The Washington bee., 1908-09-26
COCAINE forbidden
N J. 8. NAILS.
Government Discovered
That Great Quantities
Were Sold to Users.
NEGROES FORM HABIT
Pure Food Experts Are on the Track
of Medicines Which Contain the
Drug.-Use of This dope" is Said
to BE a Greater Evil Than Whis-
key Drinking

to BE a Greater Evil Than Whis-
key Drinking
Washington, D. Charmed by
the extent TO which the cocaine habit
has spread in the larger cities of the
Country the Post Ofice Department
has issued an order denying the use
OF the mails - cocaine or its deriYa-
tiyes. To do this it was found neces-
sary to extend the provisions Of Sec
tion of the Postal regulations.
Government reports show that an
enormous amount of cocaine is sent
through the mails each year, and that
tins class OF matter Is steadily grow
inc greater The crusades Waged
aga .nst the habits IN the cities have
driven the DIR fiends' to seek 9TH
er means OF procuring the powder,
and the mails have been the innocent
channels through which the work Ci
the crusaders has bren rendered par
TALLY ineffective. Much Of the co
caine that has passed through the
mails has De-u jn he form of So
called medicines. These medicines
will also fall under the ban.
The action of the Post Office De
partment was taken by authority OF
Congress granted at the last session,
wnen it included a prohibition
against the drug in making up the
departments appropriation bill. II
was said by the Post Office authOri.
ties that the order had l. genesis in
the attempt OF certain Southern leg
lslatOrs to have a general order pass
ed prohibiting the sending OF tntoXl-
eating liquors into prohibition States
either through the mails or by com.
mon carriers engaged in interstate
trade.
1t developed that IN the South the
habit had fixed itself to an alarming
degree on the negroes. The curse OF
cocaine, in Iact. is said to be as
reat if not a greater menace to the
peace of tha- section of the country
than the liquor habit.
The difficulty faced by those who
nave tried to combat the evil in the
cities has been the ease with which
the drug has hitherto been obtained.
While druggists selling the liquor
without s. physicians prescription
have begA arrested time and again
and frequently convicted, there has
beer much more cocaine obtained by
those addicted to its use than ever
was purchased over the counters OF
drug stores.
Much OF the additional supply
came directly from the manufactur-
ers to the purchasers through the
mails Being a dry substance and
susceptible OF packing so that its real
nature was readily concealed, it lent
itself TO mailing.
The great increase in medicines
that contain cocaine in great quanti-
ties has been a source of uneasiness
to the Government. there are a
great number OF such remedies
and the Bureau OF Chemistry of the
Agricultural Department is after
them under the Pure Food Law.
The charge has been made that CO.
calne has even found its way into
the proprietary drinks sold to the
public at soda fountains. Or. H. w.
Wiley, Chief Of the Buerau of Chem
istry, only a short time ago. publicly
denounced one such drink. He de-
ClaTed II contained cocaine, and be-
cause of his statements its sale at
! army posts and iE the navy was pro-
hibited.
Among the negroes of the cities
the use of cocaine has assumed very
large proportions Government
agents who have investigated the
matter in conjunction with State au-
thorities have discovered that a regu-
IarIy established trade is pursued in
furnishing the drug 70 its users.
The PeddIers are to the drug bus1-
ness what the "bo0t-ieggers are to
the liquor traffic Y carry their
stock in trade witt IN and sell it
in unique measure. instead of CIV
ing their stOmers so many grains
| tor a certain sum, they sell it by the
tdI u. "A CLStOIuEI L1dy puIS
/ anywhere from deuce" to a ten
card of coke" as the drug is know
in the veTnacular by those who use
it. The peddler spreads the powder
th1nly over the spots on a playing
card. His charge depends on the
denomination OF the caro-, and is
based on the number of spots he has
to cover to complete the sale.
The United States is a party TO a
treaty to stamp out the opium trafic
and for years agitatOTs have insisted
. that the cocaine traffic should also
ue attacked Whether the Govern
ment will take any further steps to-
ward combating the transportation
, of the drug has not yet been consid