100 Years of the International Drug War

In 1909 the US assembled 12 other nations in Shanghai for a meeting known as the International Opium Commission. The multi-country unification of drug control policy was a result of intense international pressure placed upon the Chinese government due to their large-scale opium export.

In 1909 the US assembled 12 other nations in Shanghai for a meeting known as the International Opium Commission. The multi-country unification of drug control policy was a result of intense international pressure placed upon the Chinese government due to their large-scale opium export. This led to another, even more effective policy-writing assembly, one that would permanently define our society's modern history of – and relationship with – drugs.

Last month marked the centennial of the signing of a single document, ushering in 100 years of 'war' on drugs around the world. The International Opium Convention formalized the International Opium Conference, attended by representatives of the US, the Netherlands, Italy, the UK, France, Germany, Portugal, Russia, China, Japan, Persia (Iran) and Siam (Thailand), and was signed on the 23^rd of January, 1912. Hosted by the Hague, the Conference established the world's first official international drug policy agreement.

By 1915 the document had been implemented in the US, Holland, Norway, China and Honduras; four years later the Convention applied globally after being incorporated into the Treaty of Versailles. Every country in the world was now expected to control the distribution, cultivation/production, importation or exportation, or sale of opium, morphine, heroin or cocaine – or any alternative form of these drugs.

In 1922 the document was registered in the League of Nations Treaty Series. Nearly 60 countries had become members by the mid-1920s, again signing and ratifying the treaty (between then and 1949, seven more nations would join.)

The Convention was revised in Geneva in 1925; this version simultaneously took effect and was registered in the League of Nations Treaty Series (for the second time) three years later. It established a 'Permanent Central Opium Board', under the auspices of the League of Nations. The 'control' that member nations were expected to exhort over their local drug industries was clarified, and finally provided with a statistical, measurable system. Concurrently Egypt, supported by the US and China, implored for hashish to be incorporated into the list of prohibited drugs.

The addendum dictated that: “The use of Indian hemp and the preparations derived therefrom may only be authorized for medical and scientific purposes.” It went on to recommend addition of resin (hash) to the existing ban, stating that not only were there were no medical applications for charas, but that it was “susceptible of utili[z]ation for harmful purposes”.

India and other countries protested the language of this provision, illuminating the cultural, religious and ethno-botanical history of Cannabis in certain regions. As a result, the hashish clause was ultimately rejected, in favor of re-wording the ban to include international export of Indian hemp. Resin and related products were to be highly controlled, and illicit international drug trafficking curtailed. Certain loopholes are still taken advantage of today – such as in Dutch coffeeshops – where domestic consumption is not as strictly legislated.

This document stood as the unifying international drug policy until 1961, when it was superseded by the UN's Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs.