100 years of the war on drugs

The first international drug treaty was signed a century ago this week. So what was the war on drugs like in 1912?
BBC News Magazine (UK)
Tuesday, January 24, 2012

opium-poppyHundred years ago, narcotics passed from country to country with minimal interference from the authorities. That all changed with the 1912 International Opium Convention, which committed countries to stopping the trade in opium, morphine and cocaine. Then, as now, the US stood in the vanguard against narcotics. While the UK's position is unequivocal today, a century ago it was an unenthusiastic signatory.