occasioned a rise in price of crude opium from $6.90 per pound in 1914, to $35 in 1917. High levels were maintained till the spring of 1919, when large shipments of Turkish opium broke the price sharply to near the prewar figure.

Imports of crude opium decreased under war conditions, and those of advanced opium showed a marked increase, owing, doubtless, to its greater economy in shipping space and the great demand which rendered the higher rate of duty a negligible factor in the market. The general imports of crude opium by countries are shown in Table 1 and the imports for consumption in Table 2. Imports of morphine and the other alkaloids of opium are presented in Table 3.

Revenue.

Opium is by far the largest revenue producer of any drug. For the years 1909-1916, crude opium yielded an average annual revenue of $671,968, and the dried grade (1910-1918) of $178,094.

TABLE 1.-General imports of crude opium, by countries, 1909–1918.

1 Shipments from England, Germany and Italy, are reexportations, since these countries are not producers of crude opium.

TABLE 1.-General imports of crude opium, by countries, 1909–1918—Continued.

TABLE 2.-Imports of opium for consumption in the United States, 1909–1919. A.-CRUDE OR UNMANUFACTURED AND NOT ADULTERATED, CONTAINING 9 PER CENT OR OVER OF MORPHIA.

TABLE 2.-Imports of opium for consumption in the United States, 1909–1919-Contd. B.-DRIED, POWDERED, OR OTHERWISE ADVANCED, CONTAINING 9 PER CENT AND

TABLE 3.-Imports of alkaloids of opium for consumption in the United States, 1909–1919.

A.-MORPHIA OR MORPHINE, SULPHATE of.

1909. 19101.

B.-ALL OTHER ALKALOIDS OF OPIUM AND SALTS AND ESTERS THEREOF.

21,870

63,406

32, 805

1911.

.do..

480

2,545

Coca leaves are chiefly imported from Peru, where the plant has been cultivated since prehistoric time. Large plantations are being developed in Java. Experimental cultivation is reported from Florida. The plant is very sensitive to frost. It could probably be grown in our tropical possessions, but the grave moral menace of its use renders any such introduction inadvisable.

Uses.

Coca leaves are used almost wholly in the manufacture of the alkaloid, cocaine, which occurs in amounts from 0.5 to 1 per cent. After removal of the cocaine large amounts of coca leaves are used in the manufacture of soft drinks. The use of coca leaves by addicts is hardly known in the United States, but is almost universal in some South American countries.

The habitual use of cocaine is one of our most serious narcotic problems, as the habit is easily established and is more vicious in its effects than any other narcotic. The committee (referred to under Opium, see p. 19) reports that 75 per cent of the cocaine used in the United States is consumed by addicts. The annual import of leaves is equivalent to about 150,000 ounces of cocaine.

The chief legitimate use of cocaine is as a local anaesthetic. Its habit-forming tendencies have stimulated endeavors to produce nonhabit-forming synthetic substitutes. Many of these are successful for certain purposes, but as yet have not wholly replaced cocaine— a result very much to be desired. Many of these substitutes were formerly in the control of German firms. During the war, by the provisions of the trading with the enemy act, the principal one, "novocaine," was licensed for manufacture in the United States as "procaine." The use of cocaine is conditioned by legal restrictions similar to those affecting morphine.

Prices.

Coca leaves normally sold for about 25 to 30 cents per pound, but the quotations for 1919 were about double this figure. Cocaine hydrochloride, which sold for about $2.75 per ounce in 1914, was quoted at over $11 during 1918, and this high level of prices continued during 1919 and the first half of 1920.

Imports and Revenue.

Imports of coca leaves are remarkably uniform in quantity for a drug product, and have shown no appreciable variation with a change in the rates of duty. The high duty on the alkaloid, cocaine, however, has largely limited its normal import to a few rare salts not produced here. As a revenue producer coca leaves rank next to opium among the drug products not used for technical purposes. The average revenue for the period 1911 to 1919 was $79,057. Imports of coca leaves and its alkaloids are shown in Tables 4 and 5.

TABLE 4.-Imports of coca leaves for consumption in the United States, 1909-1919.

TABLE 5.-Imports of cocaine, ecgonine, and salts and derivatives for consumption in the United States, 1909-1919.

Licorice root, in amount the largest of drug imports, is obtained chiefly from Asia Minor, the Levant, and Southern Europe. The licorice plant has been introduced into America, and thrives under our climatic conditions, even on poor land and with little agricultural care. Before the war, however, the cost of harvesting, precluded commercial production of this normally extremely cheap product in America. Some domestic production has been reported but is believed to be on a more or less experimental scale. Licorice is chiefly used for the manufacture of licorice paste, of which over 90 per cent is used for flavoring plug tobacco, the remainder being utilized in pharmaceuticals and confections.

War trade restrictions on licorice root, and the decreasing duty on licorice paste have tended to favor the importation of the more concentrated commodity, although the root is still predominant. The root