A.—s,

Traffic in Opium and other Dangerous Drugs. The Seventh Committee had before it many documents dealing with this important and complex problem—i.e., the report to the Council on the work of the Twenty-third Session of the Advisory Committee on Traffic in Opium and other Dangerous Drugs, the report to the Council concerning the preparatory work for a Conference to consider the possibility of limiting and controlling the cultivation of the opium-poppy and the production of raw opium, and controlling other raw materials for the manufacture of opium alkaloids; a statement of the estimated world requirements of dangerous drugs in 1938; and the Report to the Council by the Permanent Central Opium Board on statistics relating to the year 1936 and the work of the Board during 1937. These documents were before the Council at its One Hundred and Second Session and are dealt with in my report on that body. During the discussion in the Seventh Committee the Chinese delegate again drew attention to the serious situation in the Far East. This was one of the main questions dealt with by the Advisory Committee at its session in June last, and the problem was recognized as a menace to the whole world. Whenever one point of the globe became a centre for illicit traffic, all countries were in danger of being invaded by the drugs, and so long as the position in the Far Bast showed no improvement no appreciable improvement was possible in other countries. He claimed that Japanese military Forces had taken advantage of their advance through Chinese territory to spread drug-addiction among the people of the occupied areas, with the object of weakening Chinese resistance and of yielding revenue to cover part of the costs of the invasion, and also to procure a livelihood for Japanese and Korean undesirables whom the Japanese authorities wished to keep out of Japan. He drew the attention of members to the remarks made by the United States delegate to the Advisory Committee—Document C. 249, M. 147, 1938, Xl—in which he described the revolting state of affairs in China, and asserted the responsibility of the Japanese authorities for the systematic poisoning of the Chinese people. The political aspect of the problem must not be lost sight of, and he appealed to the Seventh Committee to give the matter the attention it deserved. The delegates of the United Kingdom and Canada also endorsed the view that the situation in the Far Bast had grown worse, and they expressed the hope that all necessary steps would be taken to get an improvement in the position. The Canadian delegate said that the position was causing serious concern to Canada and the United States, and he submitted for the Committee's consideration a draft resolution which included the sending of an urgent appeal to the Japanese Government. As a result of the discussion in the Seventh Committee the following resolution on the situation in the Far East was submitted to and adopted by the Assembly:— " The Assembly— " Having taken note of the communication from the Seventh Committee relating to the illicit traffic in dangerous drugs in the Far East, particularly in those areas of China under the control of the Japanese Forces, and noting that there has been no improvement in the situation during the past year, but rather that it has become worse: " Associates itself with the action taken by the Council in pursuance of the resolutions adopted on this subject by the Advisory Committee at its Twenty-second and Twenty-third Sessions and with the appeals made therein to the Governments concerned." Preparatory Work for a Conference to examine the Possibility of limiting and controlling the Cultivation of the Poppy and the Production of Raw Opium. Several delegates took part in a general discussion of this question in the Seventh Committee, which had before it the report and recommendations of the Advisory Committee. The latter body, through a Preparatory Committee, had examined the material at its disposal with a view to framing a convention on the limitation of cultivation of the opium-poppy. The objects of the proposed convention are (i) to suppress the abuse of narcotic drugs, and (ii) to supplement the Hague Convention of 1912, the Geneva Convention of 1925, and the Narcotics Limitation Convention of 1931. This plan is to be submitted to Governments for consideration. From information available it was evident that there is urgent need for international control of production. There is a wide difference in the amount of raw opium required each year for the world's medical needs and the amount actually produced—3oo tons, as against 2,300 tons, excluding Afghanistan, China, and Manchukuo. Measures have already been taken in some of the principal opium-growing countries to reduce their production, and State monopolies have been established with a view to introducing more strict control of production and of the disposal of the opium crop. Steps are being taken to replace opium by other crops in some countries. As for consuming countries—countries which require opium for medical purposes— it was felt that the position was fairly simple. Under the scheme proposed by the Advisory Committee they would be asked to furnish estimates of their requirements in advance, which would be subject to examination by a supervisory body. The scheme

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