Foreign News: Chandu

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From the Straits Settfements, a Crown colony comprising Singapore, Penang and Malacca, news came last week that the local British administration derives some £2,500,000 ($12,150,000) annually from opium revenues. Opium, called locally chandu, was reported on sale at $8 an ounce, in "smoke parlors" operated by the government, whereas the government imports tin drug from China for less than $1 an ounce. During 1925 almost $300 000 was spent by the government in building new and more luxurious "smoke parlors" which are now reported in full blast. The natives, accustomed to chandu, apparently feel no more than a slight "head" on the day following an evening of indulgence.