THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF INEBRIETY

London, England

April 1923

(page 180)

Many stories have been written dealing with alcoholism, but there are but few providing any adequate presentation of the various forms of drug addiction. A remarkable novel, descriptive of addiction to cocaine and heroin, has just been issued under the title of “The Diary of a Drug Fiend.” It is by Mr. Aleister Crowley, and is published by Messrs. W. Collins, Sons and Co., Ltd. (price 7s. 6d. net). It is a terrible portrayal of bondage, degradation, self-destruction through enslavement to the drug habit. The author in his preface claims that it is a true story, and certainly the moral deterioration, eroticism, emotional exaltation, and maniacal manifestations and bodily decadence brought about by persistent indulgence in cocaine is presented with vivid elaboration and an almost nauseating plethora of details. The work is a pathological study which is scarcely suited for general reading, but certainly merits the serious consideration of medical advisers and others who have to deal with the ever-increasing number of men and women who, under post-war conditions of life, seem eager to sell their souls and sacrifice mind and body for the fleeting effects of a drug addiction which means the worst form of thralldom and makes inevitably for inefficiency, disorder, and premature death.