FORGOTTEN BY LAW

Manawatu Times, Volume XLVII, Issue 2775, 17 October 1923, Page 7

FORGOTTEN BY LAW

THE SALE OF HASHISH. SERIOUS TRAFFIC IN ENGLAND. At the hearing in London of a charge against Idris Abdullah, 41, a coloured man, and Thomas Garza, 42. an Italian, of illegally offering to supply raw opium, the Crown representative said the substance with which the case was concerned was not opium, but hashish, in which there was a serious traffic in this country, according to information obtained by the police.

"Hashish," he said, "is a decoction from the leaves and tender parts of the Indian hemp plant, which is used for exactly similar purposes as those for which heroin, cocaine and morphine are used.

"It is a narcotic, excitant and irritant, which when indulged in to excess induces madness. It is the stuff which one reads about in books.called 'bhang,' and is used by Near Eastern people, including Arabs, Egyptians and Turks. ' .-

"It can be put into a pipe and smoked or put into coffee." The case, the solicitor continued, revealed an omission from the Dangerous Drugs Act (which prohibits dealing in certain .drugs except under licence), but he hoped that as a result of it the authorities would make regulations to include hashish in the list of drugs under the Act. It was stated that the accused were coffee-makers and servers, Abdullah being employed at the Coventry Restaurant, Regent Street, W., and Garza at the Trocadero, Shaftesbury Avenue.

The charge against Abdullah was withdrawn and he was discharged. Garza was sent for trial and allowed bail.