Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1906-10-09
MiseeIlaneuus gsadins.
FACTS ABOUT COCAINE.
The Drug Brings Pleasure Followed
BY Torture.

The Drug Brings Pleasure Followed
BY Torture.
What about the use Of cocaine In
this city. chief?" asked an Observer
man Of Chief H. C. Irwin Of the Char
lotte police department, recently.
Yes, sir. cocaine is becoming very
popular here with a certain class Of
negroes. We are having considerable
trouble with cocaine fiends.
How do the users procure it?"
They get prescription and have It
refilled time and time again. The law
permits prescriptions to be refilled.
have found that colored physicians Of
the city give these prescriptions and
patients have them filled and reh1led
and sell the stuff to others. We have
sent number Of negroes to the chain
gang for selling It."
How does the use Of 1t affect the
negro?"
1T makes him no account for work
and reduces him to q criminal. The
cocaine fiend will do anything to get
the drug. The cocaine habit makes
thieves Of men and women. Why, re-
Gently. we have investigated a num-
ber of robberies to find that they were
committed by bands Of fends who were
forced to steal to get money with which
they could buy cocaine. The habitues
become desperate"
How do they take it-in what
form?"
They buy the white powder and sniff
lit through their noses One will buy
lot of 1t and then he and his friends
will foregather at some secluded or
safe place and enjoy an evening sniff
ing 1t. The person who procures the
cocaine In quantity will sell It out by
the sniff to those attending the meet
ing. Such functions continue all night
and the negroes think they are having
a great time. They neither eat nor
sleep so long as the cocaine holds out.
Cocaine Is an alkaloid obtained from
the leaves Of the coca, small shrub
Of the mountains Of Peru and Bolivia
and cultivated IN other parts Of South
America The principal source Of the
drug as a commercial product Is the
province of Yungas in Bolivia, where
the bushes, which are grown on the
sides of the mountains, yield three
crops year. BY far the greater part
of the 100000 pounds produced an
nually Is consumed at home. In its
native country Il Is used as stimu-
liant, bearing some resemblance In Its
effects to tea and coffee. The Indians
of South America chew It to relieve
the feelings Of fatigue and hunger; this
habit is an enslaving one.
I'VE have had the common drunk
ard. the morphine fiend and the laud-
anum habitue for years but, the CO.
caine doper Is comparatively new. Yet
every city In the United States has Its
cocaine fiends. Persons who have be-
come slaves to morphine take cocaine
to lessen the use Of the former drug.
This makes one class Of cocaine fiends,
but the most numerous ones are those
who take 1t for the pleasure that 1t
gives. It is physical and mental
stimulant Of the strongest sort"
In writing on cocainism DR.. Francis
x. percum said: AFTER the use Of CO.
caine over a large mucous surface,
such as the nasal chambers, the pa
tient experiences not only local anes-
thesia, but comfortable sense Of
warmth and well-being diffused over
the body Further. the nerve centres
have been large, very much as they are
stimulated with alcohol, save that the
stimulation is far more intense and
sudden.
After the taking Of the dose, there
Is intense excitement with increased
pulse rate, accompanied by sense Of
intoxication. There Is q marked in
crease of the nervous irritability and
the ideas flow much more rapidly than
normally.
1.-The habit is frequently established
with rapidity. II the drug be with
drawn for time or, IL the patient fail
Of access to It, he Is seized with feel
Ing OF great discomfort, Of marked de-
preston, of faintness, palpitation, and
general nervousness. Cocaine users be-
comes excessively irritable, snappy and
short In his speech. jerky in his man
ner, and exceedingly restless. Inability
to work and ready fatigue are promi-
nent symptoms. There Is more or less
impairment Of will power and loss OF
memory, and the patient grows as un-
reliable in his statements and as reck-
less of the truth as the morphinist. He
is pale and haggard; his general nutri-
ton Is much impaired, and his weight
is below normal. Often he presents a
picture Of premature senility. His re-
dexes are exaggerated. His move"
ments are those Of unrest and con-
slant change Of position. At times
his muscles are the seat Of spasmodic
twitchlngs. His pupils are dilated.
Frequently there is tremor OF the
tongue and sometimes Of the hands.
His pulse Is rapid and he frequently
suffers from palpitation. His skin Is
likely to be cold and moist. He sleeps
but little-otten, indeed, insomnia per-
sists for days. In addition, he may
present various symptoms Of mental
confusion and delirium. Sometimes he
Is the victim of delusions Of persecu-
ton. The patient frequently believes
that there are vermin or fleas upon his
person, or In his bed or about his
room and he often spends a large part
of his time in bathing, rubbing,
scratching or in making efforts to rid
himself Of the imaginary pest. SO
frequently Is this hallucination OF Gu
taneous sensibility. that a patient pre-
senting it Is said to suffer from the
cocaine e-bug.'
In other words the patient is suffer-
ing the tortures of the damned. The
boys in the Mule Pen know all of these
symptoms, not from personal expe-
rience exactly, but from seeing other
poor devils suffer. A cell full OF CO.
caine fiends is as lively as cage OF
monkeys.
L.. L.