THE EFFECTS OF GOVERNMENT POLICY ON DRUG USE: JAVA, 1875–1904

We study a period of Javanese history when the consumption of opium was legal, but the supply of it was undergoing substantial institutional transformation. Through most of the nineteenth century the opium trade was organized into a system of “revenue farms,” which were privately owned local monopol...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of Economic History 2001-03, Vol.61 (1), p.1-18, Article S0022050701025013
Main Authors: Van Luijk, Eric W., Van Ours, Jan C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
19th century
Auctions
Commerce - economics
Commerce - education
Commerce - history
Commerce - legislation & jurisprudence
Consumer economics
Consumption
Drug Industry - economics
Drug Industry - education
Drug Industry - history
Drug Industry - legislation & jurisprudence
Drug policy
Drug trafficking
Drug use
Economic history
Economics - history
Economics - legislation & jurisprudence
Elasticity of demand
Farms
Government
Government policy
Government Regulation - history
History
History, 19th Century
History, 20th Century
Indonesia
Indonesia - ethnology
Java
Monopolies
Monopoly
Morphine
Narcotic dependence
Narcotics
Opium
Opium - economics
Opium - history
Price elasticity
Public Health - economics
Public Health - education
Public Health - history
Public Health - legislation & jurisprudence
Revenue
Smuggling
Social policy
Stockholders
Substance-Related Disorders - economics
Substance-Related Disorders - ethnology
Substance-Related Disorders - history
Substance-Related Disorders - psychology
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Summary:We study a period of Javanese history when the consumption of opium was legal, but the supply of it was undergoing substantial institutional transformation. Through most of the nineteenth century the opium trade was organized into a system of “revenue farms,” which were privately owned local monopolies that bought raw opium from the government, refined it, and sold it to consumers. After 1893 this system was replaced by a government monopoly, the so-called opium regie, which controlled importation, refining, and retailing. Our main conclusion is that this change in policy substantially reduced opium consumption.
ISSN:0022-0507
1471-6372
DOI:10.1017/S0022050701025013