NCJ Number
184661
Date Published
1999
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This chapter chronicles the rise and fall of the cocaine industry in Southeast Asia from 1864 to 1944, with an emphasis on the enabling technology and business practices.
Abstract
The chapter discusses how coca came to Southeast Asia; coca cultivars and coca chemistry; demise of the Dutch and rise of Japanese plantations; Taiwanese coca; the legal system and Japan's drug industry; the role of Hoshi Pharmaceuticals and Sankyo Pharmaceuticals; creative cocaine accounting; and the role of the military. Efforts at international narcotics control rely on the cooperation and good will of participating nations, presuming that all member nations recognize drug abuse as a dire threat and will act for the common good. During the period under review, neither the Japanese government nor Japanese drug firms shared any of those perceptions. Drug abuse was unheard of in Japan and the country's leaders did not view it as a menace to the Japanese people. So Japan entered the drug business; Japanese authorities at every level participated and the country produced quantities of drugs that had no conceivable medical use. As long as the drugs were not used at home or in Europe, manufacturers remained untroubled and the drug business continued. Primary sources, notes