782 
Opium  in  China. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
*•    December,  1919. 
As  an  earnest  of  its  resolve  to  shake  off  its  lethargy,  and  to  make 
the  Edict  efficient,  it  was  found  necessary  to  clear  the  situation  by 
establishing  testing  bureaus  at  Peking  and  the  provincial  capitals. 
The  suspect  was  obliged  to  submit  himself  to  a  rigid  test.  After 
being  searched  for  concealed  opium,  he  was  locked  up  for  three 
days  in  a  comfortable  apartment  and  supplied  with  good  food,  but 
no  opium.  If  he  held  out,  he  was  given  a  clean  bill  of  health,  for 
no  opium  smoker  can  endure  three  days'  separation  from  his  pipe. 
By  this  means,  certain  highnesses  were  summarily  cashiered.  In 
the  army  both  officers  and  common  soldiers  have  been  beheaded  for 
obdurate  indulgence. 
With  such  a  great  and  deep-rooted  vice,  aided  by  the  continued 
importations  from  foreign  countries,  immediate  stoppage  was  found 
impossible.  Opium  was  allowed  to  be  sold  by  licensed  dealers  to 
persons  holding  permits  for  some  time.  Such  permits  were  issued 
only  to  those  who  proved  to  have  the  opium-smoking  habit,  and  had 
to  be  posted  outside  the  places  where  the  opium  was  to  be  smoked. 
The  smoker  had  to  renew  his  permit  every  three  months  and  a  less 
amount  was  to  be  supplied  each  time.  After  buying  the  opium,  he 
had  to  carry  it  through  the  street  openly. 
Under  the  cooperation  of  the  Anti-opium  Societies  with  the  offi- 
cials, the  Edict  was  enforced  with  fruitful  results.  The  societies 
collected  and  broke  up  paraphernalia  seized  in  their  raids  or  given 
up  by  reformed  smokers.  The  stock  on  hand  was  from  time  to 
time  stacked  up  in  a  public  place  and  solemnly  burned.  In  one  of 
the  burnings,  the  pipes,  bowls,  plates,  lamps  and  opium  boxes  sacri- 
ficed by  fire  were  upward  of  twenty-five  thousand.  In  one  city 
alone  seven  thousand  dens  have  been  closed.  Thanks  to  these  en- 
deavors, the  number  of  opium  smokers  has  been  remarkably  de- 
creased. Hardly  any  but  low-class  people  now  smoke  opium.  It 
has  been  estimated  that  between  one  and  two  million  places  for  the 
smoking  of  opium  have  been  removed.  A  national  conscience  has 
begun  to  show  itself  and  the  slave  of  the  pipe  has  been  put  to  the 
blush.  The  accomplishment  during  the  ten  years  allowed  for  the 
cleansing  of  the  land  from  the  opium  habit,  as  stated  in  the  Edict, 
has  surpassed  all  anticipations.  The  production  of  opium  in  the 
country  has  been  cut  down  about  90  to  95  per  cent,  or  almost  entirely. 
The  finish  of  the  poppy  growing  is  in  sight,  but  the  imported 
Indian  opium  is  the  difficulty  of  the  situation.  In  1907  when  the 
exports  of  Indian  opium  to  China  aggregated  3,400  tons,  the  British 
