THE DRUG SCANDAL.

Dunstan Times, Issue 2963, 14 April 1919, Page 4

THE DRUG SCANDAL.

During the last month there have been several remarkable revelations regarding the growing drug habit (wrote the Lon,gus” in January). There is always, in every big city, an underworld of evil, and it would be false to say that London is worse than other capitals. But every now and then the public are surprised at the revelation of some widespread offence which had not been suspected. The renting of swell West End houses for gambling clubs; the orgies at Giro’s; the racketing and furniture-smashing of dance parties which sometimes lead almost to riot in one or two of our very first hotels, are incidents that disturb the moralist, but which a man of the world looks upon as the froth of an overstrained condition of society. The spread of the drug habit is worse than gambling or the ebullitions of a few excited dancers. It is not difficult to explain. In part it is due to the increased restrictions in the sale of beer, wines, and spirits. In some cases the taking of narcotics is a reaction against the strain which has fallen upon many persons through the war. But the chief cause can be traced to the hospitals. Thousands of shell-shocked soldiers and other wounded men suffering from sleeplessness have been supplied with drugs while lying in the hospitals in France. Paraldehyde, opium, veronal, and cocaine are more frequently administered, and are more easily obtainable, in the French hospitals than in England. The effect of these narcotics is so fascinating that a patient easily* becomes a permanent victim, and every medical man knows the tricks to which people will resort to obtain the forbidden Within recent, years the law has provided heavy penalties for anyone convicted of dealing in opium, and the Defence of the Realm Act forbade traffic in cocaine, opium, and other narcotics. .Nevertheless such is the craze for these drugs that there are smugglers who openly parade some of the West End streets for the purpose of selling cocaine or opium to purchasers whom they can trust. An article which a few years ago brought 15s an ounce now brings £lO, and sometimes thrice that sum.

Much light has been thrown upon this vdrug habit through an inquest on Miss Stewart, better known as “Billie” Carle ton, a popular actress at the halls, and through a prosecution that followed her death. It has been revealed that “Billie” Carleton was one of a small group of degenerates who met together for orgies of opium smoking. Five or six of these people assembled at a Dover street (Piccadilly) flat, kept by Mr and Mrs Reggie de Veulle, on the evening of the Victory Ball, held at the Albert Hall on 27th November. “Billie” Carleton was present at the ball. Before midnight she joined a supper party which had already gathered at Dover street. After supper the people arranged themselves for opium gmoking. The men dressed in pyjamas and the women in chiffon nightdresses. Large cushions were strewn about the floor, and a woman named Mrs Lo Ping You (a Scots girl married to a Chinese) acted as high priestess for the orgy. She prepared the opium, lit the pipes, moved I from couch to couch, and attended to the I smokers’ wants. She was equipped with I opium needle, lamp, and all the usual acI cessories. The orgy went- on from 9in I the evening till 3 the following afternoon. I “Billie” Carleton was a latecomer. When I she left Dover street she went to her own I flat, and a few hours afterwards her maid I found her dead in bed. Mrs Lo Ping I You has been prosecuted under the DeI fence of the Realm Act for administering I opium, and the Magistrate sentenced her I to five months’ imprisonment with hard I labour. When the police searched her I husband’s shop in Limehouse Causeway I they discovered opium pipes, opium, and I abundant other evidence that the place I was an opium den. The man himself I was a physical wreck through opium I smoking. He was fined £lO. These two I prosecutions have directed attention to Bother cases. In one instance a phee and I apparatus for opium smoking were found ■ behind an Oriental curiosity shop near fl Grosevnor square. In another case perI son was punished with a few weeks imI prisonment for selling cocaine in the I streets. Several cases have been repovtled of nurses who have contracted the irug ■ habit through overwork in hospitals. There ■ has been a newspaper outcry on the .sub- ■ ject, and a demand for severer penalties ■ and ' increased restrictions of sale. The ■ special kind of opium required for smokling is smuggled into the country from ■ China by sailors or Chinese passengers. ■ There are not a few dens in the last ■End where opium is surreptitiously m ed, ■and there are middle and upper class mc■tims of this drug who know these pla< es, ■and visit them by stealth.