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A 63
XVIII.
SUMMARY OF CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.
We have satisfied ourselves that the consumption of prepared
opium in British Malaya has diminished very appreciably in recent
years.
2. We have doubts, however, as to' whether under existing
measures of control a further steady reduction of consumption of
prepared opium may be anticipated.
3. We feel that educational propaganda may be sufficient t
eradicate the opium habit amongst the Straits-born Chinese, but
its progress amongst the China-born, however sure, must necessarily
be slow, owing to steady influx of adult Chinese immigrants.
. .
4. We have accordingly been forced to the conclusion that
eventual elimination of opium smoking in British Malaya can only
be achieved, without causing unnecessary hardship, through
control over smokers individually.
5. We have throughout our report insisted that local
circumstances are such that immediate embarkation on an
individual rationing system would be disastrous, but we cannot
avoid the conclusion that all steps which are taken should have·
such a system as their eventualobjective.
6. We think that the recommendations which we have made
pave the way for an attempt at rationing individual smokers 'without
dooming that attempt to failure.
7. We hold that the primary step is for the Governments to
take charge of the entire retailing of prepared opium whether sold
for consumption on or off the premises.
8. Concurrently with this abolition of licensed shops, we.
recommend a change in the system of packing prepared opIUm for
retail sa-Ie.
9. We think that prepared opium should only be sold retail
in hermetically sealed machine-filled tubes which cannot be used
more than once. .
10. We hold that the ease of recognition of receptacles
containing licit prepared opium and the impossibility of tampering
with those receptacles will be of assistance in detecting smuggled
opium when more stringent measures are introduced. We also·
think that the difficulty and expense of counterfeiting these tubes.
will be a great advantage over the present system .
. 11. Incidentally, we recommend the replacement of the present
3-hoon (17t grains) packet, which is the most commonly purchased,
by a 2-hoon (11 2/3 grains) tube. We hope that this experiment
will result in an appreciable diminution in consumption by smokers
of the poorer class.
12. We think that further increases in the price of prepared
opium, although they might cause some further reduction of
consumption of prepared opium, would certainly cause an
increase in the swallowing of dross, and we hold that such a result