<P> Use of psychoactive cannabis was already prevalent in some of the new territories that Britain added to its empire, including South Asia and Southern Africa . Cannabis as a drug also spread slowly in other parts of the Empire; cannabis was introduced to Jamaica in the 1850s--1860s by indentured servants imported from India during British rule of both nations; many of the terms used in cannabis culture in Jamaica are based on Indian terms, including the term ganja . </P> <P> Cannabis prohibition began earlier in Britain's colonies than in Britain itself; attempts at criminalising cannabis in British India were made, and mooted, in 1838, 1871, and 1877 . In 1894 the British Indian Hemp Drugs Commission judged that "little injury" was caused to society by the use of cannabis . Cannabis was banned in Mauritius in 1840, Singapore in 1870, Jamaica in 1913, East Africa Protectorate in 1914, and in Sierra Leone in 1920 . In 1922, South Africa banned cannabis, and appealed to the League of Nations to include cannabis among prohibited drugs in its upcoming convention . </P> <P> In Britain itself, in 1928 in accordance with the 1925 International Opium Convention, the United Kingdom first prohibited cannabis as a drug, adding cannabis as an addendum to the Dangerous Drugs Act 1920 . </P> <P> Cannabis remained a fringe issue in the British public consciousness through the Interwar years and beyond, associated with society's margins: "coloured seamen of the East End and clubs frequented by Negro theatrical performers". This perception was strained by a 1950 police raid on Club Eleven in Soho which recovered cannabis and cocaine, and led to the arrest of several young white British men . With the changing youth and drug cultures globally, cannabis arrests increased dramatically in the UK: "from 235 in 1960 to 4,683 by the end of the decade, principally involving white middle class youths with no previous convictions". By 1973, marijuana possession convictions in the UK had reached 11,111 annually . </P>

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