Abstract
THE two plants from which the raw materials of all the manufactured drugs covered by the International Conventions of 1925 and 1931 originate are the opium poppy and the coca bush. The former is used for the manufacture of morphine, heroin, codeine, dionine and other drugs, and the latter for the manufacture of cocaine. Unlike opium, coca leaves are little used in the form of medicinal preparations but are used in large quantities in the preparation of non-narcotic beverages. The Central Opium Board of the League of Nations, in a 32-page report prepared by Mr. L. F. Atzenwiler entitled "Pre-War Production and Distribution of Narcotic Drugs and their Raw Materials" (New York: International Documents Service, Columbia Univ. Press. London: George Allen and Unwin, Ltd., 1944. 50 cents.) sum-marizes and analyses the mass of world-wide material which the Board has received. The report shows the importance of each country as a producer, and the quantities and methods of disposal of the raw materials and manufactured drugs, by both producer and consumer countries. The world productions of raw opium and morphine, for example, were 18,504 tons and 137,360 kgm. respectively during the period 1934–37. Although such details will chiefly interest technicians, the main facts, trends and conclusions should be of great value as basic material for those concerned with future international work in this field.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Narcotic Drugs. Nature 156, 361–362 (1945). https://doi.org/10.1038/156361d0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/156361d0