From The Hindu, February 24, 1925: Drugging babies in industrial areas

London, Feb. 23: In the Commons, Mr. Johnstone drew attention to the fact that medical evidence showed that 98 per cent of the children born in the industrial area of Bombay were drugged with opium, so that they might sleep and not cry for food while their mothers were working in factories. He declared that infant mortality in Bombay was 666 per thousand compared with 80 per thousand in London. Asked as to what steps he proposed to take in the matter, Earl Winterton replied that Lord Birkenhead had been informed that the Government of Bombay was considering the question of the administration of opium to children. According to official statistics, infant mortality in Bombay was 178.11 per thousand and not 666.