Blurred reality: Recreational and medicinal opium use on the Comstock, 1860-1885

This thesis examines the common myths concerning opiate use in Nineteenth Century America (1860-1880) and argues that a more complex reality existed which extended beyond the stereotypical boundaries of a particular class and gender. Using a regional and community studies approach, this study focuses on how culture and its relationship to a particular type of community, reflects the extent of drug use in America.;Virginia City, Nevada or "The Comstock" is an example of an "instant city" and provides a microcosm in which to evaluate how these types of ephemeral communities can be linked to drug use. This research also examines whether the environment was an anomaly or followed the trends of the nation in terms of its patterns of opium consumption. These patterns consisted of two modes of drug utilization and were distinguished by technique, class, gender and geographical locale. The consumption of opium for recreational use followed a particular pattern: i.e. smoking the drug within the confines of the opium den brought to America, via the Chinese. Associated with vice, the den became a popular cultural institution in many urban mining centers of the West. Medicinal use, marked by a pattern of medicine distributions and prescriptions became popular with all classes, and particularly among women.;This study notes the pervasiveness of opium and the conditions which expedited the attitudes and practices of drug users both at the local and national levels.