Act of May 26, 1922
Narcotic Drugs Import and Export Act
(Jones-Miller Act)
(Public—No. 227-67th Congress)
(H. R. 2193)
An Act to amend the Act entitled "An Act to prohibit the importation and use of opium for other than medicinal purposes," approved February 9, 1909, as amended.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That sections 1 and 2 of the Act en-titled "An Act to prohibit the importation and the use of opium for other than medicinal purposes," approved February 9, 1909, as amended, are amended to read as follows:
"That when used in this Act--
"(a) The term narcotic drug means opium, coca leaves, or cocaine, or any salt, derivative, or prepamtion of opium, coca leaves, or cocaine;
"(b) The term United States, when used in a geographical sense, includes the several States and Territories, and the District of Columbia;
"(c) The term board means the Federal Narcotics Control Board established by section 2 of this Act; and
"(d) The term person means individual, partnership, corporation, or associa-tion.
"SECTION 2. (a) That there is hereby established a board to be known as the Federal Narcotics Control Board and to be composed of the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Secretary of Commerce. Except as otherwise provided in this Act or by other law, the administration of this Act is vested in the Department of the Treasury.
"(b) That it is unlawful to import or bring any narcotic drug into the United States or any territory under its control or jurisdiction; except that such amounts of crude opium and coca leaves as the Board finds to be necessary to provide for medical and legitimate uses only, may be imported and brought into the United States or such territory under such regulations as the board shall prescribe. All narcotic drugs imported under such regulations shall be subject to the duties which are now or may hereafter be imposed upon such drugs when imported.
"(c) That if any person fraudulently or knowingly imports or brings any narcotic drug into the United States or any territory under its control or jurisdiction, contrary to law, or assists in so doing, or receives, conceals, buys, sells, or in any manner facilitates the transportation, concealment, or sale of any such narcotic drug after being imported or brought in, knowing the same to have been imported contrary to law, such person shall upon conviction be fined not more than $5,000 and imprisoned for not more than ten years.
"(d) Any narcotic drug imported or brought into the United States or any territory under its control or jurisdiction, contrary to law, ..shall (1) if smoking opium or opium prepared for smoking, be seized and summarily forfeited to the United States Government without the necessity of instituting forfeiture proceedings of any character; or (2), if any other narcotic drug, be seized and forfeited to the United States Government, without regard to its value, in the manner provided by sections 3075 and 3076 of the Revised Statutes, or the pro-visions of law hereafter enacted which are amendatory of, or in substitution for, such sections. Any narcotic drug which is forfeited in a proceeding for con-demnation or not claimed under such sections, or which is summarily forfeit,ed as provided in this subdivision, shall be placed in the custody of the board and in its discretion be destroyed or delivered to some agency of the United States Government for use for medical or scientific purposes.
"(e) Any alien who at any time after his entry is convicted under sub-division (c) shall, upon the termination of the imprisonment imposed by the court upon such conviction and upon warrant issued by the Secretary of Labor, be taken into custody and deported in accordance with the provisions of sections 19 and 20 of the Act of February 5, 1917, entitled An Act to regulate the immigration of aliens to, and the residence of aliens in, the United States,
or provisions of law hereafter enacted which are amendatory of, or in substi-tution for, such sections.
"(f) Whenever on trial for a violation of subdivision (c) the defendant is shown to have or to have had possession of the narcotic drug, such possession shall be deemed sufficient evidence to authorize conviction, unless the defendant explains the possession to the satisfaction of the jury.
"(g) The master of any vessel or other water craft, or a person in charge of a railroad car or other vehicle, shall not be liable under subdivision (c) if he satisfies the jury that he had no knowledge of and used due diligence to prevent the presence of the narcotic drug in or on such vessel, water craft, railroad car, or other vehicle; but the narcotic dntg shall be seized, forfeited, and disposed of as provided in subdivision (d)."
SECTION 2. That sections 5 and 6 of such Act of February 9, 1909, as amended, are amended to read as follows;
"SECTION 5. That no smoking opium or opium prepared for smoking shall be admitted into the United States or into any territory under its control or jurisdiction for transportation to another country, or be transferred or trans-shipped from one vessel to another vessel within any waters of the United States for immediate exportation or for any other purpose; and except with the approval of the board, no other narcotic drug may be 80 admitted, trans-ferred, or transshipped.
"SECTION 6. (a) That it shall be unlawful for any person subject to the jurisdiction of the United States Government to export or cause to be exported from the United States, or from territory under its control or jurisdiction, or from countries in which the United States exercises extraterritorial jurisdiction, any narcotic drug to any other country : Provided, That narcotic drugs (except smoking opium and opium prepared for smoking, the exportation of which is hereby absolutely prohibited) May be exported to a country only which has ratified and become a party to the convention and final protocol between the United States Government and other powers for the suppression of the abuses of opium and other drugs, commonly known as the International Opium Con-vention of 1912, and then only if (1) such country has instituted and maintains, in conformity with that convention, a system, which the board deems ade-quate, of permits or licenses for the control of imports of such narcotic drugs; (2) the narcotic drug is consigned to an authorized permittee; and (3) there is furnished to the board proof deemed adequate by it, that the narcotic drug is to be applied exclusively to medical and legitimate uses within the country to which exported, that it will not be reexported from such country, and that there is an actual shortage of and a demand for the narcotic drug for medical and legitimate uses within such country.
"(b) The Secretary of State shall request all foreign Governments to com-municate through the diplomatic channels copies of the laws and regulations promulgated in their respective countries which prohibit or regulate the importa-tion and shipment in transit of any narcotic drug and, when received, advise the board thereof.
"(c) The board shall make and publish all proper regulations to carry into effect the authority vested in it by this Act."
SECTION 3. That section 8 of such Act of February 9, 1909, as amended, is amended to read as follows;
"SECTION 8. (a) That a narcotic drug that is found upon a vessel arriving at a port of the United States or territory under its control or jurisdiction and is not shown upon the vessel's manifest, or that is landed from any such vessel without a permit first obtained from the collector of customs for that purpose, shall be seized, forfeited, and disposed of in the manner provided in subdivision (d) of section 2, and the master of the vessel shall be liable (1) if the narcotic drug is smoking opium, to a penalty of $25 an ounce, and (2) if any other narcotic drug, to a penalty equal to the value of the narcotic drug.
"(b) Such penalty shall constitute a lien upon the vessel which may be enforced by proceedings by libel in rem. Clearance of the vessel from a port of the United States may be withheld until the penalty is paid, or until there is deposited with the collector of customs at the port, a bond in a penal sum double the amount of the penalty, with sureties approved by the collector, and condi-tioned on the payment of the penalty (or so much thereof as is not remitted by the Secretary of the Treasury) and of all costs and other expenses to the Government in proceedings for the recovery of the penalty, in case the master's application for remission of the penalty is denied in whole or in part by the Secretary of the Treasury.
"(c) The provision of law for the mitigation and remission of penalties and forfeitures incurred for violations of the customs laws, shall apply to penalties incurred for a violation of the provisions of this section."
SECTION 4. That such Act of February 9, 1909, as amended, is amended by adding at the end thereof a new section to read as follows:
"SECTION 9. That this Act may be cited as the Narcotic Drugs Import and Export Act."
Approved, May 26, 1922.