BERLIN’S COCAINE FIENDS.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3466, 21 April 1920, Page 7

BERLIN’S COCAINE FIENDS.

SPREAD OF THE HABIT. Every forum of vice " and suicidal self~indulgence flolll'isllCs as never be.‘r'ore, says the Berlin. correspondent of the Daily 'l‘e]cgl'a.p'h. And that is saying a good deal. In one of the medical Weeklies ta Berlin: doctor now raises a cry of'alarm against the prevalence of the cocaine habit. .“'.[‘hcre can be no doubt,” he writes, “that cocainism flourishes as 9. terrible na~ tivonal scourge under the surface of Greater Berlin, and is continually extending- its sway.” In his opinion the spread of the habit is to be ac-

counted for “by the hardships of the war” and the consequent “yearning for nerve-soothing nie-ans.” -He also expresses the V'.iCW that “pure co,caiuism” has been imported into Germany from other countries_. where members of the armies had become acquainted with it in the course of ‘hostilities. As a result of the collapse of the Government authority and the universal corruption which clogs the adininistrative macliiuery. the victims of the habit have no dithculry in obtaining’ as much» as a kilogramme (29,-lb) at a time from the druggists, especially in the fashionable West End of the city. In these places they pay seven or eight marks a gramme, whereas the price at chemists’ is only about one mark. From clieinists, however, cocaine can be procured only on doctors’ orders, and lhough forged prescriptions are easy to get, the quantities obtainabie on them are insufficient to s:ltisf§' the cravings of the hardened drug maniac. At. nights cocaine‘ is sold clantlestinely in the streets by dealers, Who» offe-r it to the passers-by in packets of from one to six grainines. A large trade is also done by port—,ers and waitresses in the innu~m~ex:ab‘le ‘bars, tzrp rooms, dancing halls, and gambling dens, which are usually the ‘last phase of the evelling"s debauch. ‘Here, ‘however, the word cocaine is iseldom heard. Those who want. the ‘drug ask for a gramaphone disc, :1 M l;l:udl'edweigllt of coke. or under =-wxru: 3 other disguise. The "stuff supplied in these places is generally diluted with ‘neutral substances, so that the drug: fraternity distinguishes between a i“l_'eal gramme” and a “bar gramxne.’" Cocaine is customarily taken as snuli’, M and in this way its eiiectsdualce tlleln—selves felt very rapidly. The doctor deplores that “among the coeainistsare the sons of our best and most esteemed families.” Women are, however,’ also falling under the influence of the habit. The victims are mostly people between the ages of 20 and 30. Cure is Very diflicult to effect, even in the best private hospitals, for in consequence of the economic stress and the decline of public rnorality, few people in small salaried positions are impervious to the corrupting influence of money.‘ Thus, the doctor’s patients tell him, that “to-day-it is a simple matter, by means of a high bribe. to induce even conscientious attend'aut.~t to smuggle cocaine into the institution.” "