Cocaine in the Trenches

[Hans Molier]

The Dutch writer Conny Braam has written a (Dutch) book about the production of cocaine in a factory in Amsterdam, and that was sold later to the British Government. And that same cocaine was issued later to the British soldiers, just before they went 'over the top'. The book, with the Dutch title 'De handelsreiziger van de Nederlandse cocainefabriek', will be published later this month.

It seems production in Amsterdam doubled during the war and the Dutch factory made a lot of profit. According the writers investigation many soldiers returned to home after the war as a coke addict. By the way, the English title of the book would be 'The Merchant of the Dutch Cocaine Factory'.

We've also found an old photo of the cocaine factory in Amsterdam.

Dutch text under the photo : De gebouwen van de Nederlandse Cocaine fabriek aan de Wenckebachweg, op het terrein waar nu de Hell's Angels zitten

English translation of the text under the photo : The buildings of the Dutch Cocaine Factory at the Wenckebach road, terrain where now the Hells Angels can be found.

[archangel9]

I know nothing of Cocaine in the trenches but Shackleton certainly used it in Antartica in 1916. So I wouldn't be suprised at its use before the men went over the top.

John

[centurion]

Cocaine (and Heroin) were used in the trenches and could be bought and used quite legally in the early war years. As been related earlier in this forum some London department stores and Fortnum and Maisons used to make up gift packages to be sent to 'one's loved one at the front'. However I would be extremely interested to see if anyone has evidence of its official issue (which I think is very unlikely).

[auchonvillerssomme]

Used in the trenches? or used by service personnel? there is a difference. Do we have any specific evidence of the use of drugs other than the use of alcohol while manning a trench? To use cocaine or morphine effectively takes some preparation.

Mick

[truthergw]

My mother, daughter of a WW1 soldier, routinely referred to local anaesthetic, dental or surgical, as cocaine. It's misuse was certainly widespread in the twenties and thirties but I suspect it was out of the price range of most working people. I don't see it as a big problem in the trenches. There is a similar myth ascribing widespread drug addiction in US servicemen to overuse of morphine by their corpsmen. It melts away under close inspection.

[Michelle Young]

I recall that cocaine was used as a vasoconstictor (in a controlled manner) when I was student nurse on and ENT ward in the early 80s. I imagine it would have had a use in medicine during the Great War.

Michelle

[PhilB]

"Cocaine"(possibly some derivative) was the normally used local anaesthetic for dental extractions in the 40s & 50s - possibly still is?. I wouldn`t be surprised if it was also used for minor ops at CCSs in WW1. The recreational use of cocaine in those years I always assume to be for the higher classes, not the working (or even middle class) folk who`d be the normal trench fillers.

[centurion]

We have discussed this before on many occassions I enclose one link

http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/i...t&p=1008730

Unfortunately there was a much fuller thread that appears to have sunk without trace (I know I posted to it). The p**y search engine doesn't find it. [Do threads get deleted?]

[centurion]

See also http://www.qi.com/talk/viewtopic.php?p=62480

[Hans Molier]

Anyone knew of the existence of the factory in Amsterdam ?

[centurion]

Anyone knew of the existence of the factory in Amsterdam ?

No but it proves nothing

[Hans Molier]

No but it proves nothing

No, it doesn't. But I'm just trying to indicate that almost nobody ever heard of the excistence of this factory in Amsterdam.

[centurion]

No, it doesn't. But I'm just trying to indicate that almost nobody ever heard of the excistence of this factory in Amsterdam.

True but I don't expect anyone was looking for it. There is little doubt that cocaine was in significant use in the British army in WW1 but mainly as a local anesthetic for dentistry and minor surgery - this could account for the increased production. Some people also took it for 'recreational' use. There seems to be no substance in the suggestion that it was issued officially to troops going over the top. Other wise we'd have to redraw Barnsfather's classic 'Af a mo Kaiser' to show Old Bill snorting a line of coke instead of lighting up [but what was in that fag or pipe do I hear you ask? probably not]

[PBI]

The Drug now known as "Ectasy" was developed by German Chemists in WW1 as an appetite suppressor for the use of their front line troops.In WW2 British Bomber crews were issued with "Wakey" Tablets.

http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/archive/i...hp?t-49477.html

[centurion]

I've been doing a little digging. Cocaine was a common 'over the counter' sale pre WW1 and not just in the UK. In the US Sears & Roebuck sold a number of cocaine based products. Ryno's Hay Fever and Catarrh Remedy ("for when the nose is stuffed up, red and sore") consisted of 99.9 per cent pure cocaine. One pharmaceutical company advertised it thus "could make the coward brave, the silent eloquent, and render the sufferer insensitive to pain". Products such as chocolate laced with the stuff, wines containing it and cocaine cigarettes were widely available. Many doctors prescribed it as a way to get opium addicts 'clean' - unfortunately many of these then combined the two - inventing crack cocaine.

In Britain there were legal restrictions on its sale but these were not enforced.

In 1916 a Canadian major was worried about the widespread use amongst Canadian troops, he reckoned to have about 40 addicts in his command alone, and so did a little detective work to trace the suppliers in the UK. Using a corporal as a sting a man called Horace Kingsley and a woman - Rose Edwards were trapped and charged with "selling a powder to members of HM forces with the intent to make them less able to perform their duties". Given the vague nature of the actual law on the subject a smart lawyer today could have got the charges thrown out but the pair got six months hard labour. Immediately afterwards the well known pharmacists Savory and Moore who made up the kits sold in Harrods and other department stores were fined for "selling cocaine and morphine to one individual without an introduction and without obtaining his address". Harrods were also fined on the same charge. This effectively ended over the counter sales whilst more appropriate legislation was enacted.

[Yvonne H]

No, it doesn't. But I'm just trying to indicate that almost nobody ever heard of the excistence of this factory in Amsterdam.

Luckily the city archives in Amsterdam do, there was a Nederlandse Cocaine Fabriek build in 1900.

@Centurion,

Sigmund Freud once wrote his girlfriend to take a portion each day, and you will get rosy cheecks

Cocaine was once an ingredient of coca-cola as well.

We,ve done some digging too and we,ve found this:

http://www.forumeerstewereldoorlog.nl/view...p=288036#288036 it's the only part in English.

And: Forced March:

http://forumeerstewereldoorlog.nl/viewtopi...p=175897#175897

I haven't found documents stating it was common use so far.

Regards,

Yvonne

[bradley]

very interesting indeed

i just cant imagine soldiers sniffing lines of the stuff,altho i do believe you can wipe it on your gums

its not the done thing swallowing it.........................

it must have been well below purity for it would kill you if anything reaching 70% as well

also,ecstasy is a combination drug,it was mdma which was introduced by german chemists in the twenties iirc

[Yvonne H]

very interesting indeed

i just cant imagine soldiers sniffing lines of the stuff,altho i do believe you can wipe it on your gums

its not the done thing swallowing it.........................

it must have been well below purity for it would kill you if anything reaching 70% as well

also,ecstasy is a combination drug,it was mdma which was introduced by german chemists in the twenties iirc

as stated here:

http://forumeerstewereldoorlog.nl/viewtopi...p=288753#288753

Cocaine in the trenches, no.

Not for common use that is.

[centurion]

as stated here:

http://forumeerstewereldoorlog.nl/viewtopi...p=288753#288753

Cocaine in the trenches, no.

Not for common use that is.

Any chance of a translation?

[PBI]

On 14th Feb 1920 Labourer Chang Ju Chih was executed for the Murder of a Woman and her 3 children part of the main feature of the case was summed up by the Deputy Assistant Provost Marshall.."Since then,he has been all over France trafficing in Cocaine until arrested near Calais on the 1.2.1920.

Judge Babington also suspected that the executed Officer 2nd Lt.John Paterson was involved in running a Drug Ring,and other Illicit activities prior to his arrest.No doubt many Old Soldiers with service overseas prior to WW1 would have come into contact with Drugs in various shapes and forms,and one would have to asume that at large Ports like Calais and Boulogne,there would be ways and means for Soldiery and Officers alike to obtain Drugs etc..A question i would like to ask is..was the use Cocaine,Morphine,and Opium illegal in France and Britain in WW1 ?.

[centurion]

As previous postings on this thread show sale was made illegal in 1916 but I don't think use was.

[Ivor Lee]

In late Ocotber 1914 the Director of Supplies was informed that he had to supply a daily opium ration to the 6,000 Sikhs in the IEF under the euphemism “Indian treacle”.

He wrote in the War Diary “This is the first I have heard of opium. I did not know that it formed part of their ration, nor do I know what stock there is in the country as yet.” (WO 95/74 Director of Supplies, War Diary, October 1914 to January 1915 29 Oct 1914). The problem was solved a few days later when he discovered “that there is at Marseilles about 1,100 [pounds] of this [indian Treacle], and as my issue will only be about 15 [pounds] a day, I shall have sufficient for some time.”

Ivor

[centurion]

In late Ocotber 1914 the Director of Supplies was informed that he had to supply a daily opium ration to the 6,000 Sikhs in the IEF under the euphemism "Indian treacle".

Puts a whole new gloss on 'steamed treacle pudding'.

[Ivor Lee]

NowI know why I like my school dinners!

[Canadawwi]

I have a 1917 issue of a Canadian magazine called "Canada in Khaki: a tribute to the Officers and Men Now Serving in the Canadian Expeditionary Force" produced by the Canadian War Records Office. It included a short story dealing with the cocaine issue. Drug addiction must have worried authorities, as one of the items in this magazine was a short moralizing tale about a Canadian soldier and two English women. The fictional story is called "The Saving of Tom McKay" (read online, starting page 145 - here.)

Tom was wounded and awaits transport home in London. He is approached by a strange woman who tells him that he looks unhappy. She invites herself to tea. She asks him what he thinks about cocaine, at which point a Nursing Sister sitting at another table looks over: "She had seen the girl with other soldiers, and she had heard her speak to them of cocaine. More, she had seen significant alterations in them."

The woman tells him that she can sympathize with the use of cocaine by soldiers: "...a pinch or two of cocaine snuff will make you as happy as a king...Why shouldn't a man forget care for a little?" He asks her if he would feel ill the next day, and she replies: "If you did you could take some more and cure yourself." He asks if it is expensive, and she says: "Yes, but it's worth it. You see the silly old Government's stopped people buying it, stopped it coming into the country. It's awfully risky to get it through now, so the people who bring it have to charge a lot."

She then sells him a small packet for two pounds. She then explains that she will be there at the same time next week if he needs to purchase more.

The Nursing Sister named Barbara now comes over to his table and asks him how he likes London. He explains that the people are not very friendly, and then she asks who was the "friend" he was just sitting with, and what did he buy from her. He shows her the packet marked "rice powder". She then asks if he plans on using it. He does not give her a clear answer and she thinks "She was very sorry for him and very grateful, for, again and again, she had seen what men must endure who go into battle. And this man had fought for her, in common with all other women. More, he had come from Canada to do it."

She asks him to give her the cocaine so that she can prevent him from becoming an addict, but he refuses. They meet again, and he lets her know he will be meeting with the woman who sold him the cocaine. He meets this woman and notes her "extensively expensive wardrobe...It was too gay for the state of Europe". He asks her for more, and she lets him know the price has gone up - she thinks "How far could she bleed him yet? Better be modest until the time came when he must have the stuff." He buys it and she warns him not to increase the dose as it won't have the same effect after he gets used to it.

He meets Barbara again who is angry that he has been meeting the other woman and apparently buying more cocaine. Suddenly he asks her to marry him. She says no, and he says "Then you don't think I'm worth saving?" She says that she cannot be married to a drug addict, and that it would make her miserable. He then says he will promise never to buy it again. She agrees to marry him, and then he asks that she come to the cafe again the next day.

She arrives and finds him sitting with the drug seller. He pulls out 14 packets and puts them on the table, and tells the woman she will be going to jail. He tells her that she can give him back the money plus more that he paid for it, but he will still destroy the drug. She says that she doesn't have the money as she works on commission. He threatens to bring in the police, but she finally gives him the money.