, with respect to addiction-liability of the same new drugs, have been in accord. By August 1952, thirty-nine nations had signed the Protocol of 1948. CONTENTS
III PROGRESS IN INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION---PART ONE
THERE HAVE BEEN FEW MORE DRAMATIC OR MORE SUCCESSFUL EFFORTS at international collaboration than those in the field of the control of narcotic drugs. The results obtained are outstanding. The present study surveys not only the historical development of the international control of narcotic drugs under the various treaties, but also explains in detail the somewhat complex administrative, advisory, and policy-making machinery. It reviews the new problems which have arisen and the new solutions which have been sought. The study also deals with such questions as the development of synthetic drugs, the efforts to control opium production and the progress toward streamlining the international control machinery. THE SHANGHAI CONFERENCE-1909 The first step in the international campaign against narcotic drugs took place in 1909 when an International Opium Commission met in Shanghai on the initiative of the United States Government which had become seriously concerned over the problem of addiction in the Philippines. Representatives of thirteen governments--- Austria-Hungary, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, Persia, Portugal, Russia, Siam, and the United States--- participated in the conference.
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THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 30 RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED The United States Delegation proposed the immediate prohibition of opium smoking, but the conference was not prepared to go further than the following resolution: Be it resolved: That in view of the action taken by the Government of China in suppressing the practice of opium smoking, and by other Governments to the same end, the International Opium Commission recommends that each delegation concerned move its own Government to take measures for the gradual suppression of the practice of opium smoking in its own territories and possessions, with due regard to the varying circumstances of each country concerned. Nine resolutions were adopted unanimously. The representatives recognized that "the use of opium in any form otherwise than for medical purposes is held by almost every participating country to be a matter of prohibition or for careful regulation;" that "the unrestricted manufacture, sale, and distribution of morphine already constitute a grave danger, and that the morphine habit shows signs of spreading; the International Opium Commission therefore desires to urge strongly on all governments that it is highly important that drastic measures should be taken by each government in its own territories and possessions to control the manufacture, sale, and distribution of this drug, and also of such other derivatives of opium as may appear on scientific inquiry to be liable to similar abuse and productive of like ill effects;" . . . that "it is also the duty of all countries to adopt reasonable measures to prevent at ports of departure the shipment of opium, its alkaloids, derivatives, and preparations, to any country which prohibits the entry of any opium, its alkaloids, derivatives, and preparations;" that "all governments possessing concessions or settlements in China, which have not yet taken effective action toward the closing of opium divans in the said concessions and settlements, to take steps to that end as soon as they may deem it possible;" . . . and that "each delegation move its government to apply its pharmacy laws to its subjects in the consular districts, concessions, and settlements in China."
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION--- PART ONE Page 31 THE HAGUE CONVENTION OF 1912 The United States considered it important that international effect and sanction should be given to the resolutions of the International Opium Commission which had met In Shanghai in 1909, and to this end its Government proposed that an international conference be held at a convenient date, at The Hague or elsewhere, composed of one or more delegates of each of the powers, and that the delegates should have full powers to conventionalize the resolutions adopted at Shanghai. The date of the assembling of the conference was finally fixed by The Netherlands for December 1, 1911. The Hague Convention as finally agreed upon contains a number of general principles which remain as the foundation and mainspring of all drug control. Even the rules for domestic control--vague as they were in some instances--- have stood the test of time and are still the basis of domestic control, although amplified by later conventions. The Convention incorporated the principles adopted at the Shanghai Conference and imposed an obligation on the parties "to use their best endeavours" to put these principles into practice. Its main defect was that it created no administrative machinery for the implementation of the agreed principles. While the production and distribution of raw opium was to be subjected to control, no limitation was placed on the quantity to be produced or distributed except indirectly as to how control over production and distribution was to be effected. The Hague Convention bound the contracting parties to adopt provisions of control and regulation for raw opium, prepared opium, and the manufactured substances--- medicinal opium, morphine, diacetylmorphine (heroin), and cocaine. The production of raw opium was to be controlled and its distribution regulated. Import or export should be made only by duly authorized persons, and each contracting party was required to limit the number of towns, ports, or other places through which export or import was to be permitted. Export to countries prohibiting the
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 32 import of raw opium was to be prevented, and controlled to countries which restricted its import. The manufacture, internal traffic in, and use of prepared opium were to be gradually suppressed, while imports and exports were to be immediately prohibited. In countries where prohibition of exports was not immediately practicable, however, prohibition should take place as soon as possible. In these countries exports were to be restricted in the ways provided for raw opium; the exporting country was required to adopt the measures necessary for complying with the regulations in force in the country of import. The manufacture, sale, and use of morphine, cocaine and their respective salts was to be limited to medical and legitimate uses only. The parties "shall use their best efforts to control all those who manufacture, import, sell, distribute and export morphine, cocaine and their respective salts, as well as the buildings where such persons exercise that commerce." The parties were to examine into the possibility of enacting laws making the illegal possession of raw opium, prepared opium, morphine, cocaine and their respective salts liable to penalties. The Hague Convention did not come into general application until after the end of World War I. On February 11, 1915, the convention came into force for the United States of America, China, and The Netherlands, which were the first three countries to agree to apply its provisions. The original ratification article required that all states which had participated in the conference of 1912 should have ratified the convention before it could come into force. There was considerable delay and for this reason a subsequent special protocol was needed. Many countries became parties to the convention through the Peace Treaties signed at the end of World War I, and all of which contained an article under which ratification of the peace treaty should "be deemed in all respects equivalent to the ratification of that Convention [Hague Convention] and to the signature of the Special Protocol ... for bringing the said Convention into force." By August, 1952, seventy countries had become parties to the Convention.
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION--- PART ONE Page 33 THE GENEVA CONVENTION OF 1925 The International Opium Conference which sat at Geneva from November, 1924, to February, 1925, and was attended by delegates from thirty-six countries, adopted a new Convention. The aims of the convention are stated in the preamble, which notes that the Hague Convention produced results of great value, but that illicit traffic in and abuse of narcotic substances still continued on a large scale, and that it was necessary to examine "with a view to the conclusion of an agreement, the question of the limitation of the amounts of morphine, heroin, or cocaine and their respective salts to be manufactured; of the limitation of the amounts of raw opium and coca leaf to be imported for that purpose and for other medicinal and scientific purposes; and of the limitation of the production of raw opium and the coca leaf for export to the amount required for such medicinal and scientific purposes ..." The joint resolution, adopted by the Congress of the United States on May 15, 1924, authorizing participation in the Conference, quoted these principles and stipulated "that the representatives of the United States shall sign no agreement which does not fulfil the conditions necessary for the suppression of the narcotic drug traffic as set forth in the preamble." After prolonged sessions, neither the plans for the direct limitation of quantities of drugs on the basis of estimated requirements as proposed by the United States Delegation, nor for the limitation of the production of raw opium and coca leaves to amounts required for medical and scientific needs were accepted, and under these circumstances the Delegation of the United States had no alternative other than to withdraw from the Conference. The Chinese Delegation also withdrew because of the refusal. of the governments in whose territories the use of prepared opium was still legal to agree to its suppression. Abandoning attempts directly to limit the production of raw materials and the manufacture of narcotic drugs, the Conference concentrated on the control of trade and commerce. By the terms of the Convention, the contracting parties agreed to establish control of the manufacture, sale, and movement of dangerous
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 34 drugs, and to report annually the quantities manufactured, consumed, stocks on hand, etc., and every three months the quantities exported and imported. Thus governments are made responsible for the legitimacy of exports and imports, and any attempt to divert drugs in transit can be detected. The most important advance was the establishment of the system of compulsory import certificates and export authorizations. Under this system the exporter must obtain from his government an export authorization which. will only be issued on production of the copy of an import certificate issued by the government of the importing country, stating that the drug in question is needed for medical purposes. The creation of the Permanent Central Board to supervise the statistical system initiated by the Convention represented another important step in international narcotic control. Under the Convention the parties undertook to furnish to the Permanent Central Board estimates of the quantities of each of the substances covered by the Convention to be imported into their territory for internal consumption during the following year, but one of the chief shortcomings of the Convention was its failure to provide a method of determining each country's and the world's total legitimate need of narcotic drugs, as well as binding obligations to keep within those limits. The Geneva Convention of 1925 came into force on September 28, 1928. By August, 1952, sixty-two countries had ratified the Convention. THE 1931 CONVENTION FOR LIMITING THE MANUFACTURE AND REGULATING THE DISTRIBUTION OF NARCOTIC DRUGS Reference has been made to the fact that the Geneva Opium Conference which concluded the 1925 Convention did not accept proposals for the effective limitation of the manufacture of dangerous drugs. In a document published by the Secretariat of the League of Nations, it was revealed that between 1925-29 approximately 100 tons of morphine passed into the illicit traffic. Six tons of cocaine escaped into the illicit traffic in the same period.
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION-PART ONE Page 35 The total annual requirements of these drugs were estimated at 39 tons. As knowledge of this situation spread, public opinion in certain countries demanded limitation of manufacture, and in 1931 an International Conference was convened at Geneva to conclude a convention for this purpose. The system of limitation embodied in the Limitation Convention of 1931 is based upon estimates which each contracting party undertakes to provide, with non-contracting parties also asked to furnish estimates, of the quantities of drugs required during the ensuing year. Each estimate is based solely on medical and scientific requirements, and must be submitted by August 1st of the year preceding that for which the estimate is made. These estimates are examined by an international body of experts--- the Supervisory Body--- which was set up by the Convention. If a contracting or non-contracting country fails to return an estimate, the Supervisory Body is entrusted with the duty of drawing up an estimate for it. This far-reaching provision is absolute in respect of contracting parties. The estimates for each country, which may be followed by supplementary estimates accompanied by an explanation for their necessity, are required to show for each of the drugs covered by the Convention, whether in the form of alkaloids or of salts or of preparations of the alkaloids or salts: 1. The quantity necessary for medical and scientific needs (this includes the quantities required for the manufacture of preparations for which export authorizations are not required, whether .intended for domestic consumption or not); 2. The quantity necessary for conversion whether for domestic >consumption or export; 3. The amount of the reserve stocks which it is desired to maintain; 4. The quantity necessary for the establishment and maintenance of any governmental stocks. The Supervisory Body forwards to every government of the world an annual statement containing the estimates for each country. The estimates system introduced by the Limitation Convention of 1931 differs from that contained in the Geneva Convention
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 36 of 1925 in that the estimates under the Convention of 1931 are required for the total quantities necessary for consumption within the country, and are binding, Whereas those which the parties agreed to submit under the Convention of 1925 relate only to imports for medical, scientific, and other purposes, and are not binding. Under the Limitation Convention of 1931 controls are applied to all stages between manufacture and ultimate consumption of manufactured drugs. This Convention marked a great advance in international supervision of the drug traffic and also of international law. World manufacture was effectively limited, as were also the supplies available for each country. The Convention achieved its purposes, and it is generally recognized that it has been completely successful in its application. The following opinion on the 1931 Convention was expressed by the Assembly of the League of Nations:
Noteworthy from the point of view of international law is the fact that a government not a party to the Convention and which has not furnished its estimates, may be prevented from importing drugs from a country which is a party, due to an embargo issued, by the Central Board under Article 14, paragraph 2, of the Limitation Convention on account of excess over the estimates for the non-party state furnished by the Supervisory Body. The 1931 Convention came into application in its entirety as from. January 1, 1934. By August, 1952, seventy-three countries: had ratified the Convention.
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION--- PART ONE Page 37 THE CONVENTION OF 1936 FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF THE ILLICIT TRAFFIC IN DANGEROUS DRUGS The object of the 1936 Convention is stated in the Preamble to be: "to strengthen the measures intended to penalize offenses" contained in the previous international conventions and "to combat by the methods most effective in the present circumstances the illicit traffic in the drugs and substances covered by the Conventions." The experience gained since 1912 had shown that the illicit traffic could not be effectively suppressed unless there were equally severe penalties in all countries, and also effective measures to make it possible to bring to justice traffickers who escaped from the country where they had violated the drug laws, or who directed illicit traffic in one country through another country. The 1936 Convention stipulated that offenses defined therein should be included as extradition crimes in any extradition treaty to be negotiated between the contracting parties. In countries where the extradition of nationals is not recognized, the parties undertook to prosecute a national who had returned to his country after committing an offense abroad which came within the terms of the Convention. These provisions were designed to prevent narcotic traffickers from escaping prosecution because the laws of the country in which they resided did not cover smuggling offenses committed abroad. The Convention also provided that the contracting parties should set up a central office to supervise and coordinate all operations necessary to prevent the illicit traffic. The United States refused to sign the 1936 Convention on the ground that it covered trade in and distribution of manufactured drugs only and did not include raw materials or smoking opium; it would afford no constitutional basis for Federal control of the production of cannabis, opium, and the opium poppy; and furthermore, while in some countries its enforcement might result in improvement in efforts to prevent the abuse of narcotic drugs, the provisions of the Convention would weaken rather than strengthen the effectiveness of the efforts of the American Government
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 38 to prevent and punish narcotics offenses and to obtain extradition therefor. The 1936 Convention came into force in October 1939, one month after outbreak of World War II. By August, 1952, nineteen countries had ratified the Convention. THE PROTOCOL OF 1946 The supervision of operation of the several narcotic Conventions had been performed by the Opium Advisory Committee of the Council of the League of Nations, which went out of existence upon the organization of the United Nations. In February) 1946, the Economic and Social Council established the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, and the U. S. Commissioner of Narcotics was appointed the United States Representative on this Commission. He proposed an agreement which was adopted as the Protocol of 1946, whereby all functions assigned under the several conventions to organs of the defunct League of Nations were transferred to corresponding organs of the United Nations. Thus the new Commission on Narcotic Drugs assumed the functions of the old Opium Advisory Committee. SINGLE CONVENTION ON NARCOTIC DRUGS The Commission on Narcotic Drugs has devoted considerable time to discussion and modification of a draft prepared by the UN Secretariat, of a so-called Unified Convention, that is, a convention designed to include all of the operative provisions of the existing international conventions and protocols controlling the traffic in narcotic drugs including marihuana. In addition, to the usual divergence of views as to the necessity of a given provision, or the appropriateness of a proposed method of reaching a desired aim, there was the difficulty that one or more of the existing international agreements, considered essential for incorporation into the single convention, had not been adopted by, some of the high contracting parties to other conventions. The object of the proposed unification is not only to combine the eight international agreements on the subject but also to
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION--- PART ONE Page 39 revise and strengthen these agreements, closing loopholes, and rejecting obsolete provisions. It is obviously most desirable to revise these international agreements, one of which dates back to 1912, and to incorporate them if possible into a single agreement which will provide reasonably effective control over the production of opium, coca leaves, and cannabis, over the manufacture of the dangerous or potentially dangerous products of these substances as well as of synthetic substitutes for them, and over the distribution of such raw material and of the manufactured products or synthetic substitutes. THE PERMANENT CENTRAL BOARD The Permanent Central Board,* a semi-autonomous organ, was created by the Geneva Convention of 1925, and its main function was defined as continuously to "watch over the course of the international trade in narcotic drugs." Its duties have been discharged without interruption since 1928. The Permanent Central Board consists of eight persons who, by their technical competence, impartiality, and disinterestedness, command general confidence. Originally the members of the Board were appointed by the Council of the League of Nations. Since the amendments to the 1925 Convention contained in the Protocol of December 11, 1946, came into force, the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations is the appointing authority. The 1925 Convention laid down certain conditions for the appointing authority. The membership of the Board must include in equitable proportion persons possessing a knowledge of the drug situation both in the producing and manufacturing countries and in the consuming countries. It was also stated in the Convention that the members of the Central Board, who are appointed for five years, should not hold any office which put them in a position of direct dependence on their governments. This provision, which was inserted in order to make it possible for the Board to carry out certain semijudicial ____________________ *Generally referred to as the Permanent Central Opium Board. ____________________
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 40 functions under the Convention, has created problems in the selection of its personnel. It was pointed out at the first session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs that changing social systems in various countries might make it difficult for these governments to propose candidates who fulfilled these conditions. At the second session the Commission adopted a resolution concerning the meaning of this provision which was approved by the Economic and Social Council at its sixth session. According to this resolution, it is possible for the Council to elect members who, although they might originally have been in a position of direct dependence on their government, undertook to relinquish their government office during their term of duty with the Permanent Central Board, provided that they also agreed not to act under the instructions of their governments while exercising their functions as members of the Board. It was also agreed that it was possible for the Council to elect professional men and women in academic positions, from universities or other institutions supported by the state. In 1925 it was decided that the Hague Convention of 1912 should be reinforced, because its provisions and the national laws governing the movement of drugs did not prevent illicit traffic, in large part because of the lack of an administration or the machinery to supervise the traffic. The Permanent Central Board fills this need. The High Contracting Parties were convinced, says the 1925 Convention, that contraband trade and abuse of narcotic drugs could not be suppressed without more effective control of production or manufacture and closer supervision of the international trade. Accordingly, the parties undertook to institute certain measures for the internal control of narcotic drugs and the raw materials from which they are made, pledging themselves to institute legislation to limit exclusively to medical and scientific purposes the manufacture and distribution of narcotic drugs. Precise and definite obligations were imposed by the 1925 Convention. The participating countries agreed to set up a system of issuing import certificates and export- authorizations. They were also to submit annual estimates of the quantities of narcotic drugs which they needed to import each year for medicinal and
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION--- PART ONE Page 41 scientific purposes. Further, they undertook to furnish statistics of the production of raw materials, of the manufacture, consumption, export, import, and stocks of narcotic drugs, and the amount seized on account of illicit import. The international body which was created to receive these statistics was the Permanent Central Board. In order that it should be able to carry out its duties in a truly impartial manner, careful provision was made in the Convention that it should be constituted in such a way as to be completely independent of governments. In addition to the functions mentioned, the Board was vested with the power of recommending sanctions against a country importing or manufacturing narcotic drugs in excess of its legitimate needs. Several sanctions have been enforced. Each year the Board publishes a report showing the statistics it has received under various headings and stating whether any countries have exceeded their estimates. In this way, the parties to the Convention are kept informed of any undue accumulation of drugs in any particular country and can act on this information for their own protection. An instance of the effectiveness of the work of the Board was exemplified when it reported, prior to the 1931 Convention, that a Central American country had imported one hundred times its medical needs, or a supply of narcotic drugs sufficient for one hundred years. American authorities immediately began investigating, and found that narcotics were leaving that country and were being smuggled into the United States in exchange for arms and ammunition which were being sent for use in a revolution. When the Director of Health of the country then refused to issue licenses for the release of narcotics, he was assassinated. After a civil investigation, the entire gang of smugglers was rounded up and sentenced to long terms of imprisonment. The 1925 Convention worked satisfactorily in regard to trade, but it was found that the provisions relating to the manufacture of narcotic drugs had to be strengthened. It was to achieve this that a new Convention, a Convention to supplement the provisions of those of 1912 and 1925, was negotiated in 1931.
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 42 DRUG LIMITATION CONVENTION Under the 1931 Convention, a more rigorous system of submitting estimates was instituted to bring about a strict limitation of the amounts of narcotic drugs to be manufactured in each country. It had been found that knowledge of the movements and quantities of narcotics was not sufficient to control the illicit traffic. The new estimates submitted to the Permanent Central Board were to be examined by a Supervisory Body especially created for the purpose, and, once approved, were to be binding. It was, however, given to the Permanent Central Board to supervise the extent to which the parties to the Conventions carried out their obligations in respect of their estimates. Under Article 14 of this Convention, if the import and export returns show that the estimates of an importing country are or will be exceeded, the Board is under an obligation to inform all the High Contracting Parties "who will not during the currency of the year in question authorize any new exports to the country except in the special circumstances set forth in the Convention." At the entry into operation of the 1931 Convention, information at the disposal of the Permanent Central Board under the 1925 Convention could be used more effectively. The Board now not only published statistics and recommended sanctions, but by comparing its statistics with the estimates approved by the Supervisory Body, it could ascertain if any country was violating its obligations under the 1931 Convention by exceeding its estimates. The Board admitted that the degree of the success of international control varied from one narcotic drug to another. In the case of raw materials falling under the Convention of 1925, the control was vitiated by the inability of some of the most important producing countries to report their production accurately. In the findings of the annual report of the Permanent Central Board summarizing the work of the Board in 1951, it was noted that the Iranian Government had, for the first time in seventeen years, sent statistics for raw opium, so that it was possible to strike a balance, for the year 1950, of the quantities disposed of and available. According to this balance, 333 tons of raw opium
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION--- PART ONE Page 43 disappeared in Iran in 1950. (This is an example of the searching scrutiny of the Permanent Central Board.) The Board then asked the Iranian Government for an explanation. It was pointed out by the Board that so long as such incidents occur and remain unexplained, the situation must continue to be most disquieting. In the case of manufactured drugs, the chief aims of the 1925 Convention (a complete account of the supplies available) and of the 1931 Convention (the limitation of the manufacture to medical and scientific requirements) had, the Board felt, to a large extent been achieved. Broadly speaking, the Board described the satisfactory elements in the situation as being the wide extent of the control, which demanded a high degree of cooperation between governments, and the general reduction in drug addiction, of which there is considerable evidence. The Board, however, did not hesitate to criticize certain technical aspects of the submission of estimates and statistics. One of the chief advantages derived from this method of control seems to be that governments do not resent the fact that a board is continuously checking them. During World War II, the offices of the Permanent Central Board were moved to Washington, and Germany and her satellites continued to permit their narcotic agencies to function and to submit figures to this Board, an indication that even in time of war this Board has been able to function. The attitude of the Board has always been that it is helping governments to fulfil their voluntary obligations. This Point of view has set an interesting precedent. In its quasi-judicial capacity, the Board supervises fulfillment of certain obligations voluntarily assumed by governments, specified in the following provisions of the 1925 and 1931 Conventions: GENEVA CONVENTION OF 1925
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THE SUPERVISORY BODY COMPOSITION-APPOINTMENT The Supervisory Body was created by the 1931 Conference for the Limitation of the Manufacture of Narcotic Drugs. It was composed of four members, of which one was to be appointed by the Permanent Central Board, one by the Advisory Committee on Opium and Other Dangerous Drugs, one by the Health Committee of the League of Nations, and one by the Office International d'Hygiene Publique. The Protocol of December 11, 1946 substituted the Commission on Narcotic Drugs for the Advisory Committee, and the World Health Organization for the Health Committee and the Office International d'Hygiene Publique, as appointing bodies.
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 46 PERSONAL QUALIFICATIONS OF MEMBERS The 1931 Convention does not expressly establish any requirements as to the personal qualifications of the members of the Body. A study of the minutes of the 1931 Conference reveals, however, that the framers of the 1931 Convention thought of the members of the Body as independent experts, some of whom should have the medical knowledge necessary for the performance of the functions of the Body. TENURE No provisions were made as to the period of tenure of office of the members of the Body. This omission would perhaps justify the interpretation that it is left to the appointing bodies to determine the period, and by agreement between them, it was fixed at three years when the first appointments were made in 1933. Later renewals made during the lifetime of the League of Nations were also made for the same period. The Commission on Narcotic Drugs, at its third session, recommended that the terms of office of the members of the Supervisory Body should be five years, and accordingly, in 1948 the members were appointed for a period of five years. SECRETARIAT The Secretariat of the Supervisory Body shall be provided by the Secretary-General of the United Nations (formerly, by the League of Nations). The Secretary-General shall ensure close collaboration with the Permanent Central Board. FUNCTIONS The Supervisory Body, by examining estimates submitted by countries and framing estimates for states which have not submitted them, guarantees that each country and territory may obtain drugs sufficient (but not more than sufficient) to meet medical and scientific needs. It limits, through the estimates, world manufacture and international trade. The task is delicate and responsible, for upon the accuracy of the final estimates will very largely depend the practical success or failure of the principle
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION--- PART ONE Page 47 of limitation. An overestimate may permit the manufacture of surplus drugs, which will inevitably find their way sooner or later into the illicit trade. FIRST, the Body is required to examine the estimates furnished by various governments and has the right to demand, if it thinks fit, further information or details from a government with regard to the latter's estimates. (The estimates must be furnished in accordance with Articles 2 and 5 of the Convention.) With the government's consent, the Supervisory Body may amend any estimate in accordance with the information obtained. With the independent information already at its disposal, through the work of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs and the Permanent Central Board, the Body is in a position to check the figures in the national estimates for each drug and to form an idea of their relationship with the known needs of different countries. The Body can only request further information with regard to the national estimates actually presented. It cannot go beyond this and request information on any other basis or relating to matters which are not directly connected with the fuller explanation of the figures shown. It has no competence to infringe upon the more general sphere of activity of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs. SECOND, the Body itself as far as possible draws up estimates (a) for those territories to which the Convention applies but for which estimates are not furnished in accordance with Articles 2 and 5 of the Convention, that is, when no estimates at all are furnished by the given date, August 1st, preceding the year to which they refer, or when the estimates are in an imperfect or incomplete form, as, for example, when separate figures are not shown for each drug; (b) for those territories to which the Convention does not apply, including both non-contracting countries and colonial areas for which the metropolitan state has not accepted the obligations of the Convention. Recently the Supervisory Body has found it necessary to provide estimates for Russia, Romania, Poland, Albania, Afghanistan, China and the German Democratic Republic. It may be noted that Article 5, paragraph 7, refers without qualification "to the determining by that Body as provided in Article 2 of the estimates for each country or territory on behalf of which no estimates
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 48 have been furnished." In such cases, nations must surrender sovereignty to this international body. The system of limitation of manufacture on the basis of estimated needs would be seriously impaired if estimates could be neither requested nor prepared for territories for which a government was unwilling to accept the obligations of the Convention. Estimates made by the Body itself are in every way indistinguishable from estimates furnished by the countries themselves to the Permanent Central Board. A country can, of course, attempt to modify them by submitting a supplementary estimate. THIRD, the Body is required to draw up a statement consisting of the estimates furnished by governments or, in their absence, by the Supervisory Body, of requirements for medical and scientific needs. The statement of the Body is a plan for the world's drug industry for the coming year. The responsibility of the Body is clear when it is remembered that this statement is not merely a guide to the industry and the trade. The function which it is called upon to fulfil invests it with a more solemn character. It constitutes, on the date of its communication to governments, a statement of obligations binding upon the contracting governments and, eighteen months later through the international accounting system of the Permanent Central Board, a standard by which the action of governments in observing their obligations will be judged. Thus the essential function of the Supervisory Body is to ensure that the estimates are kept within reasonable limits. RESULTS The machinery established by the Supervisory Body emerged from its initial trial in 1933 with considerable success. Estimates were received that year for 45 countries (including 14 countries which had not ratified the Convention) and for 83 colonies, protectorates and territories. The Supervisory Body was called upon to provide estimates for 23 countries and 31 colonies for which no estimates had been furnished. For 1952, estimates were furnished by 73 governments and 78 territories, and the Supervisory Body was called upon to provide estimates for only 10 countries and 6 territories.
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION--- PART ONE Page 49 The effectiveness of the Supervisory Body is attested to by the fact that in the first year of its existence, it succeeded in reducing the total amount of morphine required for all purposes (in 1934) by more than three tons. MANDATE OF THE SUPERVISORY BODY Extract from Article 5 of the International Convention of July 13, 1931, as amended by the Protocol of December 11, 1946:
THE OPIUM ADVISORY COMMITTEE Although international cooperation in the drug field was begun before the League of Nations came into being, supervision by special international bodies did not exist in the pre-League days. This supervision was created by the League of Nations. Under the Versailles Peace Treaty, the Opium Convention of 1912 was automatically put into effect; and through the insertion of Article 23 (c) in the Covenant of the League of Nations, which stated "in accordance with the provisions of international Conventions existing or hereafter to be created, the members of the League . . . will entrust the League with the general supervision over the execution of agreements with regard to ... the traffic in
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 50 opium and other dangerous drugs," the League was entrusted with the execution of this Opium Convention. On December 15, 1920, the first Assembly of the League of Nations passed a resolution creating an Advisory Committee which was to be appointed by the Council "to exercise a general supervision over the traffic in opium and other dangerous drugs and to secure the full cooperation of the various countries in this field." The Council of the League actually appointed the Advisory Committee on the Traffic in Opium and Other Dangerous Drugs in 1921 and included in accordance with the provisions of the Assembly Resolution representatives from the Netherlands, United Kingdom, France, India, Japan, China, Siam, and Portugal, as the countries specially concerned. The Assembly Resolution had provided that the Council should be authorized to add to the Advisory Committee, in the capacity of member or assessor, a representative of any non-member State specially concerned in the traffic which had ratified The Hague Convention, and to send a special invitation to the United States of America, which sent an observer after 1923. DUTIES-EFFECTIVENESS The Secretariat of the League of Nations was charged by the Assembly with the duty of collecting information concerning the arrangements made in the various countries for carrying out the Hague Convention, and concerning the production, distribution, and consumption of narcotic drugs which was of great assistance to the Advisory Committee in presenting its annual report to the Council on all matters regarding the execution of agreements concerning the traffic in opium and other dangerous drugs. The Advisory Committee performed the functions of a policy-making body for the international control system, under which great advance was made in the control of the legal trade in narcotics and in reducing illicit traffic and drug addiction. In the early years of the activities of the Opium Advisory Committee of the League, much time was devoted to discussions of policy. At the outset the Opium Advisory Committee was largely composed of representatives of opium-producing countries, the
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION--- PART ONE Page 51 great manufacturing countries and those countries which maintained opium-smoking monopolies in certain Far Eastern countries and territories, and this aroused certain suspicions and misgivings in the minds of those who had the drug problem at heart. Under the impact of this situation the Advisory Committee was repeatedly enlarged and from 1930 it was really representative of all countries which were affected by the drug problem as producers of raw materials, as manufacturers, as consumers, or as victims of illicit traffic and drug addiction. The Advisory Committee was enabled to strengthen the administration of the system of control at several of its weakest points as the authority for the discussion of the annual reports which the governments of States-members undertook to send in to the Secretariat and as the clearing-house for all information about seizures. It incessantly urged governments to impose stricter internal regulation and in particular to adopt what has now become one of the most effective weapons of control, the import-certificate system. Through the information gradually collected by the Committee, the disquieting fact began to emerge that the amount of dangerous drugs manufactured was several times the quantity required for the medical and scientific needs of the world. As the result of the Opium Advisory Committee's turning the pitiless spotlight of the world press on specific narcotic conditions from time to time, it was able to drive the illicit traffic from France, Switzerland, Holland, Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia. It repeatedly exposed the manner in which loose controls over manufacture, and lack of effective laws had encouraged the building up of large scale illicit trafficking in these countries. The Advisory Committee, by revealing the extent of the abuses and by gaining recognition as a highly efficient instrument for guiding and encouraging the collaboration of governments in this field, prepared the ground for advance to the second phase reached in 1925 when the First and Second Geneva Opium Conferences met. Under the terms of the Geneva Convention of 1925, which came into force on September 28, 1928, a strict check was made
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 52 possible over the international trade in narcotic drugs. In its review of the general situation concerning the manufacture and trade of drugs between 1931 and 1935, the Advisory Committee stated that it was in a position to calculate the legitimate needs of the world for manufactured drugs and that up to the year 1931 there had been considerable discrepancy between the amounts manufactured and legitimate needs. It showed that in 1929, 58 tons of morphine for all purposes had been manufactured, and that in the period 1931-35 the legitimate needs of the world averaging 29 tons a year had been completely satisfied by an annual production of that amount. In 1929, 3.6 tons of heroin and 6.4 tons of cocaine had been manufactured, and in 1935, only 674 kilograms of heroin and 3.9 tons of cocaine, which represented a reduction of 82 percent in the manufacture of heroin and about 40 percent in the manufacture of cocaine. In 1929, 6 tons of morphine, 850 kilograms of heroin, and 2.2 tons of cocaine had been exported. In 1935, the export of morphine and heroin was only a quarter of this amount and the export of cocaine one half, without any resulting damage to medical requirements. The Advisory Committee estimated that in the period 1925 to 1931 at least 90 tons of morphine had escaped into the illicit traffic. It emphasized that since 1931 there was no surplus of legal manufacture to supply the illicit traffic. The review of the period between 1931 and 1935 showed that the application of the Geneva Convention of 1925 had not only considerably reduced the manufacture of narcotic drugs, but had stabilized the quantity at the level of the world's medical and scientific needs. By 1939, the international cooperation for the control of narcotic drugs was firmly established and was showing real results. Order had been brought out of comparative chaos, and in most countries there was an effective system of national control. In its report to the Council on the work of its twenty-fifth session the Opium Advisory Committee pointed out that every effort should be made to prevent the achievement of twenty years from being jeopardized by the war. It was clear that special measures would have to be taken to prevent a repetition of the chaotic
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION--- PART ONE Page 53 conditions which followed World War I, and to enable the international bodies concerned with the control of narcotic drugs to continue their work. Through the courtesy of the Government of the United States, branch offices of the Secretariats of the Supervisory Body and the Permanent Central Board were opened in Washington in February of 1941. The Conventions were not impaired by World War II: while some domestic controls disappeared or were disorganized, the majority of controls survived the war, and continued in operation even in countries subjected to enemy occupation. This in itself was a striking tribute to the vigor and effectiveness of the international control. In the same manner that the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs does today, the Opium Advisory Committee afforded a world forum where the problem of the illicit traffic in narcotic drugs was publicly discussed every year, and where any government whose territory was used as a base for the illicit traffic was without fear or favor publicly asked to account for its stewardship. Most of the progress made has been due to publicity, and the value of this Committee as an instrument of publicity was widely recognized, and in some quarters, feared. OPIUM SMOKING The beginning of the modern movement for the suppression of the opium traffic may be said to date from the action of the United States Government in 1905 in forbidding the use of opium in the Philippine Islands, where opium smoking was a widespread evil. That Government had appointed a committee to investigate thoroughly not only the Philippine opium problem but the entire problem as it then existed in the Far East. When the Shanghai International Opium Commission met in 1909, the United States Delegation proposed the immediate prohibition of opium smoking, but the conference was not prepared to go that far. The Convention of 1912 established the duty of gradual suppression of the opium-smoking habit as a principle of international law.
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 54 Two Agreements* of the countries having territories in which opium smoking constituted a serious problem attempted to advance the process of suppression by such measures as establishing opium monopolies providing for government ownership of retail shops selling smoking opium, licensing and rationing of smokers, prohibition of sale to minors, educational measures, etc. None of these measures proved adequate, however, and when war broke out in 1939, the smoking of opium was still legalized in The Netherlands Indies, British Malaya, the Unfederated Malay States, Brunei, Formosa, Kwantung Leased Territory, Sarawak, Burma, India, Ceylon, British North Borneo, Hong Kong, French Indochina, Thailand, Kwangchow-wan, Macao, and Iran. Much of this territory in the Far East was occupied by Japan during World War II, and curtailment of the opium traffic there became a matter of immediate concern to the United States in view of its military operations in the Far East and the large number of young troops deployed in that area. From the standpoint of the health and safety of the men of the Armed Forces of the United States, the Government was convinced that it was imperative immediately upon the occupation by the United States forces of a part or the whole of any one of the Japanese-occupied territories to seize all drugs intended for other than medical and scientific purposes. American expeditionary forces under American command were therefore instructed to close existing opium monopolies, opium shops, and dens. That was the immediate problem. The long-range problem was what should be done in regard to the opium monopolies and the opium problem in general. Another question was, "What will happen if the British or the Chinese alone should reoccupy Burma, for example?" Would the British license the sale of opium for nonmedical needs, while the Chinese refused to license the opium smokers? The competent authorities of the United States were of the ______________________ * Agreement concerning the Manufacture of, Internal Trade in, and Use of Prepared Opium, signed at Geneva, February 11, 1925; and Agreement for the Control of Opium-Smoking in the Far East, signed at Bangkok on November 27, 1931; generally referred to as 1925 Agreement and 1931 Agreement.
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION--- PART ONE Page 55 opinion that there would be an increase in addiction among Americans after the war because of the close association of their troops with Opium in the Far Eastern areas. This Opinion was based on the knowledge that drug addiction springs from association with drugs and addicts; a person easily falls a victim to such addiction through association and contacts; the opium smoker should be regarded as a focus of infection for susceptible individuals; also that experience in the past Proves that wars tend to give rise to drug addiction. As long as opium smoking was permitted in the Far Eastern war theater, it was probable that troops would acquire addiction and that drug smuggling would continue from countries in the Far East to countries in the West, unless some counter action was taken. It was pointed out that the Americans had never allowed the sale of opium in the Philippines and that when the Japanese moved in the United States would not likely have gotten the support which it did get from the Filipinos if the United States Government had been selling the Filipinos opium for a generation as had been done, for instance, in Far Eastern territories under control of European governments. Beginning on January 13, 1943, a series of informal meetings were held in the Treasury Department office of the Commissioner of Narcotics in Washington, attended by representatives of Great Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, The Netherlands, and China; also by representatives of the State Department and the Foreign Policy Association, regarding the question of what should be done in case some island or territory where a smoking-opium monopoly existed was occupied by the military forces of the United Nations. At the conclusion of the informal discussions it was apparent that the representatives of governments present were in agreement as to the final objective to be reached, viz., total prohibition of opium smoking, and that any differences of opinion expressed Concerned only the methods to be applied to attain this objective. It was pointed out that monopolies did not reduce the number of smokers; that international cooperation would be the solution of the problem; and that the production of opium had a bearing on the control of the monopolies. It was emphasized that opinion
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 56 in America was crystallizing against the opium monopolies because they feed the illicit traffic in the United States and elsewhere; that if the American Navy were to capture Hong Kong, for instance, under the status quo the official opium stores would probably be reopened immediately; that the American Navy could not indirectly license the opium trade abroad when it is condemned at home. It was suggested that the other countries represented start discussions with a view to formulating policies to be pursued, as the United States had a clear-cut policy on the matter under discussion. The observation was made that in some countries the command might shift from the Americans to the British and that in such event the Americans did not want a situation to arise in which some other country would say that opium was in and the Americans would say it was out; therefore it was desirable that agreements be reached. As a result of these discussions the United States Government on September 21, 1942, addressed an aide-memoire to the British, The Netherlands and other interested governments on this subject. On November 10, 1943, the British and Netherlands governments announced their intentions to abolish the legalized sale of opium in their Far Eastern territories, and similar action was later taken by the governments of France and Portugal. Opium smoking has now been declared illegal in all parts of the world except in Thailand. This action by the United States Government was a long step in advance, and brought about a quick solution to the troublesome opium-smoking problem which had been under discussion for settlement since 1905, and for which numerous international conferences and agreements had failed to evolve a satisfactory solution. COMMISSION OF ENQUIRY ON THE COCA LEAF In compliance with requests made by the governments of Peru and Bolivia, the Economic and Social Council sent a Commission of Enquiry to these countries in 1949 to investigate the effects of
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION--- PART ONE Page 57 chewing the coca leaf. The Commission in the conclusions of its report declared that this habit induces harmful effects and decided in favor of the possibility of suppressing it gradually, as well as of the possibility of limiting the production and of controlling the distribution of the coca leaf. The Commission on Narcotic Drugs considered the report during its seventh session (1952), and recommended: (a) that the Council request the technical assistance services of the UN to study the possibility of undertaking certain experiments under their program in Bolivia and Peru; (b) that the Council request the governments of Bolivia and Peru to take steps to limit immediately the production of coca leaves to manufacture; and (c) that the Council urge licit consumption and urge the governments of Bolivia and Peru to take measures to Prevent coca leaves and cocaine from entering channels which could supply the illicit traffic in narcotic drugs. LIMITATION OF OPIUM PRODUCTION Since 1912 the United States has sought to obtain an international convention for limiting the production of opium to the world's medical and scientific needs, in the belief that such limitation will be of immeasurable benefit in the reduction of drug addiction and the curtailment of the illicit drug traffic. In 1912 we failed in our attempt to have an effective provision included in the Hague Convention. In 1925 our Delegates withdrew from the conference because it refused to consider this subject. In 1931 our Delegates presented an amendment to the Convention but the question was ruled as not within the scope of the conference as prescribed by the League of Nations Assembly. The 1939 the Opium Advisory Committee of the League of Nations began studies for the purpose of preparing a convention to solve the problem of effective limitation of opium production, but its work was interrupted by the war. The United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs decided to tackle the problem by stages, the first and most important stage being to secure the accession of the principal opium-producing countries to the necessary agreements for the limitation
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 58 of production. It was for this purpose that the Economic and Social Council approved a proposal by its Commission on Narcotic Drugs for a meeting of the Ad Hoe Committee of the principal opium-producing countries, which met at Ankara in 1949, the Governments of India, Iran, Turkey and Yugoslavia being represented. They elaborated in some detail the proposed structure for an interim agreement under which the Governments would have been enabled to put into effect their intention of limiting the production of raw opium to medical and scientific requirements. They agreed on allocation of shares in the world production of opium as follows: approximately 50 percent for Turkey, 25 per cent for Iran, 14 percent for Yugoslavia, 6 percent for India; the balance undetermined. At meetings of the principal drug-manufacturing countries and the principal opium-producing countries held in Geneva in 1950, a tentative agreement was reached on the general principle of limiting the production of opium. The plan contemplated the establishment of an international opium monopoly to which the producing countries would sell their opium and from which consuming countries would purchase their opium requirements. This plan presented many complicated problems, two of which were that the producing countries refused to permit international inspection, and there was disagreement on the prices at which the proposed monopoly should conduct its opium transactions. Discussions were held at several sessions of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs until 1951, when the Commission concluded that it would be advisable to forgo further discussion of the monopoly plan at the time. The French Delegate to the Commission, however, proposed another plan based on the 1931 Convention for Limiting, the Manufacture and Regulating the Distribution of Narcotic Drugs. The Commission decided to make the French proposal the basis for further discussion. A protocol was signed at the United Nations June 23, 1953.
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION--- PART ONE Page 59 INTERNATIONAL POLICE COOPERATION In addition to receiving cooperation under the various provisions of international treaties, the American Government has concluded administrative arrangements with twenty-two governments which provide for the direct informal exchange between the Commissioner of Narcotics at Washington and the heads of their respective enforcement agencies of police information concerning the illicit traffic. This system has been found of inestimable value. In some cases, the Bureau of Narcotics has been able to reach around the world to prosecute international traffickers either by bringing the offender within United States jurisdiction from foreign lands or by securing his prosecution under the laws of his own country. For example, in the celebrated Louis (Lepke) Buchalter-Katzenberg case the Bureau was able to bring back to this country and prosecute defendants who attempted to take refuge in Greece and France. The famous Elie Eliopoulos Ring which controlled the world's illicit narcotic supply was broken through this arrangement. NARCOTICS CONTROL PATTERN SUGGESTED FOR ATOMIC ENERGY AND DISARMAMENT The marked success achieved in the international narcotic drug control program has prompted numerous suggestions that some of its principles be used as a pattern for control in other fields such as atomic energy and disarmament. Studies of the analogies between control of the traffic in narcotic drugs and that of the trade in and manufacture have been made since 1932, by League of Nations experts and more recently by the United Nations. When the Conference for the Reduction and Limitation of Armaments met in Geneva in 1933, it was suggested in the Council of the League that attention be given to the results obtained in connection with the supervision of the traffic in narcotic drugs. The Secretariat prepared a memorandum on the subject which was submitted to the Conference under the title "Analogies between the Problem of the Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and That of the Trade in and Manufacture
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 60 of Arms." An article entitled "Narcotics Control--- A Pattern for Disarmament" was published in the United Nations World magazine for September, 1947. A study entitled "Narcotic Drugs and Atomic Energy-Analogy of Controls" has been published by an international drug expert, Mr. Herbert L. May. THE UNITED NATIONS AND THE INTERNATIONAL CONTROL OF NARCOTIC DRUGS The United Nations Conference on International Organization met in San Francisco on April 20, 1945. In instituting the Economic and Social Council, the Conference anticipated that it would be concerned with the control of the traffic in and suppression of abuses of opium and other dangerous drugs. THE COMMISSION ON NARCOTIC DRUGS By a resolution adopted on February 16, 1946, the United Nations Economic and Social Council established the Commission on Narcotic Drugs to:
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION--- PART ONE Page 61 COMPOSITION The Council stated that the Commission should be composed of fifteen Members of the United Nations which are important producing or manufacturing countries or countries in which illicit traffic in narcotic drugs constitutes a serious social problem. Finally the Council requested the governments of Canada, China, Egypt, France, India, Iran, Mexico, Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Turkey, and Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Yugoslavia to designate one representative each to constitute the Commission. The Commission holds annual sessions. TENURE OF MEMBERS The resolution of February 16, 1946 provided for a tenure of three years for the fifteen members of the Commission. The Economic and Social Council, at its 8th session, amended this provision, and decided that ten countries should serve for an indefinite period and five countries for three years. DUTIES The Commission on Narcotic Drugs is the direct successor of the Advisory Committee on Traffic in Opium and Other Dangerous Drugs of the League of Nations, and under the Protocol of December 11, 1946 all the functions formerly exercised by that body are now its responsibility. It is both the advisory organ to the Economic and Social Council in its task of applying and supervising the application of the various international instruments on narcotic drugs, and at the same time the policy-formulating body on all questions relating to the control of narcotic drugs. It is responsible for making the preliminary studies and drafts for new international agreements. In addition, the Commission has certain supervisory functions. Under the 1931 and 1936 Conventions the governments undertake to submit to the Secretary-General annual reports on the working of the Conventions in their countries. The Commission is responsible for drawing up the form of these reports and in practice reviews them at each of its annual sessions. From the
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 62 Opium Advisory Committee the Commission also inherited the task of examining the seizure reports submitted under Article 23 of the 1931 Convention. The Commission on Narcotic Drugs is a governmental commission. In this capacity it affords a meeting place for many of the officials who are directly responsible for the control of narcotic drugs in their national administrations. Their regular collaboration in this Commission is of enormous service in coordinating the policies of the various governments in this field. The Commission is, moreover, the appointing authority for one member of the Supervisory Body and one of the three experts appointed from time to time under the 1931 Convention to decide on the control of substances which are capable of being converted into habit-forming drugs. IMPORTANT RECOMMENDATIONS Some of the more important recommendations the Commission has made are the following: That the legalized use of opium for smoking be prohibited; That countries submit statistics of drugs brought under the 1925 Conventions whether synthetic or not; That governments which have not submitted annual reports be urged to do so; That the Secretary-General be instructed to draft a protocol, in accordance with principles approved by the Commission, to bring under international control drugs outside the scope of the 1931 Convention; That a Commission of Inquiry be sent to Peru to study the effects of coca chewing and investigate the possibilities of limiting the production and regulating the distribution of coca leaves; That the Secretariat be authorized to begin work on the draft of a single convention to replace the eight existing instruments relating to narcotics, including provisions for limiting the production of narcotic raw materials; That all countries be urged to submit reports of seizures; That the United Nations publish a periodical on narcotic drugs; That synthetic drugs be placed under international control.
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION--- PART ONE Page 63 These recommendations were approved by the Economic and Social Council. During the sixth session of the Commission, the United States Delegation reported on illicit heroin traffic in Italy, Turkey, Greece, and China and also illicit opium traffic in Thailand. As a result of this report, the Commission requested the Secretary-General of the United Nations to ask Italy to discontinue the manufacture of heroin and to take punitive measures to bring about cessation of this traffic. Turkey placed restrictions on chemicals required in the manufacture of heroin. As a result of the disclosures regarding Thailand, Burma asked for a United Nations Commission to give guidance to Far Eastern territories in the control of opium. The Italian situation, which gave rise to wide-spread criticism and anxiety owing to the escape from that country of heroin into the illicit traffic, was confirmed by the fact that, whereas the stock of the drug in Italy at the end of 1950 should have been 306 kilograms, the Italian Government reported a stock of only 142 kilograms, and declared that this disappearance of 164 kilograms was in the course of investigation in the national territory and in the Free Territory of Trieste. Italy temporarily discontinued new production of heroin until the stocks should be disposed of and supervision over the trade in that drug intensified. At least 600 kilograms of diverted Italian heroin was smuggled into the United States and elsewhere from 1948-1952. During the seventh session of the Commission, the United States Delegation reported a menacing situation in the wholesale smuggling of opium and heroin from Communist China. At the previous session, the United States Delegation had reported that there was offered for sale in Hong Kong 500 tons of opium then in China. This was made the subject of a Resolution by the Economic and Social Council requesting the organs entrusted under the international treaties with the control of narcotic substances to ascertain, if possible, the origin of this opium, the period in which it was collected, the total stocks of opium in China, and whether the cultivation of the opium and the export of opium are still prohibited in China.
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 64 EXAMPLES OF DISCUSSIONS AT THE COMMISSION An example of the type of discussion held at the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs will be found in the following chapter. EXPERT COMMITTEE ON DRUGS LIABLE TO PRODUCE ADDICTION WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO) CONTROL OF NEW DRUGS Article 10 of the Convention of 1925 provided for recommendations of the Health Committee of the League of Nations in order to place additional drugs under control. These recommendations, however, are binding only on such countries as expressly accept them. The Health Committee was also authorized to exempt certain preparations containing narcotic drugs from control. Article 11 of the Convention of 1931 established also a procedure by which new drugs, obtained from the phenanthrene alkaloids of opium or the ecgonine alkaloids of the coca leaf, could be placed under control without requiring consent from the contracting parties. The Paris Protocol of November 19, 1948, created a procedure for placing other drugs, whether synthetic or natural, under international control without requiring consent. The aforementioned responsibilities of the Health Organization of the League of Nations under the International Conventions of 1925 and 1931, as well as the responsibilities under the Protocol of 1948, for technical consultation on the' suppression of drug traffic devolved upon the World Health Organization, a specialized agency of the United Nations. To meet this responsibility, a Committee of five experts technically qualified in the pharmacological and clinical aspects of drug addiction was appointed to advise the WHO on any technical questions concerning this subject which may be referred to it. This Expert Committee is available to the Narcotics Commission of the Economic and Social Council to advise it on technical matters within the competence of WHO. At its fifth session, the executive board decided
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION--- PART ONE Page 65 to change the name of the Expert Committee on Habit-Forming Drugs to Expert Committee on Drugs Liable to Produce Addiction. FUNCTIONS RELATING TO THE SUBSTANTIVE SCOPE OF CONVENTIONS The WHO (as formerly the Health Committee of the League of Nations) is authorized: I. To exempt certain preparations, that cannot give rise to drug addiction on account of the medicaments with which their narcotic components are compounded, and which, in practice, preclude the recovery of the narcotic substances, from the application of the 1925 Convention; 2. To recommend to the parties to the 1925 Convention to place additional narcotic drugs under the control provisions of the Convention; and 3. To decide whether any phenanthrene alkaloid of opium or any ecgonine alkaloids of the coca leaf, which were not in use on 13 July, 1931, are capable of producing addiction or convertible into a drug capable of producing addiction. The Health Committee had to consult the Permanent Committee of the Office International d'Hygiene Publique before taking these decisions. The WHO, replacing the Health Committee in this capacity, has to consult the Expert Committee on Drugs Liable to Produce Addiction appointed by the Organization, by virtue of the Protocol of 11 December 1946. This expert committee, therefore, takes the place of the former Permanent Committee of the Office International d'Hygiene Publique. FUNCTIONS UNDER THE 1948 PROTOCOL The World Health Organization was designated by the 1948 Protocol to decide whether a drug, outside the scope of the 1931 Convention, is capable of producing addiction or of conversion into a product capable of producing addiction, and, therefore whether this drug should be placed under the regime laid down in the 1931 Convention for drugs of Group I or Group II of this Convention. This authority of the WHO is added to the above-mentioned
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 66 powers originally possessed by the Health Committee and transferred to the new organization. It should be pointed out that under the procedure of the 1931 Convention-in contradistinction to that of the 1948 Protocol--- the WHO, like the Health Committee before it, cannot always decide the regime under which a drug, that is not by itself addiction-forming but convertible into an addiction-forming drug should fall, is decided under this procedure by a body of three experts of whom one member is elected by the Government which initiated the procedure, another member by the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (formerly by the Advisory Committee on Opium and Other Dangerous Drugs) and the third by the two members so selected. POWER OF APPOINTMENT The Health Committee of the League of Nations and the Office International & Hygiene Publique each had the right to appoint one member of the Supervisory Body. The WHO, replacing the Health Committee and the Office International d'Hygiene Publique, has therefore the right to appoint two members of the Supervisory Body. [Article 5 (6) of the 1931 Convention (original and amended versions).] SPEED IN CONTROLLING NEW DRUGS Speed in extending international control to new drugs is essential. Otherwise addiction may be established in various parts of the world and additional stores of dangerous drugs, not accounted for, may be piled up before effective measures of protection can be taken. The procedure by which the WHO (or formerly the Health Committee of the League) examines the properties of a new drug which is suggested for international control, is, of necessity time consuming. Therefore, provisional measures are necessary. The so-called May proposal aimed at preventing manufacture or trade in a new drug (which might be likely to cause addiction), until it should be decided whether to place it under international control. The Convention of 1931 adopted the idea underlying this proposal, by providing that, pending the decision of the Health Committee of the League of
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION--- PART ONE Page 67 Nations (or, at present, the WHO), control would apply to a new drug obtained from any of the phenanthrene alkaloids of opium or ecgonine alkaloids of the coca leaf. The new Protocol of 1948 dropped the limitation to certain groups of alkaloids and abandoned the automatic character of these provisional measures. Article 2 authorizes the Commission on Narcotic Drugs to decide whether such measures should be applied. The Commission is the only organ of the United Nations, other than the Security Council and the International Court of justice, entitled to adopt decisions that are binding on individual Governments-excepting, of course, "Corporate" decisions within the jurisdiction of the General Assembly, such as allocation of financial contributions. DEFINITION OF DRUG ADDICTION At the request of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs definition of "drug addiction," the Expert Committee on Drugs Liable to Produce Addiction drafted the following: Drug addiction is a state of periodic or chronic intoxication, detrimental to the individual and to society, produced by the repeated consumption of a drug (natural or synthetic). Its characteristics include: I. An overpowering desire or need (compulsion) to continue taking the drug and to obtain it by any means; 2. A tendency to increase the dose; 3. A psychic (psychological) and sometimes a physical dependence on the effects of the drug. DEFINITION OF ADDICTION-FORMING DRUGS The committee was of the opinion that the expression addiction-forming and its related grammatical forms should be replaced by addiction-producing, etc. The committee then adopted the following definition: An addiction-producing drug is one which produces addiction as defined. The Committee wished to emphasize that all available evidence at the present time indicates that any substance which will sustain an established addiction-that is, which will adequately replace
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 68 the drug which has produced the addiction-must be considered as also capable of producing an addiction. DEFINITION OF HABIT-FORMING DRUGS A habit-forming drug is one which is or may be taken repeatedly without the production of all of the characteristics outlined in the definition of addiction and which is not generally considered to be detrimental to the individual and to society. The committee was of the opinion that the expression habit-forming in the sense of addiction-producing should be eliminated from all texts. FUNDAMENTAL STRUCTURE OF AN ADDICTION-PRODUCING DRUG The committee was of the opinion that the fundamental structure of an addiction-producing drug is that particular arrangement of atoms within the molecule which is responsible for the addiction properties of the drug. In the present state of our knowledge it is not possible to say what part of the molecule of a drug is responsible for its addiction properties. Nevertheless, it is known that certain drugs having, in the main, a common structure produce in some degree a similar addiction. Therefore other substances which have a similar structure must be liable to suspicion as being addiction-producing. It is such analogues which are referred to under Section 1 of this report. Examples of common structure with relation to addicting-production include the groups of which morphine, pethidine, Methadon and cocaine are members. The committee would emphasize that this list is not complete and that probably new compounds of different structure will be developed which are also addiction-producing. Therefore the question of the relation of chemical structure to addiction-producing properties must remain open. The definition of drug addiction drafted by the committee has been the subject of controversy in the Narcotics Commission and in other quarters. CONTENTS
IV PROGRESS IN INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION-PART TWO
THE PRESENTATION OF A MANY-FACETED SUBJECT SUCH AS THE theme of this study is often best accomplished by supplementing analysis and summary by illustration. The reader can then readily correlate the abstract and theoretic with the actual situation as it is found by those whose administrative concern it is. Documenting the preceding chapter, there will be found here examples of the discussions of the UN Commission of Narcotic Drugs which clearly illustrate the political aspects of the subject. There is also presented A Report of the United States Representative on the UN Commission which factually analyzes and details the present situation in a world area that is of first importance in any study of the narcotics problem. UN COMMISSION ON NARCOTIC DRUGS EXCERPTS FROM THE SUMMARY RECORDS OF THE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-SECOND MEETING, HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK,
The CHAIRMAN recalled that at the previous meeting the USSR representative had made certain comments on the United States Government's annual report, with particular reference to the smuggling of narcotics from North Korea and the People's Republic of China. The United States representative had reserved the right to reply to those comments and had expressed the desire to do so at that meeting. He called on the United States Representative. Page 69
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 70 MR. ANSLINGER (United States of America) submitted to the Commission a report dated 10 March 1952 which had been sent to the United States Government by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers in Japan. According to that report, investigations, arrests and seizures in Japan during 1951 proved conclusively that the Chinese Communists were smuggling heroin into Japan. According to the statements of arrested traffickers, profits from the smuggling were used to finance the activities of the Communist Party and to obtain strategic raw materials. All the heroin seized in Japan came from Communist China; it was brought into the country either through Hong Kong or through North Korea. However, only 50 percent of the heroin seized in 1951 bore an indication of origin. The total amount of heroin seized in Japan in 1951 was 8.783 kgs. and 2,208 traffickers had been arrested. Of these arrested, 377 were Chinese Communists and 269 North Koreans--- 29.2 percent of the total, although nationals of the People's Republic of China and the Korean People's Republic formed only 2 percent of the total population of Japan. The heroin seized in Japan was from 83 to 98 percent pure. In the illicit traffic, the price of a bag containing one English pound had risen from $1,861.11 at the beginning of 1951 to $3,611.11 at the end of the year. The price per gram had risen from $9.72 to $27.77, and the retail price paid by addicts was about twenty times higher. At that stage in the retail traffic the purity of the heroin varied between 30 and 70 percent. The traffic in smuggled heroin had attracted the authorities' attention for the first time at the end of 1947. During 1948, it had increased and in 1949 had attained considerable proportions. In 1950, 1,978 grams of heroin had been seized at Konosaki, on the Japanese coast. It had been brought into Japan by a group of North Korean Communists, with the help of Japanese accomplices. At the same time, 729 grams of heroin bought from a Communist company at Genzan, in North Korea, had been seized at Niigata, also on the coast of Japan. The total of heroin seized in 1950 had been 10 kgs., or three times the amount seized in 1949. The chief of the Communist Party in Kyushu, implicated in one of the seizures, had said the heroin had been given him by a North Korean called Kyo Son, a member of the central committee of the Communist Party of Rashin (North Korea). The part played by Kyo Son and the relation between Communist
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION-PART TWO Page 71 Party activities and narcotic smuggling had become clear with the arrest of a Japanese called Akira Ito. According to his own statement. Ito at the end of the war joined the army of the People"s Republic of China. In September 1947, while be was a member of the crew of a smuggling ship belonging to a Chinese shipowner, Ito had gone to Japan and delivered secret messages to a member of the central committee of the Communist Party and to a notorious trafficker from Formosa who, when arrested later, was found to be in possession of 8.9 grams of heroin. After being arrested in Tokyo in November, 1947, for armed assault and sentenced to ten months' imprisonment, Ito had escaped and rejoined the Chinese Communist army. He had then been given special political training in China and sent to Rashin in North Korea where, after the outbreak of hostilities, he was put in charge of Communist propaganda. In September, 1950, he had again been sent to Japan to find one of the chiefs of the Chinese Communist Party and bring him back to North Korea. The ship in which he traveled had had a cargo of heroin, opium, and santonin, which had been exchanged for textiles, dynamite, and optical lenses. On 31 August, 1951, during another voyage to Japan, the ship in which Ito was traveling had discharged thirteen cases at Sanrihama, eight of which contained santonin, and had loaded sixteen cases containing dynamite and fuses. Replying to the USSR representative's statement at the previous meeting that it was absurd to claim that smuggling of narcotic drugs could be carried on in wartime while the coasts of the People's Republic of China were under a very tight blockade, he said that it seemed as if the USSR representative was unaware of the activities of the smugglers; contrary to what he thought, they found war conditions very favourable. A reference to the cases mentioned in the report of the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, which all concerned the traffic in heroin between Communist China and North Korea on the one band and Japan on the other, would confirm that fact. To those cases should be added the large seizure of heroin made at New York on board a Norwegian ship coming from the Far East. The covering of the packages definitely showed that it was of Communist Chinese origin. The case of the traffickers whom agents of the United States Bureau of Narcotics had recently arrested at San Francisco and on whom large quantities of heroin of Hong Kong origin were found might also be mentioned. The facts mentioned in the SCAP report showed that all the heroin seized in Japan came from Communist China. The heroin seized in
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 72 North Korea was of the same type as that seized in Japan, and he referred in that connection to page 27 of document E/CN.7/232/Add.2, which stated that the island of Tsushima was an important relay point in the Smuggling of heroin from North Korea to Japan. As regards the opium traffic, it should be noted that the Hong Kong authorities had seized large quantities of opium originating in Communist China and that a large amount of raw opium of the same origin had been seized in Thailand. It was obvious from what he had said that the traffic in narcotic drugs in Communist China was increasing all the time and was a serious menace. The Commission should appeal to the authorities in Hong Kong to increase their vigilance and to governments to intensify the campaign against the illicit traffic. Mr. ZAKUSOV (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) said that the United States Representative's statement was intended to divert the Commission's attention from the problem before it-the campaign against the illicit traffic. His speech contained slanderous assertions, intended to make the problem political, and merely took up the accusations of the United States press that Communist China was trafficking in narcotic drugs with Japan and South Korea in order to undermine the morals of United States troops and to obtain funds for the purchase of war material. . . . They (U. S. troops) used poison gases and bacterial warfare to such an extent that the war in Korea had become organized genocide. It could therefore be easily understood why the United States representative made slanderous attacks against the People's Republic of China. He was vainly trying to divert the attention of world public opinion from the horrors committed by the United States Armed Forces. MR. ANSLINGER (United States of America) said he would raise a point of order if the discussions continued on a plane so far removed from the question of narcotic drugs. The USSR representative had violently attacked the United States Government, which had merely communicated to the Commission accurate, detailed facts, supported by irrefutable proofs, on the traffic in narcotic drugs carried on by Communist China. The USSR representative claimed that the information given was inaccurate, but could not prove that. The Commission was waiting for him to produce statistics, documents and reports proving that his accusations were well founded and stating how the production, manufacture and illicit trade in narcotics in Communist China was organized. Instead of submitting such facts, he had merely tried
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION-PART TWO Page 73 to hide the truth under a mixture of half-truths, lies and offensive words. It was not slanderous to state that Communist China was at the present time the biggest source of the illicit traffic in narcotic drugs in the world; it was a true statement, as would be seen from a study of document E/CN.7/234. Moreover, China was not the only country where drugs entered the illicit traffic. When the Commission had studied the reports of other countries where such traffic was being carried on, their representatives had not made insulting remarks. They had merely given all the explanations requested, said what their governments were doing, and described the measures taken to combat the traffic. The USSR representative's attitude showed that he was unable to refute the facts the United States Government had communicated to the Commission. The CHAIRMAN recognized that the Commission was an international body, in which all representatives had the right to be heard and to explain their governments' points of view, but it was solely a technical organ which, under its terms of reference, should deal exclusively with questions concerning narcotic drugs. If a representative departed from the one subject with which the Commission was competent to deal, he would be obliged to interrupt the debate and call that member to order. MR. HSIA (China) recalled that on several occasions at previous sessions he had tried to warn the Commission of the danger to humanity of the change in the Chinese authorities' attitude to narcotic drugs. His statements had been interrupted by points of order on the ground that they had nothing to do with the debate. He could give the Commission many interesting details of the way illicit cultivation and export of opium were being carried on officially in Communist China. As soon as the Red armies occupied a sector, the Communist authorities reorganized opium cultivation. They were not concerned with domestic consumption, but were especially interested in discovering foreign markets. Any merchant who wished to export opium had to obtain a permit from the police--- the special trade office--- and thus became a legal shipper of opium. The authorities of the special trade office and all the other authorities gave him the assistance he needed to get rid of his opium by illicit means. Smuggling was carried on mainly over the south-eastern frontier. Motorized junks carried the drug to the ships and loading took place at sea. Opium was not, however, the only substance carried in that officially organized smuggling. A morphine factory had been set up in Western China under the
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 74 auspices of the military authorities. It employed two Japanese experts and two hundred workers and produced 300 lbs. of morphine a day, the major part of which was destined for Japan or the Philippines. By thus officially organizing contraband in narcotic drugs the Communist authorities were trying to obtain foreign exchange in order to buy arms and war material. The Commission would realize the extent of the traffic when it knew that one shipment alone had been valued at U.S. $20,000,000. MRS. MELCHIOR (Poland) was sorry that the question of the representation of the People's Republic of China had been deferred to the next session. It was contrary to all reason that a country with 500 million inhabitants should not be represented on the Commission and thus be able to defend itself against slanderous attacks. MR. ZAKUSOV (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) wished to know why the Commission considered his protests against the lying accusations against Communist China as political considerations that were not within its competence, but refrained from applying the same criterion when the representative of Nationalist China accused the Communist Chinese authorities of promoting illicit traffic. He drew the United States representative's attention to the fact that all his information was drawn from the United States press; if the United States representative challenged the evidence in the United States press, that would indicate that the press was not telling the truth. The USSR Government had been accused of failing to transmit any information on illicit traffic in narcotic drugs for some time; the Permanent Central Opium Board, however, was in a position to testify that the USSR had transmitted such information, although there might have been some delay since the terminology did not exist in Russian. The charge that the USSR had failed to transmit information had perhaps been made by certain countries where drug addiction was rampant and which were envious of the fact that that evil was non-existent in the USSR. MR. ANSLINGER (United States of America) recalled that at a previous meeting, the Chinese representative's statement on the official organization of illicit traffic in Communist China had been cut short by a point of order raised by the USSR representative. In his country the press was completely free; it was not subjected
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION-PART TWO Page 75 to any government control and could discharge its duty of informing public opinion without the slightest restraint. With regard to absence of drug addiction in the USSR, he pointed out that the last prewar report submitted by the USSR in 1937 had mentioned the seizure of several hundred tons of opium for smoking on the Manchurian frontier. That seemed to be a sign that drug addiction did exist in the USSR, unless, of course, the USSR Government did not consider the habit of smoking opium as addiction. MR. MAY (Permanent Central Opium Board) recalled that the Government of the People's Republic of China had not so far replied to his letter of 6 November, 1951, asking for information on the control of narcotic drugs and of opium in particular. MR. VAILLE (France) considered that the USSR representative had pushed propaganda rather far when he had said, implicitly but clearly, that the United States had attacked Communist China. He could not let such an accusation pass uncontested since the United States, far from being an aggressor country, had come to the assistance of South Korea when the latter had fallen victim to aggression by Communist forces from North Korea. As long as strong nations felt it their duty to assist weak nations when the latter were attacked, the world would have reason to hope. The CHAIRMAN reiterated that members of the Commission were entitled to state their point of view on the illicit traffic in narcotic drugs and on respect for the international obligations assumed by governments, provided that they kept within the limits of courteous discussion. The best example of the procedure that should be followed was that of the investigation that had been undertaken in Peru and Bolivia: the Commission had been asked for a scientific opinion and had been able to study the facts freely because its examination had dealt solely with the coca leaf and political considerations had not supervened. The Commission was a technical body, and it was not competent to discuss political questions or to consider the status of governments. He also reminded the Polish representative that the Commission had decided by 10 votes to 3, with 1 abstention, to defer the question of the representation of China to its eighth session. The discussion would therefore be confined to the question of illicit traffic in narcotic drugs. Regardless of who was speaking, any statement which was not to the point would be ruled out of order and any
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 76 speaker who failed to comply with the ruling would be interrupted immediately. MR. SHARMAN (Canada) unreservedly approved the Chairman's ruling. He recalled that a number of states, including Canada, made no attempt to bide the fact that drug addiction was a problem in their country. In Chapter V of its annual report (E/CN.7/232), the Canadian Government had indicated the scope of the problem and had stressed that, because large amounts of heroin were reaching Canada, addiction, which must be considered infectious among criminal psychopaths, was on the increase. In reply to a question, he had explained that the narcotic drugs brought illicitly to Canada came from the same source as those which were smuggled into the United States. His delegation shared the United States representative's views and warmly supported his clear and objective statement. THE ILLICIT NARCOTICS TRAFFIC IN THE FAR EAST REMARKS OF THE UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE AT
After the debate on May 5, 1952, in this Commission on the situation in relation to the smuggling of narcotic drugs from Communist China, the Russian delegate circulated a statement, document E/2233 dated May 27, 1952, by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Communist China. The statement alleges that the report submitted by the representative of the United States Government contained the slanderous assertion that Communist China is engaged in the illegal sale of heroin to Japan, and was a baseless fabrication from start to finish; that from the date of its formation, Communist China has consistently and resolutely pursued a policy of the strictest prohibition of opium and other narcotic drugs. Instead of giving this Commission a factual report on conditions as other governments have done, the Chinese regime delivered a diatribe of abuse to the Commission for listening to the truth, calling it "malicious slander," "shameless dissemination of lying rumors," intrigue and fabrication and endeavored to shift responsibility for the traffic to other governments. In view of this challenge, I shall furnish the Commission with additional facts on the situation.
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION-PART TWO Page 77 The 1950 organization of the Chinese regime for the sale of opium and other narcotics has been carried over into 1953 with the exception that some of the lesser officials have been changed with the top officials remaining the same as before. At the time the Communists occupied Shensi the district was barren and unproductive so the Communists depended on the cultivation and sale of opium to finance their vast military administration. As a result the organization for the sale of opium and the Communist financial organization were closely correlated, and in the areas dominated by the Communists the free sale of opium and opium-smoking were acknowledged facts and opium was termed a special item. As soon as the Communists advanced to Manchuria with the support of the Soviets, they put a stop to the free trade of opium in the areas under their domination, but encouraged such trade in areas controlled by the National Government as a strategem. When the Communists occupied the whole of China, opium-smoking was prohibited in the land by order of the Communist Administrative Department, but it soon became known that traffic in narcotics would be permitted if it was contrived behind the scenes so those who wished to export opium applied to the government organization controlling special items and received licenses to export opium which amounted to a license to buy and sell opium and heroin. Tientsin and Canton are the chief opium and heroin export centers in China. Within the Communist government there is the Opium Prohibition Bureau of the Peoples' Government. Within this Bureau the responsible persons are: Po I Po, Chief of the Finance Division; Yie Chih Chuang, Chief of the Trade Division; and Wang Feng Chi, who as Chief of the Hwapei Opium Prohibition Bureau is the actual person in charge. The Opium Prohibition Bureau amounts to a government monopoly which, in the Tientsin district, is known as the Yuta Concern which is located at 5, Aomen-lu, 10 Ward, Tientsin. Wang Tsu Chen is the head of this concern, Li Tsu Feng is the managing director, and Sung Ran Chen is an active partner. Wang is a native of Nanking and was formerly a bandit; Li is a leader of bandits of the Tseng Jen Wan clique; and Sung is a famous opium dealer in Tientsin.
The opium business in the Canton district is monopolized by the South China Trade Bureau under the name of "Lin Chi Hang." Wang Jui Feng, a senior Communist leader, is in charge. In Hankow stockpiling and transportation are carried out by the
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 78 Hankow Agency of the Central and Southern District Tobacco Bureau. The person in charge is Lo Wen, Chief of the Accounting Department of the Central and Southern Army District. The opium stored in the Shihkiachwang Warehouse, with Kuo Hua Yuen in charge, includes the stockpile of opium which was accumulated before the Communists took charge of the government. The person in charge of the Northern Shensi Warehouse is Kung Liang who is responsible for the planting, harvesting, and processing of opium in the northern Shensi district. The Jehol Agency, the original name was the Jehol Agency of the Central Tobacco Bureau Superintendent's Office, is beaded by Wu Chih Ho who is in charge of the seeding, harvesting, and processing of opium in the Jehol district. In Shanghai opium transactions are prohibited, but Chu Yu Lung, who is a public security officer, of the Shanghai district is in charge of the liaison office. His principal job is to negotiate with buyers of opium. The traffic in narcotics is closely related to other organs of the Communist government. For example, there is a close relation with the Peoples' Bank of China and the Bank of China both of which have local branches throughout the country with special counters to handle loans, extend credit, and handle mortgages for opium. The transportation of opium is guarded by the armed forces. These agencies along with the Tobacco Monopoly are also the organs for handling the transactions in opium. The responsible persons of the Tobacco Monopoly in the various districts have close connections with the big opium dealers. They employ the names of recognized firms for their export business and conduct narcotic transactions under the protection and cover of various subterfuges. In August of 1950, the following kinds of opium, with the morphine content as shown, were held in the various districts:
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION-PART TWO Page 79 Since the quality of opium produced in the northwestern and southwestern districts of China is not uniform and the price varies, Lin Siu Hao who has charge of the laboratory attached to the Shanghai Hygienic Department makes the analysis and decides the standard of opium for export purposes. Opium is a publicly owned property and the people are not officially permitted to produce, transport, smoke, or sell it privately. Accordingly, all the organs for collecting, purchasing, stockpiling and transporting opium are held exclusively in the hands of the Central Opium Prohibition Bureau. The opium which has, been obtained for export by traders in Tientsin is conveyed to Taku on boats by the troops stationed there. The opium stored in Canton is delivered to Shun Chan by the army and sold there. When transportation is by boats, sampans are used for further transportation and the cost is usually two yuan for each liang. The method of concluding contracts in the Canton district is not uniform so traders sign contracts with the Central Trade Bureau in Sui Chou. Sometimes opium is traded for chemicals at the Trade Bureau in South China. At the time of the transaction the two parties sign a contract at the Shen Chou Warehouse and the Communists take charge of the transportation. The above organizations and Chinese, Korean, and Japanese Communists are presently operating to smuggle heroin into Japan, from which country a portion is transshipped to the United States, not only to obtain dollars and strategic materials but also to sabotage by creating narcotic addiction. One of the most important officials in the Communist regime who is responsible for supplying heroin to the illicit traffic in Japan is Cheng Lao San, Director of the Opium Prohibition Bureau for the states of Chiang Su, Che Chiang, and An Hui-three states or districts around Shanghai. Cheng is probably the biggest narcotic dealer in the Communist regime and is known as the King of Opium. Under Cheng there is the following organization as far as Japan is concerned: Li Chin Sui is Cheng's top man in Kobe and Tokyo. The following known Communists in Japan pooled Y5,000,000 and bought a ship in which they sailed from Kobe July 4, 1952: Li Tien Cheng, Kuo Chu Hsiu, Lan Kuo Cheng, Pao Wen Han, Pao Jui Sheng, Liu Kan Lung, and Hsieh Chun Mu. All of them are Chinese. Since that time only Pao Jui Sheng has been known to return to Japan. He came back to Muroran, Hokkaido, on the Dutch ship Malacca.
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 80 This group of Chinese Communists and Li Tien Cheng negotiate directly with Cheng Lao San for narcotics. Li Chin Sui is a fugitive on a narcotic charge in Japan. He and two other Chinese smuggled approximately four pounds of heroin from China to Japan which was seized on the M.S. Hermaline in Kobe in 1951. It is believed 170 pounds were smuggled into Yokohama shortly before the seizure in Kobe, and that this heroin was purchased by Hsieh Chun Mu and Hung En Chu. The latter Chinese and his associate Hsu Yu Fu have been arrested in Japan for trafficking in heroin. Hung and Hsu were both involved in the Hermaline investigation and have the same relationship to Li Chin Sui as Li Tien Cheng, who has recently been arrested in Hong Kong and will be deported. Cheng Lao San supplied heroin to Shibata Tatsuo, a Japanese who was arrested in Tokyo in April, 1952, when he attempted to sell 720 grams of heroin at the rate of ¥290,000 for 110 grams. The heroin was supplied to this Japanese through Lo Chung Chung who trafficks in heroin under the direction of Cheng Lao San. This heroin was the Red Lion brand. In the early part of 1951 this same brand of heroin which had been smuggled into Japan by air from China was seized in the amount of 676 grams. A further seizure of this Red Lion brand of heroin, which is manufactured in quantity in Tientsin, was made in Kobe July 25, 1952, in the amount of 706 grams with a purity of 89-09 percent. Also on October 6, 1952, in Kobe 1,313 grams of the same Red Lion brand of heroin were seized. This heroin had a purity of 84 percent. In all of these seizures the principals were Chinese. The seizures from China in Kobe although several months apart had packages numbered as follows: In July, 00016 and 00019; in October, 00017, 00018 and 00021. These are Chinese factory numbers. Chen Kun Yuan, a Chinese living in one of the Mitsui mansions in Hongo Meguro, Tokyo, has a close connection with Cheng Lao San. Chen in 1949-50 shipped large quantities of heroin to Tokyo. He became wealthy from this nefarious traffic and in 1951 set himself up in the lacquer business in Tokyo. just before Chen moved to Tokyo he shipped 40 pounds of heroin to Tokyo by air, and in June 1952 is reported to have shipped 120 pounds of heroin to Tokyo in one-half pound rubberized bags. In each shipment several one-half pound packages were included, and Chen is reported to have paid the pilot of the aircraft ¥200,000 in each case of shipment for taking the heroin in as his own luggage and for making the delivery in Meguro Ward, Tokyo. This same Chen was a ringleader of narcotic traffickers in Central
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION-PART TWO Page 81 China during World War II, and was arrested in Szechwan Province, China, at which time his property was confiscated. Under the Communist regime in China he again trafficked in heroin and amassed millions in two years. Among his followers are a Korean who has charge of transporting raw opium from Korea and Soviet Russia; a Chinese by the name of Chang Liang Tung who is taking care of Chen's illicit narcotic interests in Tientsin and Shanghai; and another Chinese, Tao Tsing Kang, who is engaged in smuggling heroin. After processing the opium, this group smuggled heroin to Singapore, Japan, and parts of China. About one half of their heroin is reported reaching Japan. Although Li Chin Sui is not known as a Communist, he is boss of the Chinese underground in Japan and has collected large sums of money which he has turned over to the Communist regime of China. In southern China, the exact location is not known, the Ministry of Trade and Commerce has a branch office and Li Chin Sui has a company by the name of Tung Yung Trading Company which really functions as a branch office of this Ministry and handles medical supplies and other strategic materials for the Communist regime of China. The above-mentioned Liu Kan Lung is closely associated with the sons of the notorious trafficker in narcotics, Li Sui Sen, a Chinese who was arrested on a narcotic charge in Yokohama in October, 1951. One of Li's sons lives in Shanghai, while three more sons live in other parts of Communist China. Hsieh Chun Mu, the narcotic trafficker mentioned above was closely associated with Kaji Wataru and Mitsuhashi Masao, military spies and Communists about whom there has recently been so much publicity. In the Atsugi-Gotemba area, Communists, both Korean and Chinese, with the Koreans outnumbering the Chinese, are using street girls to sell heroin to American military personnel. The Koreans and Chinese have taken over the narcotic traffic around the military bases which have been divided as follows: Sasebo, Chinese; Chitose, Koreans; Asaka, Koreans; Kokura, Chinese and Koreans. Out of a total of 1,494 narcotic violators arrested in Japan from January through November, 1952, 24.6 percent were Chinese and 16.8 percent were Koreans. Thus this element of the population, less than two percent of the total, accounted for more than 41 percent of the narcotic violators. Narcotic agents arrested 52.2 percent of the violators, while the police and customs arrested 39.4 percent. The remaining arrests were made as a result of cooperation between enforcement agencies. A total of 7,843 grams of heroin and 1,827 grams of raw opium were seized during the eleven months period.
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 82 In Yokohama is located what is considered the most active group of Chinese narcotic smugglers in Japan since they are reported to be operating regular smuggling ships, complete with false bottoms, for the purpose of carrying heroin and gold from China in exchange for platinum, American dollars, and other strategic materials. In this group of known Communists are: Wu Hua Kuo who has been arrested on charges of smuggling and bribing customs officials; Yang Wen Ting who is connected with a trading company and who was arrested in 1949 on a smuggling charge; Wang Chung I, Wu Kao Ming, and Chen Jen Chi, all so-called traders. Associated with this group was the trafficker, Hsieh Chun Wu, mentioned above who smuggled himself out of Japan and is now living in Peiping. His family followed him on October 11, 1952. Also in this group of Communists are Pi Lei Kuang, Chien Ta Ming, and Liang Pei Hua. The latter is in charge of the Kanto area (Tokyo Plain) for carrying out directives from Red China, and is reported to have received money and heroin from a Lo Chung Chung, mentioned previously as a lieutenant of Cheng Lao San. This Lo used to obtain heroin and entrust it to merchant seamen to bring to Japan. When the ships arrived, Lo would drive to the wharf to receive the heroin. The information with respect to the previous paragraph came to light when a day laborer in Yokohama was arrested and interrogated. This laborer, a certain Saito, signed on one of the ships of the smuggling group in Yokohama in December, 1950, at Yutsubo and arrived at Reisui, Korea, after three days. The cargo of clothes was discharged and narcotics packed in cartons was taken aboard and later discharged in Shizuoka prefecture, Japan. During this voyage, Saito who was not an addict was tied hand and foot and forcibly given heroin injections until he acquired a craving for the drug. In January 1951, Saito, who was now an addict, reached one of the smuggling ships lying off the port of Yokohama by small boat. The ship touched at Oita prefecture. After leaving Japan, about 20 boxes of opium, heroin, watches, and revolvers were loaded at another port and the ship sailed for Dairen where she stayed about one week. At Dairen 20 cardboard boxes of heroin were taken aboard. The ship then sailed for Japan and discharged 10 boxes of narcotics and revolvers near Hirado Island, Nagasaki prefecture. These boxes were, addressed to the Kyushu and Hiroshima Branches of the Japanese Communist Party. The ship then passed through the Japan Sea to, Hakodate, Hokkaido, where 10 boxes were delivered to a Japanese who met the ship by trawler. After this, two boxes were delivered to a
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION-PART TWO Page 83 Korean at Matsushima near Sendai, Japan. Late in January the ship returned to Yokohama where the followers of Wu Hua Kuo came out in a small boat and received 10 boxes. The boxes were put in American military vehicles and hidden in wheat in a lumber room in the back yard of Wu. Saito left Japan again soon afterward on the same ship. The ship carried 500 tires, 100 cases of beer and 100 cases of Suntory whiskey, and arrived in Shanghai in about one week. The cargo was handed over to Red soldiers who provided documents and the ship sailed for a certain destination where provisions, cakes, crude rubber, and narcotics were loaded. The ship then returned to Shanghai where the cakes were discharged, and then to Dairen where 30 cases of narcotics and revolvers were taken aboard. The next port was Vladivostok where nine Japanese left the ship. Later, off the coast of Chiba prefecture, the revolvers and narcotics were delivered to eight or nine Japanese who came out in a small boat, and the ship returned to Yokohama. More than 20 persons, mostly Chinese, listed in the day laborer's statement are known narcotic violators, and Saito was able to identify photographs of these people. Among the more important cases which can be traced directly to Communist China are the following: Seizure in Kobe, July 25, 1952-706 grams of heroin After the arrest of a Japanese pharmacy owner in Kobe and the seizure of 706 grams of heroin, it was established that Chang Shih Ching, a Chinese male aged thirty-nine had brought the heroin to Kobe from Tokyo and had enlisted the help of the Japanese in disposing of the drug. This heroin was 89-09 percent pure, was manufactured in Tientsin, and bore two Red Lion brand labels. Seizure in Kobe, July 21, 1952-323 grams of heroin Narcotic agents negotiated for the purchase of a large quantity of heroin from Sai Sei Ichi, a Korean, and later arrested Sai and Yang Yao Mu, a Chinese aged twenty-seven, in possession of 323 grams of heroin. The heroin was 89 percent pure and was contained in the familiar fabric bags in which large seizures of heroin from China have been made. Seizure in Yokohama, August 5, 1952-83 grams of heroin Narcotic agents arrested Wu Chun Sheng, a Chinese aged thirty-seven, after they had seized 83 grams of heroin which Wu had left in
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 84 the home of a Japanese friend for safekeeping. Wu is a close associate of known Communists and narcotic traffickers smuggling from Communist China who were reported in 1951. These traffickers included Jo A Ki, a Chinese who has been charged with narcotic violations on three occasions. Seizure in Yokohama, September 28, 1952-37 grams of heroin Narcotic agents arrested Peng Lan Hsi, a Chinese aged thirty, in Kawasaki, which is a suburb of Yokohama. Heroin in the amount of 37 grams and cutting equipment were found in the possession of Peng who is the boss of Communists in Tsurumi Ward, Yokohama. Peng had obtained the heroin from the notorious narcotic trafficker in Kobe, Chang Shiu Shin, a Chinese, who was arrested in December, 1952. Seizure in Tokyo, October 3, 1952-3,413 grams of heroin The Narcotic Squad of Tokyo Metropolitan Police on October 3, 1952, seized 2,100 grams of heroin, 97 percent pure, in two biscuit tins at Toyko International Airport where it had just arrived by air. Following the seizure two Chinese, Chu Sun Chong and So Tung Chung, were arrested in Tokyo after which narcotic agents seized 1,313 grams of heroin in Kobe from officials of the Chuang Tai Trading Company, a Chinese concern. This heroin was 84 percent pure and was contained in 50-gram packages. Although the Kobe seizure was made on information obtained from the seizure in Tokyo, it is believed the Kobe seizure originated with Wang Wu Ming, a Chinese trafficker who is reported to have brought the heroin to Japan. The Tokyo seizure was to have been received by the Ento Enterprise Company where two Chinese had made elaborate plans and had made four large shipments of heroin from Communist China to Tokyo. Twenty,one such shipments were traced by officials investigating the narcotic seizure. In addition to the Chinese, ten Japanese were arrested in Japan. All information obtained from extensive investigations shows the heroin in Japan originated from Communist China. Some amounts arrive from Horai, China, between Tsingtao and Tientsin. The Communists use crews of merchant ships, crews and passengers of aircraft, as carriers, as well as their own Communist couriers and agents, to smuggle narcotics.
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION-PART TWO Page 85 KOREA Opium and heroin reach all parts of South Korea from north of the 38th Parallel. The usual route is via Kangwa Island off the coast near Inchon. Smugglers move down the coast in small boats and deliver the contraband to Communist guerrillas in the central-western part of South Korea in the general area of Kochang. On December 20, 1952, 13.5 pounds of raw opium which had reached South Korea by this route were seized. The opium was being offered at the rate of U.S. $90 per pound. Heroin which is being seized in Korea is the familiar light tan, coarse, granular heroin which originates in Communist China, being manufactured in Tientsin. The price in South Korea ranges from U.S. $10 to $20 per gram. Some of this heroin is brought in by political agents who infiltrate across the front lines from North Korea. In other instances the heroin is smuggled in by ship, plane and courier. It is common knowledge in Korea that any trader who cooperates with the Chinese makes tremendous financial gains. One such Korean who was known to have smuggled narcotics with other contraband is reported to have made 10 billion Won. In 1951, in Pusan there was a group of Koreans who were representatives of a North Korean Trading Company with connections in Mukden and Peiping. These men had limited capital, so they trafficked in heroin to recuperate their fortunes. These trading company representatives now have adequate capital and have built their fortunes on narcotic traffic. Money obtained from the sale of heroin in South Korea finally returns to North Korea and Red China either in the form of dollars or of strategic materials. When the United Nations forces moved through North Korea in October, 1950, a warehouse of the Ministry of Commerce in Pyongyang contained large quantities of opium and morphine. There were at least 300 boxes of opium weighing from 30 to 50 pounds each, while the morphine in one-pound cans was in a quantity sufficient to fill two or three rooms of approximately 10' x 12'. In Pyongyang it was found the Ministry of Commerce had a factory for processing opium in the same compound in the west part of the city. All of the non-addict peddlers of heroin in South Korea originally came from North Korea. This is also true of the chemists. On August 25, 1952, a clandestine laboratory was seized in a room in Pusan. There were 333 grams of heroin of 81.7% purity and smaller
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 86 amounts of heroin in process. All the persons arrested in this case had permanent addresses in North Korea, and so far as could be determined all the original narcotics came from North Korea. The ROK Navy seized 500 grams of heroin from a Communist and were able to prove conclusively that the heroin came from North Korea. This heroin was contained in a metal can with a slip-over top. The container closely resembles the cans in which heroin was purchased from Communist Trading Stores in Genzan, North Korea, in 1949. The small decks or packages of heroin which can be purchased in Seoul, particularly from Chinese, contain the light tan, coarse-textured heroin which is commonly received from Communist China. HONG KONG British authorities are making diligent efforts to suppress the traffic from the Chinese mainland. Li Choy Fat & Company, which includes Li Choy Fat, Li Sui Po, and Kwok Kam Chi, all three of whom are Chinese, were important traffickers in narcotics for several years. Li Choy Fat was formerly of Shanghai and was deported from Hong Kong June 26, 1952. Li Choy Fat was carrying on his narcotic smuggling full scale. By sea narcotics were moved in vessels ranging from the smallest junk to the biggest commercial liners. Airline and charter planes are also used, and it is reasonably safe to say there is not an airline operating either to or from the colony which has not been used by narcotic smugglers. Late in 1952 it became firmly established that the movement of gold and narcotic smuggling were closely connected and Communist inspired. It was also discovered the same traffickers were shipping strategic war materials to Communist China. After the deportation of Li Choy Fat, he was sentenced to fifteen years imprisonment in Taipeh for his smuggling activities. Millard K. Nasholds, a United States citizen, was arrested in Taipeh on a charge of smuggling 26 pounds of heroin which originated in Communist China. He was sentenced to six years' imprisonment and fined U.S. $5,000. It has been estimated that from 50 to 100 million dollars of gold were smuggled during a two-year period by individual couriers. To estimate the amount of gold and narcotics being smuggled by all means available it is necessary to realize that on occasions the entire crew of certain ships is involved, that the heroin so smuggled supplies a large part of the international
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION-PART TWO Page 87 knowledge of these operations including the crews of ships is afraid to divulge the information because of fear of reprisals against members of the family who are in Communist China. Li Sui Po, the Chinese mentioned above as being part of the Li Choy Fat & Company, was formerly of Shanghai where he was closely associated with Wu Sze Pau, a Chinese who operated from 76 Jessfield Road, Shanghai. This area became known as the Badlands and reeked with narcotics. Wu and Li were the top gangsters of Shanghai and after the death of Wu, Li Sui Po and the wife of Wu Sze Pau teamed up. Sze Oi Chan, (maiden name of the wife of Wu Sze Pau) was reported to have been directly responsible for many shootings in Shanghai, including the shooting of a policeman who stopped her car from crashing a police barricade. Li Sui Po and Sze Oi Chan late in 1947 began to operate on intimate terms with Li Choy Fat. On September 9, 1952 Sze Oi Chan (aliases Shee So Chun, Yuen Yuk Ying, Mrs. Wu Yen and Yung Mai Kwong) was arrested after she had sold 25 ounces of heroin through a dance girl for H.K. $9,000. This heroin was marked in the same manner as the heroin mentioned above which was seized in Japan. The package bore the Chinese factory number 00040. Li Sui Po and Sze Oi Chan sold the Red Lion brand of heroin from Communist China and, although practically destitute in 1947, were wealthy when they were deported in 1952. Since that time the wife of Li Sui Po, who operated a retail clothing store as a front, has been arrested for trafficking in heroin and is facing deportation from Hong Kong. The third Chinese in the Li Choy Fat & Company was Kwok Kam Chi, a Chiu Chow man from Fukien Province. In addition to smuggling of opium and heroin from Communist China, Kwok was using a ten-room isolated house to process heroin from opium until raided by Police in December 1952 after which time Kwok was banished from the colony. With reference to Kwok the Chi Yin Daily News, Hong Kong, October 18, 1952, carried the following article: "The Chinese Communists have concentrated all the opium from different parts of the mainland at South China for sale abroad so as to obtain foreign exchange. The sale at two certain places has been greatly increased and at the same time organizations have been established in Kwangtung and Kwangsi provinces to undertake the transport of narcotics and work in collusion with traitorous merchants overseas. The details and intrigue were exposed in detail July 7, 1952, and since that time the authorities have paid special attention and for the past three
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 88 months have exerted great effort in their investigations. It is understood Kwok and a number of other traffickers have left for Japan within the past two months." In the Transportation Section of the Tin Shing Company the person who was in charge was Chan Shan Yuk, who was the manager of the Chan Brothers Company and of the Sun Hoi Tung Shipping Company. On December 14, 1952, Chan Shan Yuk and nine other Chinese were charged on a piracy count in an attempt to seize the SS Nidar, bound for Japan, and deliver it to the Communists at Canton. Chan Shan Yuk had successfully pirated a ship and delivered it to the Communists some six months previous to the above incident. Associated with Chan Shan Yuk in the Chan Brothers Company was Judah I. Ezra who was deported from the United States after serving a term of imprisonment after a conviction for narcotic smuggling. The China Syndicate and Company, late in 1952, offered to deliver 200 tons of opium from Communist China to a broker, L. Y. Gob and Sons, Bangkok, Thailand, on behalf of what was found to be a nonexistent Swiss firm. When approached with reference to large quantities of opium, officials of the China Syndicate and Company stated they could furnish "tons and tons" of opium from stockpiles in Canton. They also stated the opium would be available at Shum Chan, a town in Communist China just across the line from the Hong Kong colony, from which place they would move the opium and deliver it to a ship. The price quoted was U.S. $12.50 per pound. Before opium or heroin will be delivered in quantity the buyer must put his money in escrow in a bank and the seller is likewise represented by a bank. When the purchase is to be consummated the buyer and seller arrange for the delivery of the narcotics after which the money is collected from the bank by the seller. China Syndicate officials also offered 200 taels of smoking opium and produced samples. They also stated they would sell any amount of heroin and suggested materials rather than money be provided for payment. Late in 1952, British authorities in Hong Kong seized 231 ounces of crude morphine which arrived from Bangkok aboard a surface vessel. Shortly before the seizure the narcotics were transferred to a sampan. The morphine originated in Yunnan Province. The latest seizure in Hong Kong was on February 7, 1953, at which time 26 ounces of heroin were seized from Li Wan, a Chinese, and his two Chinese associates.
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION-PART TWO Page 89 Related News Dispatches The following dispatch appeared in Hsing Tao Ph Pao, independent newspaper, Hong Kong, December 28, 1952: "(Dispatch from Canton) In order to earn more foreign exchange the Chinese Communists are continuing to export opium and other an native produce to foreign countries. It was mainly for this purpose that the Chinese Peoples Aviation Company inaugurated a regular passenger-freight service from Chungking to Kunming to Canton via Nanning. A plane brought 25 cases (of about 62 catties each) of raw opium from Kunming to Canton on the afternoon of December 20. It is said that the opium will be exported to a nearby foreign area." [Note: 1 cattie equals 1 1/3 pounds.] The following item taken from the Hua Chiao Jih Pao, conservative newspaper, Hong Kong, February 19, 1953, further substantiates the position of Macao in the traffic of narcotics with Communist China: "(Dispatch from Swatow) Since the fall of the Teochew-Swatow area into Communist hands over three Years ago, peasants living in Kityang and Puning hsien in the area, encouraged by the Communist authorities, have planted opium poppies extensively every year in October, providing the biggest source of revenue for the Communists. Last year poppy planters in Kityang and Puning alone sold a total of over 210,000 taels of raw opium to the Communist Teochew-Swatow Trading Company which made big profits by smuggling the drug to Hong Kong and Macao for sale. According to an unconfirmed report, about 80,000 mow of opium poppies were planted in October last year in the two hsien of Kityang and Puning alone. No wonder the Communist authorities here are paying a great deal of attention to taxing the poppy planters. K'ang Tzu-wen, formerly Vice-Administrative Commissioner for the Teochew-Swatow area, has recently got himself appointed to the post of Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Teocbew-Swatow Trading Company so that he may have a finger in the pie. "Before the planting season for opium poppies began last year, Communist Peoples Bank and Trading Company officials in various hsien in the Teochew-Swatow area had already advanced huge sums of money to the planters, most of whom agreed to sell their produce to the Communists in advance at a price determined by the latter. Another dispatch concerning Hong Kong and Macao's relation to Communist China in the narcotic traffic is that found in the Kung Shang Jih Pao, Hong Kong, October 16, 1952:
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 90 "(Dispatch from Canton, October 15) Four hundred and fifty cases of raw opium arrived in Canton from Yunnan Province on October 4, 1952. The cases of opium, all of which were sealed by the Provincial Peoples Government of Yunnan, were consigned to a certain firm in Yat Tak Chung Lu, Canton. It was learned that this firm is owned by Ch'en Keng and a certain Yang who is Ch'en Keng's personal representative in Canton. It is also learned the opium was intended for Hong Kong and Macao." That opium continues to be available for the international traffic is due to the encouragement offered growers by the Chinese Communists as shown by the following dispatch: "The 8th moon of the lunar calendar is the time for the planting of the poppy, and the Chinese Communist authorities are taking into consideration conditions in various areas in fixing tax tariffs on poppies cultivated. The Kwangtung Communist leader, Yeh Chien-ying, on September 3 issued secret instructions to authorities in the various hsien and municipalities in the province to the effect that since the prohibition of poppy cultivation could not be fully enforced in the remote and hilly areas, they might as well enforce the policy of seeking prohibition through taxation so that the people would be made to abandon poppy cultivation voluntarily. "The taxation rate of 280 catties of grain for every 100 poppy plants cultivated was fixed, and tax evasions would be severely punished. The news amounted to the lifting of the ban on poppy cultivation, and peasants in various parts of Kwangtung were elated. "In the scores of hsiang in the suburbs of Canton, it was stated that all the dry fields would be devoted to poppy cultivation since it brought a greater yield than rice cultivation." (This dispatch is from the Hsing Tao Jih Pao, Hong Kong, September 10, 1952.) Yunnanese opium smugglers into Thailand are often better armed than the police themselves. On one occasion there was a group of one hundred of these smugglers that attacked the police in September, 1952, about 100 miles north of Chiengmai. On another occasion about, the same time the smugglers and police fought it out at a point only fifteen miles north of Chiengmai. Prior to this incident on August 28, 1952, a band of the Yunnanese opium smugglers stopped a Chiengmai-bound bus and forced it to wait almost an hour while a caravan of approximately 200 opium carriers crossed the road. An Associated Press dispatch from Taipeh January 26, 1953 suggests the magnitude of the narcotic smuggling operation by the Chinese Communists:
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION-PART TWO Page 91 "The Tatao News Agency, recognized publicity medium for the Chinese Nationalist Ministry of the Interior today alleged that the Chinese Reds were selling huge amounts of narcotics to Southeast Asia and used the proceeds to initiate communist activities. The Agency, which claims to get its information from underground sources on the mainland, said that 1,500,000 ounces of opium and other narcotics had been shipped to the countries of Southeast Asia from the South China province of Kwangse since it was overrun by the Reds in 1949." PHILIPPINES Illicit opium and heroin in the Philippines come from Communist China. These narcotics arrive by surface ships and by air. The heroin has the same physical characteristics as the heroin which has been proved to originate in Communist China. Large scale smuggling into the Philippines from Communist China was disclosed on October 21, 1952, in Manila following the arrest of two Chinese by the police. Arrested and charged with violation of the opium law and facing possible deportation, if found guilty, were Jose Lao Ko Kua, thirty, and Tio Eng Tiong, fifty-four. SOUTHEASTERN ASIA That opium from Communist China reaches Malaya in large quantities is shown by the seizure on the Burmese vessel Hswe Hla Min at Pulau Paya June 8, 1952. The vessel carried 5,789 pounds of opium, 353 pounds of grey drugs containing morphine, and 25 pounds of brown powder containing morphine. The opium was traced to Communist China and had passed through the Shan States of northern Burma. The group conducting the bartering, buying and selling of the narcotics with Communist China had its headquarters in Rangoon, and the operation was financed from Penang and Singapore. These smugglers had been operating for a considerable period of time and the seizure was the ninth or tenth of a regular series of shipments of opium and other narcotics. It is estimated this group had been responsible for at least 30 tons of opium being smuggled from Communist China in a year. SMUGGLING TO THE UNITED STATES As already stated, large quantities of heroin have reached the United States from Communist China. Emissaries have been sent to the United States to arrange for the details of the smuggling transaction.
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 92 One of the principals in a case in which at least 200 ounces of heroin were smuggled in from Communist China is now serving a tenyear imprisonment sentence. In another case which is still under investigation and in which at least 260 ounces of heroin were smuggled in from Communist China, a defendant has been sentenced to fifteen years imprisonment. In still another case in which an estimated 40 ounces were involved the two defendants were sentenced to five years and to seven years imprisonment. The latest seizure of a comparatively large amount, 36 ounces, was made November 9, 1952 in San Francisco on the S.S. President Wilson. A Chinese had brought the heroin from Hong Kong. It was manufactured in Communist China. INSIDE COMMUNIST CHINA Large quantities of heroin are manufactured in Communist China all the way from Tsingtao, and Tientsin down to Canton. This heroin is of approximately the same percentage of purity, unusually high, and has the same physical characteristics as the heroin from this region over a period of years. In one factory alone in Western China the capacity is 300 pounds per day and all of this is for export. That the United States is a target of Communist China to be regularly supplied with dollar-earning, health and morale- devastating heroin is shown by the information contained in the following dispatch, the truth of which is borne out by facts previously related in this report: "(Toa News Service, Hong Kong) In order to cover the expenses required for its fundamental construction for fiscal 1953, Communist China is recently using various means to develop the sources of its central and local revenues. According to reliable information gained from the continent, financial and economic organs of Red China's Central Regime met behind closed doors in Peiping in early December and decided to expand sales activities abroad this year, primarily in Japan, Southeast Asian countries and the United States. "According to information reaching from Peiping, financial and economic leaders of the Foreign Trade, Commercial and Financial Divisions of the Chinese Communist Regime as well as of the Southwest, South China and North China Districts held a secret meeting in Peiping on December 5. The meeting it says was presided over by Po I Po, Chief of the Finance Division; and attended by Yeh Li Chuang, Chief of the Foreign Trade Division; Yao, I Lin, Vice-Chief of the Commercial Department; Chen Hsi Shih, Vice-Cbairman of the
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION-PART TWO Page 93 Southwest Military Political Committee; Liu Hsiu Feng, Chairman of the North China Financial and Economic Committee; Hsiu Hsian, Vice-Chairman of the South China Financial and Economic Committee; and others. "Information which leaked out of the conference indicates that the revenue obtained from its sales of narcotics abroad for fiscal 1952 reached approximately 70,000,000 American dollars, out of which 30,000,000 dollars were sent to the Chinese Communist Regime and the rest was spent for party activities as well as information collection; that the largest outlet was Southeast Asia countries, followed by Japan and the United States. "The drugs when shipped directly from the continent are sent via Tientsin and Tangku in the north and Kwangchow Bay and Nampo Island southeast of Yangchiang, Kwangtung Province, in the south. The same report says that crude opium of over 1,000 tons was sent abroad through Kwangchow during the one-year period from June 1951 to June 1952. "Heretofore the sales abroad of opium and other narcotics were handled directly by the Finance Division of the Chinese Communist Regime. However, it is reported, it was decided at the conference that the sales method would be changed, and that the business would be conducted exclusively by the Overseas Trade Division. Further, the following important decisions were made at the conference: 1. Qualities and grades of narcotics gathered from various districts will be standardized and definite marks will be established. Crude opium, for example, was divided into several grades in the past and this was a factor in the sales thereof. However, under the new system the various sorts of opium will be standardized. 2. Export promotion regulations are established, and private concerns are permitted to participate in the transportation and sale. Moreover discriminatory prices are established so that merchants may be encouraged to sell narcotics abroad more aggressively. 3. Powerful leaders are sent secretly to various places to encourage sales activities, especially in Tokyo, Singapore, Bombay, and other places. For this purpose, the Social Division and the South China Bureau of the Chinese Communist Regime have decided to select and send those most experienced in selling narcotics and to place them in charge of promoting sales.
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 94 4. Each local organ of the Communist China Regime is prohibited from wantonly sending large quantities of narcotics overseas for sale for fear it may affect the overseas market. However, each such local organ is permitted to derive 20% of its income from the sales of narcotics. "According to the Peiping information, Communist China's activities to smuggle narcotics into the Japan area are conducted under the Tientsin Office of the Overseas Trade Division. There are at present approximately forty smugglers in the Tientsin area who sail from Tangku to the vicinity of Kyushu and return carrying cargoes of gasoline, steel ingots, automobile parts, medical instruments, and other material. It is clear that non-Chinese are also participating in the smuggling organization." (The preceding was published in the Tokyo Shimbun, January 8, 1953.) The smuggling of gold from Saigon and Bangkok, which is obtained from Europe on letters of credit which are paid in foreign exchange within one week after receipt of the gold, the exchange of the gold with Communist China for narcotics and other high-value exports which in turn are sold to obtain foreign exchange to pay for the original letters of credit, is the explanation which most nearly fits the actual conditions prevailing in the Far East. The foreign exchange is supplied from all countries to which the narcotics are destined.
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION-PART TWO Page 95
CONCLUSION While Communist China has denied the allegation that she is supplying a large part of the narcotics in the international illicit traffic, and has stated that in fact a strict control has been placed on narcotics, the above portion of this report and the following extracts and dispatches from newspapers and documents show: that traffic in narcotics has been encouraged for monetary reasons and sabotage; that cultivation of the poppy plant has not been prohibited; and that efforts to control addiction within Communist China have been feeble and ineffectual since the authorities, realizing the terrible and lasting scars on any civilization which widespread addiction guarantees, have relied on fanning the fanaticism of communism to encourage abstention from narcotics, have taken at face value declarations from addicts that they were "cured" even while unofficially these addicts were still receiving narcotics, and have from all indications created a staggering incidence of addiction within Communist China. There can be little doubt of the true purposes of Communist China in the organized sale of narcotics. These purposes include monetary gain, financing political activities in various countries, and sabotage. The Communists have planned well and know a well-trained soldier becomes a liability and a security risk from the moment be first takes a shot of heroin.
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 96 The following throw considerable light on the true situation in Communist China: An editorial in the South China Morning Post, Hong Kong, July 7, 1952, remarks as follows: "Peking declared these stories were fabrications and insisted that it has 'consistently and determinedly adopted as well as enforced the policy of strict prohibition.' The pro-Nationalist newspapers here recently asserted that poppies were planted in many parts of Kwangtung and that the new authorities like the old were content to tax it heavily rather than enforce the ban. On the other hand the pro-Communist papers say the Regime has made 'definite progress in suppression' since the Suppression Commission was formed in Canton in 1950. It added however that though the peasants had agreed not to plant the poppy, it was necessary that 'the suppression movement must be continued and made into a mass movement for thorough realization.' This indicates that the ban is not effective. But it is significant that when the authorities seized off Penang a single consignment of 6,000 pounds of opium--- half the total world seizures last year--- it was described as 'Burmese opium.' " Another dispatch from the Hua Chio Jih Pao, Hong Kong, October 22, 1952, is as follows: "The Chinese Communist authorities appear to be pushing with great vigor the campaign for the suppression of opium in the various hsien on Hainan Island and in southern Kwangtung. Actually the addicts are required to be cured in stages and meantime opium is sold by the authorities to smokers who have been duly registered." All available reports from the mainland press clearly indicate continued use of and traffic in narcotic drugs within Communist China. The Communists have carefully avoided mention of traffic out of Communist China, but the Nan Fang Jih Pao, Canton, editorial of June 3, 1952, stressed the fact that Canton's proximity to Hong Kong, Macao, and Indo-China facilitated drug smuggling, and added that Canton continued to be the principal center of narcotic traffic in Asia. On May 19, 1952, the Hankow Ch'ang Chiang Jih Pao carried an article covering a meeting of the Opium and Narcotics Suppression Committee on May 13-16. The chairman of the Committee, Chang Nan Hsien, stressed the need of a mass movement for the suppression of opium and narcotics. The vice chairman followed by analyzing the causes leading to the situation being still serious. He pointed out the failure of the full mobilization of the masses and reliance on them for wiping out the evil. He said the mass movement to be launched beginning
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION-PART TWO Page 97 with the prohibition of transportation, the prohibition of preparation, and the prohibition of marketing, after which the prohibition of poppy cultivation and smoking and use of narcotics would be easy of accomplishment. Cheng Shao Wen was the official who made this statement. On June 4, 1952 the same newspaper carried a report by this same vice chairman of the Committee, Cheng Shao Wen. After stating that the prohibition of poppy cultivation had been "basically accomplished in the Central-South region," he gave a resumé which indicates the extent of narcotic traffic within Communist China. In the districts of Honan, Changsha, Liuchow, Nanning, Kwelin, Wuchow, Ichang, Shasih and Yuanling, Cheng Shao Wen stated that more than 18,000 cases of opium trafficking had been disposed of, 2 million taels of opium had been seized and several thousand taels of heroin had also been seized. In Canton, Cheng continued, from the time the Communists took over until March, 1952, there were 271 cases of opium traffic and manufacture disposed of, 3,943 opium dens were discovered, 7,267 addicts were arrested, and 2,000 taels of opium, 200 taels of morphine, and 300 taels of heroin were seized. He added that of the 5,723 addicts registered in Canton 90 percent had been cured and in a part of Hunan province where 90 percent of the households were opium smoking and 80-90 percent were addicts, in two years the number of addicts was reduced to 3.5 percent and the number of opium smoking households to about 11 percent. In suggesting that the opium evil is still rampant and suppression must be resolutely carried out Cheng stated "opium and narcotics have been chiefly imported from abroad to the Central-South region." He made this further statement: "When nobody engages himself in opium traffic, poppy growers will not be able to sell their products and will cease to grow poppies. When no opium can be bought, the addicts will certainly cease to smoke opium." In the Nan Fang Jih Pao, Canton, June 3, 1952, Ku Kuan Hsien, vice chairman, Canton Municipal Committee for Suppression of Opium and Narcotics, stated: "The suppression of opium and narcotic trafficking and manufacturing was carried out together with the suppression of poppy cultivation and the smoking of opium, but this had not been carried out on an organized basis and achievements have not been marked." Here we have the words of Chinese Communist newspapers in
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 98 contrast to their Foreign Minister's statement that our report is fabrication. Further statements made by Cheng Shao Wen as published in the June 4, 1952, issue of the Hankow Ch'ang Chiang Pao, are: "The opium evil is still rampant, especially opium trafficking. A number of unscrupulous merchants such as Ho Hung Fu have smuggled opium to poison the people and destroy the fatherland with a view to profiteering. Since the liberation, narcotic smugglers have smuggled narcotics through the various railways of the Hengyang Railway Administration amounting to 804,879 taels of opium, 109,414 taels of morphine, and 35,297 taels of heroin which have been distributed to 297 merchants in the cities along the railway lines of the Chengchow Railway Administration. In the past three years a total of 38,028 taels of opium and 13,475 taels of heroin have been smuggled and transported through railway lines. "During the 5-anti movement in Hankow, according to data and materials from denunciation and frank exposures by the merchants, there were 451 traffickers and smugglers who had smuggled and transported 559,421 taels of opium, 278,731 taels of morphia, and 302,540 taels of heroin. During the 5-anti movement in Nanning, according to data and materials from denunciations and frank exposures, of the 32 categories of trade, 459 firms smuggled and transported a total of more than 800,000 taels of narcotics. As the quantity of narcotics smuggled was so great there must be a large number of addicts. According to estimates of the Department of Public Security of the Central-South MAC there are 81,300 addicts in Honan Province, constituting approximately 27 percent of the population. In the Canton Nan Fang Jih Pao, June 3, 1952, it was stated: "The organizations and machineries for the suppression of opium and narcotics have not been established, or are not developed in a wholesale manner. Too great leniency has been adopted in the disposal of drug cases." The following statement is also made: "The traffickers used Canton as the center to distribute the drugs to leading cities in the Southwest, Central-South, East China and North-West regions. Many of the unscrupulous merchants have colluded with corrupt elements in shipping, railway and highway organs to carry out the evil traffic. They have even bribed some of the retained personnel in the organs of public security, tax revenue and maritime customs to harbor them. The data and materials exposed through the 3-anti and 5-anti movements have evidently shown that this situation is prevalent in large cities, as well as in medium and small cities. The amount of
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION-PART TWO Page 99 narcotics smuggled each time has been estimated at more than 1,000 taels, and even as much as from 40,000-100,000 taels. The narcotic 'king' even dared to sneak into Canton to make arrangements for his narcotic traffic. The use of opium and narcotics is still being constantly discovered in cities." These lesser officials must indeed be naive to make such statements when the Communist Government of China is doing everything possible to cultivate and encourage traffic in narcotics, at least outside China, with China. Against all the evidence contained herein the statements of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Chinese Communist Regime, as published in United Nations Document E/2233, May 27, 1952, that "the sale of opium and other narcotics is thus completely illegal in Communist China" and "the Chinese Communist Regime, together with the whole Chinese people, protests in the strongest terms against the lying report directed against Communist China by the representative of the United States Government" have little weight indeed. The evidence for 1952 is in and prior years, is irrefutable. UN COMMISSION ON NARCOTIC DRUGS EXCERPTS FROM THE SUMMARY RECORD OF THE TWO MR. ZONOV (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) said that his statement at the previous meeting had evidently been misunderstood by the French representative. He wished to make it clear that, in referring to accusations brought against the People's Republic of China, be had had in mind political accusations against a specific country and government and not individual violations of narcotics regulations. He failed to understand the assertion which the United States representative had made at the same meeting that the USSR had not submitted a report for the year 1952. The USSR invariably submitted an Annual Report, which always included information relating to chapter V. [Here and elsewhere reference to the chapter is to the Annual Report of the individual country wherein the same subject matter is treated in the same chapter as a uniform pattern for all Reports.] At the invitation of the Chairman, Mr. Devakul (Observer for Thailand) took a seat at the Commission table.
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 100 The CHAIRMAN welcomed the observer for Thailand and recalled the invitation the Commission had extended to the Government of Thailand at the beginning of the session to be represented at the conference table during the discussion of item 8 of its agenda--- abolition of opium smoking in the Far East. In reply to MR. VAILLE (France) and MR. OR (Turkey), MR. DEVAKUL, (Thailand) said that opium was not cultivated in Thailand except in the north of the country where, as in neighboring countries, control was difficult. MR. ANSLINGER (United States of America) pointed out that Thailand was the only country which still permitted opium smoking and enquired how supplies of opium were obtained for smoking dens, if neither the cultivation nor the importation of opium was authorized. MR. DEVAKUL (Observer for Thailand) replied that, while raw opium was occasionally imported into Thailand, the supplies for smoking dens were mainly derived from seizures. Since many factors which were not purely technical were involved in the situation in Thailand, he felt that a public statement on the matter would be somewhat embarrassing and that it would be more appropriate for the information requested by the United States representative to be obtained through diplomatic channels. As the United States representative was aware, the Government of Thailand was attempting gradually to suppress the traffic in opium. Legislation would not be effective for the purpose and might in fact make the situation worse. The traffic in opium did not originate in Thailand and had increased substantially since the war, a state of affairs to which political conditions in northern Burma and Indochina had contributed. MR. ANSLINGER (United States of America) proposed that further discussion of the matter should be postponed until the Commission was dealing with item 8 of its agenda relating to the abolition of opium smoking. It was so decided. Mr. Devakul (Thailand) withdrew. The CHAIRMAN commented on the small number of countries which had responded to Economic and Social Council resolution 436 (XIV) C and said that any further replies received by the Secretariat would be submitted to the Commission at its next session. MR. KRUYSSE (Netherlands) suggested that, in circulating replies from governments, it would be useful if the Secretariat in future reproduced the resolution to which the replies related.
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION-PART TWO Page 101 MR. CELINSKI (Secretry of the Commission) said that the Neterhlamds representative's suggestion would be noted. MR. NIKOLIC (Yugoslavia) enquired why there was no reference to Yugoslavia in chapter II of the document, since to his certain knowledge Yugoslavia had submitted an annual report for 1952. MR. HUANG (Secretariat) replied that the report for Yugoslavia had been received by the Secretariat on 3 March 1953. It had not been included in chapter II of the document because it had provided no information on chapter V. MR. ANSLINGER (United States of America) pointed out with reference to chapter III of the document that by far the largest seizure of prepared opium had been reported by Iran. He wondered what the reason for that was. MR. KIRISHNAMOORTHY (India) and MR. ANSLINGER (United States of America) noted that in three of the cases of the smuggling of raw opium and morphine by air mentioned in chapter V of the document, the aircraft had come from Bangkok. In view of the fact that Thailand neither cultivated nor imported opium, some explanation seemed indicated. MR. EZZAT (Egypt) drew attention to the statement in paragraph 42 (1) in chapter V that raw opium had, as usual, been smuggled into Egypt from the East. The phrase "as usual" was particularly appropriate, since 95 per cent of the narcotic drugs entering Egypt did so across its eastern borders. MR. ANSLINGER (United States of America) said with reference to chapter VII clandestine manufacture was extremely important. He congratulated the French Government on its reports on clandestine laboratories which contained all the needed information and hoped that Other governments would emulate the French example.. MR. SHARMAN (Canada) endorsed the United States representative's remarks, adding that under the International Conventions governments had agreed to report on important cases Of illicit traffic. He thought that any case involving a discovery of a clandestine laboratory should be deemed important and reported automatically. MR. NIKOLIC (Yugoslavia) pointed out that at the previous session the Economic and Social Council, at the recommendation of the Commission had adopted largely at the insistence of the United States representative, a resolution on illicit trafficking by the crews of merchant ships and civil aircraft (436 (XIV)). He wondered, therefore, how to interpret the fact that, according to chapter VIII of document E/CN.7/252, over half of the ships reportedly implicated
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 102 in seizures during 1952 were of United States registry. Even more disquieting was the fact that certain ships of United States registry had been mentioned over and over again in the reports. He thought the intention in adopting the resolution (436 (XIV)) had been to ensure that such persons lost their seamen's licenses. The CHAIRMAN pointed out that under the resolution governments were required to report only on crewmen convicted on or after I January 1953. MR. ANSLINGER (United States of America) said that the United States had enacted legislation providing penalties of $50 per ounce for the master of any ship involved in the smuggling of narcotic drugs. He pointed out that seizures were often made in ports outside the United States. It would greatly help the fight against the illicit traffic if other countries would adopt penalties as heavy as those imposed in the United States. Before the Second World War certain captains had been fined as much as $750,000 and the shipping companies had cooperated very effectively in eliminating smuggling. Legislation which provided penalties only for drugs found aboard without imposing a fine on the master of the ship was inadequate. There was no doubt that smuggling by seamen constituted the largest source of drugs for the illicit traffic and in compliance with the Council resolution the United States would submit by 1 July 1953 a lengthy list of seamen convicted on charges of smuggling whose licenses had been revoked. He hoped that other governments would act promptly under the resolution and submit similar lists to the Secretariat as soon as possible for immediate circulation to governments. That was essential to prevent persons convicted in one country from seeking berths on ships of other nationalities. MR. SHARMAN (Canada) pointed out that the nationality of a ship was not always indicative. For example, the ship of Canadian registry mentioned in chapter VIII was beyond the control of the Canadian Government. It was not manned by Canadians and had not approached Canadian waters for many years but operated in the vicinity of Macao far beyond the limits of Canadian jurisdiction. He assured the Commission that the Canadian Government would very much like to get control of the ship. MR. NIKOLIC (Yugoslavia) observed that under maritime law a ship was subject to the laws of its country of registry. The CHAIRMAN said that the Secretary-General had communicated Economic and Social Council resolution (436 (XIV)) to governments and was awaiting their replies.
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION-PART TWO Page 103 MR. ANSLINGER (United States of America) suggested that the memorandum on the illicit traffic prepared by the Secretary-General for the Commission's next session should contain a special chapter on smuggling by seamen. It was so agreed. The CHAIRMAN proposed that the foregoing discussion should be considered as disposing of item 7 (d) of the agenda. It was so agreed. MR. KRUYSSE (Netherlands) said with reference to chapter IX that he had noted with interest that prices for illicit drugs had been quoted per unit of weight which made it possible to make certain comparisons. Of course, as prices were affected by rates of exchange, the figures would have to be interpreted with that in mind. The chapter showed a distinct improvement over the former method of presentation. MR. EZZAT (Egypt) drew attention to the great difference in the prices of opium and Indian hemp in Israel and in Egypt. In Israel, opium was quoted at approximately $200 to $250 per kilogram and Indian hemp ranged between $330 and $400 whereas in Egypt the price of opium per kilogram ranged from $13,000 to $15,000 while Indian hemp fetched from $900 to $12,000. That reflected the excellent work being accomplished by the Egyptian anti-narcotics administration and the Narcotics Bureau of the Arab League. MR. SHARMAN (Canada) referring to chapter X said that the Canadian report had mentioned the effectiveness of whippings in deterring certain criminals who had been inducing young people to take drugs and he asked that the paragraph on Canada should be amended to refer to the penalty. MR. HUANG (Secretariat) said the necessary corrigendum would be issued. MR. NIKOLIC (Yugoslavia) said it would seem from the report on Hong Kong either that narcotics offenders were subject only to fines or that there had been no offenses in 1952 serious enough to be punished by imprisonment. MR. HUANG (Secretariat) said that chapter X did not refer to legislation in general but was merely a compilation of the penalties mentioned specifically in the seizure report. MR. ANSLINGER (United States of America) said he was not satisfied with the penalties imposed in the United States on narcotic drug ,traffickers although they were usually heavier than those imposed
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 104 elsewhere. He suggested that the Commission might consider that question when it took up the problem of laws and regulations. It was encouraging to note the United Kingdom report that a sentence of three years had been imposed for the unlawful possession of Indian hemp. MR. WALKER (United Kingdom) said that that was the highest sentence yet recorded in the United Kingdom for that offense. The court had taken into account the fact that the person concerned was of bad character and had been previously convicted for the same offense. It had also been aware of the social menace of Indian hemp. MR. EZZAT (Egypt) said that the penalties reported in the paragraph on Egypt had been imposed under the old, comparatively lenient legislation. Decree Law No. 351 promulgated on 25 December 1952 imposed much higher penalties including a maximum sentence of life imprisonment and fines ranging from £E 3,000 to 10,000. MR. SHARMAN (Canada) thought the reports on Hong Kong should be reviewed as it was his impression that prison terms had also been imposed in 1952. MR. WALKER (United Kingdom) pointed out in connection with Hong Kong that the summary of annual reports of governments for 1951 referred on page 49 to penalties including fines up to $HK 10,000 ($1,750) or imprisonment for terms up to two years, or both and in many cases banishment had been imposed. MR. HUANG (Secretariat) said that prison terms had been mentioned in the Annual Report for 1951 in conjunction with penalties imposed in Hong Kong. The CHAIRMAN suggested that the Commission should note the various documents it had considered on the illicit traffic with appreciation, subject to the comments made by the various members during the debate. The question of the illicit traffic in Italy and the Far East was still pending. MR. ZONOV (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) pointed out that the Commission had not yet finished with chapters V of Annual Reports for the year 1952 or with the summary of Annual Reports of governments for 1951. He had said at the very outset of the debate that he had a few comments to make on the summary and he wondered when he would be given an opportunity to speak. MR. WALKER (United Kingdom) suggested that the Commission should postpone taking note of the summary of Annual Reports of governments for 1951 until it had finished its consideration of the item on illicit traffic.
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION-PART TWO Page 105 The CHAIRMAN pointed out that at the previous meeting he had specifically called for comments on the summary of Annual Reports Of governments but as no one had asked for the floor he had assumed that the debate was concluded. The Commission could, however, postpone its final action on the various documents until the debate on the illicit traffic had been concluded. MR. ZONOV (Union Of Soviet Socialist Republics) suggested that the Commission should follow its customary procedure of putting the question to the vote after the debate had been concluded. MR. ANSLINGER (United States of America) suggested that the most convenient procedure in the circumstances might be to take up the item concerning illicit traffic in Italy at the present meeting, reserving the item on illicit traffic in the Far East for the following one, at which there would be Opportunity for the USSR representative to bring up the points he had in mind. MR. VAILLE (France) supported the United States proposal. The United States proposal was adopted unanimously. * * * * * * * MR. VAILLE (France) said that the French newspaper France-Soir of 18 March 1953 contained reports concerning attempts to cover up illicit traffic in heroin in Italy, the drug being put on the market, at a low price, as codeine. He doubted the veracity of the reports, which he had compared with those submitted by the Italian Government to the Secretariat, but hoped that the Observer for Italy would have an opportunity of clarifying the situation. MR. CANAPERIA (Observer for Italy) was glad of the opportunity accorded him to make a statement to the Commission on behalf of the Italian Government. His presence indicated his Government's respect for the Commission and its desire to cooperate in the suppression of illicit traffic. His Government's main work in that connection was recorded in the various reports which the Commission had recently examined. He thanked the United States representative for his words of appreciation regarding that work. During the last twelve months twenty-nine police operations concerned with illicit traffic had been carried out, leading to the seizure of 22 kilograms of heroin, 1 kg. 650 gr. of opium, 627 grams of cocaine, and some smaller quantities of other drugs. All those responsible were prosecuted in the courts. He felt that those activities were proof of his Government's increased
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 106 efforts and a successful contribution to the campaign against the international drug traffic. Concerning the Schiapparelli case, he stated that the Schiapparelli firm, an old-established Turin firm of pharmaceutical and chemical products, had been granted the authorization to extract and transform alkaloids from opium in 1942. Like all such firms, it was under strict periodical inspection and nothing irregular had been found during the inspections carried out in 1952 and in previous years. Investigations carried out towards the end of 1952 following the discovery of a case of illicit traffic by a wholesaler had disclosed a connection between the proprietor of the firm concerned and Professor Migliardi, technical director and general manager of the Schiapparelli company. A further inspection of the Schiapparelli company at the beginning of 1953 had revealed that a quantity of heroin, estimated by the Financial Police at 350-400 kg., had been manufactured and illegally disposed of by Professor Migliardi since 1948, who, taking advantage of his position, had been able to divert from normal production a quantity of morphine to be transformed illicitly into heroin. Although the initial inquiries had indicated that Professor Migliardi was solely responsible, the operations of the firm had been suspended by the competent authorities; further inquiries had confirmed the exclusive responsibility of Professor Migliardi, who had been prosecuted for the clandestine production of and illegal trafficking in narcotics, and the suspension had therefore been of limited duration. The exact quantity of heroin illegally manufactured was being determined by a commission of technical experts at the request of the judicial authorities. Since the Financial Police's estimate, which had been based on indirect calculations, might have been exaggerated, it was probable that the episode, which had been exploited internationally by rival national firms, would be reduced to more modest proportions. In any event, the Italian Government would take any further action required. Concerning the Commission's recommendation that the Italian Government should completely prohibit the manufacture of heroin in Italy, he recalled that production had been suspended since July 1951. Stocks at that time had been 78 kilograms, representing approximately a one and a half year's supply for normal consumption, but of that total, 28 kilograms still remained at the present date. Seventeen kilograms of that were held by the military medical authorities and the remaining 11 kilograms were divided in small
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION-PART TWO Page 107 quantities among narcotics manufacturers, pharmaceutical firms (for use in the production of medicines), and registered wholesalers. The heroin held by narcotics manufacturers was used exclusively by the National Public Health Department for the direct replenishment of the stocks of hospitals and sanatoria on the basis of periodical and appropriately certified requests. The question of complete prohibition was still under consideration by the Italian Government. As objections had been raised by the medical authorities on the grounds that it was not possible to replace heroin for therapeutical purposes by synthetic products, the question had been placed before the National Council of Health which had then requested further information on the subject. He was confident that at the next WHO Assembly, in May, the Italian Government would be able to give a favorable answer on the subject, but at present it was awaiting the advice of the National Council of Health, which would hold its session on 21 April. MR. ANSLINGER (United States of America) thanked the Observer for Italy for his information. In view of the large diversion of heroin into the illicit traffic he would like to know what the position of the Schiapparelli firm would be in the future. He understood that another firm had been involved in a drug contravention two years ago but that the court had not yet reached a decision in the case. He was particularly interested in those matters because much of the heroin which entered the illicit market in Italy was later smuggled into the United States. He hoped the Italian Government would give favorable consideration to the complete prohibition of the manufacture of heroin. MR. CANAPERIA (Observer for Italy) explained that after the second police investigation in the Schiapparelli case, as a result of which Professor Migliardi was found to be the only member of the firm involved, it was not possible, under the law, to maintain the suspension of the firm's activities. He was fully aware of that deficiency in the Italian legislation and said that new legislation was being prepared which would provide for such cases. Concerning the second query, the facts were that court proceedings had been taken against Mr. Calascibetta, a director of the S.A.C.E. firm of wholesalers, for illicit traffic in narcotics and the license of the firm had been revoked. MR. KRISHNAMOORTHY (India), answering a question raised by the Canadian representative at a previous meeting concerning the seizure of a quantity of opium at Simla, said that the latest information from his Government was that the case was still under trial. If he received
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 108 further information before leaving New York he would report it to the Commission. * * * * * * * MR. ANSLINGER (United States of America) referred to a case of substantial diversions of narcotic drugs imported into Ecuador on certificates issued by the United States, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland and asked the Secretariat to request the Ecuadorean Government for a seizure report concerning them. MR. WALKER (United Kingdom) supported the United States representative's request. The CHAIRMAN said that the Secretariat would take note of the request. * * * * * * * MR. VAILLE (France), continuing the previous day's discussion [situation in Italy], asked the Italian Observer for additional information on the Schiapparelli case. He wished to know what quantities of heroin had been diverted, whether Professor Migliardi had been arrested, and whether he had been convicted, and if so, what penalties had been imposed. Furthermore, he was surprised that the firm in question, which had failed to exercise effective control over its staff and the outgo of narcotic drugs, had not been prosecuted. If it was not possible under Italian law to revoke the firm's license, he wondered what methods were followed in Italy with regard to licenses and whether the number of manufacturers in that country would not increase unduly, contrary to the spirit of the conventions. MR. CANAPERIA (Italy) stated that it was difficult to estimate exactly the quantities of heroin diverted, for they could be established only on the basis of the quantities of reagent used. That was a complicated procedure and the Italian authorities had had to appoint a committee of experts to look into the matter. The first investigation had been made by the fiscal squad of the police who specialized in the field. The members of that squad had some knowledge of the methods of production and extraction but they were not technicians. Consequently, the quantities of heroin diverted could not be definitely established until the results of the inquiry of the committee of experts were available. In reply to the French representative's second question, he said that Professor Migliardi had not been arrested. He was at present under police surveillance and his passport had been withdrawn.
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION-PART TWO Page 109 Under Italian law, a person could not be arrested unless he had been caught in the act. Professor Migliardi would be brought to trial shortly, as soon as the judges were in possession of all the complex facts of the case. With regard to the granting of licenses, five firms had been authorized to manufacture opium alkaloids, the number having been determined with due regard to the volume of production and consumption of those products in Italy. Licenses were granted in accordance with the provisions of the 1925 Act. The Italian Government had been concerned with the lacunae in that Act and had prepared a new bill which, taking into account the recommendations of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, provided for more severe penalties and would give the High Commissioner for Hygiene and Public Health the power to withdraw a manufacturing permit if any irregularities were suspected. MR. ANSLINGER (United States of America) observed that, according to the investigation that had been carried out, Calascibetta had received from Migliardi the large quantity of 875 kg. of heroin, which be had then resold to various traffickers, many of whom had been convicted. It was now two years since Calascibetta had been denounced and the Italian Government had been in possession of evidence against him. He wondered why the trial had bee delayed. He also wished to know whether the firm of Schiapparelli still held a license for the manufacture of heroin. MR. CANAPERIA (Italy) explained that the first investigation had established that only 350-400 kg. of heroin had been clandestinely manufactured. The figure cited by the United States representative was that appearing in the report on the Calascibetta case, which included quantities of heroin that the accused had procured from other sources. The case had been handed over to the court the previous year. His trial would not take place until the results of the investigation of Migliardi were available, for the authorities intended to have both tried at the same time, as the two cases were connected. Scbiapparelli's authorization to manufacture heroin had been suspended. There had been no authorized manufacture of heroin in Italy since July 1951. He assured the Commission that the Italian Government exercised strict control over the production of the five firms in question. Two specialist inspectors had been detailed to supervise all operations with regard to drugs, from the stage of manufacture to that of distribution. It had not yet been possible to forbid the consumption of heroin because of the opposition of the medical
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 110 profession but the remaining stocks were distributed only in hospitals and sanatoria and it was almost unobtainable in pharmacies. MR. ANSLINGER (United States of America) said that the heroin estimates submitted by the Italian Government to the Supervisory Body and to the Permanent Central Opium Board from 1946 to 1950 had been 200 kg. per year. That production had probably been divided among different firms. He wondered how Migliardi had been able to divert such large quantities. Furthermore, the figure of 200 kg. per year was very high compared with the corresponding figures for Switzerland and France. He had the impression that the diversion had been possible because the estimates had been too high. MR. SHARMAN (Canada) shared the United States representative's view of the Italian estimates. As a member of the Supervisory Body, be was in a position to say that both the Supervisory Body and the Permanent Central Opium Board had been disturbed by that figure, which appeared to be excessive. Annual world consumption being about 400 kg., Italy's estimated consumption had for several years been about half that of the whole world. Generally speaking, he was concerned about the situation in Italy, where there seemed to be very peculiar ideas with regard to the granting of licenses. The firm of Schiapparelli had not been closed. Its managing director and its technical director seemed to have some share of responsibility for the diversion; in any case, there were certainly others guilty beside Migliardi, since it was unlikely if not impossible that he could operate all by himself. Yet the two directors of the firm had not been indicted. MR. VAILLE (France) stated that the annual consumption of heroin in France and the French Union was 13 kg. and was tending to decrease. France felt, however, that it was premature to prohibit the use of heroin for medical purposes. He was surprised at the laxity of Italian courts, which permitted a man like Migliardi, who had put millions of ampoules of heroin into circulation and who was obviously more guilty than a petty trafficker or an addict, to remain at large. The reports submitted by Italy for 1952 showed that there was apparently no question of convictions. He wished to know whether the firm of Schiapparelli, which no longer manufactured heroin, was manufacturing other drugs, such as codeine or dionine, since in that case further diversions were to be feared.
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION-PART TWO Page 111 MR. MAY (Permanent Central Opium Board) shared the views of the preceding speakers. The Italian Government should respect public opinion, which could ill conceive that a man who was responsible for the misfortune of thousands of persons should remain at large and should not yet have been tried. MR. CANAPERIA (Italy), in reply to the United States representative, stated that although Italy had indeed consumed 200 kg. of heroin in 1946, the annual consumption had since then been reduced to 50 kg. The allocation of raw materials was effected by dividing the quantities of raw opium imported among the five firms, each of which was authorized to manufacture a certain quantity of the various narcotic drugs for therapeutic purposes. The quantities were fixed by the High Commission for Hygiene and Public Health. Some representatives felt that Italy's production was too high in relation to its population. In that connection, he drew the Commission's attention to document E/OB/8 (page 9), which gave figures showing the consumption of diacetylmorphine per million inhabitants. Italy appeared among the countries with a high consumption, although lower in recent years than that of Finland, Sweden, Australia, and the United Kingdom. The important thing, however, was that since 1951 Italy had reduced its consumption of diacetylmorphine to 50 kg. In reply to the French representative's remarks, he repeated that under Italian law only those persons could be arrested who had been caught in the act, i.e., who had been found to be in possession of narcotic drugs or against whom there was conclusive proof that they engaged in illicit traffic. That was not the case with Migliardi; in that case there was only circumstantial evidence, based on the difference of the reagents used; but many points remained to be cleared up. That was why the Italian Government had transmitted only a preliminary report to the Secretariat, hoping to be in a position later to transmit a final report. In his opinion, the aim of the Commission and of the other international organs engaged in combatting illicit traffic was to ensure effective international cooperation in preventing and hindering illicit traffic, since prevention was preferable to suppression. If that were so, it mattered little whether a firm continued to manufacture while the inquiry was in progress. The main thing was to make sure that no quantity of the narcotic drugs produced could be diverted from its proper destination. On behalf of his Government, he formally assured the Commission that the firms were subject to such strict
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 112 control that it was no longer possible for a single milligram of narcotic drugs to be diverted. In addition, he emphasized that his country would always be ready to cooperate with the Commission in its work and to follow any suggestions the Commission might wish to make. MR. ANSLINGER (United States of America) was not satisfied with the explanations of the Italian observer and regretted that Italy's conception of the control of manufacture of narcotic drugs was different from that of other countries. MR. VAILLE (France) shared the United States representative's view. There could be no permanent control over a firm if the honesty of its directors could not be relied on. A firm holding a license must be above suspicion, for, even when it was, offenses were sometimes committed. In a large enterprise it might well happen that a worker stole a few grams or even kilograms of narcotic drugs, but the diversion of the entire production of a firm by its managers could not be treated lightly. He cited, in that connection, a case which had occurred in France. It had been found that a firm had not furnished accurate accounts of its stocks and, although an investigation had shown that there had been no diversion, the firm's license had been revoked and its directors had been indicted and convicted. He drew attention to the danger of countries not complying strictly with the conventions and not imposing the necessary penalties, for that would encourage the manufacturers and traffickers to move to those countries where they could be assured of impunity. MR. CANAPERIA (Italy) said that he would certainly transmit the views expressed by the Commission to his Government. The investigation of the case in question was not yet completed and he assured the Commission that his Government would make it its business to send a final report which would undoubtedly satisfy the Commission. The CHAIRMAN pointed out that the Commission had not finished the consideration of the above chapter [on illicit traffic of document E/NR.1951/Summary]. At the 203rd meeting the USSR representative had submitted a proposal on which the Commission had yet to take a decision. The USSR representative had asked for the deletion of various passages which he felt contained a number of false and slanderous allegations against the People's Republic of China. At the CHAIRMAN's request, MR.CELINSKI (Secretary of the Commission)
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION-PART TWO Page 113 read out the relevant passage of the provisional summary record of the two hundred and third meeting, which ran: It (the USSR delegation) therefore proposed that all such references should be deleted from E/NR.1951/Summary now before the Commission and that document E/CN.1951/101 should be removed from the records. The same should apply to the references to the smuggling into Japan of heroin alleged to have come from China (page 46 of E/NR.1951/Summary) and to other false statements contained in the sections of the document which summarized the reports on the United States and Hong Kong. MR. LIANG (China) opposed the USSR representative's proposal for the following five reasons. The data given in the Chinese Government's Annual Report for 1951 were for the most part based on confidential information collected on the mainland by secret agents of the Chinese Government; the remaining information came from Hong Kong. While be could say no more about how the information was obtained, its authenticity was beyond doubt. Furthermore, the information furnished by the Chinese Government for 1951 tallied with that provided the preceding year. Thirdly, it was corroborated by certain facts cited in the reports of other Governments for 1951. In that connection he quoted the sixth paragraph of the summary concerning the United States, which reported the seizure of 627 grams of diacetylmorphine; the bags in which the drug had been concealed had borne the stamp of the Red Lion Company, which showed that the drug had been manufactured on the Chinese mainland. Likewise, in the summary of the Japanese Government's report it was stated that almost all the diacetylmorphine confiscated in Japanese territory had been of Chinese origin. Lastly, he cited a passage concerning Hong Kong, which referred to smuggling from China. In the fourth place he noted that no one, not even the USSR representative, had been able to prove that the Chinese Government's statements were inaccurate on a single point. Lastly, he recalled that, as the Canadian representative had acknowledged on several occasions, his Government had been fighting against the illicit traffic in narcotic drugs and the clandestine cultivation of the opium poppy for twenty-five years. To withdraw its report from the files and to give no credence to the information it supplied would be a totally undeserved act of censure.
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 114 With regard to that part of the Chinese territory which was under his Government's control, namely Formosa, neither the opium poppy nor Indian hemp were cultivated there. The use of heroin had been prohibited for a long time and traffickers were severely punished. MR. VAILLE (France) said that he would vote against the USSR proposal because it would imply that the Commission had the right to change at will the texts of reports submitted by governments to the Secretariat. His vote had no political implications whatever. MR. WALKER (United Kingdom) associated himself with those observations. The Commission was not competent of its own will to change official reports from governments. Anyone who felt that a report contained false allegations was free to prepare another document refuting those accusations and to ask that it should be circulated as an addendum to the report which had been questioned. Needless to say, governments must in turn be careful not to make charges, even by implication, against other countries or territories unless they could substantiate them by solid proof. He regretted that the USSR representative had described certain information contained in the summary of the report for Hong, Kong as false and slanderous without trying to prove those affirmations. The report spoke of the illicit traffic in opium along the Hong Kong land frontier. The Government of the Colony had simply described an actual situation, which was in no way surprising. It was a known fact that opium smuggling was rife along many frontiers in the Far East. The Government of the Colony had not made the slightest accusation against the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China. The report did not even say, as it might have said, that more cooperation from the Central People's Government would greatly assist in suppressing illicit traffic in that region. In conclusion, he said that his Government rejected certain allegations regarding Hong Kong and Singapore contained in the Chinese Nationalist Government's report for 1951. He himself had had inquiry made into some of the facts mentioned in the report and had found numerous inaccuracies. It would take too long to refute point by point the Formosa Government's assertions and to save time he would deal with a few of them only. On pages 4 and 5 of the report much emphasis was placed on labels which supposedly proved that the, opium was of Chinese origin. While those labels bore the well-known marking 1-3-8, that was no guarantee of the contents of the packages. Other opiums were in fact sold under the same label. The prices referred to in the same part of the report did not correspond
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION-PART TWO Page 115 to the usual Hong Kong prices, which were $HK55 per tael (37.8 grams) of opium and $HK8,000 per tael of morphine. The prices quoted in the report were much lower. Other inaccuracies were to be found in paragraph 4 of page 6 of the report. The remarks about illicit traffic in the Shum-Chun area were not correct. The Ta-ch'ang Company had been dissolved in November 1951 and there had never been any evidence that it had engaged in traffic in narcotic drugs. Most of the persons mentioned in that passage were unknown to the Hong Kong authorities. One of them was known to reside at Macao and not at Hong Kong. The information given in the Chinese Government's report concerning Singapore also called for the most formal reservations. By virtue of its situation, Hong Kong was inevitably one of the centers of illicit traffic not only from China but also from Thailand. The authorities of the Colony were among the first to deplore that state of affairs. In cooperation with Japan and the United States, they had made tremendous efforts to suppress the traffic. In any case, the Chinese Nationalist Government had no right to make inaccurate and irresponsible statements which implied criticism of the authorities of certain British territories. MR. ANSLINGER (United States of America) regretted that the USSR representative was again trying to expurgate reports transmitted by other governments in order to delete any passages which displeased him. MRS. KOWALCZYK (Poland) recalled that at the 203rd meeting she had given the reasons for her support of the USSR proposal. Nothing had occurred since then to make her change her view; the Kuomintang representative had added nothing new to the discussion. It was clear, therefore, that before it could approve the reports in question the Commission must decide to suppress the slanderous passages. MR. ZONOV (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) noted the United Kingdom representative's statement to the effect that the Hong Kong authorities had not intended in their report for 1951 to make any accusations against the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China. He had also rightly stressed the need for governments to exercise great caution in drafting their reports. Each year the Kuomintang representatives repeated the same slanderous accusations, which, they claimed, were based on secret information. The Commission could not regard reports which rested on such a shaky foundation as reliable. The United Kingdom representative had just
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 116 shown how little credence could be placed in document E/NR.1951/ 101. After that statement, there was nothing left of the report. No one would dream of denying that there was illicit traffic in the Far East. It was scandalous, however, that the Kuomintang clique, which had no right to speak on behalf of the Chinese people, should, in cooperation with the United States and Japan, make accusations against the Government of the People's Republic of China, which was not represented on the Commission and was therefore unable to defend itself. MR. ANSLINGER (United States of America) pointed out that it had originally been the USSR representative who had introduced a political aspect into the debate. The Commission had heard from the USSR representative propaganda concerning the illicit traffic rather than statements of fact. With regard to the question of hearing a representative of the Communist Government of China, if all that representative could contribute to the debate was the statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (E/2233) which contained little but abuse and vilification, he thought the hearing would not lead to any constructive action. He wondered in fact why that regime had not submitted a factual report to the Commission on the subject if it sincerely wished to contribute to the elimination of the illicit traffic. The USSR delegation had raised the political issue many years earlier. In fact at the previous session he had been attacked by Communists because of the statement he had then made concerning the illicit traffic in the Far East. All kinds of denunciations and insolent distortions had been made indirectly. They were obviously traceable to the fact that be personally had submitted a factual statement on the subject. He suggested that if the Chinese Communist regime wished to reply to his report, it might take up his statements paragraph by paragraph. That was the usual method of procedure. Charges of slander were not sufficient answer to the facts he had cited. The CHAIRMAN put to the vote the USSR proposal that the Annual Report of the Chinese Government for 1951 should be removed from, the records and that certain passages concerning China in the summary of Annual Reports should be deleted. The proposal was rejected by 10 votes to 2, with 2 abstentions. CONTENTS
V FEDERAL JURISDICTION
THE BUREAU OF NARCOTICS, ESTABLISHED IN THE UNITED STATES Treasury Department in 1930, is the Federal agency charged with the duty of regulating, supervising, and controlling the trade in narcotic drugs and marihuana, under the several applicable Federal laws. It serves as the special administration which the United States was obligated to create for this purpose under Article 15 of the Narcotics Limitation Convention of 1931. Narcotic drugs include opium and the various derivatives thereof, such as morphine, heroin and codeine; coca leaves, and their derivatives, such as cocaine; isonipecaine (Demerol); and any other drug found by the Secretary of the Treasury to have addiction qualities similar to those of morphine or cocaine and so proclaimed by the President. The term marihuana means all parts of the plant Cannabis sativa L., whether growing or not; the seeds thereof; the resin extracted from any part of the plant; and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of such plant, its seeds, or resin; but shall not include the mature stalks of such plant, fiber produced from such stalks, oil or cake made from the seeds of such plant, any other compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of such mature stalks (except the resin extracted therefrom), fiber, oil, or cake, or the sterilized seed of such plant which is incapable of germination. It will be noted that the barbiturates (principal component of the well-known sleeping pills), or other drugs of somnifacient nature such as chloral and paraldehyde, are not included. While Page 117
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 118 it is recognized that the barbiturates are subject to much abusive use, there are different aspects to the problem of control which should be met by legislation of a nature and scope different from and independent of the legislation controlling narcotic drugs and marihuana. It must be borne in mind that narcotic drugs and marihuana are subject not only to national control measures but also to an interrelative system of international control under the various conventions and protocols. The three principal Federal statutes controlling the substances under discussion are the Harrison Narcotic Law, as amended, now incorporated in the Internal Revenue Code, the Marihuana Tax Act, as amended, also incorporated in the Internal Revenue Code, and the Act of May 26th 1922, as amended, known as the Narcotic Drugs Import and Export Act. HARRISON NARCOTIC ACT This Act as re-enacted in the Internal Revenue Code requires registration with the Director of Internal Revenue and the payment of a graduated occupational tax by all persons who import, manufacture, produce, compound, sell, deal in, dispense, or give away, narcotic drugs. The special tax for importers, manufacturers, producers or compounders is $24 per annum; for wholesale dealers $12 per annum; for retail dealers $3 per annum; and physicians, dentists, veterinary surgeons and other practitioners, as well as persons engaged in research, instruction or analysis are required to pay $1 per annum. A commodity tax at the rate of 10 per ounce or fraction thereof is imposed upon narcotic drugs produced in or imported into the United States and sold, or removed for consumption or sale. This tax, it might be added, is in addition to any import duty imposed on the drugs. Exempted from certain restrictions of this Act is the manufacture, sale, distribution, giving away, dispensing or possession of preparations and remedies not containing more than 2 grains of opium, more than 1/4 of a grain of morphine, or more than 1/8 of a grain of heroin, or more than 1 grain of codeine or any salt or derivative of any of them in 1 fluid ounce or, if a solid or semi-solid preparation, in 1 avoirdupois ounce, or to
FEDERAL JURISDICTION page 119 liniments, ointments or other preparations which are prepared for external use only, provided however that there is no intent to use these remedies for the purposes of evading the Act and provided further that a record of their use is kept for two years and is readily accessible to inspection by an officer, agent or an employee of the Treasury Department. Sales or transfers of narcotic drugs are limited generally to those made pursuant to official order forms obtainable, in blank, by registrants, from the Director of Internal Revenue. Exception from the order form requirement is made in favor of dispensing to a patient by a qualified practitioner in the course of his professional practice only, provided however, that such physician, dentist, or veterinary surgeon shall keep a record of all such drugs dispensed or distributed. The record must include the amount dispensed, the date, the name and address of the patient to whom the drugs are dispensed except in cases where the drugs are dispensed by the physician in the course of personal attendance. Another important exception from the requirement of the Act is found in the case of a sale by a druggist to or for a patient, pursuant to a lawful written prescription issued by a qualified physician, dentist, or veterinary surgeon. Penalties are provided for violation of the Act and the Secretary of the Treasury is given the power to make, prescribe, and publish all the needed rules and regulations for carrying the provisions of this Act into effect. This Act is designed to direct the manufacture and distribution of narcotic drugs through medical channels to consumption use for medical or scientific purposes only. MARIHUANA TAX ACT In enacting this Act Congress bad definite goals in mind; first of all, to make it extremely difficult for marihuana to be acquired by persons who might desire to use it illicitly, and secondly, to develop an adequate means of publicizing dealings in marihuana in order to tax and control the traffic effectively. In accordance with these avowed purposes the Act requires registration with the Director of Internal Revenue in the district wherein the business is situated and the payment of a graduated occupational
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 120 tax up to $24 upon all persons who import, manufacture, produce, compound, sell, deal in, dispense, prescribe, administer or give away marihuana. No commodity tax is imposed on this drug. A tax is imposed, however, upon all transfers of this drug at the rate of $1 per ounce or fraction thereof, if the transfer is made to a tax-payer who has previously paid the special tax and is registered under the Act, or, at the rate of $100 per ounce if the transfer is made to a person who has not paid the special tax and registered under the Act. Transfers also are limited generally to those made pursuant to official order forms obtainable from the Director of Internal Revenue. Furthermore, if a transfer is made without an official order form and without payment of the tax by the transferee, the transferor is liable for such tax as may be due. Exception from the order form and transfer tax requirement is made in favor of dispensing to a patient by a qualified practitioner in the course of his professional practice only, and in favor of a sale by a druggist to or for a patient, pursuant to a lawful written prescription issued by a qualified practitioner. In view of the fact that marihuana has been deleted from most pharmacopoeias the last exception is today academic. In upholding the constitutionality of the Act the United States Supreme Court, in the case of U.S. v. Sanchez [340 U.S. 42] pointed out that its regulatory effect and its close resemblance to a penalty were not sufficient to invalidate the Act; that a tax is not invalid because it regulates, discourages, or even definitely deters the activities taxed, even though the revenue obtained is obviously negligible, or the revenue purpose of the tax is secondary, since an Act purporting to be an exercise of tax power is not any the less so because it tends to restrict or suppress the thing taxed. Additionally, said the court, it is not invalid because it touches on activities on which Congress might not otherwise legislate. NARCOTIC DRUGS IMPORT AND EXPORT ACT This Act authorizes the importation only of such quantities of opium and coca leaves as the Commissioner of Narcotics shall find to be necessary to provide for medical and scientific needs
FEDERAL JURISDICTION page 121 under such regulations as the Commissioner shall prescribe. importation of any form of narcotic drugs except such limited quantities of crude opium and coca leaves for medical and scientific uses is prohibited. The importation of smoking opium or of opium prepared for smoking is specifically prohibited, and possession of such opium is made prima facie evidence of an offense. The aim of this latter section is to stamp out the use of narcotics in this country except for legitimate medical purposes. While numerous attacks have been made on the validity of this section, the courts have held that under the power accorded it by the Constitution Congress had the power to regulate foreign commerce to create the presumption contained therein. The act also permits exportation of manufactured drugs and preparations under a rigid system of control, designed to assure their use for medical needs only in the country of destination. The three principal Federal statutes controlling these dangerous substances have been supplemented by other legislative measures designed to control further possible sources of supply and to facilitate the task of enforcement. OTHER LEGISLATION By an Act of Congress approved January 17, 1914, a tax of $300.00 per pound was levied upon all opium manufactured in the United States for smoking purposes, and certain stringent conditions were imposed with respect to such manufacture. The purpose, of course, was to make such manufacture prohibitive, and the Act was held constitutional though the tax was so high as to be prohibitive of the traffic. Since, as previously indicated, no opium can lawfully be imported for the purpose of manufacturing smoking opium, and the product can not be lawfully sold, it is legally impracticable for one to seek to operate as a manufacturer under this Act, even if undeterred by the prohibitive conditions explained. The Act affords an additional prosecutive basis, however, where clandestine manufacture of smoking opium can be established by evidence. Under an Act of Congress approved August 9, 1939, as amended August 9, 1950, it was made unlawful to transport,
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 122 carry, or convey any contraband narcotic drug in, upon or by means of any vessel, vehicle or aircraft; to conceal or possess any such drug in or upon such vessel, vehicle or aircraft or upon the person of any one in or upon such vessel, vehicle or aircraft to facilitate the transportation, carriage, conveyance, concealment, receipt, possession, purchase, sale, barter, exchange or giving away of any contraband narcotic drug. The definition of the term contraband article as it relates to narcotic drugs (including for the purposes of this Act marihuana) is extensively stated in the statutes, but it may be briefly, if necessarily not wholly accurately, summarized as any narcotic drug which has been or is possessed with intent to sell in violation of law or which has been acquired or is possessed, sold,* transferred or transported in violation of law. Any vessel, vehicle or aircraft so unlawfully used may be seized and forfeited. An appreciable number of vehicles are seized under the Act by the Bureau of Narcotics, and forfeited to the United States. After forfeiture some of these vehicles, as authorized by law, are used in enforcement work in the investigation, detection and arrest of other violators. Thus an important facility for illicit narcotic peddling is taken from the violator and becomes a facility on the side of law enforcement for detecting and eliminating other violators. By a special Statute approved July 3, 1930, the Commissioner of Narcotics is authorized and empowered to pay to any person from funds appropriated for the enforcement of the Federal narcotic laws of the United States, for information concerning a violation of any narcotic law resulting in a seizure of contraband narcotics, such sum as he may deem appropriate. The Act of Congress approved January 19, 1929, provided for the establishment of two Public Health Service hospitals, later erected at Lexington, Kentucky, and Fort Worth, Texas, respectively. These hospitals, under the administration of the U. S. Public Health Service, were dedicated to the treatment and cure of narcotic drug addicts convicted of offenses against the United States, and narcotic drug addicts who voluntarily submit themselves
FEDERAL JURISDICTION page 123 for treatment. The original Act provided, and a superseding Statute still provides, that the Surgeon General (of the Public Health Service) shall cooperate with the States for the purpose of aiding them to solve their narcotic drug problems and shall give authorized representatives of the States the benefit of his experience in the care, treatment and rehabilitation of narcotic addicts to the end that each State may be encouraged to provide adequate facilities and methods for the care and treatment of its narcotic addicts. It is important to note that any of those men or women who have become addicted to narcotic drugs as defined by Federal law are eligible for admission. According to the Federal statute an addict is a person who uses narcotic habit-forming drugs to the point that he has become dependent upon them. This dependence may jeopardize his general health and welfare, and the individual has lost his self control as far as the drug is concerned. The habit-forming narcotic drugs are opium and its derivatives; isonipecaine and its derivatives, compounds, and preparations; the opiates; cocaine; and marihuana. It is important to note that persons addicted to the barbiturates or alcohol are not eligible for treatment at the hospital unless they are also habitual users of one of the drugs cited above. REGISTRATION OF PHYSICIANS AND DRUGGISTS A physician who intends to practice medicine and to administer or dispense narcotic drugs in the course of such practice must apply for registration under the Harrison Law with the Director of Internal Revenue of the district in which he proposes to practice, and must pay the appropriate occupational tax for the fiscal year applicable. Before being entitled to such registration, however, he must be lawfully entitled under the laws of the State or Territory or district wherein he intends to practice, to distribute, dispense, give away, or administer narcotic drugs to patients upon whom he, in the course of his professional practice is in attendance [26 U.S.C. 3220]. In the case of a medical practitioner, this requirement usually means that the applicant is a physician who holds an unrevoked and unrestricted license to practice medicine in the particular State, Territory, or district.
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 124 To be entitled to registration, however, in the case of any type of practitioner of the healing art, it must appear that he is entitled under the State laws to distribute, administer, or dispense narcotic drugs to patients whom he is professionally attending. The right to register and pay tax under the Federal statute depends on the right to dispense under the State laws.* The provisions of the law are substantially the same for a druggist. A druggist who intends to sell and deal in narcotic drugs must apply for registration under the Harrison Act with the Director of Internal Revenue of the district wherein his business is located, and must pay the required occupational tax. Furthermore, be must be licensed under the State laws in order to register and pay tax under the Federal statute. INVENTORY Every person making application for registry or re-registry as a physician or druggist shall, as of December 31 preceding the date of his application, or any date between December 31 and the date of applying for such registry or re-registry, prepare in duplicate an inventory of all narcotic drugs and preparations on hand at the time of making such inventory. The inventory shall be prepared on the reverse side of Form 678, copies of which may be obtained from Directors of Internal Revenue upon request. The original inventory shall be forwarded to the Director with the application for registration, and the duplicate shall be kept on file by the maker for a period of two years. REGISTRY NUMBER Upon approval of the application for registration the Director of Internal Revenue will assign a registry number to the applicant and will issue him a special tax stamp in Class IV as a practitioner, or in Class III as a druggist. This special tax stamp must be kept posted conspicuously on the premises covered by the registration, i.e. the physician's office or the drug store.
FEDERAL JURISDICTION page 125 CHANGE OF ADDRESS A physician registrant who changes the location of his office shall, within 30 days, execute a new return on Form 678, marking it "Revised Registry." The return shall set forth the date of change and the new address. The return shall be forwarded with the special tax stamp to the Director who issued the stamp for recording the change. If the removal is to another State, Territory or district, the physician must, of course, be qualified in the new location to administer, dispense or distribute narcotic drugs to patients, which usually means that be must also be licensed to practice medicine in the new location. ORDER FORMS AND INSPECTION A physician may obtain narcotic drugs for direct dispensing or administration to patients only on official order forms. He may not obtain narcotic drugs on a prescription for general office use. Official order forms in triplicate are obtainable from the Director of Internal Revenue in a book of ten for ten cents. The form is to be prepared in triplicate and signed by the physician, the original and triplicate copy being forwarded to a qualified manufacturer or wholesaler, and the duplicate retained by the physician for a period of two years subject to inspection by a duly authorized Federal or State narcotic officer. The order form may be prepared in typewriting, ink or indelible pencil, but not by the use of an ordinary lead pencil. PRESCRIPTIONS A prescription for narcotic drugs may be issued only by a duly registered physician for a bona-fide patient for medical purposes only, which prescription may be filled by a qualified druggist. LEGALITY A prescription, in order to be effective in legalizing the possession of unstamped narcotic drugs and eliminating the necessity for use of order forms, must be issued for legitimate medical purposes. The responsibility for the proper prescribing and dispensing
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 126 of narcotic drugs is upon the practitioner, but a corresponding liability rests with the druggist who fills the prescription. An order purporting to be a prescription issued to an addict or habitual user of narcotics, not in the course of professional treatment but for the purpose of providing the user with narcotics sufficient to keep him comfortable by maintaining his customary use, is not a prescription within the meaning and intent of the act; and the person filling such an order, as well as the person issuing it, may be, charged with violation of the law. FILLING PRESCRIPTIONS A prescription for narcotic drugs shall be dated as of and signed on the date when issued and shall bear the full name and address of the patient and the name, address and registry number of the practitioner. A physician may sign a prescription in the same manner as be would sign a check or legal document, as, for instance, John H. Smith, J. H. Smith, or John Henry Smith. Prescriptions should be written with ink or indelible pencil or typewriter; if typewritten, they shall be signed by the practitioner. The refilling of a prescription for taxable narcotic drugs is prohibited. The practitioner is responsible in case the prescription does not conform in all essential respects to the law, and regulations. However, a corresponding liability rests upon the druggist who fills a prescription not prepared in the form required by law. When the names of fictitious patients are discovered on narcotic drug prescriptions filed with a druggist it is usually a clear indication of wilful catering to drug addiction, whether or not the so-called prescriptions are also discovered to be forged. Sometimes the physician will insert a fictitious patient's name, however, because be wishes to conceal from the druggist the fact that the real patient is consuming drugs, notwithstanding that the real patient is claimed to have a bona fide medical need therefor. The law does not permit the use of a fictitious name upon a prescription. The furnishing of narcotic drugs pursuant to telephone advice of practitioners is prohibited, whether prescriptions covering such orders are subsequently received or not, except that in an
FEDERAL JURISDICTION page 127 emergency a druggist may deliver narcotic drugs through his employee or responsible agent pursuant to a telephone order, provided the employee or agent is supplied with a properly prepared prescription before delivery is made, which prescription shall be turned over to the druggist and filed by him as required by law. A physician's prescription blanks should be most carefully safeguarded and never left where persons who may be drug addicts will have opportunity to take them, and to prepare and have filled forged narcotic prescriptions. A physician's official order forms should be likewise safeguarded, and great care should be exercised by the physician in keeping his stock of narcotic drugs secure from robbery or pilfering. The medicine case containing narcotic drugs should never be left in an unattended automobile. STATE CONTROLS The Uniform State Narcotic Law differs from the Federal Law in some respects-for instance, it requires manufacturers of and wholesale dealers in narcotic drugs to obtain a license from the appropriate State agencies and prescribes certain qualifications for these licensees and it directly and specifically penalizes the forgery or alteration of a narcotic prescription. In so far as the professional use of narcotic drugs is concerned, however, the statutory standard is practically the same as that provided by the Federal Narcotic Law. Whereas Section 2554 of the Internal Revenue Code requires no record to be kept where the doctor is in personal attendance, Section 9 of the Uniform Narcotic Drug Act requires no record where the narcotic drugs are administered, dispensed or professionally used in the treatment of any one patient when the amount administered does not exceed 1/2 of a grain in forty-eight consecutive hours 4 grains of opium or 1/2 of morphine, or any of its salts, or 2 grains of codeine, or any of its salts, or a quantity of any other narcotic drug, or any combination of narcotic drugs that does not exceed in pharmacologic potency any one of the drugs named in the quantity stated. It is important to note, however, that some States, such as New Jersey, North Carolina, Iowa, and the District of Columbia, and others require a record to be kept of all drugs administered and
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 128 dispensed, regardless of amount. Thus under the Uniform Act a physician in good faith and in the course of his professional practice only is permitted to prescribe and administer narcotic drugs, or may cause the same to be administered by a nurse or interne under his direction and supervision. Under the same Act a druggist in good faith may sell and dispense narcotic drugs to any person upon a written prescription of a physician. It is also important to note that under the Harrison Act preparations containing not more than 2 grains of opium, or more than 9 of a grain of morphine, or more than 1/8 of a grain of heroin, or more than 1 grain of codeine, or any salt or derivative of any of them in 1 fluid ounce, or if a solid or semi-solid preparation in 1 avoirdupois ounce, are exempt preparations. The original Uniform Narcotic Drug Act made these same preparations exempt, but the States of Colorado, Vermont, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oregon, Montana, Iowa, South Dakota, Minnesota, and the Territory of Alaska have changed these exemptions to apply only to preparations that contain in 1 fluid ounce, or if a solid or semi-solid preparation in 1 avoirdupois ounce, not more than 1 grain of codeine or any of its salts. The main effect of this change in the law was to put paregoric under prescription. There is no limitation on the quantity of narcotics externally used preparations may contain, provided such preparations contain other ingredients rendering them unfit for internal use. Preparations containing cocaine or pantopon in any quantity, whether for internal or external administration, are never exempt, nor are preparations containing any of the synthetic narcotic drugs. PROFESSIONAL LIABILITY A recent State civil suit in Massachusetts* against a physician for malpractice arising out of the improper prescribing of narcotic drugs disclosed that the plaintiff was suffering from nausea, but without pain, and that the defendant doctor without any physical examination or without any complaint of pain by her or questions as to her medical history, gave her increasing hypodermic injections of morphine. These injections continued with ______________________ * King v. Solomon 81 N.E. 2d 838. ______________________
FEDERAL JURISDICTION page 129 increasing frequency until ultimately she was receiving them three or more times a day. The doctor was discharged from the case and the plaintiff experienced a complete black-out and was admitted to the hospital suffering from morphine addiction "one-quarter of the way along to confirmed addiction." Subsequently plaintiff was found to be suffering from gall bladder trouble and had her gall bladder removed and after the operation the nausea ceased. Medical testimony at the trial disclosed that the nausea was caused by the gall bladder trouble; that it was possible to have gall bladder trouble with nausea and without pain; that gall stones do not arrive suddenly; that it was improper medical practice to administer morphine to a patient who complained of nausea but not of pain, or over a period of time where there was no pain involved; and that it was not proper to continue giving morphine in the absence of a diagnosis of a condition that could not be cured. The jury found in favor of the plaintiff. One of the defenses by the defendant physician was the section of the Massachusetts law which says A physician may personally administer any narcotic drug at such time and under such circumstances as be, in good faith and in the legitimate practice of medicine, believes to be necessary for the alleviation of pain and suffering and for the treatment and relief of pain. The Court, however, held that this section was intended, when complied with by the physician, to exempt him from the penal provisions pertaining to the sale and distribution of narcotic drugs and that it was not intended to relieve him from civil liabilities applicable generally to physicians. Said the Court, The decision rests upon evidence of improper and non-professional conduct on the parts of the defendant leading to addiction in the plaintiff, Eva King. Nothing contained herein need cause anxiety to an honest physician who administers narcotics to a patient in accordance with the prevailing standards of practice. It is important to note in the facts that the defendant physician prescribed narcotics without any physical examination or questions as to medical history. Recent investigations have disclosed that many physicians have prescribed narcotics to patients with
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS page 130 out any physical examination and mainly on the representations of the patient. It would thus unquestionably follow that the lack of a physical examination would have a strong bearing on the question of the good faith of the physician. There has not been too extensive litigation on this question of a physician's civil liability with regard to the administration of narcotic drugs. However, one thing does seem clear and that is that a physician who prescribes narcotics solely on a representation of a patient and without any attempt to secure the facts of the past history or examine the patient is certainly exposing himself within the scope of the aforementioned decision, depending, of course, on the facts of the case. From an evidential angle, unless a serious illness requiring narcotic drugs could be proven, prescriptions issued with increasing frequency by a doctor might certainly tend to inculpate the doctor in a violation of the penal provisions of the law or a possible civil liability, based on malpractice, or both. At any rate, it would certainly be wise for all physicians to treat this subject of administering or prescribing narcotic drugs with unusual care. As an example of the types of violations which have been found and which are fairly common are the following: 1. Prescribing without seeing the patient. 2. Administering to a known addict. 3. Administering and prescribing to a known addict and giving prescriptions in advance. 4. Prescribing solely on the unsubstantiated history of an illness given by the patient. 5. Prescribing without a physical examination. INDISPENSABLE USE-CHECK POINTS In the instruction* to a series of articles printed in The Journal of the American Medical Association in 1931 on the Indispensable Use of Narcotic Drugs, Dr. Morris Fishbein has presented to the medical profession some excellent suggestions dealing with the general professional use of narcotic drugs. If all physicians would accept and conscientiously follow these suggestions, *Various authors; "The Indispensable Use of Narcotic Drugs," 96:856, 1931.
FEDERAL JURISDICTION page 131 which are quoted below, irregularities in prescribing and dispensing of narcotic drugs by physicians would be reduced to a minimum. The problem of narcotic addiction merits the attention of physicians for many reasons. . . . the medical profession must do everything possible to minimize the prescribing of narcotics in order to make unnecessary further restrictive measures. Physicians should give more serious consideration to the materia medica, pharmacology, and therapeutics of narcotics. Physicians may, by the exercise of more thought in practicing, do much to avoid censure in relation to narcotic addiction. They may substitute, whenever possible, non-habit-forming drugs in the place of morphine or other opium alkaloids. When narcotics are indispensable, however, as shown in this series of articles, no more should be administered than is necessary to achieve the desired end. Patients requiring daily administration should be seen often by the doctor and the amount of drugs ordered or supplied should not exceed that required by the patient until seen again. Independence of administration on the part of nurses should be strictly limited to prescription and any change in treatment should be in writing. In conclusion, a physician could avoid the pitfalls attendant to criminal and civil liability if the following fundamental rules were observed: 1. Secure a complete history of the ailment. 2. Make a complete and thorough physical examination in every case. 3. Ascertain whether the illness requires narcotics and good medical practice demands their prescription. 4. Use non-habit-forming drugs instead of opiates wherever possible. 5. Beware of strangers and itinerant patients who suggest, their need for drugs. 6. Remember always that improper and prolonged dosages can cause an individual to become an addict. 7. Don't write a prescription for office use. That supply should be secured on a drug order form.
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS page 132 RESPONSIBILITY OF THE DRUGGIST As has been said many times, narcotics can be either a blessing or a Curse. In order to prevent indiscriminate trafficking and other abuses, the prescribing, selling, and dispensing of these drugs to the consumer have been vested, by law, in doctors and druggists. They, therefore, have the obligation to discharge this public trust in a manner which is above reproach and the only way that can be done is by observing a high moral standard and by obeying the letter of the law to its fullest extent. Druggists should consider the following suggestions: 1. Refuse to compound an improperly prepared prescription. 2. Make no delivery of a telephone prescription without receiving a properly prepared prescription before delivery of the narcotic is made. 3. Never sell a narcotic drug except upon prescription. 4. Remember that narcotic prescriptions may not be refilled. 5. Be familiar with the quantities a customer is using; exorbitant quantities over a long period should warrant close scrutiny. A druggist cannot lawfully fill a prescription for narcotics if he knows or has reason to know that it was not issued in good faith. However, a druggist is under no affirmative duty to inquire into the lawfulness of a prescription for a narcotic drug before filling it if he has no knowledge of its illegality.* Without knowledge there can be no guilt and knowledge consists of either direct proof or what may be inferred from the circumstances. It should be noted, however, that a negligent failure to inquire is no substitute for knowledge. As in the case of doctors, quantities of narcotics sold also bear on the good faith of the pharmacist. Evidence that a store dispensed six hundred times as much morphine annually as an average store, much of it to addicts, has been held sufficient to be a jury question on the issue of making sales on prescriptions which the druggist should have known were not issued in good faith. ** * Doremus v. U.S. 262 Fed. 849. ** Montgomery v. U.S. 290 Fed. 961.
FEDERAL JURISDICTION page 133 CONSTITUTIONALITY OF THE HARRISON NARCOTIC ACT The constitutional validity of the Harrison Narcotic Act was challenged in the courts not long after its enactment. A physician in Texas had been indicted for violating the law in that he made sales of 500 one-sixth grain tablets of heroin to a person described as a drug addict, not in the course of professional practice. The claim was made that the statute was unconstitutional because it was not actually a revenue measure and was an invasion of the police power reserved to the states. The United States Supreme Court, in 1919, rejected this claim and held that the statute was constitutional as a revenue measure, and that it could not be declared unconstitutional because its effect might be to accomplish another purpose as well as the raising of revenue. In the same year, the Supreme Court held in another case that an order for morphine issued by a physician to an habitual user merely to keep him comfortable by maintaining his customary use was not a physician's "prescription" as that term was used in the Harrison Act. In a third case, decided in 1920, the Supreme Court very clearly stated the nature of the responsibility of the physician and the druggist under the applicable section of this law, as follows: Manifestly the phrases "to a patient" and "in the course of his professional practice only" are intended to confine the immunity of a registered physician, in dispensing the narcotic drugs mentioned in the Act, strictly within the appropriate bounds of a physician's professional practice, and not to extend it to include a sale to a dealer or a distribution intended to cater to the appetite or satisfy the craving of one addicted to the use of the drug. A "prescription" issued for either of the latter purposes protects neither the physician who issues it nor the dealer who knowingly accepts and fills it. In the meantime, non-registered drug peddlers whose principal source of supply was smuggled and therefore contraband narcotics, were being prosecuted and convicted principally under two sections of the law which prohibited respectively the purchase or sale of narcotics except in or from the original tax
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS page 134 stamped package and the sale of narcotics except pursuant to an official order form. In 1927 a convicted unregistered purchaser of narcotics challenged the constitutionality of the tax-stamped package provision and in 1928 a convicted peddler challenged the constitutionality of the official order form provision of the Act. The Supreme Court upheld the constitutional validity of both sections and affirmed the judgments of conviction. By 1928, therefore, it was authoritatively settled that under the Harrison Act, narcotics could not be sold or transferred for the purpose of gratification and spread of drug addiction, whether the sale or transfer was made by a drug peddler, or by a physician or druggist under color of professional practice. In 1943, however, the Supreme Court had occasion to pass upon the question of the responsibility of a manufacturer and wholesale dealer who sold narcotics to a registered physician on official order forms, but with knowledge that the physician was distributing narcotics illegally. A drug manufacturer in Buffalo, New York, had been convicted of conspiracy with a South Carolina physician and three other persons, to violate the Harrison Act, in that the manufacturer sold quantities of narcotics to the physician on the latter's official order forms knowing of illegal narcotic sales by the physician. The manufacturer's argument to secure reversal of the judgment of conviction was, in substance, that the sales made by him were legal because made pursuant only to official order forms, even though accompanied by knowledge that the physician was distributing narcotics illegally. The Supreme Court rejected this contention and sustained the judgment of conviction, pointing out that there was a significant difference between sales of articles of free commerce and articles necessarily restricted, like narcotics, because of inherent susceptibility to harmful and illegal use. CONTROL AT SOURCE OF SUPPLY It is important to note that the Federal Bureau of Narcotics has no authority to revoke a physician's license since that power is solely vested in the Licensing Boards of the various States and as long as the physician is licensed he may continue to purchase narcotics. However, the Bureau is not completely powerless to
FEDERAL JURISDICTION page 135 prevent a physician who is misusing narcotic drugs from obtaining them even though they may not revoke his license. The case of Ratigan vs. Commissioner of Narcotics is authority for the proposition that the Bureau of Narcotics may properly request registered drug manufacturers and dealers to refrain from filling narcotic orders for a particular physician. In January, 1932, Dr. Thomas P. Ratigan, Jr., of Seattle, Washington, was reported by agents of the Bureau of Narcotics for serious violations of the Federal narcotic law. The report was based on sales of morphine by means of hypodermic injection to numbers of drug addicts merely to gratify the habit. He was indicted for these offenses on May 4, 1934, but after a trial before a jury, was found not guilty on October 13, 1934. After his acquittal, Dr. Ratigan not only continued but increased his sales of morphine by hypodermic injection to drug addicts. Investigating officers observed, on one day, that some seventy-five drug addicts visited Dr. Ratigan's office to purchase injections of morphine. For the period of time from January 1, 1932 to September 19, 1936, Dr. Ratigan purchased from drug firms the enormous total of 445,980 one-half grain morphine tablets to supply his illicit trade. By actual computation, Dr. Ratigan purchased and sold, during a period of one and one-half years, about four and one-half times the total amount of morphine purchased by all the other 172 physicians and the 23 hospitals in Seattle. A continued careful investigation by narcotic officers resulted in the collection of evidence upon which he was again indicted on November 15, 1935, and after a lengthy trial before a jury he was found guilty on August 19, 1936, and on August 28, 1936, he was sentenced to serve a term of imprisonment of seven years and to pay a fine of $10,000. He appealed to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals which affirmed the judgment of conviction, and then petitioned the United States Supreme Court for writ of certiorari, which was denied. He was committed to the United States penitentiary at McNeil Island, Washington, on June 17, 1937 to serve his term of imprisonment. His State medical license was revoked on May 16, 1938, by the Department of Licenses of the State of Washington for unprofessional conduct. Even after his conviction, Dr. Ratigan was unregenerate and indicated his intention to continue supplying addicts with morphine. Registered drug manufacturers and dealers were requested by the
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS page 136 Bureau of Narcotics to refrain from filling any orders for narcotics submitted by Dr. Ratigan without first notifying the Bureau. While released on bond pending the result of his appeal, Dr. Ratigan made every effort to continue his illicit narcotic traffic but experienced difficulty in purchasing supplies of morphine from registered dealers. In December, 1936, he filed a bill of complaint in the District Court of the United States for the District of Columbia, praying for a temporary and permanent restraining order against the Commissioner of Narcotics, alleging that the Commissioner was preventing him from obtaining narcotics for use in the course of his practice as a physician. The court issued a rule to show cause upon the Commissioner, and a return to the rule was filed setting forth the justification for the Commissioner's action. Upon a hearing on December 23, 1936, the court ordered that the rule to show cause be discharged and that Dr. Ratigan's application for a temporary injunction be denied. Dr. Ratigan did not proceed further with this litigation, and the decision became final. CIVIL LIABILITY Emphasis thus far has been placed on the criminal side of the problem, but the question of civil liability can neither be underestimated nor forgotten. Without doubt, one malpractice suit involving misuse of narcotics could destroy an unblemished professional career, and it is imperative for a doctor and druggist to be familiar with this phase of the law. The litigated civil actions to date have been predicated on loss of consortium, society, companionship, or services, and in cases where death has resulted, have been coupled with an action for wrongful death.* The underlying factor for suits of this type was first established when the existence of substances-which, through constant use, would effectively destroy the power of the consumer to cease the use thereof and also would injure or destroy normal physical and mental health-was first recognized. In this case it was held that an unknowing husband, whose wife had become addicted, bad had a legally protected marital right invaded by reason of such addiction.** This theory has so evolved that today the rule is that an action will lie by either spouse * Moberg v. Scott 161 N.W. 998. ** Houd v. Peck, 56 N.Y. 202.
FEDERAL JURISDICTION page 137 against one knowingly selling a habit-forming drug to the other spouse, except for a lawful medical purpose, if the sale causes or aggravates the habitual use of narcotics. Since there is a loss of volition to act, the defense of contributory negligence is not available to the seller. Briefly, therefore, where a husband or wife is concerned, it is an established rule of law today that improper sales of habit-forming drugs can cause harm to legally protected marital interests and liability will attach to the vendor unless the other spouse consents or a physician prescribes the narcotics.* Furthermore, in some cases liability has been found even though no law was violated, and in extreme cases, both compensatory and punitive damages have been awarded. It is noteworthy that while the violation of a statute is negligence per se, no recovery can be secured unless the wrongful act is shown to be the proximate cause.** It should be noted that this same doctrine has been applied in a suit by a parent against a pharmacist for repeated and wilful sale of a narcotic to a minor.*** OPIUM POPPY CONTROL ACT OF 1942 Due to the shortage of supplies of imported poppy seed after the beginning of World War 11, certain persons in the United States commenced to grow the opium poppy, ostensibly for seed yield, ignoring friendly warnings communicated by the Commissioner of Narcotics that the seed pods contained morphine which could and would be readily extracted, even in impure form, by peddlers with the inevitable result of spreading drug addiction. The Commissioner sought and obtained the enactment of special legislation-the Opium Poppy Control Act of 1942--which prohibited the growth of the opium poppy in the United States except under a special license issuable only upon a demonstrated need for domestic production of the opium poppy to supply opium derivatives for medical and scientific uses. No such need has arisen nor is it likely under modem developments that such * Restatement of Torts, Volume 3, p. 497. **Scott v. Greenville Pharmacy, Inc., 45 S.E. 2d, 324. *** Tidd v. Skinner, 225 N.Y. 422.
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS page 138 need will ever arise, and no licenses have been issued. The few crops of opium poppies that were growing were seized, and those, who bad planted them in defiance of the statute, sought an injunction against the seizure on the ground that the statute was unconstitutional. After a thorough hearing, a three-judge Federal Court in California held the statute constitutionally valid as the execution of an international obligation under the 1912 Convention, and the crops were destroyed. FEDERAL LEGISLATION IMPLEMENTING THE CONVENTIONS At the time the 1912 Convention was signed, the first narcotic regulatory statute of the United States, the Act approved February 9, 1909, had been in effect for over three years. This statute prohibited importation of opium and its preparations and derivatives except for medicinal purposes and absolutely prohibited the importation of smoking opium or of opium prepared for smoking. After the Convention was signed but before it was ratified, an Act approved January 17, 1914, added to the 1909 statute a prohibition against the exportation of any opium or cocaine or of any salt, derivative or preparation thereof except to a country which regulated the entry of such drugs, and in accordance with such regulations. The exportation of smoking opium or of opium prepared for smoking was absolutely prohibited. Another statute, approved on the same date, January 17, 1914, placed a prohibitive tax upon opium manufactured in the United States for smoking purposes and placed certain other conditions upon such manufacture. These statutes implemented some of the obligations assumed by the United States under the 1912 Convention, particularly with reference to control of imports and exports. A further important step was taken towards implementation of the obligations assumed under the 1912 Convention by the enactment of the Act of December 17, 1914, popularly known as the Harrison Narcotic Law. This statute was enacted in the form of a revenue measure and required registration and the payment of an occupational tax by all persons who produced, imported, manufactured, dispensed or otherwise dealt in opium
FEDERAL JURISDICTION page 139 or coca leaves or any compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, or preparation thereof. All sales or transfers of these drugs were required to be made on official order forms, but an exception from the order form requirement was made in favor of a registered practitioner dispensing to or prescribing for a patient in the course of professional practice only, and in favor of the registered druggist who filled the narcotic prescription. About four years later, the Act was amended by adding a commodity tax stamp provision (10 per ounce or fraction thereof), by imposing graduated rates of occupational tax, and by certain other provisions designed to prevent evasion of these taxes. The duty of enforcing the statute was assumed by the Bureau of Internal Revenue through its field officers engaged in enforcement of all internal revenue laws. Originally, there was no separate specialized group of officers assigned exclusively to the duty of enforcing this statute. Although enacted as an internal revenue measure, the Harrison Narcotic Law, as amended, has the effect of limiting the availability of narcotic drugs to medical and scientific uses only. It regulates production and manufacture, and distribution through channels of medical supply to the dispensing registrants, the qualified practitioner and druggist. Except for scientific use, the purpose of the law is to restrict ultimate consumption of these drugs to patients who have a bona fide medical need therefor, the drugs being prescribed or dispensed by a qualified practitioner in the course of his professional practice only. Early in the history of enforcement of the Harrison Narcotic Law as a measure controlling the domestic narcotic traffic, it became evident that there was need for a more comprehensive measure of control over imports and exports of these potentially dangerous drugs than was provided by the Act of February 9, 1909, as amended January 17, 1914. This older statute was extensively revised and in the revised form was reenacted by Congress, becoming the Narcotic Drugs Import and Export Act, approved May 26, 1922. By this statute there was instituted, so far as the United States was concerned, a strict system of import and export control which antedated by six years the obligation of the parties under the 1925 Convention to establish definite
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 140 controls over imports and exports. The statute authorized the importation of such quantities only of opium and coca leaves as the then Federal Narcotics Control Board (now, the Commissioner of Narcotics) found to be necessary to provide for medical and legitimate needs. Importation of any form of narcotic drug, except such limited quantities of crude opium and coca leaves, was prohibited. Thus, all derivatives of these crude drugs, such as morphine, heroin, codeine, cocaine, etc., were excluded from lawful importation, and the importation and exportation of smoking opium continued to be prohibited. Exportation of manufactured narcotic drugs and preparations was permitted under a system of control designed to assure their use for medical needs only in the country of destination. A special amendment to this statute, approved June 7, 1924, prohibited the importation of opium for the purpose of manufacturing heroin, and the legal manufacture of heroin in the United States promptly ceased. The 1931 Convention required the parties to establish (unless it was already established) a special administration for applying the provisions of the Convention; for regulating, supervising and controlling the trade in the drugs; and for organizing the campaign against drug addiction, by taking all useful steps to prevent its development and to suppress the illicit traffic. In the United States this special administration, the Bureau of Narcotics, bad already been established in 1930. In the United States, the limitation of manufacture of opium and coca leaf derivatives required by the 1931 Convention had already been applied for nine years, or since the effective date of the Act of May 26, 1922, because the restriction on imports of crude opium and coca leaves-the only source of supply of our manufacture-automatically limited the total quantity of derivative drugs, producible from such crude material, to medical and scientific needs. In the United States, national legislation controlling synthetic drugs preceded by two years similar international control under the Protocol of 1948. Thus it will be seen that the application in the United States of national control over dangerous drugs has generally preceded
FEDERAL JURISDICTION Page 141 the application of measures of international control over the same drugs. NARCOTICS IN RELATION TO SHIPPING The principal supply of narcotics for the illicit market in this country is represented by the quantities smuggled are unlawfully introduced into the United States from abroad and for this reason the problem is very closely allied with shipping. In certain foreign countries where preventive organizations are not adequate to combat the illicit narcotic traffic within their territories, and in others which do not live up to their international obligations to confine the use of and trade in drugs to medical and scientific purposes only, narcotics are readily procurable for smug ling. As the dragnet tightens around them, the drug traffickers move from one country to another where control is still weak or non-existent, and contrive more and more clever ways of getting their poisons to their customers. Drug trafficking is a very ingenious and resourceful business, All the tricks and ruses of the professional magician, all the devices and inventions of Houdini himself seem tame and unimaginative beside the innumerable dodges and disguises thought up by the tribe of international drug traffickers. The big smuggler spares no expense to get his contraband to his eager customer. PREWAR METHODS In one case a smuggler even built a sea-going yacht at tremendous expense just to carry his wares. In 1931 the auxiliary schooner Marabella, flying the flag of Panama, left Hong Kong clandestinely and without official clearance for Kwang-chow-wan enroute to the United States. Built in a small shipyard at Hong Kong, she had been especially designed to carry Chinese emigrants and opium to be smuggled into the United States. At some point on the Coast of China, the Marabella embarked some 123 Chinese emigrants and a cargo of from one to four tons of opium, after which she set sail for the Pacific Coast of North America. Careful watch was kept for the ship on the Pacific
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 142 Coast of the United States and of Canada, but fog and weather conditions prevented its seizure. On one occasion, when hardpressed by American Coast Guard vessels, it was said that some fifteen Chinese were thrown overboard from the Marabella with weights attached to their feet. Eventually she reached port in Mexico and when boarded and searched by Mexican authorities, neither aliens nor contraband could be found. The ship was later confiscated by the Chinese maritime customs and put in pursuit service where her business was to chase smugglers rather than to conceal them--- a true case of poetic justice! Her master was banished from Hong Kong. While this enterprise constituted one of the largest smuggling operations ever attempted on the shores of the United States, nevertheless "cargo" smuggling was the custom around 1930, and seizures were aggregating as much as 3-1/2 tons (mostly morphine) in a single year. Prior to 1936, when its anti-smuggling vessels were eliminated, the United States Coast Guard performed an important part in the prevention of smuggling of narcotics into the United States. Maintaining a patrol of United States coastal waters, Coast Guard vessels often went well out to sea to meet and keep under observation vessels which were suspected of having aboard narcotic drugs intended for unlawful traffic. In those days it was a general practice of smugglers to drop overboard before docking sausage-shaped packages of narcotics to be picked up by accomplices in small speed boats. Certain vessels were for this reason escorted into and out of port under observation, and every vessel that had touched a port where narcotics were obtainable was regarded as a potential smuggler. While the Coast Guard seldom participated in large seizures of narcotics, its activity was such that much smuggling was prevented, and many seizures were made ashore as a result of the cumulative effect of its valuable cooperation. in some cases, the narcotic drugs were lowered into the water from ships, heavy tackles being used to assist in sinking the contraband. In a case involving the arrest of a smuggling organization in Seattle, Washington, in 1934, a search of the residence disclosed a complete light-weight diving suit, together with
FEDERAL JURISDICTION Page 143 oxygen bottles and other paraphernalia. The diving outfit was used by a Chinese in recovering from the harbor narcotic drugs which had been thrown overboard from vessels arriving at Seattle from the Far East. In another instance at Seattle, when the anchor of a vessel was lifted, it came up with a large package of opium. In other cases, narcotics were first placed in cellophane wrappers and then placed in rubber, waterproof bags, the bags then being partially inflated (to keep them afloat) and thrown into the water from Japanese vessels to be picked up by fishing boats. In the case of one Chinese who smuggled drugs into Honolulu in quantities of from 100 to 600 tins of smoking opium, as well as large quantities of morphine, a code system was used between the smugglers and operators of the kind of small boats known as sampans, whereby the smugglers would throw the drugs over board to be picked up by the sampans and taken ashore. It was also the common custom in those days to ship large quantities of narcotics falsely manifested as legitimate merchandise, such as lighting apparatus, furs, corn on the cob, spaghetti, coffee, rags, cottons, olive oil, toys, brushes, bowling pins and balls, ladies slippers, black olives, antique furniture, Turkish wool, spare machine parts, and also in oil drums. Even coffins have been used to conceal smuggled drugs! Seizures involving 2,000 pounds of opium, and 6,000 ounces of heroin were not uncommon. The steamship Alesia in 1930 arrived at a pier at Brooklyn, New York, with a shipment from Istanbul, consisting of 25 cases, listed as furs. When examined, the cases were found to contain a total of 17,500 cans, each containing one ounce of morphine, there being no furs whatever in the shipment. During the same year the S.S. Innoko arrived at Hoboken, New Jersey, containing a shipment billed at lighting apparatus which upon examination was found to be 214 pounds of morphine. As a result of the 1925 and 1931 international conventions, the amount of morphine produced in licensed factories abroad was cut in half between 1929 and 1932, and the manufacture of heroin was curtailed even more. The policy of the Bureau of Narcotics was directed primarily
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 144 to eliminate smuggling and large-scale trafficking, and to secure more effective international agreements and cooperation. During the first year of the operation of this policy, seizures increased eight-fold. The amount of morphine alone seized in the illicit traffic mounted from 3,400 ounces in 1929 to 26,500 ounces in 1930. Through these combined efforts, the smuggling picture was soon changed. Cargo lots and large lots concealed in merchandise dwindled to lots of the suitcase variety, and later to cases involving a few ounces at a time smuggled on the persons of seamen. Under statutes placing a liability upon the master or owner of a vessel in the amount of $25 per ounce for each ounce of smoking opium discovered on board the vessel, and a penalty of $50 for each ounce of heroin, morphine, or cocaine, and $10 for each ounce of crude opium, fines totaling thousands of dollars were assessed, particularly against Japanese vessels then engaged in the Far Eastern trade. In 1931, for instance, total fines assessed under these statutes amounted to almost $400,000.00 These fines which are very high constitute the only measure which has effectively brought home to the steamship companies the necessity of maintaining measures to prevent narcotic drugs from being placed on board ships enroute to the United States. The Canadian Pacific Steamship Company maintained the best system of preventive measures known. The Bureau of Narcotics has repeatedly urged that all companies take similar steps. The company spent a great deal of money yearly to prevent smuggling of narcotics by its ships. All of its vessels were free from contact by unauthorized craft in the Far East, and the company employed on each ship three trained masters at arms to prevent narcotic drugs from entering or leaving vessels. They were supplied with and made a careful study of all seizure reports showing places in which narcotic drugs had been found on board vessels. The Canadian company found this to be of great advantage, and it minimized the risk of the Canadian Pacific Railroad (its owners) having to pay heavy fines for carrying contraband. No seizure of importance was made on the C.P.R. vessels after the adoption of these measures.
FEDERAL JURISDICTION Page 145 When smuggling was rampant on Japanese vessels, the N.Y.K. (Japanese) Steamship Company adopted measures which included daily and general inspections on board vessels during the voyage. The Japanese officials claimed this expense was justfied because they no longer bad to pay heavy fines. POSTWAR METHODS Notwithstanding the degree of control achieved during the past two decades over the international narcotic drug traffic, smuggling continues to present a serious problem. The fact that more effective national control makes very difficult the diversion of supplies from the regular medical channels causes a sharp rise in prices in the domestic illicit market, and the consequent large profits form a constant temptation and incentive to the smugglers who are still able to obtain the drug abroad at comparatively modest prices. Facts and figures presented to the Seventh Session of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs by the United States Representative, indicated that the postwar international illicit traffic in narcotic drugs has increased dangerously, and it was recognized that strong efforts will have to be made immediately to cope with the problem. The illicit traffic in the United States is now supplied chiefly by seamen acting on their own account, but sometimes there is a tie-up with waterfront racketeers in these smuggling ventures. Members of the crews of merchant vessels are tempted by the opportunity to obtain abroad a supply of heroin, for instance, for a small sum because they know that a few ounces, representing a sale value in the United States of hundreds of dollars, may be concealed on the person and the smuggler may thus elude detection at the port of entry and reap the large profits incident to the illicit sale in the United States. Particularly in the Orient, traffickers in narcotics approach crew members in an endeavor to have them act as carriers when returning to the United States. This opportunity, and the temptation of large profits to the seaman as long as be can escape Customs detection, continues by reason of the nature of his employment. While a number of such cases are detected, it is
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 146 evident that many such efforts are successful in introducing quantities of contraband narcotics into the illicit traffic of the United States and other victim countries. Increased surveillance of ships in foreign ports, as well as daily inspections on board vessels during the voyage, deserve careful attention by all Governments and by all ship operators. The policing of vessels while in port should be under the direct charge of a port captain or of the office of the resident agent of the steamship company, and they should be held responsible for the proper policing of the vessel. The master and officers and owners must exercise the highest degree of care and diligence in order that narcotic drugs are not on board. In 1945, a bill in which much interest was expressed and one which would go far to prevent the smuggling of opium and other narcotic drugs into the United States was introduced by the late Congressman Wilbur D. Mills, in the United States House of Representatives. The bill provided that all shipments to the United States from any country where opium or other narcotic drugs are permitted to be sold to consumers for nonmedical purposes shall be marked with large, conspicuous letters with the name of such country; that on arrival at any United States port of entry all shipments from such countries shall be set aside for special inspection and examination, consisting of opening each and every package to ascertain if the shipment contains opium or other narcotic drugs; that the American consular officer stationed in a country which permits sale of opium for smoking or eating shall certify that said country permits such sale of opium to the public on each consular invoice and on each bill of health issued to any vessel clearing from such country for any port in the United States; and that, on arrival in any American port of any such vessel, clearance shall not be given until a complete inspection is made of said vessel, its hold, cabins, crew quarters, and of each and every person, whether passenger or crew, on said vessel to determine if any opium or other narcotic drug is being unlawfully imported into the United States. This bill died with the adjournment of Congress. Mr. Mills introduced a similar bill in the House of Representatives in 1951.
FEDERAL JURISDICTION Page 147 On February 11, 1952, a bill was introduced by the late Congressman Sabath in the United States House of Representatives, which proposed a radically different approach in placing the responsibility for illicit importation of narcotics. This bill would require banks, ship owners and operators, air transport owners and operators, and insurance companies insuring cargoes coming to United States shores, to take effective steps to cut off at its source the supply of narcotic drugs which feeds the drug traffic in the United States and its possessions. It also provides for full cooperation by those countries producing and manufacturing narcotics. Mr. Sabath stressed that "direct, forceful and stringent legislation is absolutely necessary to eliminate, as fully as possible, the importation of illicit drugs." At the 1952 meeting of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, emphasis was placed on the fact that various governments should take strong measures to put an end to the smuggling of narcotics by seamen, and the following resolution relating to the illicit trafficking in narcotics by the crews of merchant ships and civil aircraft, was adopted: THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL, Having been informed by the Commission on Narcotic Drugs that there has been an increase in the illicit traffic in narcotics on merchant ships and civil aircraft during the past five years and that this increase is principally owing to smuggling by merchant seafarers and crews of civil aircraft, Desiring to take all measures possible to combat this illicit traffic, 1. Requests the Secretary-General to compile as soon as may be convenient and thereafter to bring up to date at convenient regular intervals a list of merchant seafarers and members of civil air crews who have been convicted of offences against narcotic laws on or after 1 January 1953 setting out so far as possible the following information: a. Name (including aliases where appropriate); b. Nationality; c. Date of birth; d. Nature of offence and disposition of the case.
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 148 2. Instructs the Secretary-General to send the list to the governments of all States with the recommendation of the Council; a. That they take appropriate measures i. to revoke certificates and licenses currently held by merchant seafarers or members of civil air crews so convicted and ii. to withhold the issue to such persons of such licenses and certificates, such revocation or withholding of such licenses or certificates to be either temporary or permanent as may be appropriate in the circumstances of any particular case, provided that if either course does not accord with national law or usage the government concerned shall send a copy of the list to the competent authorities for such action as the latter may decide to take under their own domestic laws, or shall have recourse to such other legal measures as may be open to this government to prevent merchant seafarers or members of civil air crews from carrying out their profession; b. That they send a copy of the list to the maritime and aeronautical unions and companies in their territories for their consideration in connexion with the exercise of their disciplinary functions and any functions which they may exercise in connexion with the engagement of crews. At the 1950 session of the Commission, the United States representative had introduced a resolution concerning illicit trafficking by the crews of merchant ships containing these and other provisions. Thus in both the United Nations action and in the repeated demands of the United States Congress, there is an urgent and insistent pressure for greater cooperation of enforcement officers in overseas smuggling ports, and particularly for greater vigilance on the part of steamship companies and officers, to 'prevent the introduction of narcotics into vessels bound directly or indirectly to the United States. BUREAU OF NARCOTICS The Commissioner of Narcotics, under the direction and supervision of the Secretary of the Treasury, has general supervision
FEDERAL JURISDICTION Page 149 of the enforcement of the narcotic and marihuana tax provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, the Opium Poppy Control Act of 1942, and related statutes, including the administration of the permissive features of the Narcotic Drugs Import and Export Act. It cooperates with the Customs Bureau in the enforcement of the prohibitive features of the latter act. The Commissioner also cooperates (1) with the State Department in the discharge of the international obligations of the United States concerning the traffic in narcotic drugs and (2) with the several States in the suppression of the abuse of narcotic drugs in their respective jurisdictions. The Commissioner represents the United States on the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs. The duties of the Bureau include the investigation, detection, and prevention of violations of the Federal narcotic laws (including the Federal marihuana law and the Opium Poppy Control Act of 1942), the determination of quantities of crude opium and coca leaves to be imported into the United States for medical and legitimate uses, and the issuance of permits to import the crude narcotic drugs and to export drugs and preparations manufactured therefrom under the law and regulations. An annual report is made to Congress which also serves the purpose of the report on behalf of the Government for transmittal through the State Department to the nations signatory to the International Drug Conventions of 1912 and 1931. An example follows of the Bureau's thorough investigational methods as set forth in its Annual Report. TRAFFIC IN OPIUM AND OTHER DANGEROUS DRUGS Cross-country drug distributors and members of inter- Members of notorious gangster 107th Street Mob of New A most important case illustrating the cunning which must be met in matching wits against the complicated operations of drug distributors, was climaxed in California, when Salvatore (Sam) Maugeri, (Italian-born) drug dealer and smuggler, was sentenced to twenty
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 150 years' imprisonment and fined $10,000 for selling 630 ounces of prepared opium and 8 ounces of morphine, for the sum of $22,000 in cash. (These quantities would sell for more than five times this amount in the illicit market by the time they reached the consumer.) Joseph Tocco (The Eye), representative of the group of persons operating in New York City and California, known to the underworld as the "107th Street Mob," who was transporting these drugs across country, was apprehended by narcotic agents as he was changing trains in Chicago. He was later sentenced to ten years I imprisonment and fined $5,000. Previously, one of the California members of the gang apparently bad been "taken for a ride" under bizarre circumstances. The West coast "boss" of the Mob known as Big Nosed Charlie LaGaipa, bad been under day and night surveillance by narcotic and customs officers. However, during an interval of a few hours when this surveillance was incomplete due to the manpower shortage handicapping the agencies, LaGaipa disappeared. He was known in the underworld as a double-crosser. A customs agent subsequently discovered his automobile in Oakland, California, and on its instrument panel traces of human brain tissue were found. No further trace of him has been reported. LaGaipa, a well-known New York racketeer, had removed from there to California, from which place be engaged in the smuggling and distribution of drugs on a large scale. After LaGaipa's disappearance, his principal lieutenant; Salvatore (Sam) Maugeri, took over his drug business. During this investigation another major violator was murdered by rival gangsters, one disappeared, and two fled to Mexico. LaGaipa, Maugeri and Tocco were members of an international organization engaged in smuggling large quantities of morphine and opium from Mexico for distribution in various sections of the United States, particularly in the vicinities of Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, and New York City. Maugeri intimated he would consider no transactions involving less than $10,000 to be paid in advance. The case bad its origin in New York when narcotic agents started looking into the activities of the so-called 107th Street Mob, composed of Charles (Bullets) Albero and some of the most notorious gangsters in New York. They bad been sending their trusted men to California, where they would obtain Mexican opium from the Charles LaGaipa organization. This would then be transported to New York, where it would be converted into heroin for distribution in New York and other large cities throughout the United States. As a result of this phase of
FEDERAL JURISDICTION Page 151 the investigation, thirty-one persons were indicted, but the narcotic violations were continued by the mob. The trail led to Boston, where several distributors of narcotics in New England were arrested. Purchases bad been made from some of the principals of the 107th Street Mob, and seventeen members were indicted, including Charles Albero, alias Charlie Bullets, Eugene Tramaglino, Steve Armone, and Joseph Tocco, of New York; Ralph C. Carbone, of Newark, N. J.; and Basil Herbert McKinney, Huckart W. Bethel, and Barton F. Rowe, of Nassau, Bahamas. A collateral development in the case was an attempt by two of these men to influence a Government witness by offering a bribe. This resulted in the re-arrest of Tramaglino and Carbone shortly after their indictment. The mob had attempted to exploit a source of supply in the Bahamas. It had raised funds for the purchase of small boats, and obtained small consignments of drugs from Nassau, and was endeavoring to establish a steady source of supply from the Bahamas and from Haiti via the Bahamas to Florida and New York City. In these negotiations the mob had used some of the same personnel who had stolen a quantity of drugs from a drug manufacturer in Brooklyn, N. Y. Since it appeared that the major source of supply was Mexican opium and the New Yorkers were dealing with members of the old Black Tony Parmagini * gang in California, the emphasis was shifted to the West Coast, where narcotic and customs agents conducted a joint investigation. At great personal danger because of the gang's connection with a number of murders, a narcotic agent who spoke Italian infiltrated himself into a remnant of the Parmagini gang, gained the confidence of the leader Maugeri sufficiently that he, the agent, was actually chosen by the gangster-who feared a double-cross from fellow conspirators on the distribution end-as over-night custodian of a fortune in drugs. Unable to act lest he expose the Government's hand and enable the mob leaders to escape, the officer ruefully saw the drugs turned over to the buyers the next morning. The agents followed through, however, and arrested the runner, Joe Tocco (The Eye), in Chicago, in possession of the drugs. Joseph Dentico, alias Bari, member of the 107th Street Mob, went to California to deliver * Antone Parmagini, alias Black Tony, who bad been "king" of the racketeers on the Pacific coast, was convicted of narcotic law violations and Sentenced to serve seventeen years in the penitentiary and fined $17,000.
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 152 the $22,000 in cash for the drugs. He was indicted, disappeared, and later apprehended. The New Yorkers were also dealing with one William Levin, former partner of Parmagini, and just released from a seventeen-yearprison sentence on drug charges. Levin, along with his wife, Elizabeth Levin was arrested, following the seizure of 10 pounds, I ounce, 219 grains of prepared opium, and subsequently was sentenced to serve ten years' imprisonment and fined $2,500. Elizabeth Levin was sentenced to one year's imprisonment. It was discovered that Levin was dealing with Jack Sieman in Vancouver, Canada, also of the old Parmagini gang. Sieman sent a confederate, Morris Irwin, a Canadian customs inspector, from Vancouver to Los Angeles, California, with approximately $8,000, which was delivered to William Levin for 140 ounces of prepared opium. Irwin was arrested as he was about to board a train for Canada, and was later sentenced to twelve years' imprisonment (five years to be served and seven suspended on condition that be leave the United States). Sieman was convicted and sentenced in Canadian courts to seven years' imprisonment and fined $1,000. The investigation of Levin indicated that he was securing drugs from one Jack W. Morse and his wife, Sally Elsie Morse, of Santa Monica, Calif., and in April and again in July Morse was arrested in possession of opium. The Morses had both been arrested in Norfolk, Va., many times. They went to California in 1942 when Morse was given a conditional release from a Federal institution on a ten-years' sentence for a narcotic law violation. It was reported that during his incarceration Mrs. Morse bad, through antisocial activities in Norfolk, accumulated approximately $40,000 which served as capital for them in California to purchase large quantities of opium from Mexico for sale. Lenneth F. Williams was used by the Morses to deliver drugs. After extensive investigation these three persons were arrested in an automobile on the highway en route from Santa Monica to San Francisco in possession of approximately 70 ounces of opium, which they bad obtained from a well-known Mexican smuggler, Enrique Diarte. Diarte was also the source of supply in Tiajuana, Mexico, from whom William Levin obtained his opium. Morse was sentenced in California to serve five years' imprisonment; Mrs. Morse to serve three years' imprisonment, but she was released on an appeal bond of $7,500; and Lenneth F. Williams to five years' imprisonment and fined $1,000. It was ascertained that Enrique Diarte, one of the most flagrant
FEDERAL JURISDICTION Page 153 smugglers of narcotic drugs operating out of Mexicali and Tiajuana, Mexico, was expecting to deliver a large quantity of opium to Morse at San Diego, California. His confederates, Jesus Velasquez and Consuelo Landeros de Vasquez, his wife, were arrested by customs and narcotic officers in San Diego, in possession of 175 ounces of prepared opium, and 20 ounces of pure heroin. Diarte avoided arrest by escaping to Mexico, and his confederates captured at the time of the seizure, subsequently forfeited $5,000 and $500 cash bonds, and returned to Mexico. Diarte's body was found on a Mexican roadside. He had been murdered, having been shot through the heart, his throat cut, and his skull crushed with a heavy instrument. Frank Orbe, onetime drugsmuggling associate of Diarte and later a competitor, was arrested in connection with the slaying. Max Webber, known as Step and a Half, of San Diego, California, was subsequently arrested in Mexico and was also charged with the murder of Diarte. The latter was allegedly killed at a Tiajuana hide-out when he argued with Webber over the price of opium. Webber was asserted to be the brains of the Diarte ring. In connection with this case, 106 persons were arrested in Mexico in what was described by Mexico's Inspector General of Police as "one of the biggest arrests made in the history of Mexico." The traffic was largely in opium grown in Sonora, Mexico. Previous Criminal Records of Violators in Foregoing Case Albero had a long criminal record including convictions for possession of concealed weapons, robbery, burglary, and violations of the narcotic laws. Tramaglino bad previous convictions for grand larceny and for counterfeiting. Steve Armone had previous convictions for violations of the narcotic laws and a conviction for assault with intent to kill. Carbone had previous convictions on charges of highway robbery, attempted extortion and counterfeiting. In addition to narcotic law violations, Morse bad a long record including convictions for attempted robbery, carrying concealed weapons, and assault. When Morse and Mrs. Morse were sentenced previously on narcotic charges newspapers published the fact that Morse bad been arrested 43 times in thirteen years, fined 23 times, and ordered to be imprisoned 12 times. Lenneth F. Williams had previous convictions for housebreaking, grand larceny and robbery. Dentico had a previous conviction for robbery, and Maugeri for counterfeiting and violation of the narcotic laws.
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 154 The criminal records cited are forceful illustrations of the fact that most narcotic law violators are dangerous criminals and travel in a vicious circle from violation to violation. In sentencing Salvator Maugeri and Joseph Tocco, Louis E. Goodman, judge of the United States District Court for the Northern Division of California, made the following comments: "This nation has agreed with other nations to combat to the utmost the narcotics-selling evil. I don't think there is any statute in existence, the violation of which causes more misery, deprivation, or degradation than that covering narcotics. In this case, the amount and value of the contraband were so great that I can see no other course open but to impose this very severe penalty." CONTENTS
VI THE STATES AND THEIR RESPONSIBILITY
AT A MEETING OF THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF COMMISSIONERS on Uniform State Laws, held in Washington, D. C., in 1932, the fifth tentative draft submitted by the subcommittee on Uniform State Laws was approved and adopted by the Conference as a model Uniform State Narcotic Act. This Act has been enacted into law, substantially as drafted, by forty-three States and the territories of Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. Of the five States which have not adopted the Uniform Narcotic Law, two-Pennsylvania and California-have in effect, State narcotic laws which are considered to be of comparable efficacy. THE ARGUMENT FOR UNIFORM LEGISLATION Before launching into any discussion of the Act itself it is important that we understand the reasons for uniform legislation. Unfortunately, in the twenty years which have passed since this Act was drafted, the reasons for its enactment have become obscured. As a result, despite the fact that most of the States have enacted it, the obligations of the various States under the terms of the Act have not always been fulfilled as the legal authorities who framed this Act bad intended. Prior to the enactment of any Federal statute the States which legislated against the use of narcotic drugs were impelled to do so in order to secure their citizens against injury to their health, morals, and general welfare. The very early laws were designed Page 155
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 156 to eradicate the evils of opium smoking and the maintenance of opium dens. Later, however, some of the States enacted laws covering other narcotic drugs and providing various penalties for their violation, but so little knowledge of the traffic was possessed by the framers of the various acts that an examination of them revealed such a varied expression of ideas on a single subject that it could only be classed as chaotic and absurd. When the Harrison Act was enacted by the Federal Government, it was contemplated that the authorities of the several States would accept and discharge the responsibility of investigating, detecting, and preventing the local illicit traffic conducted by the retail peddler, together with the institutional care and treatment of drug addicts within their respective jurisdictions. The expectation, however, proved to be totally unfounded. Instead, notwithstanding the limited power of the Federal Government, State officers became imbued with the erroneous impression that the problem of preventing the abuse of narcotic drugs was one exclusively cognizable by the United States Government and that the Federal law, alone, should represent all the control necessary over the illicit narcotic drug traffic. During the years from 1914 to 1932 the situation was such that very few States made any attempt to accept a just part of the burden of enacting and enforcing adequate laws to control the traffic. This attitude on the part of the States resulted in an anomalous situation. The public press each day brought news of banks being robbed by organized gangs, details of kidnappings, of burglaries and of gambling rackets, and other articles concerning the operations of bandits who held up stores and citizens. Newspaper editorials criticized the police, and clamorous demands were made upon them to eliminate these menaces to the community well-being. No authoritative source then suggested, or has since suggested, that these matters were anything but State problems. As a matter of fact the person who would suggest that the Federal authorities be called upon to come into the State and catch a hold-up man would be castigated. Furthermore, the local police would be outraged. Yet, in the same community, the insidious drug peddler, carrying on his nefarious work of unlawfully taking away not only the property but also the peace of
THE STATES AND THEIR RESPONSIBILITY Page 157 mind and the morals and health of the citizens and of undermining the general welfare of the community, was considered an exception to the general rule. In spite of the fact that the right to punish such criminals under certain circumstances lay only within the police power of the State, and despite the fact that the founders of our country never contemplated that such activities should be dealt with by the Federal Government, enforcement officers, as well as legislators and administrators in a number of States, conveniently decided that the United States had exclusively assumed the burden of coping with this particular problem of the local community. This illogical, indifferent attitude not only prevented the passage of adequate laws of inestimable benefit to the State's own citizens, but it resulted in a number of the States in an almost complete failure to enforce the laws already on the statute books, even in those aspects of the crime with which only the State itself could deal. Federal courts became flooded with cases of a minor character which should have been handled in the State courts but which were not thus handled, either from lack of adequate laws or because the duties and responsibilities appeared burdensome, expensive, or distasteful. This in turn caused a slowing up of the prompt and orderly process of justice in major cases, and in many instances cases were continued from term to term because of congestion in the courts and were finally dismissed on account of the unavailability of witnesses or the unknown whereabouts of the defendants. Moreover, if the defendant pleaded guilty he was often accorded so much consideration that a fine or a short sentence was imposed and he immediately resumed his illegal activity. Some of the reasons advanced by many State and municipal prosecutors for their reluctance or open refusal to prosecute narcotic cases were as follows: First, that sentences imposed in Federal courts were more severe than those imposed in the State courts. Such sentences were, of course, those meted out to major violators; however, it was obvious that it did not lie within the power of State and municipal courts, where the State law was either inadequate or non-existent, to impose a sentence equal to those which were
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 158 imposed in Federal courts in cases of greater magnitude and where the offense was a felony. SECOND, that it was difficult to find a jury which would convict because in the smaller communities the menace of narcotic drugs was not understood. This argument was as incorrect then as it is now. The general public was, and is, fully aware of the destructive menace of drugs, and in smaller communities it has generally been found that the violation of such laws was regarded as an extremely grave, criminal offense. THIRD, that, when the accused was a woman, the State often had no suitable institution in which to care for her. This only served to point up the need for the enactment of State legislation providing for the care and treatment of all addicts, both men and women. An argument such as this arose only from the desire to place the burden of the necessary financial outlay upon the shoulders of the Federal Government. FOURTH, that voluntary applicants for treatment strenuously objected to incarceration in a State prison. This only reinforced the necessity for the enactment of legislation by the States for the purpose. In addition to the reasons heretofore set forth many others were given. There is no need to recount them all. They served as excuses and pretexts to avoid responsibility. They did, however, serve to point up the need for a Uniform State Narcotic Drug Act. Furthermore, the States, having supreme police power within their own boundaries to enact and enforce all laws necessary to the peace, health, morals, and general welfare of their citizens, are not hampered by the narrow limitations that restrict the Federal Government in its fight to control the illicit narcotic drug traffic. In other words, there were gaps in the Federal law which the States could and should plug. For example, the Federal law did not directly prohibit self-administration by a physician, and the Federal Government could not deprive him of his right to purchase narcotic drugs until the State had first deprived him of his license to practice his profession, Another example would be the case of a drugstore robbery where the culprit was apprehended by Federal officers while in
THE STATES AND THEIR RESPONSIBILITY Page 159 possession of tax-paid narcotic drugs. This, of course, did not constitute a Federal offense and here again a State law was necessary. Such a situation could be covered in every State law by making mere possession of narcotic drugs a felony and only making it necessary for the State to show that the defendant was within the jurisdiction of the court when apprehended. In brief, it can readily be seen that the reasons for and the need for a Uniform State Narcotic Act were both cogent and obvious. In recognition of this fact, work was started by a committee of experts in 1927 and after prolonged discussions, much study, and thorough debate, the fifth tentative draft of a uniform act was finally accepted by the Conference of 1932. This law was not perfect, nor did it present a complete solution of the narcotic problem, but it did represent a very important step toward uniformity in the laws as well as in the cooperation between the States and the Federal Government. In drafting the Uniform Act the committee had to take into consideration two Federal laws -the Harrison Act and the Narcotic Drugs Import and Export Act. While it was a fact that without these Federal laws on the subject, the individual States would have been greatly handicapped in combating the distribution of narcotic drugs within their borders, it is important to remember that these acts were not for the purpose of exercising any police power, which is a prerogative of the State. Their validity was predicated on the power of the Federal Government to tax, to regulate interstate and foreign commerce, and to make treaties. Two other considerations were important; (1) that the State laws did not contravene Federal law; and (2) that there would be no provisions requiring records that would require the citizens in the various States to duplicate their efforts in complying with both laws. Inherent in the drafting of the Act was the necessity of providing for the protection of those who would use the drugs legitimately, and at the same time establishing penalties for those who might use them illegally, since the architects of this Act did not lose sight of the dual fact that those who were protected by its various provisions might under certain circumstances seek to use the drugs illegally.
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 160 THE UNIFORM NARCOTIC DRUG ACT The Act contains twenty-six sections. In discussing the various sections of the Act it might be well to point out some of its salient provisions. First of all, it prohibits any person from manufacturing, possessing, having under his control, selling, prescribing, administering, dispensing or compounding any narcotic except as authorized in the Act. It provides for the licensing of manufacturers and wholesalers and for the qualifications thereof, as well as setting forth the classes to whom and the manner in which drugs may be sold or dispensed. One of the sections of the Act deals with sales by apothecaries and provides that an apothecary, in good faith, may sell and dispense narcotic drugs to any person upon a written prescription of a physician, dentist, or veterinarian. A companion section deals with the professional use of narcotic drugs and provides that a physician or a dentist, in good faith and in the course of his professional practice only, may prescribe, administer, and dispense narcotic drugs. It goes without saying that the members of the professions should be thoroughly familiar with these sections of the Act and that they should observe them implicitly. Further sections set forth the exempt preparations of which more will be said later, prescribe the records to be kept, set up the requirements concerning labeling, and provide for the authorized possession of narcotic drugs by certain individuals. Section 15 of the Act provides that upon the conviction of any person of the violation of any provision of the Act, a copy of the judgment and sentence and of the opinion of the court, shall be sent by the clerk of the court to the board or officer by whom the convicted defendant has been licensed or registered to practice his profession or to carry on his business, and further provides that upon the conviction of such person the court may, in its discretion, suspend or revoke the license or registration of the convicted defendant to practice his profession or to carry on his business, with the additional provision that upon the application of any person whose license or registration has been suspended or revoked, said board or officer may reinstate such license or registration. The section is both important and necessary; but
THE STATES AND THEIR RESPONSIBILITY Page 161 despite that fact many States have either omitted it entirely or have inserted a watered-down provision in its place. Effective narcotic control in any State would demand its inclusion. Obtaining or attempting to obtain a narcotic drug or procuring or attempting to procure the administration of a narcotic drug by fraud, deceit, misrepresentation, or subterfuge or by the forgery or alteration of a prescription or of any written order, or by the concealment of a material fact, or by the use of a false name or the giving of a false address is prohibited. Further sections allocate the responsibilities for the enforcement of the Act as well as the penalties for violations. Provisions with regard to care and treatment of addicts, and search and seizure were omitted from the Act. Since it was felt that each State could better legislate on those subjects individually, and recognizing that the question of care and treatment was of vital and paramount importance and that the cure of addicts was as much a duty of the State as was the care of its insane, the committee recommended that no State delay in making an immediate and complete study of this problem. In connection therewith, the experts were in almost unanimous agreement on two points; (1) that the treatment of drug addiction was a medical and not a penal problem, and (2) that treatment looking toward the cure of addiction, without confinement in a drug-free atmosphere, was uniformly unsuccessful. From the practical standpoint it is fundamental that a business, legal or illegal, would be bound to fail if deprived of customers, and the peddler of narcotic drugs is no exception. If the peddler were deprived of a market for his illegal wares, he would cease to exist. As long as the addict is at liberty to come and go, the peddler has a steady customer. When the addict is institutionalized he not only loses his value to the peddler but he is also thereby prevented from contaminating others. Any one reading the draft of the Uniform Act as reprinted in the Appendix will be impressed that so complex a subject could be handled so clearly and briefly by its framers. With the exception of Sections 1, 5, 8, 9, and 20, the law remains as it was originally drafted in October, 1932. Sections I and 9 were amended in August, 1942, only because in 1932 it had been
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 162 assumed that the dangerous drug principle of the Cannabis plant was limited to the flowering tops of the female plant. When it was subsequently determined that this dangerous drug principle was contained in the leaves and foliage of both the male and female plants, it became obvious that the Uniform Law should be made to apply to all of the potentially dangerous parts of the plant. Accordingly changes were made in both Sections I and 9. The 1942 amendment of sub-paragraph 5 of Section 5 of the Uniform Act was a technical amendment which authorized the sale of narcotic drugs by a licensed manufacturer or wholesaler to certain specified persons employed on ships or aircraft. The August 1942 amendment of Section 8 of the Act was an excellent and much needed amendment. Section 8 of the original Act exempted from its general requirements medicinal preparations that contained in one fluid ounce or, if a solid or semi-solid preparation, one avoirdupois ounce: (1) not more than two grains of opium; (2) not more than one quarter grain of morphine or of any of its salts; (3) not more than one grain of codeine or any of its salts; (4) not more than one eighth of a grain of heroin or of any of its salts; (5) not more than one half of a grain of extract of Cannabis nor more than one half of a grain of any more potent derivative or preparation of Cannabis. The effect of the 1942 amendment to Section 8 was to limit the exemption to medicinal preparations that contained in one fluid ounce or, if a solid or semi-solid preparation, in one avoirdupois ounce, not more than one grain of codeine or of any of its salts. The reason for the change was the fact that world conditions indicated that the original provisions were too liberal, and the change had the effect of conserving the supply of opium and its derivatives as well as reducing the possibility of sale of narcotics for abusive use since persons who were unable to obtain their supply of narcotics from illicit sources were turning to druggists and other legal sources and purchasing drugs exempted under Section 8 of the original Act. Experts in the field of narcotic control were in complete agreement that the 1942 amendment of Section 8 of the Act was necessary and in the public interest, and despite the fact that the proposal was fought in several States, forward-looking States
THE STATES AND THEIR RESPONSIBILITY Page 163 such as Colorado, Kentucky, Louisiana, Iowa, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Montana, Oregon, New Jersey, South Dakota, Vermont, and the Territory of Alaska adopted this amendment. In relation to this section, it is noteworthy that heroin is neither lawfully manufactured in, nor imported into, the United States. Some States have inserted in the Uniform State Narcotic Law sections providing for confinement and treatment in State hospitals for persons convicted under the Act, while other States have made drug addiction an offense under the Disorderly Persons Act. Practically every State has provided a section in their Act relative to search and seizure. Some States, such as Delaware, North Carolina, New Jersey, Maryland, and New York have added sections regulating the possession of hypodermic syringes and needles. Section 21 of the Act, which provides that no person shall be prosecuted for a violation of any provision of the Act if such person has been convicted or acquitted under the Federal narcotic laws for the same act, or omission which it is alleged constitutes a violation of the Act, has been deleted by New Jersey and Maine. The courts have held that a single offense which violates both Federal and State criminal laws results in distinct offenses against two separate governments. In view of the viciousness of the illicit narcotic traffic, who would not want to see the offenders subject to two long prison terms? New Jersey, considered by experts to have the strongest and finest laws in the United States pertaining to narcotics, has recently adopted as a type of offense what is known as proselytism in regard to narcotic drugs. New Jersey law, which can be particularly effective where juveniles are involved, provides that any person who induces or persuades any other person to use any narcotic drug unlawfully, or aids or contributes to such use of any narcotic drug by any other person, is guilty of a high misdemeanor, and subject to a penalty of up to seven years imprisonment, together with a fine. This broad enactment should prove a powerful weapon for prosecutors. Section 7 of the Uniform Act, which deals with the professional use of narcotic drugs, is extremely important. It provides that a
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 164 physician in good faith and in the course of his professional practice only, may prescribe, administer, and dispense narcotic drugs. This same provision is also contained in the Federal law. Most States have required the prescription to be in writing. Federal regulations require that the prescription be in writing, except in the case of exempt preparations or where the drugs are dispensed to bona-fide patients directly. Thus, the physician's privilege is predicated on two elements-the patient, and the dispensation in the course of professional practice only. It follows, of course, that if that important second element is not present, the physician's privilege is nullified. The Act is silent with relation to the specific diseases for which a narcotic drug may be supplied, and the question of what constitutes bona-fide medical practice is determined by a consideration of the evidence and the circumstances. The answer resolves itself on whether the prescription was real and genuine and was predicated on bad faith rather than bad judgment. A physician may prescribe narcotic drugs for a disease or injury in the treatment of which narcotic drugs are medically indicated; however, dispensing the drug for the purpose of satisfying the craving of an addict for the drug is not dispensing or distributing it in the course of professional practice and is therefore illegal. CONTENTS
VII CONTROL AND ENFORCEMENT
NARCOTIC ADDICTION IS NOTHING NEW IN THE UNITED STATES. Thirty-five years ago it was two or three times more prevalent on a per capita basis than it was at the outbreak of World War II. Toward the war's end narcotic addiction was still further greatly reduced; and when that war ended, addiction in this country was at the irreducible minimum. NARCOTIC LAW ENFORCEMENT The Federal narcotic laws and the State narcotic laws have been in force for only a long generation. Throughout that period and until just recently there had been a steady, substantial decline in addiction. It coincided with the enforcement of penal narcotic laws. There was a deviation from a straight decline in a rather sharp upsurge after World War 1, but that soon subsided. In the early 1920's, heroin and morphine were available at $25.00 to $50.00 an ounce. A few unscrupulous doctors were writing prescriptions for narcotics in large amounts. Drugs were smuggled into the country in trunk lots. It was common for addicts to have tremendous habits: 5, 10, 20, or even 50 grains of morphine a day! Today, the unscrupulous doctor has almost disappeared. The occasional cheater dares to prescribe a few grains only instead of ounces. Wholesale diversions are nonexistent except for an occasional bona-fide robbery or burglary. Smuggling is in small amounts that can be concealed on the person. Page 165
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 166 The addiction of persons in their late teens, loosely referred to as teen-age addiction, is not novel in this country. Heroin was used by this age group in the early 1900's. It was one of the developments which brought about the enactment of the Harrison Narcotic Law in 1914 and later on, other Federal and State laws outlawing the narcotic traffic. The following is cited from a report of a special committee appointed by the Secretary of the Treasury in 1919: "Most of the heroin addicts are comparatively young, a portion of them being boys and girls under the age of twenty. This is also true of cocaine addicts." But after the post-World-War-I outbreak, the tendency was for fewer young people to become addicted. The new addicts were in a slightly older category, and the youthful addict became an exception and a curiosity. On the basis of World War I experience, the Bureau of Narcotics feared and predicted some rise in addiction after World War II, and these forebodings proved to be well justified. An increase in addiction was noted around 1948, first as a trickle and then as a small stream. By 1952, admissions to Federal narcotic hospitals and other factors showed that the crest of that increase had been passed. However, the situation remains a dangerous one, the correction of which is a challenge to the best efforts of everyone concerned. It is the considered judgment of officials in the Bureau of Narcotics that this epidemic of narcotic addiction among younger people is primarily an extension of a wide-spread surge of juvenile delinquency. While it can not be completely dismissed or completely described as a big city problem, that, practically speaking, is the situation. Also, it is a problem confined for the most part to those areas where many factors contribute to delinquency and lawlessness among the affected youth. The new addiction is a contagious manifestation which endangers fringe groups with whom the hoodlum comes in contact. Not the least consideration in the revival of narcotic addiction in this country was the fact that the field force of the Bureau of Narcotics had been reduced approximately 25 percent from the pre-World-War-II roster. This was a logical development during the World-War-II years when the narcotic traffic subsided to
CONTROL AND ENFORCEMENT Page 167 practically an irreducible minimum. When efforts were made to get the force back to something like reasonable numerical strength, difficulties were encountered because of competition with military preparedness and other high priority programs. The 82nd Congress, however, restored the force of narcotic agents to prewar strength. Again, in many cities the relatively good situation bad brought about the disbanding of or a great reduction in the specialized local forces needed for narcotic policing. While in some places these men were retained as a nominal narcotic squad they were assigned other duties. PROSECUTION AND THE COURTS Also, the narcotic traffic had an incentive for revival in an atmosphere where the courts had veered from a course of dealing vigorously and rigorously with these racketeers to a practice where relatively short sentences and general leniency were the rule. This was perhaps a not too surprising development. As the traffic was lessened, some of the cases brought before the courts seemed to be of a less consequential nature. However, this atmosphere was simply an open invitation to professional racketeers. To it attaches some of the responsibility for the revival of the traffic and for the inability of the Bureau of Narcotics to deal summarily with it when it reappeared. Likewise, the prosecuting arm must take some of the blame, since in many jurisdictions there was great delay and dilatoriness in bringing cases to justice. In many instances the Bureau of Narcotics would arrest a trafficker three or four times before his first case was brought up for trial. Beginning in 1943, certain United States Supreme Court decisions put brakes on the whole Federal law enforcement machinery in the areas of arrests, searches and seizures, and confessions. These decisions work a special hardship in the investigation of rackets so covert, so elusive and so transitory as narcotic violations. Hope for relief in one direction is indicated by a more recent decision, but the disabilities are still very real.
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 168 NEED FOR ENLIGHTENED PUBLIC OPINION There has also been a climate of public opinion which has favored the spread of narcotic addiction. Contributing to this was a very unfortunate report released some years ago by the socalled LaGuardia committee on marihuana. The Bureau immediately detected the superficiality and hollowness of its findings and denounced it. However, it gave wide circulation to the idea that this drug is relatively innocuous. Now marihuana is found to be the introductory drug to much of the heroinism in young people in the United States. The LaGuardia report is the favorite reference of the proselytor for narcotic-drugs use. The general public does strange things which often bring about undesirable situations; then it looks to the schools or the police or somebody else to correct the mistakes. Few will dispute that entertainment-world headliners make a terrific impression on youth. But, consider how the public reacts respecting glamorous entertainment characters who have been involved in the sordid details of a narcotic case. Is there a spontaneous reaction which drives them out of show business as might have been done a generation ago? Not at all. There seems to be some sort of public approval of these degenerate practices. The character is not ostracized. Instead he or she immediately becomes a box-office headliner. RESPONSIBILITY FOR ENFORCEMENT In a recent report the Senate Committee on Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce said "the most effective means of combating the narcotic problem is through effective enforcement facilities." That means enforcement at every possible level and by every possible means. In the policing phases of enforcement there is of course a tremendous Federal responsibility. This crime is certainly characteristically an interstate one. As a matter of fact, it is international. Therefore, the Federal Government has a burden of trying to eliminate sources abroad, of attempting to shut off the introduction of the drug at ports and borders, and of combating the interstate traffic within the country.
CONTROL AND ENFORCEMENT Page 169 There is also a heavy responsibility on the local police because of their general concern with law and order. Most of the States have the Uniform State Narcotic Law. All of them have some sort of narcotic laws. Many communities have special narcotic ordinances. The great interest and wide support given by local police in campaigns to stamp out the narcotic evil has contributed much to the Federal control pattern. Cooperation between Federal narcotic officers and the local police in the enforcement of the narcotic laws has been about as close to perfection as human frailty will permit. Every day from St. Paul to New Orleans, from Los Angeles to New York, narcotic agents are engaged in cooperative ventures with one police agency or another. It is a fine testimonial to the feeling of mutual confidence which exists with other law enforcement officers and prosecutors that few narcotic cases of consequence are developed in the United States without the active participation of the Bureau of Narcotics. When increases in Bureau law-enforcement personnel were requested, the legislators were insistent on knowing whether or not the local communities had been shouldering their proper share of the burden in narcotic law enforcement. Fortunately, in many localities there had been a quick response by the police departments to the emergency. This included the specialized training in narcotic information of the police departments, the creation or augmentation of specialized narcotic squads, and similar programs. Narcotic enforcement is a unique operation. It cannot be effectively handled by officers who do not have particular training. These officers should not be given other duties. The hours and the difficult working conditions are such that narcotic duties are likely to suffer if the officer can properly divert any of his attention to other work. Because of the interstate and source-of-supply features, there should be the closest liaison with Federal narcotic officers. Every bit of information which might run back to original sources should be exploited. However, there are many types of cases which can and should be handled independently. Simple possession type cases, the usual forgery cases, those arising from the robbery or burglary or larceny of narcotic drugs where no interstate organized ring
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 170 is indicated, all could best be handled on the initiative of local police. In the interest of conserving manpower, it is important that cooperation between various services does not result merely in a doubling up of officers on an operation which could be performed just as well or better singly. In addition to suppressing the traffic in narcotics, police activity against drug addicts is a very essential part of general police operations. The great majority of addicts are parasitic. This parasitic drug addict is a tremendous burden on the community. He represents a continuing problem to the police through his depredations against society. He is a thief, a burglar, a robber; if a woman, a prostitute or a shoplifter. The person is generally a criminal or on the road to criminality before he becomes addicted. Once addicted be has the greatest reason in the world for continuing his life of crime. Most policemen recognize that one of the best ways to break up waves of pocket-picking, petty thievery and burglary in a community is by making a round-up of the narcotic addicts. Often, a long term of imprisonment for a narcotic addict on narcotic charges will rid the community of a burglar or thief for that period. Still to be attained in most States is proper control over the addict. It is the young addict who contaminates other youth with his dreadful vice. He should be plucked out of the community and quarantined, forced to undergo a cure. He will not do it voluntarily. People who argue against this on the basis of cost of hospitalization forget that $50.00 a day or more may be the cost of the addict's criminal depredations. Public concern about the narcotic problem has brought an increase in the force of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics. It has enabled some police departments to augment or create specialized squads to deal with the criminal narcotic traffic. It has brought about more prompt and vigorous prosecution in many places. Courts are imposing more severe sentences under the Boggs Act which was passed by Congress and approved by the President on November 2, 1951. Legislation similar to the Boggs Act has been enacted by several of the States as an amendment to their Uniform State Narcotic Law. During the early part of 1952, there were definite indications
CONTROL AND ENFORCEMENT Page 171 that the increase in teen-age drug addiction had been halted and that a downward trend in drug addiction again existed. This does not mean, however, that there can be any dimunition of efforts against the narcotic traffic. ADDICTION AND THE CRIMINAL It is well established that a large proportion of the pickpocket artists, the shoplifters, the professional gamblers and card sharks, the confidence men operating fake horse race or fake stock sale schemes, the "short con" men such as the "short change artist" or the coin matchers, are addicted to the use of narcotic drugs. By the very nature of their criminal activities, they are required to be migratory and could be classed as roving criminals. No community seems to be entirely free of their depredations and activities. Particularly is this true of tourist centers and other places, where large crowds congregate. A skilled gang of pickpockets can steal and will steal an average of sixty pocketbooks a day, and a good day's work will net them $1,500 or more. The elite among the confidence men, preying on the gullible, may have incomes that reach really impressive figures. The records of criminals, of the type referred to, usually disclose numerous arrests; but it is interesting to note that in the majority of cases the charges were merely vagrancy or suspicion. This no doubt was due to the very nature of their criminal activities, which makes it difficult to apprehend them in the commission of the crimes in which they specialize, and still more difficult to obtain sufficient evidence to secure a successful prosecution. The criminal is released from custody by the posting of a small cash bond and as a rule fails to appear to answer the charges. PLACES OF CONCEALMENT In view of the high percentage of addiction among these criminals, it is suggested that a thorough and systematic search for narcotic drugs be made of their persons, effects, baggage, rooms, and automobiles. The search should be conducted by at
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 172 least two officers, not only for completeness but to assure corroboration in case of prosecution. It should be thoroughly systematic from the head to the feet. The suspect should be disrobed and his wearing apparel minutely examined. (The disrobing is important because narcotic drugs have frequently been found attached to intimate and other parts of a prisoner's anatomy.) They also have been found concealed in hat-bands, neckties, seams of clothing, hidden small pockets in coats, vests, trousers, and also in the cuffs of the trousers, in fountain pens and watches, as well as in the heels and inner soles of shoes. These suggestions apply to female as well as to male suspects. Instances have occurred where pockets of trousers, handkerchiefs, and sheets of paper have been saturated with a concentrated solution of a narcotic, thus assuring a supply in case of arrest and detention. These devices are known in the vernacular as sachets. The search of rooms and living quarters presents a more difficult problem due to the ease with which narcotic drugs can be concealed. Here a thorough and systematic search should be conducted, starting with some focal point. Narcotics have been found hidden in the bottoms of talcum-powder cans and other cosmetic containers, fixtures, bedsteads, window-sills, chandeliers, door knobs, backs of dresser drawers, secret places in the woodwork, and many other ingeniously devised places of concealment. Baggage and trunks should be searched for secret compartments. Narcotics have been found concealed in hub-caps, in back of headlights, in spare tires and tubes, and other secret places in automobiles. Under certain circumstances, vehicles used for the transportation and concealment of narcotic drugs can be seized and forfeited to the United States Government. Often local officers can be of considerable assistance if, when arresting dealers in narcotics, they will look particularly for indications of the source of supply of the drugs. Most drugs in the illicit traffic must be smuggled into the country originally and, therefore, it follows that dealers and users of drugs inland must be supplied from coastal or border points. Sometimes deliveries are made by dealers in person, but often drugs may be shipped by
CONTROL AND ENFORCEMENT Page 173 mail, express, or as baggage. Often upon the persons or premises of an arrested dealer will be found communications, usually written in a guarded manner, as well as telephone numbers and addresses. Since wholesale dealers in illicit narcotics, in distributing centers, often play a comparatively safe game by shipping their wares to distant points only, without catering to any local trade, information of the sort indicated, if conveyed to the proper authorities may prove to be particularly helpful in locating, and eventually apprehending distant wholesalers. In this connection, it should be borne in mind that ordinary trade or geographical considerations do not always govern the distribution of illicit narcotic drugs. Someone on the Pacific Coast, close to a seaport where, ordinarily, it would be thought that narcotics would be available, may nevertheless send to New York for his illicit drugs because of price or personal considerations. Relevant documentary evidence, as well as narcotic drugs found, should be duly identified by all the seizing or searching officers, in order to ensure its acceptance as evidence in court. In carrying out enforcement activities against those who are both criminals and addicts, the utmost caution should be exercised, and the officer should never relax his guard for a moment, otherwise tragedy may ensue from the viciousness and recklessness of this type of criminal. On Sunday morning, September 24, 1950, Narcotic District Supervisor Anker A Bangs was shot to death by a narcotic addict while search was being made of the addict's living quarters. This is merely one example from hundreds of cases in which lawenforcement officers have been killed or grievously wounded by drug addicts. CONTENTS
VIII NARCOTICS AND MODERN MEDICAL SCIENCE
NO OTHER DRUG IS SO UNIVERSALLY USEFUL IN THE PRACTICE OF medicine as opium, either as such or in the form of morphine. It is unexcelled as a pain reliever, and is widely used in disorders of the intestinal tract, in pulmonary diseases, and in certain cardiac disorders. Unfortunately morphine induces in persons who employ it for any considerable time a condition of dependence upon it which leads to serious physical and mental disorders. Morphine produces a condition of euphoria in the individual and gives release from mental worries and from bodily discomforts with a resulting feeling of well-being. When the euphoria passes off the old worries and discomforts return, perhaps with increased mental depression. These symptoms can be relieved by another dose of morphine and thus the addiction is established. In addition tolerance to the drug is established in the individual so that larger and larger doses are required to produce the same results. Because of the dangers resulting from the addicting properties of morphine and opium, most governments have enacted legislation in an endeavor to confine its use to medical and scientific purposes. In the United States, passage of the Harrison Act in 1914, together with the ceaseless efforts of enforcement officers of the Government, has resulted in a very considerable decrease in the number of narcotic addicts. Page 174
NARCOTICS AND MODERN MEDICAL SCIENCE Page 175 RESEARCH In 1929 the National Research Council appointed a Committee on Drug Addiction and undertook a definite program of study.* in 1939 the work was taken over by the National Institute of Health and all the experimental work was transferred to Washington. From 1929 to 1939, the program consisted of two divisions--- experimental, including laboratory and clinical studies, and a review of the literature of the subject in both its chemical and pharmacological aspects. The chemical portion of the experimental work was carried out at the University of Virginia under Dr. Lyndon F. Small and Dr. Erich Mosettig, together with a staff of chemists and graduate students. This portion of the work embraced a study of the chemistry of the morphine molecule with the synthesis of allied compounds, and also of compounds based upon the phenanthrene nucleus which is contained in morphine. In all, more than four hundred compounds were prepared during the ten years of work. The pharmacological study of these compounds was carried on at the University of Michigan by Dr. Nathan B. Eddy. From the large group of substances received from Dr. Small a small number were selected for clinical trial and these were studied in various hospitals especially as to their effect upon pain and cough. Only those compounds were subjected to clinical trial which showed in the pharmacological study that they possessed strongly some of the desired characteristics of morphine without being too toxic or exhibiting undesirable side actions. The addicting property was studied principally upon man. The clinical investigation was largely carried out under the United States Public Health Service, Studies were made upon addicts confined in the Federal Prison at Leavenworth, Kansas, and later at the U. S. Public Health Service Hospital at Lexington, Kentucky, The hospitals of the Health Department of Massachusetts at Waltham and at Pondville, the Walter Reed Hospital at Washington, the Marine Hospital at Baltimore, and the * See Appendix B for a summary of the accomplishments of this committee.
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 176 University of Michigan Hospital at Ann Arbor, were all used in the various clinical studies. The study of the literature naturally divided itself into two portions, chemical and pharmacological. CHEMISTRY OF THE OPIUM ALKALOIDS Chemistry of the Opium Alkaloids prepared by Dr. Small, Consultant in Alkaloid Chemistry, United States Public Health Service, was published by the United States Public Health Service in 1932 (Supplement No. 103 to the Public Health Reports). The material in this volume was assembled in the course of a systematic study of the literature of the opium alkaloids undertaken in -a research project established at the University of Virginia by the Committee on Drug Addiction of the National Research Council. It makes accessible what is known of the chemistry of these alkaloids and their derivatives. The literature to January 1, 1932 was covered, and every reaction and every compound described in the literature is mentioned. The volume extends far beyond the scope of a systematic collection of facts, however, in describing historically the discovery and investigation of each opium alkaloid, and in discussing critically and exhaustively the structural question. The author has himself made valuable experimental contributions to the chemistry of the opium alkaloids. In Part I the benzylisoquinoline and minor alkaloids are considered in separate chapters, each having a bibliography. The phenanthrene alkaloids are treated in Part II, with bibliography arranged to facilitate specialized study. Practically all data have been taken from the original literature, which is widely scattered in the journals of all lands. Copious literature references are supplied, and the source of every statement made is shown. Dr. Small has used painstaking effort and care in organizing the extensive material on the opium alkaloids into this excellent monograph. It is of vast assistance to those interested in the subject.
NARCOTICS AND MODERN MEDICAL SCIENCE Page 177 THE PHARMACOLOGY OF THE OPIUM ALKALOIDS A review of the biological work on opium and its alkaloids entitled The Pharmacology of the Opium Alkaloids, (two volumes) constitutes the second portion of the survey (Supplement No. 165 of the Public Health Reports). The responsibility for the preparation of this material was assumed by Dr. Eddy, as director of the experimental staff. He has done much more than prepare a composite picture of the effects of morphine as they have been established experimentally. The types of experimental work which have been done are described thoroughly, the net results are summarized, and the large gaps which still exist in our knowledge of this substance are indicated. A feature of the book which proves of great value to anyone interested in the field is a very complete subject index, covering not only the text of the monograph itself, but also the main features of all of the papers in the enormous bibliography, papers all too numerous to have received notice in the text. Its author and the Committee on Drug Addiction expressed the hope that this study of the literature,* presenting a picture of current knowledge of this subject, would prove of value to workers in the field as a starting point from which new investigations could be carried on. Nine years of effort went into the preparation of this survey of the pharmacology of the opium alkaloids. Part I was published in 1941. Part 2 is contained in a separate volume published in 1943. It has a very extensive bibliography. The substances selected for inclusion in Part 2 are related to morphine. It surveys all that has been written on the physiological effects of these drugs and summarizes it without loss of anything but unimportant details. The material has been classified first according to drugs, next according to the same physiological divisions adopted for morphine, and finally according to the animals studied. One interesting development of this study was the discovery *The literature on addiction prior to 1940 has been summarized by Krueger, Eddy and Sumwalt in The Pharmacology of the Opium Alkaloids. The literature on addiction which had appeared since 1940 was reviewed by Isbell in the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, 99: 355-397, August, 1950.
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 178 of desomorphine, which is eight times more powerful than morphine, but unfortunately as addicting, so that its manufacture has not been permitted in the United States. Much of the work done by Doctors Eddy and Small has been the basis for the recent development of new narcotics which have proved very valuable in the practice of medicine. NARCOTICS IN MEDICINE In an effort to disseminate information to the medical profession concerning the use of various derivatives of opium in the legitimate practice of medicine, first, from the standpoint of their indispensable use, second, from their ill-advised use, and third, from their abusive use, the American Medical Association published in their journal a series of articles from March 14 to June 6, 1931, and subsequently published in book form, entitled Indispensable Uses of Narcotics. DANGER OF OPIATES IN SEVERE ASTHMA In an article entitled "Death from Asthma--- A Warning" which was published in The Journal, June 13, 1942, a warning is given that the opiates should be rigorously avoided in the treatment of severe asthma, and especially so since other drugs such as ephedrine derivatives, epinephrine, and aminophylline are superior. OPIATES IN CANCER CASES A study entitled "The Relief of Pain in Cancer Patients" published by the United States Public Health Service in 1936, concludes that a lesser amount of narcotic drugs is necessary in cancer cases than is ordinarily supposed. MORPHINE VS. OTHER REMEDIES Morphine deadens pain of all descriptions (neuralgia, intestinal pains, wounds, etc.) by diminishing the sensitiveness of the
NARCOTICS AND MODERN MEDICAL SCIENCE Page 179 cerebrum. In the same way it induces sleep, and is particularly effective when pain is the cause of sleeplessness. It is not, however, necessary to use morphine for all pain, as there are many other remedies. It is a medical malpractice to employ morphine simply as a soporific. Morphine is often the only practical remedy for excessive excitement produced by various causes. It also allays irritation of the upper air passages, but, for this purpose, can nearly always be replaced by codeine. Morphine has a powerful influence on respiration; it reduces the rapidity of the breathing and allows deeper breaths to be taken. GUARDING AGAINST ADDICTION In the hands of the physician, drugs are indispensable medicaments, while in the hands of the layman they spell ruin. All habit forming narcotic drugs have this in common-that their continued use and abuse in every case leads sooner or later to loss of moral control and even to physical and mental collapse. Whenever, in persons who are by constitution and general predisposition mentally unstable, the balance of the mental and physical functions is upset, this can be remedied by the use of opium or morphine. In order, however, that these substances may give this relief, these psychical conditions must be present; they need not have manifested themselves actively, but may be latent and may be brought into operation by the supply of morphine to the system. The first effect of morphine upon such persons is a feeling of extraordinary well-being and vigor, a state of euphoria which a man in an unbalanced psychical condition seeks to recreate by further supplies of the drug. Later on, however, the effect of the same dose is only to produce satisfaction at the feeling of "normal health" attained by the use of morphine. The action of morphine on the addict may perhaps be conceived of in this way-that it has become a factor in the process of cell metabolism. If this factor is absent, the functions of the cells are thrown out of gear. If the drug is supplied afresh, the functions apparently become regular once more. The intensity and duration of the condition induced by morphine vary from one individual to another. Many persons who
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 180 are used to taking morphine are content with relatively small amounts--- in some cases, over longer periods at a stretch. In the majority of cases, however, increasingly numerous and stronger doses are needed to produce the illusion of approximately normal health or to avoid a feeling of depression. Any unnecessary excess over the quantity required to counteract that feeling--- a luxury dose so to speak-may produce a real euphoria, in which morphine and opium act as a screen preventing the unpleasant impressions and the worries of life from reaching the surface of consciousness. Such people are, of course, in special danger, for, with the prolonged use of morphine, habituation sets in, manifesting itself principally in an ever-growing craving and increased bodily tolerance. The tolerance shows itself in this way: that doses of morphine, toxic in themselves, are then tolerated without any of those acute symptoms of poisoning which would necessarily appear in persons not thus habituated. In order to alleviate pain and produce euphoria, increasingly large doses are needed. There is then an uncontrollable and tormenting desire for ever-larger quantities. Finally, the amount of morphine taken is so great that the cells can no longer assimilate it. APPRAISAL OF VALUE OF NEW OPIATES A thorough and exact study of the different properties of opiates-analgesic, cough-relieving, hypnotic, etc.---is always a matter of some difficulty, and this difficulty is greatly increased if account is taken of the individual's constitution and condition, the special reaction of his autonomic nervous system and the nature of his endocrine formula. Appraisal of the value of new opiates calls for a comparative examination of the different pharmacological and chemical effects. Research on these lines will indicate the group of opiates to which the new drug should be assigned and show its peculiar reactions in the human body. Where drugs of the morphine group are concerned, this work of systematic comparison is the more needful, since those who prescribe or generally recommend them are taking a serious responsibility. However, the clinical
NARCOTICS AND MODERN MEDICAL SCIENCE Page 181 examination, which is usually of primary importance, is particularly difficult in the case of these various substances, which are very similar in nearly all respects. The effects on the respiratory centre are difficult to judge by experiment. The real value of a medicament as a cough-relieving agent can be tested only on the human body, because the animals which are habitually used for these experiments are not subject to coughs. Only recently have experimental conditions been produced in them which may be equivalent to the chronic irritation associated with a cough in the human patient. Also, recently a way of objectively measuring the influence of any remedy on a cough has been found. In the main, however, the physician must fall back on observations carried out with the utmost care, and on the evidence of the patient. If optimum conditions are to be ensured, the research can only be reliably conducted on intelligent patients in a hospital. The influence of new opiates on pain and sleep is relatively easier to assess, but here also we have to take into consideration individual response, and depend for our evidence on the intelligence and goodwill of the patient. To measure the intensity of pain in a patient, we have no objective scale, and none either for the degree of alleviation of pain. Furthermore, it is impossible to compare absolutely equal intensities of pain to assess the analgesic strength of two drugs. Finally, and this applies particularly to opiates, one can never be quite sure whether the patient's own judgment of the pain-stilling power of a drug is unaffected by any euphoric influence. Whether a new drug is habit-forming or not can be judged only after collecting all the necessary facts. Whenever a new opiate comes on the market, it is often claimed to be non-habit-forming and not to have the undesirable by-effects commonly associated with the older drugs of the same group. One particularly famous example of this kind was that of a drug put on the market several decades ago-heroin; but there have been other instances in more recent times. The great difficulty in estimating the degree of euphoria arises from the observation, often repeated, that individuals vary in their reactions to drugs. Some of them feel unpleasant by-effects of morphine to a very high degree, and to
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 182 such persons it would be almost impossible to administer morphine in an emergency. Others feel the typical effects of euphoria, and they return to the doctor to try to obtain more. These facts, known to every experienced physician, afford the best proof of the difficulties entailed in judging the comparative value of opiates. SUBSTITUTES FOR MORPHINE A brief consideration will be given of several of the other opium derivatives which have been used as substitutes for morphine-cucodal, dicodid, and dilaudid. The drugs will be considered in relation to morphine as a basis of comparison. This is only a study of the literature. EUCODAL Eucodal is regarded as a derivative of tbebaine, but it has no longer the characteristics of this substance. It does not cause convulsions; on the contrary, it is as narcotic as morphine (and codeine). Its action is also based on a central effect, and, generally speaking, is not only much more powerful than that of codeine but may sometimes surpass even that of morphine. As an analgesic, eucodal is superior to morphine. Order of decreasing strength: heroin, eucodal, morphine, codeine, dionine. As a cough cure, eucodal is less potent than codeine and dionine. It seems that eucodal, like morphine, effects a reduction of the sensitiveness of the respiratory tract commensurate with the degree of narcosis produced. Order of decreasing strength: codeine, dionine, heroin, eucodal, morphine. Its ability to create euphoria is less pronounced than with morphine. Order of decreasing strength: heroin, morphine, eucodal, codeine, dionine. The toxicity in the rabbit is reflected in the convulsive power. Order of decreasing strength: heroin, dionine and eucodal, codeine, morphine. The toxicity for man is inferred from the depressing effect on the respiratory function of the rabbit. According to these observations, eucodal seems to be slightly more dangerous than morphine,
NARCOTICS AND MODERN MEDICAL SCIENCE Page 183 but less to be feared than heroin. Order of decreasing strength: heroin, eucodal, morphine, codeine, dionine. If we try to assign eucodal to its appropriate place in the opiate group, we have to put in between morphine and codeine; but it is closer to morphine in type of its effect. Its fundamental characteristics are very similar to those of morphine, but perhaps less pronounced, especially in the matter of concomitant effects, addiction properties, etc. (Kleinschmidt) W. E. Dixon is of opinion that eucodal is more similar to heroin than to morphine. Eucodal frequently proves superior to morphine in swiftness of action and intensity of the effect, but the duration of the former is generally shorter-on the average 6 hours, instead of 12 with 0.02 gram of morphine (Pfeiler). Other authors have not observed this shortness of effect, e.g., Wohlgemuth. In many cases, eucodal seems at least equivalent to morphine, and in some even superior (Baumm). If one should try to sum up in a general way the addiction properties of eucodal, one would say that the danger of contracting a habit through taking eucodal should not be thought to be a less serious matter than the risk of morphine addiction, a conclusion which is borne out by the evidence collected by means of a questionnaire and published in 1928 (P. Wolff). DICODID The second of the three newer habit-forming drugs under consideration, dicodid, has been known since 1923. Dicodid is really a derivative of codeine, but with some of the characteristics changed, and occupying in the sequence of the opiates a position somewhat different from that of codeine. Gottlieb came to the conclusion, in the light of his experiments on different animals, that dicodid should be placed-with respect to pharmacological character-between morphine and codeine. Eddy and Reid also judged that dicodid is more effective than codeine, but less so than morphine. The main effect of dicodid is its sedative action on coughs. The sedative effect of dicodid on the brain is similar to that of morphine, and much more distinct than that of codeine (Rickmarm). In comparison with morphine, the general narcotic effect
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 184 of dicodid is considerably less (Sametinger), whilst the soothing action on the respiration is more powerful than that of codeine, and the narcotic effect on the sensation of pain equal to that of morphine. It is well known and recognized that dicodid creates euphoria and addiction, but the degree to which this is the case will now be explained more fully. There is no question but that dicodid is able to create euphoria (Sametinger, Wehl, Simon, and others); it seems, however, that the euphoria is less intense than with morphine (Roller, Castelhun). R. F. Mayer states, on the other hand, that euphoria seemed to endure longer in his observations than that of morphine, because it does not have the same sleep-inducing effect as the latter. This slighter degree of euphoria may explain why the danger of contracting a habit seems to be less strong (Castelhun, Weinberg, Hecht, Bing). Furland and Schelenz state, accordingly, that the effect on coughs is not diminished by the administration of dicodid over a longer period. With dicodid, therefore, the danger of misuse seems to be considerably less than it is with morphine, even when dicodid is administered over lengthy periods (Sametinger). But there is no doubt, as has been said before, that cases of addiction to dicodid are known (Sametinger, Mueller de la Fuente). Dicodid has not been found to be an equivalent substitute for morphine (Castelhun). Abstinence symptoms are described as being relatively slight, passing off quickly (R. F. Mayer). The drug could always be withdrawn without great difficulty (Ries, Sametinger), even in cases of depression (Richtzenhain). Abstinence symptoms in animals are less pronounced than with morphine or dilaudid (Eddy and Reid). Addiction to dicodid seems to be rarer and easier to combat than that of morphine or eucodal. DILAUDID The question of dilaudid has been studied with great care by R. B. King, C. K. Himmelsbach and B. S. Sanders as reported in Supplement No. 113 of the United States Public Health Reports, 1935.
NARCOTICS AND MODERN MEDICAL SCIENCE Page 185 From observations made on morphine addicts, involving the substitution of dilaudid for morphine, it was concluded that: 1. Dilaudid is an effective substitute for morphine. FALLACY OF LEGALIZING DRUG ADDICTION To carry into effect the Hague Convention of 1912 "to limit exclusively to medical and legitimate purposes the manufacture, sale and use of morphine, cocaine and their respective salts," the Congress of the United States enacted, in 1914, major legislation in the form of the Harrison Narcotic Act. It stopped the indiscriminate purchase across the counter in the United States of drugs for the purpose of satisfying drug addiction. Under this law the responsibility for the proper prescribing and dispensing of narcotic drugs, rests upon the physician in charge of any given case. Without reference to the question of addiction, a physician acting in accordance with proper medical practice may prescribe or dispense narcotics for the relief of acute pain or for any acute condition. Mere addiction alone is not recognized as an incurable disease. THE CLINIC PLAN The clinic plan recently advocated by a small minority group in one section of the country, would radically change the present plan of enforcement and revert to dispensing narcotic drugs to drug addicts for the purpose of maintaining addiction. Under this plan anyone who is now or who later becomes a drug addict
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 186 would apply to the clinic and receive the amount of narcotic drug sufficient to maintain his customary use. The proponents of the plan claim that the "dope peddler" would thus be put out of business. This plan would elevate a most despicable trade to the avowed status of an honorable business, nay, to the status of practice of a time-honored profession; and drug addicts would multiply unrestrained, to the irrevocable impairment of the moral fiber and physical welfare of the American people. Any plan which, like the one under discussion, tends to maintain and increase the spread of drug addiction is not only in direct contravention of the spirit and purpose of the international drug conventions, which the United States solemnly entered into along with seventy-two other nations of the world, but also constitutes a complete reversal of settled national policy of more than twenty years standing with respect to narcotic drug traffic control. This national policy is firmly rooted in the national legislation as interpreted by the highest Federal Court, and supplemented by concomitant State narcotic legislation. The supplying of narcotics to addicts merely for the purpose of maintaining addiction certainly constitutes distribution for abusive use even if taken over by practitioners, and to recognize such procedure as legal would be not only a gross repudiation of our international obligations, but also a reversion to conditions prior to the enactment of national control legislation and a surrender of the benefits of twenty-four years of progress in controlling this evil, in which control the United States has been a pioneer among nations. The answer to the problem is not, therefore, to accept narcotic drug addiction as a necessary evil and calmly proceed to ration with a daily supply each and every person who applies for the ration. It should rather be the provision by the States of facilities for scientific treatment of these unfortunates, looking toward a cure, coupled with vigorous and unremitting efforts toward elimination of improper sources of supply so as to facilitate complete rehabilitation of the reclaimed addict and prevent the addition of recruits to the ranks of these unfortunates. By scientific treatment is meant that professional treatment which includes confinement
NARCOTICS AND MODERN MEDICAL SCIENCE Page 187 or restraint upon the addict to insure that no surreptitious source of supply is available to him that would defeat the purpose of the attending physician. COURT DECISION ON THE NATURE OF PRESCRIPTIONS One of the provisions of the Harrison Narcotic Law makes it unlawful to sell, barter, exchange, or give away the specified narcotic drugs except pursuant to an official order form, but there is an exception to the requirement of an official order form in the case of a practitioner who prescribes or dispenses to a patient "in the course of professional practice only." Within a very few years of the date the Harrison Law became effective, the United States Supreme Court was called upon to rule upon the application of this exception to the prescribing by a physician of narcotic drugs to an addict merely to gratify drug addiction. In the case of Webb and Goldbaum vs. United States (1919) 249 U. S. 96, the following question was propounded to the Supreme Court: If a practicing and registered physician issues an order for morphine to an habitual user thereof, the order not being issued by him in the course of professional treatment in the attempted cure of the habit, but being issued for the purpose of providing the user with morphine sufficient to keep him comfortable by maintaining his customary use, is such order a physician's prescription under exception (b) of section 2 (of the Harrison Narcotic Law)? In reply to this question, the United States Supreme Court held that To call such an order for the use of morphine a physician's prescription would be so plain a perversion of meaning that no discussion of the subject is required. That question should be answered in the negative. It is pertinent in this connection to quote from a report of a special committee of physicians, which was adopted by the American Medical Association and printed in The Journal of that Association June 14, 1924, reading in part as follows: Your committee desires to place on record its firm conviction that any method of treatment for narcotic drug addiction, whether private, institutional, official or governmental, which permits the addicted per
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 188 son to dose himself with the habit forming narcotic drugs placed in his hands for self-administration, is an unsatisfactory treatment of addiction, begets deception, extends the abuse of habit-forming narcotic drugs, and causes an increase in crime. Therefore, your committee recommends that the American Medical Association urge both federal and state governments to exert their full powers and authority to put an end to all manner of such so-called ambulatory methods of treatment of narcotic drug addiction, whether practiced by the private physician or by the so-called "narcotic clinic" or dispensary. In the opinion of your committee, the only proper and scientific method of treating narcotic drug addiction is under such conditions of control of both the addict and the drug, that any administration of a habit-forming narcotic drug must be by, or under the direct personal authority of the physician, with no chance of any distribution of the drug of addiction to others, or opportunity for the same person to procure any of the drug from any source other than from the physician directly responsible for the addict's treatment. The Federal Bureau of Narcotics has never approved ambulatory treatment for drug addiction, for the reason that experience has shown where the addict controls the dosage he will not be benefited or cured. Medical authorities agree that the treatment of addiction with the view toward effecting a cure, which makes no provision for confinement while the drug is being withdrawn is a failure, except in a relatively small number of cases where the addict is possessed of a much greater degree of will-power than that of the average addict. ABUSE UNDER THE CLINIC PLAN The clinic plan for dealing with the narcotic addict problem is not a new development, as stated in the League of Nations Document 0. C. 1614. A number of clinics were opened in various cities in the United States during and after the year 1919 in an effort to deal with the problem, but whether or not the original intention was to attempt a cure of the so-called patients, it soon developed that the average clinic merely represented a supply depot for drug addicts. In some cases, so far from a reduction in treatment, it was found that so-called patients were actually receiving increased dosage from the clinic and in one case where a peddler was convicted in Texas for a violation of
NARCOTICS AND MODERN MEDICAL SCIENCE Page 189 the Harrison Law it was shown that he had gone directly from Leavenworth Penitentiary to the clinic at Shreveport, Louisiana, in order to gain access to a cheap supply of morphine. In an investigation of the alleged patients of one of the clinics many were found to have criminal records and perhaps the majority of the so-called patients were not local residents but were individuals who had been attracted to the city by the cheap source of supply for morphine and who managed to make a living, including the price of the drug, by petty thievery, panhandling, and other anti-social and parasitic activities. With literally hundreds of so-called patients on the rolls of the clinic, it is obvious that this large group could not receive anything approaching proper attention from the few physicians assigned to the clinic and even if a conscientious attempt were made at giving the reductive ambulatory treatment, the plan was foredoomed to failure because of the fundamental inefficiency of this treatment. By the end of 1925 most, if Dot all, of these clinics had been closed because the State authorities themselves had realized the failure of the plan. Not only did the clinic plan fail to solve the narcotic drug addict problem but it actually introduced new problems involving the public welfare. At a session of the Opium Advisory Committee of the League of Nations, the question of clinics and the rationing of drug addicts was brought up and it was the consensus of the many nations there assembled that to establish clinics in countries which have a narcotic drug problem would be as sane as to establish infection centers during a smallpox epidemic. The rationing of addicts has been frowned upon by the signatories to the narcotic conventions, and the only place in the world where such a policy is now in force is in the Far East. THE FORMOSA PLAN With regard to the plan which is in effect in Formosa, we have a valuable and informing contribution to our knowledge on the subject by Dr. Tsungming To, Health Commission of Formosa. After classifying 57,073 crimes committed during seven years by natives of Formosa, his records show that based upon the relative proportion of opium users to non-users we find 70.83% criminality
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 190 among opium users as against 29.17% criminality among non-users. In Formosa, opium smoking is licensed and the cost of opium is very small. Under these conditions the only attributable cause for greater criminality among narcotic addicts than non-addicts is the direct effect of the use of narcotics upon the character of the user. Dr. To gives us the answer. It is because drug addiction causes a relentless destruction of character and releases criminal tendencies. ASSOCIATION AS CAUSE OF ADDICTION In a certain city in our country, during a recent period when there occurred an influx of criminal addicts from neighboring cities and States to obtain narcotic drugs from several doctors and druggists, highway robbery increased from 55 cases in the corresponding period of the previous years to 97 cases; larceny from 738 to 1,025; and burglary from 11 to 58. In another city, the chief of police reported that theft and burglary complaints dropped noticeably following a narcotic clean-up. Thus it will be seen that from a business, social, and moral standpoint, the presence and contact of narcotic addicts in American communities is a potential danger. One survey showed that 67-1/2 percent of the addicts under observation had criminal records. Here too it might be stated that association is the largest single cause of drug addiction-all authentic surveys on the subject have shown that 50 percent or more of the addicts acquired their habit through association with other addicts. The consensus of world-wide study of work and solutions pertaining to narcotic drug addiction gives no credence to any school of thought which fosters the rationing of drug addicts under the so-called clinic system. The problem is one which cannot safely be temporized with. The American Government could not advocate or approve any policy that would tend to make easier the access to narcotic drugs by a group which has proved itself, both by habit and precept, lacking in the physical willpower and mental stamina necessary to solve the problems which led them to drug addiction in the first place, much less to solve the addiction itself. It is believed that easy or unrestricted access to drugs tends
NARCOTICS AND MODERN MEDICAL SCIENCE Page 191 materially to increase addiction. In the light of present and past knowledge, the very best thing that can be offered to a drug addict, for his own good as well as for the good of society, is confinement and treatment with a view to cure and rehabilitation. CONCLUSION The United States has spared neither time nor money in getting at the basic truth in regard to drug addiction and every effort has been made to help the addict, but it is known that the narcotic clinic has been of no avail. The clinic idea, which simply supplies the addict with his drug for an indefinite period, creates a vicious circle. In this connection, it is interesting to note that most of the advocates of this system do not even go so far as to advocate a "cure." It is simply set forth as a plan whereby the addict maintains his old habit and invariably returns to the clinic where a fresh supply is administered or given to him for a small sum, and the victim again set at large to contaminate others to his ranks; this procedure to be continued indefinitely. This method of treatment has never yet proved successful anywhere in the world, and it has been given sufficient trials that would have shown the merits if any had existed. Certainly anyone with even cursory knowledge of the situation realizes the complete futility of the narcotic clinic. The American Government would never tolerate such a system based on the degradation of its citizens. As earlier stated, to conform to the clinic idea, it would be necessary to abrogate the treaties into which the United States solemnly entered along with sixty-four other nations of the civilized world. This Government has received many tributes of admiration for its leadership in narcotic control work, and if it hopes for the continued approval of the world, it cannot afford to compromise or slip from the high pinnacle it has attained and now occupies in the family of nations. NARCOTIC CLINICS IN THE UNITED STATES During and after the year 1919, forty-four or more narcotic clinics or dispensaries were opened by municipal or state health
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 192 officials in large cities throughout the United States in an experiment which it was thought might present a simple and easy solution of the problems arising from narcotic drug addiction. Drugs were sold to addicts at prices as low as two cents a grain. There seems to be no doubt that the clinics were started in good faith but at that time there was a general lack of familiarity with the facts regarding the addiction evil and, according to a report made in 1921 by a member of the Committee on Narcotic Drugs of the American Medical Association, it had not been realized that: The vice that causes degeneration of the moral sense and spreads through social contact, readily infects the entire community, saps its moral fiber, and contaminates the individual members one after another, like the rotten apple in a barrel of sound ones. The 1921 report continues: Public opinion regarding the vice of drug addiction has been deliberately and consistently corrupted through propaganda. Cleverly devised appeals to that universal human instinct whereby the emotions are stirred by abhorrence of human suffering in any form, or by whatever may appear like persecution of helpless human beings; lurid portrayals of alleged "horrible suffering inflicted" on addicts through being deprived of their drug; adroit misrepresentation of fact; plausible reiteration of certain pseudoscientific fallacies designed to confuse the unscientific mind; downright false statement, and insidious innuendoes assiduously propagated are brought to bear on an unsuspecting public to encourage it to feel pity for the miserable wretches, "whose name is legion" we are told, and whose "sufferings," hysterically exaggerated, are graphically served up to be looked on as if they were actually being made "victims of persecution" by the authorities, who would deprive the wretches of even the drug they crave. The shallow pretense that drug addiction is "a disease" which the specialist must be allowed to "treat," which pretended treatment consists in supplying its victims with the drug that has caused their physical and moral debauchery.... has been asserted and urged in volumes of "literature" by the self-styled "specialists." Significant articles of sensational character dealing with narcotic addiction have appeared in the public press during recent months, denouncing the alleged "persecution" of the addict and . . . well calculated to create in their favor popular prejudice.
NARCOTICS AND MODERN MEDICAL SCIENCE Page 193 This same line of thought which prompted the clinic experiment in the early days of narcotic law enforcement has recently been exploited again as a solution of the present narcotic addiction problem. The clinics were operated for varying periods and in one city as long as four years. The most comprehensive series of facts, having real scientific value that bad then been compiled anywhere in the world, was embraced in the published statistics gathered from analytical study of the nearly 8,000 cases of addiction registered and cared for in narcotic clinics during about ten months by the Department of Health of the City of New York. These cases were subjected to most careful observation and study by specialists qualified to make scientific analysis and arrive at sound conclusions. They reported, "We have given the clinic a careful and thorough as well as a lengthy trial and we honestly believe it is unwise to maintain it any longer." In some clinics careful physical examinations were given addicts before enrollment, and various methods of registration were practiced, including the furnishing of identification cards containing physical descriptions, photographs, and fingerprints of the addicts. (In clinics where the addicts were fingerprinted, numerous fugitive criminals were located and returned to the States where they were wanted.) In some clinics addicts were given diminishing amounts of narcotics until reaching a minimum dosage which would prevent withdrawal symptoms; in others, cures of addiction were attempted in hospitals operated in conjunction with the clinics, as in New York City, if the addict would submit himself to treatment. In still others, the customary dosage was maintained or often increased upon the demands of addicts. Administration of drugs to addicts on the premises was attempted and proved to be completely unworkable because the addicts were unwilling to go the required distances to the clinics every six or eight hours during the day and night when they wanted a shot. By the end of 1925 all of these clinics had been closed by the various State authorities for the reasons quoted herein. As an indication of the vast extent of addiction during the several years around 1920, four hospitals in New York and the U. S.
THE TRAFFIC IN NARCOTICS Page 194 Penitentiary at Atlanta, Georgia, reported 25,000 cases of drug addiction; and the New York City Prison reported 12,000 cases. (In all of the 25,000 cases where immediate and absolute withdrawal of the drug was routine practice there were no deaths resulting.) At Sing Sing Prison in 1920, the number of drug addicts received increased over 100 percent; in 1922 they increased over 500 percent; and in 1923 the increase was over 900 percent. In 1922, 20 percent of the prisoners incarcerated in the Atlanta Penitentiary were drug addicts; at the Woman's Workhouse, Blackwell's Island, New York, practically all prostitutes committed were drug addicts; and from 60 to 80 percent of all committed there were drug addicts. This illustrates the situation with regard to crime and drug addiction during the period when the narcotic clinics were in operation. In 1952, 7.8 percent (1,157) of the prisoners committed to Federal institutions were narcotic addicts, and 1.4 percent were marihuana addicts. In New York City it was stated by the Department of Health that "the purpose of this narcotic clinic is to provide temporary care for addicts who have been patronizing profiteer doctors and druggists." The clinics practically eliminated this profiteering practice, but there suddenly mushroomed and thrived in its place a tremendous illicit traffic in narcotics which supplemented and nullified the reduction treatments of addicts in attendance at the clinics. In a one-year period in the early 1920's when these clinics were in operation, the volume of illicit peddling of narcotics reached the point where an incredibly large amount of 71,151 ounces of narcotic drugs was seized in the domestic illicit traffic-or more than fourteen times as much as was seized in 1952. In New York State alone, when sixteen or more narcotic clinics were in operation throughout the State, almost 4,000 ounces of narcotic drugs were seized in illicit channels during a year or almost as much as was seized in the entire United States during 1952.
NARCOTICS AND MODERN MEDICAL SCIENCE Page 195 THE NEW YORK CITY NARCOTIC CLINIC Excerpts from Report published February, 1920, by S. Dana Hubbard, M.D., Acting Director, Bureau of Public Health Education, Department of Health, City of New York: The arrest of several trafficking physicians and druggists (in the spring of 1919) for violating the narcotic laws caused the Department of Health to open a relief clinic, which began as an emergency and was expected, naturally, to be only a temporary experiment, but the necessity was so acute and attracted so much attention from those interested that the Commissioner of Health decided to continue it for some time, in order to study this subject and obtain data regarding the problem. We feel that we have had an unusually wide and peculiarly general experience with drug addicts of all classes-classes so large as to make us think that others' experience in this form of practice has not been nearly so extensive. The public narcotic clinic is a new thing. In fact there are only a very few in existence and, if we may judge from our experience, they are not desirable and do not satisfactorily deal with this problem. We have given the clinic a careful and thorough as well as a lengthy trial and we honestly believe it is unwise to maintain it longer. The clinic has been found to possess all the objectionable features characteristic of the so-called "ambulatory" treatment, as practiced by the trafficking physicians. From our experience with narcotic relief and registration in New York City, we now are of the opinion that the present law-the Harrison Act-should be strictly and uniforml | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||