Captain BENNasked the Home Secretary how much opium was purchased by factories in Great Britain in 1923; how much morphia, how much heroin, and how much codeine was manufactured by the factories; and how much of each of these narcotics was sent abroad?
Mr. HENDERSONI assume that by "factories" the hon. and gallant Member means only those firms which are licensed under the Dangerous Drugs Acts to manufacture morphine and heroin and their salts. The amount of opium imported and purchased by those firms in 1923 was 125,833 lbs. The amount of morphine and its salts manufactured in 1923 was 254,337 oz., of which, however, 166,397 oz. was converted into heroin, codeine or other derivatives of opium, leaving a net total of 87,940 oz., of which 78,611 oz. was exported. The amount of heroin manufactured in 1923 was 11,575 oz., and the total exports of heroin amounted to 12,011 oz. The amount of codeine manufactured in 1923 was 162,036 oz., of which 160,910 oz. was exported by the manufacturers. As codeine is not subject to the Dangerous Drugs Acts, its movements are not recorded after it leaves the manufacturers, and it is not therefore known whether any other amounts of codeine were exported during 1923 by persons other than the manufacturers.