Omaha daily bee., 1906-03-31
CHICACOS COCAINE VICTIMS
Their Number Put at Seventy Thousand
aud Steadily Growing.
EFFEcTS OF DRUG on MS USERS
Habit Easily Acquired and Dope Eas-
iIy Obtsined-Marks of the
"COke" Fiend-stOries of
-Four Victims.

That 1000 Chicagoans are AFFLICTED with
the cocaine habit is the statement made
by organizations which have been fighting
the coke" evil for years and. they admit.
losing ground all the time.
Medically. cocaine Is the alkaloid derived
from COCO leaves. In its crystallized form
It Is pure white and fiaky, and when used
is crushed to a powder and snuffed into
the nostrils. Another method is to use a
solution which is hypodermically injected
in the same way as morphine.
II is also taken internally, and whichever
the mode the result is the same-unusual
stimulating effect in the early. stages of the
habit and powerful recuperating power
when the victim has so far succumbed to
its use that il is absolutely necessary.
When snuffed the powder is generally laid
over the thumb on the left hand, and It is
not unusual to see habitusl cocaine users
with large sores on this spot from the ef-
fects of the drug penetrating the skin
Some catarrh cures are notorious sub
terfuges TO satisfy the craving for the mar
cotic, and one Of these has been the SUBJ
1ect OF legislation I'm many states. It's sale
has been prohibited in Illinois, but other
preparations against which the ban has
not been placed are said to be equally bad.
To use morphine in satisfactory form
requires a syringe, to smoke opium re-
quires a room wnere one may sleep. hash
eesh is hard TO obtain--but for cocaine
one needs neither syringe nor room. and
there is no difficulty in obteining the stun
In most parts OF the city. All that is neces-
sary for anyone to indulge in this habit
is 1.-The price"
This may mean any sum of money, from
10 cents up. Ten cents will secure enough
flake" to serve for two or three hours OF
enjoyment, provided the user has not de-
veloped strong taste FOR the drug. Twen-
ty-five cents pays for small box full of
the drug, sufficient to last anyone for a
day, and for 81 one can secure enough OF
the stun to furnish a complete orgy OF
drugging. Even a child can use it," and
to the shame of druggists and saloon keep
ers in certain parts of the city it must
be said that thy do.
Misery seeks Company.
One of the worst features of cocaine is
that the hends constantly urge others to
use IL. The opium fiend. the hasheesh vic
tim, the morphine sufferer. warn all others
against the drugs that have ruined them,
but the cocaine fiend seems anxious at all
times to convert others to the use of this
most horrible OF "dopes."
1t is no difiicult task to hunt them out
once one has learned the trademarks Of
the "fend." The yellow wilderness OF
the face, the down-drawn, stupid mouth,
the perpetually elevated eyebrows and
the 'dopy" look in the eyes readily dis
tinguish them from all other prisoners.
The cigarette stunts the mental and phys
ical powers of the boy or youth, the dope
cares not whether it's victim is young or
old, half grown or mature.
To reporter four victims of this ruinous
habit told their stories. OF these four,
three were boys under Is years old. The
fourth was a man who had been "a fiend
for twenty years. Number One was a boy
of IL who had used the dope two years.
His tale follows:
Il began using the stun about two years
and a half ago. That makes two years that
/ used It steady, steady as 1 could get
it, anyhow. I've been in here six months
now. and since I come here 1 haven't got
a chance TO use 1t.
Would use II il could get II? Would
/ 1? Why. say, pal, II could sell my right
hand for little box of the flake I'd do 1t!
! Use il? Why. l can't do anything else.
Il got into the habit of using it down on
Dearborn street. 1 worked in a printing
house down there, first as an errand boy
and then as a job press feeder 1t was
while was an errand boy that got next
to the dope stun.
II used TO spend my lunch hour down
in the alley back of the shop where the
teamsters used TO feed their horses. and
sit and rush the can and use the dope.
They used to send me over to Clark street,
where a barkeeper kept the flake and have
me buy the stun for them.
THAT was the beginning. didn't use it
for a long time, though. / went after the
stun for the teamsters for three or four
months before l ever touched IL. 1 didn't
know anything about 1t, or what 1t would
do, or anything, and 1 never felt temEted
to snuff It up my nose like l saw the tenn
sters do.
The First Pinch.
One day a new fellow Offered lie a
pinch of the dope and took it, There isn't
anything to It. to look at it, you know.
! Just little white powder. and a pinch is
all that you need to take at a time.
81 took this pinch and snuffed IT, AT
FIRST 1 didn't notice anything queer, except
that it sort OF tiekled in my nose little
while later IL began to work, and then l
knew why the Transfers used the stuff
After that began taking It regular. ]
didn't buy any for months, not until got
a job feeding press, because the teamsters
uneO 10 blNe HS al , wanted lot running
after II for them.
AT the end OF three months l had the
habit wanted the stun all the time.
A little while later needed Il all the time
and pretty soon had to have il.
where did buy It? The first place that
l began at was from an Italian who kept a
junk shop for blum and sold dope through
the back door. All you had to do was to
go TO the back door. shove in a quarter
and get your box OF fake.
That place got pinehed. too. because
some thieves began to hang out there
Then had to 40 back to the drug store
but it was harder to get II than before.
had to save a box 10 show to the clerk, SC
that he'd know that I used the stuff right
along
After awhile the habit began to show II
my face and then / didn't need to show
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