ANTI-OPIUM DRIVE

Grey River Argus, 26 August 1946, Page 5

ANTI-OPIUM DRIVE

“PULL” IN SHANGHAI. The political 'and financial “pull” threatens to turn Shangai’s well-in-tentioned anti-narcotic drive into a meaningless farce, states the “Shang- ~ hai Evening Post and Mercury.” After a recent fanfare of a city-wide publicity campaign, the city registered some 6,100 addicts. Observers who are familiar with the narcotic suppression work are of the opinion that this number is far below the aclual total of addicted persons in Shanghai. The police arrested some 350 ad- ; diets during various round-ups in - five weeks. Among these were sev- ; erul Chinese movie actresses and as a result of these arrests the anti- ■ narcotic squad managed to secure a great deal of publicity. “In several •; cases, where an addict was arrested. -• the business of political and financial ‘pull’ started speedily to work,” said > an informant of the paper. “A card from a person of influence and affluence would be written requesting the release of the addict.- In such a case, the matter of “face” of.) the person who wrote the card or letter would be taken into consideration. As a result, the addict was turned loose. Various Excuses. “Writers of ‘letters of recommenda- : tion’ for the arrested addicts used “ numerous reasons in their effort to ‘spring’ the opium smokers. One customary excuse was: ‘This fellow is ;■ an elderly, well-respected gentleman, please be considerate of his age-’ ” . . J Strong-arm methods of organised j gangs of opium den keepers also - make it impossible for the police to . crack the'ring. In some cases the police found it more “advisable” to « let the dens alone. . .