The Great Binge

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The Great Binge is a 21st-century neologism, coined by amateur historian Gradus Protus van den Belt, describing the period in history covering roughly 1870 to 1914.[1]

History

It is so known because of the widespread use and availability of narcotics such as

menstrual cramps, and included in food and beverages such as Coca-Cola.[2] Literary characters such as Sherlock Holmes were portrayed using morphine and cocaine.[1]
Holmes is described as having a particular penchant for overt injections of a 7% solution of cocaine, though only when lacking adequate mental stimulation.

The period ended with a series of laws regulating narcotic drugs in various countries and internationally. The International Opium Convention, signed in The Hague in 1912 by 11 countries and entering into force in 1915, was the first stab at a comprehensive drug control treaty internationally and inspired domestic drug control laws such as the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act in the United States.[3]

Slang

"Binge" is 19th century slang, although the meaning has evolved. However, the specific application of the term "great binge" relative to drug use and popular attitudes towards drug use circa 1870–1914 is relatively recent. As well as its use by Bryars and Harper cited above, it was used by British author and comedian

Esquire Magazine used it in this context in 2009:[6] Dracula "appeared right in the middle of what historians call the Great Binge, a period in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries when cocaine and heroin use ran rampant". A Canadian psychologist, Romeo Vitelli, used the term online in a post dated September 2, 2007.[7]

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 9780226202501
    . Retrieved June 5, 2015.
  2. ^ a b Inglis-Arkell, Esther (March 28, 2012). "When Opium Was For Newborns And Bayer Sold Heroin". io9. Retrieved June 5, 2015.
  3. ^ "The 1912 Hague International Opium Convention". U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime. Retrieved June 5, 2015.
  4. ISBN 978-0718179786
  5. ISBN 978-1780744049
  6. ^ Esquire. The magazine for men. Vol. 152, p. 66
  7. ^ "Ending the Binge". drvitelli.typepad.com. Retrieved October 18, 2016.


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