Opium Was Banned in Hong Kong in 1945

It is a well-known fact that the history of Hong Kong is closely intertwined with the opium trade. Indeed, Hong Kong as the global financial hub it is today simply would not exist if it were not for the British opium trade in China through Canton (now known as Guangzhou).

Following the cession of Hong Kong Island to the British in 1841, the colonial government established an opium monopoly. As a highly taxed and widely used commodity, opium represented up to 30% of the government’s revenue by 1910. Four years later the government shifted toward processing and selling its own opium, labeled “Government Opium Hongkong”.

However, during the Second World War, the British government decided to adopt a total ban on opium in its Far Eastern territories. Immediately after the liberation of Hong Kong from Japanese occupation in 1945, the British Military Administration passed Proclamation No.13, outlawing the trade of opium in the territory.

Eventually, when civil rule was re-established in 1948, the colonial government amended the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance (Cap. 134) of 1923, reclassifying opium as an illegal substance. As of 2026, the consumption and possession of opium may result in fines of up to HK$1 million and 7 years of imprisonment, while trafficking or manufacturing opium carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment and a HK$5 million fine.