The
International Opium Convention, signed at
The Hague on January 23, 1912 during the First International Opium Conference, was the first international
drug control treaty. It was registered in
League of Nations Treaty Series on January 23, 1922. The United States convened a 13-nation conference of the
International Opium Commission in 1909 in
Shanghai, China in response to increasing criticism of the
opium trade. The treaty was signed by
Germany, the
United States,
China,
France, the
United Kingdom,
Italy,
Japan, the
Netherlands, Persia,
Portugal,
Russia, and
Siam. The Convention provided that "The contracting Powers shall use their best endeavours to control, or to cause to be controlled, all persons manufacturing, importing, selling, distributing, and exporting morphine, cocaine, and their respective salts, as well as the buildings in which these persons carry such an industry or trade."