Ether Drinking in Ireland

mathepac

I’d be grateful if anyone could point me to studies, news-reports or other documentation of the above which reportedly reached epidemic proportions between the late 1840’s to the early 1890’s before eventually dying out in the 1920’s.

The primary location was the province of Ulster centered on the towns of Draperstown (Derry) and Cookstown (Tyrone) and involved all ages with kids as young as 10 being found ‘with ether breath’ at school and people in their 60’s intoxicated in the streets and country-side.

The ‘epidemic’ seems to coincide with Father Matthew’s very successful temperance campaign which anecdotally put 20,000 publicans out of business and reduced the Governments tax revenue from spiritous liquors to 1/6th for a few years.

I first ran across this ‘epidemic’ in Griffith Edwards book ‘Matters of Substance’ around 2004.

Thanks in advance for any pointers.

I chose "psychology" as the forum to post in but if this is in the wrong place please feel free to move it. This is not a subject for an acedemic paper, just curiosity.

BTW I recommend the book as an important briefing document for anyone looking at the legalisation / decriminalisation of 'recreational' drugs as the answer to current drug problems, real or perceived.

JuliusCaesar

YOu might actually get more help in History. Check sources in books, for a start, such as this one. This gives a link to a 1910 BMJ.

mathepac

Thanks, I already had the Psychology Today one, the second link is new.

Do I (a) re-post in History and delete here or (b) just re-post and leave this in situ?

Thanks.