Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1898-02-20
COCAINE HABIT GROWING.
THIS DRUG SUPERsEDlNG OPIUM IN
SOME PARTS OF THE COUNTRY.
It's Awful Enect-Said to BE Far More
Injurious In Its Enec Than Ii
Opium-Some Sad Cases of
It's Victims.


Its Victims.
From the New Orleans Times Democrat.
Opium smoking, hitting the pipe" as it
is called, is practically a thing of the past.
1t is a question If there is within the
boundaries of New Orleans a room where a
strange can go for indulgence in the Orien-
tai vice. OF course, as long as there are
'fiends' in the city. and these fiends have
money enough to rent a room and buy
SO vigilanit are the police that ~"joints' are
practically unknown.
Never a vice was killed. though. that an
caine has superseded opium. and it is a
question il cocaine Is not doing more harm
to-day than opium ever did Indulgence
stove needed, no needle. no long pipe. You
can take cocaine in whisky, you can In.
hale the white powder. or you can use 1t
methods insures forgetfuIness and reckless
ness. Cocaine is dreamily maddening, It
intoxicates, it deadens heartaches and bod,
lily pains. Ten cents worth of cocaine Will
last most victims of the habit one to two
days. Its extreme ~cheapness puts 1t within
the reach of the most poyerty-stricken
TIL police realize what harm the cocaine
habit Is doing. and are making every enort
to stamp it out: They are. making slight
that from four to ten shattered p wrecks Of
humanity. devotees Of the drug, do not
drag their trembling forms from the priS-
recorders in the Shape Of fines and impris-
onments. When they have worked out their
sentence they surrender themselves again
to the benumbingly delightful vice without
the slightest delay.
Sad Cases.
Yesterday morning two things that had
once been women were brought before Sec
ond Recorder Bezou and fined for disturb
ing the peace while under the influence of
the drug. There was scarcely a semblance
Of femininity about their faces. One of
hours behind the bars of her cell, and then
sunk, whimpering, into d stupor. She SEEM
ed more beast than human when she faced
the court yesterday morning. 1t was an old
story with the habitues of the court, and
the prisoners attracted scarce more than
passing notice.
The cocaine habit" said a police officer,
as the women were being led back to the
dock. lis responsible for more crime. for
more immortality and for more degradation
than any Of the standard evils. OF course.
1t is against the law to sell the stuff, and
anyone caught in the act would be bitterly
prosecuted, but there is no getting at the
facts. There are too many druggists who
are ready to violate the law for the profit
there is in it. No reputable druggist will
furnish the drug. but, as detection is i'm
possible and there is big money in selling
the stuff in spite Of its Comparative cheap
ness. a cocaine fiend never has any trouble
in gratifying his appetite.
v d ldht COCdllS AL ere "A l1C
Of the stuff On the back of the thumbnail.
a sniff and the drug is at work. 1 suppose
cocaine is mostly taken this way. Inveter-
or later. to using the 'hypo.' 1 remember
not long ago when we arrested a hoodlum
and cocaine fend and locked him I'D TO,
guage. We searched him at the station
and took away his syringe and supply OF
cocaine. When the effect of the drug al
ready in his system wore Off he gave way
| TO historical grief Tough az he wac he
wept and begged and prayed for his &C.
customed instrument and its deadly load
We refused to give him back his belong.
ings. He grew hysterical, and at last we
thought it safer to telephone the Charity
hospital for instructions. We were tolt
that IT would be dangerous to keep him
Il carried the fellow his syringe ant
some cocaine. He danced and shouted fol
, joy. Dissolving about a grain Of the drug
in a spoonful of water, he rolled up his
sleeve. The marks left by previous injec
tons were so thick that it was impossible
for him to find a spot big enough to allow
was rolled up. There was the same result
AT last it was necessary to insert tn,
needle point on the mans right thigh
where there was an unpunctured spot tn,
size of a dime. The mans skin looked as /
he was suffering from smallpox. 1t was
horrible sight. l believe he has since died
l never knew until then how awful the us,
OF the drug was.
Kills seIf-Respect.
"In my opinion the worst result of tn,
cocaine habit is that it absolutely kills al
sense of self-respect and decency. Its user
have no morals, no consciences. There /
no depth too low for them to dive into t
procure the money for supplying them
There is no dividing line in the use o
the drug: Roustabouts use II. Inmates o
the SWEETEST houses of sin find forgetful
ness n stiae remorse in the drug. Thos
who have accustomed themselves to tn
use Of the drug will make absolutely an.
sacrifices to get it,. They will go withou
come within my observation where a hus
band has given his wife money to bu,
food for him and she spent it for cocaine
row, and that is how the parties to 1t ge
into court. The other day a r%oustabou
got off his boat with just 10 cents. II
went home and CAV the money to his wife
telling her to get some ham
for him. When she came back she wa
under til the I'M, influence Of the drug ir a and th TS
~roustabout was hungry and he gave hi
stupefied wife such a horrible beating tina
it almost ended in murder.
But concluded the officer, in reminis
cent mood, God knows. the opium habi
was bad enough when it was in sway herr
! position and plenty of curiosity. would 6
and hit the pipe just to see what it wa
like. There is a man in New Orleans tc
day who five years ago was holding a re
sponsible position in a big wholesale hous,
He was making a salary of $1,000 and ha
a nice home and family. He tried the pip
!. Just once. Then he tried it again. He gu
! his job and grew a pronounced opium fient
!, He hasn't done a lick of work from tina
l day to this. His wife got a divorce. Tha
! is only one case in many.
T 80 frequent did these cases become tha
a determined effort was made by the polio
I to stop the evil. Joint after joint Wa
. raided. Arrest after arrest was made. an
I good heavy fines were soaked on propris
: tors and inmates alike. At last the nuisanc
4 was sensibly abated. Now it is almos
stamped out. OF course, it still goes O
in the Chinese quarter. and there are som
fiends who smoke in their rooms, but
isn't anything like it used to be. If tn
cocaine habit could be stopped it would t
= a good thing. But there isn't any way I
: stop it.. Some druggists will sell 1t an
s buyers won't give them away
None in stock.
From the Detroit Free Press.
Lady Ito dog fancierl-"What kinds