§ Mr. BUCHANANasked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether the Government of India, is aware that the use in India of opium is supported by British officials as a well-established and, on the whole, not an injurious habit; and what steps he proposes to take to ensure that the use of this drug shall be discontinued?
§ Earl WINTERTONThe view of the Government of India, based upon the findings of the. Royal Commission which investigated the consumption of opium in India in 1895, is that centuries of inherited experience have taught the people of India discretion in its use, which, for the most part, is without injurious consequences. The distribution of opium is strictly controlled in accordance with the provisions of The Hague Convention, 1912. My Noble Friend does not propose to interfere with the discretion of the Government of India and Provincial Governments in the exercise of this control.
Captain BENNasked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether he can state, for the year ended 31st March, 1924, how much (in chests) opium was produced in British India; how much maliva was produced in Rajputana; what quantity of these drugs was shipped to other Governments by agreement; what quantity was auctioned in Calcutta, and to what countries this was shipped; how much morphia was made at the Gazipur Government Factory; and what revenue the Government obtained from morphia in that year?
§ Earl WINTERTONFigures relating to opium production in India for the first three months of 1924 are not at present available. The total production in 945W British India of raw opium for the calendar year 1923 was 1,887,872 lbs. I am unable to say how many chests this figure represents, as a chest varies in weight according to whether it is intended for internal or external sale. Figures of opium grown in the Indian States of Rajputana are not available. During the calendar year 1923, 4,954 chests (each containing 140 lbs.) were sold under direct sales agreements to the Governments of the Dutch East Indies, Siam, Ceylon, the Straits Settlements, Hong Kong, and British North Borneo. Three thousand chests were auctioned at Calcutta. The countries to which Indian opium sold at auction was exported were Macao, French Indo-China., Japan, Sarawak, and Bushire. During the year ended 31st October, 1923, 130 lbs. morphine hydro-chlorate was manufactured at Ghazipur, and during the same period 92 lbs. of this drug, valued at Rs. 10,905, were sold in India.