Internationales Opium-Abkommen
Das Internationale Opium-Abkommen von Den Haag vom 23. Januar 1912 (auch Haager Opiumkonvention und Internationale Opium-Konvention genannt) war das Resultat der Internationalen Opium-Konferenz. Diese war am 1. Dezember 1911 unter dem Vorsitz von Bischof Charles Brent eröffnet worden. Von 14 eingeladenen Staaten nahmen 12 teil. Österreich-Ungarn und die Türkei hatten abgesagt. Resultat der Verhandlungen war die International Opium Convention, das Grundlagendokument des heutigen globalen Prohibitionsregimes.
On 23 January 1912, the International Opium Convention was signed in the Hague by representatives from China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Persia (Iran), Portugal, Russia, Siam (Thailand), the UK and the British oversees territories (including British India). Three years later, it entered into force in five countries (UNTC: The Convention came into force initially on 11 February 1915, in accordance with the provisions of the Protocol respecting the putting into force of the Convention). The Convention gained, however, near-universal adherence after 1919 when all the countries signing the Peace Treaties of Versailles, St. Germain-en-Laye etc. also became party to the International Opium Convention. (Entry into force according to UNTC: 28 June 1919).
Thus, by the mid 1920s close to 60 countries had - de jure - signed and ratified the Hague treaty and this number increased to 67 by 1949. The International Opium convention consisted of six chapters and 25 articles. In addition to opium and morphine, which were already under extensive international discussion, the Hague Convention also included two new substances that had become problematic: cocaine and heroin. Cocaine was first isolated by the German chemist Albert Niemann in 1860, and rapidly gained popularity for both medical and recreational use. Heroin was a relatively new drug at the time of the Hague Convention, as it had only become available as a pharmaceutical product in 1898. Ironically, it was originally marketed as a non-addictive alternative to morphine, which was proving problematic in many areas. The 1912 Convention was far from perfect, but it contained many elements of a comprehensive drug control treaty. Moreover, as an official declaration on the dangerous practices of opium smoking and the non-medical trade in opium and other drugs, it had value as an advocacy tool. It also inspired national drug control legislation, such as the 1913 Harrison Act in the United States, the foundation of U.S. drug law in the 20th century.