The Washington times., 1923-02-09
INDIA DECLARED
ROOT Of DRUG
4 SUPPLY
III OOI
D to u. S. to Ask Britain to
limit Production, Says Con-
z gresham GaIIivan.
; CONGRESSMAN JAMES A.

Nv CONGRESSMAN JAMES A
GALLIVAN of Massachusetts,
Written Expressly for the Cosmopolitan
T7fFt News Service.
It is up to our Government tc
ask the British government to limit
the production of opium in India.
There has been a lot of talk about
e6ing to the root of this drug
question. The root is buried in the
opium fields of India controlled by
Z the British government there.
China once had a problem like
ours-and her tragic struggle for
zoe years against this opium OF
British India shows the futility of
simply prohibiting its entry and
use China even fought. two wars
with England to keep out the drug,
but the real remedy is to have the
production limited to what is need
ed for medical and scientific pur-
poses.
There are no two minds in this
country about the dangers of illegal
traffic in opium, and our people
are determined to put an end to it.
But there seems to be false
deficacy about getting down to
hard facts on this question with
England. England had no false
deIicacy about looking for better
terms on her debt to US. We can
not let our young people be en-
dtsAgered because of a false sense
OF delicacy.
Millions i'm Revenue.
,India's opium-and that means
most of the worlds supply-is a
state monopoly of the British gov
eminent in India. yielding millions
afE dollars revenue annually. 1t
was $22, 000,0 900 as far back as 1907,
and in that year over $4,000 acres
of peoples were cultivated.
The cultivator of opium-poppies
I'm India has even been licensed by
the government, and encouraged by
the loan of free money. His en-
tire crop must be turned over to
the government factories. A GER
tain amount of this opium is ex-
ported in the regular way, but
large amounts are auctioned month
~ by the authorities-and no ques-
TONS are asked of the buyers.
Samuel Merwin and Ellen La
1aotte,, who have studied this ques-
ton on the spot, describe clearly the
routing of this trade, and indicate the
devious way Of this auctioned opium,
which finds its way to the big manu-
Factories, most of which are in
England Japan Society Bulletin, No.
60l, and eventually is smuggled into
various countries.
China succeeded in checking the
imports of opium in 1917-since then
the traffic with other countries, in
Gliding our own, has increased!
Main Source Of Supply.
We know now the main source Of
supply, and it is time all the people
of America knew it-and that repre-
sensations were made to Great
Britain in this matter. Great Britain
0r-no other nation can hope in this
are to be regarded as great or civil
ized or humane if it fosters at any
stage of production this unholy and
destructive traffic in narcotic drugs.
When we have dealt with ''the
root of the matter" abroad we nave
something to do about it at home.
We need right now-preferably
under State control, hospitals for
the treatment and cure Of addicts.
We have none of these, in SO far as
I know. Narcotic fiends are
treated today solely as criminals,
and when caught with the drugs
are prosecuted under criminal
statutes and sent to Jail. They
ought to be sent to a hospital.