845.114 Narcotics/11–1644
The Officer in Charge at New Delhi (Lane) to the Secretary of State
[Received November 25.]
Sir: I have the honor to refer to the Department’s instruction no. 217 dated August 26, 1944, file no. 845.114 Narcotics/8–844, instructing the Mission to investigate the sale of narcotics to members of the American armed forces in India and, if the situation warrants, to make appropriate representations to the Government of India with a view to prohibiting the sale of opium and hemp drugs to American servicemen.
The Mission has now received reports on the subject from the consular offices at Calcutta, Bombay, Karachi and Colombo, in addition to a detailed report53 prepared by the American Army authorities. The information contained in these independent reports does not, in the opinion of the Mission, warrant representations to the Government [Page 1108] of India. The reports indicate that, despite the easy availability of dangerous drugs in India, addiction among American servicemen is rare and there does not appear to be any tendency for it to spread.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Respectfully yours,
- Entitled “Report of Narcotic Situation, China-Burma-India”; not printed.↩