Cocaine, Opium, and the Color Line
The Racist Roots of America's War on Drugs
"The Age of Drugs" by Dalrymple (1900), offers a glimpse into America's relationship with drugs at the turn of the 20th century. The bustling drugstore scene depicts a pharmacist doling out an array of remedies to a desperate crowd - Opium, Cocaine, Strychnine. The young girl in foreground is leaving with “Soothing Syrup”.
Caption: "Saloon Keeper - The kind of drunkard I make is going out of style.
I can't compete with this fellow."
In the late 1800s, opiates and even heroin were surprisingly common. Morphine was a popular pain reliever, and laudanum (a potent opium tincture) was readily available.
These drugs weren't relegated to the fringes of society – they were used by all classes, particularly white middle and upper classes. Patent medicines, often laced with opiates and cocaine, were heavily marketed and consumed widely.
Because the two primary ingredients in Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup were morphine and alcohol it is not surprising that the syrup relieved pain and diarrhea (a common side effect of all opioids is constipation)
By the early 1900s, the narrative around drugs shifted dramatically. Newspapers now ran fear-mongering stories like this.
NEGRO COCAINE "FIENDS" ARE A NEW SOUTHERN MENACE
Murder and Insanity Increasing Among Lower Class Blacks Because They Have Taken to Sniffing Since Deprived of Whisky by Prohibition
Full text here
News stories of "Negro dope fiend" became commonplace, demonizing drug use among African Americans and Mexican Americans. This racialized narrative wasn't just sensationalized reporting. It also fueled the passage of the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act in 1914, one of the first federal laws regulating drugs. While presented as a public health measure, it disproportionately impacted minority communities.
If I could get ahold of some of those Toothache Drops I will never need another root canal.