hey, folks.

drinking and drug-taking in prisons is quite a longstanding phenomenon.  in
part, its history is related to the extent of discipline and isolation that
a prison intended to create.  the more or less modern, western prison is
very different from the 18th-century prison in that respect.  a prison
about which i know a lot is perhaps a good example, although i'm writing
from memory here so excuse some imprecision.  my notes are not handy.

san quentin state prison in san rafael, california (on a northwest shore of
the san francisco bay) had a major road running right through the compound
for several decades after its construction in about 1850.  local food and
beverage vendors would come in and do business with the guards and
prisoners, and the style of life of any given prisoner was a function of
his wealth on the outside.  in this respect, san quentin was much more like
a mexican or european prison than it was like the severe, quaker-inspired
"penitentiaries" emerging the east.  needless to say, the wine flowed.  and
the medical whisky barrel often was drained or pilfered.

by about 1870 opium (prepared for smoking and in the form of balls that
could be eaten) was an important part of the prison economy and there were
rules against its use.  the surviving "punishment book" of the prison goes
back only to 1872, but it seems that the rules were enforced at least some
of the time.  indeed, if we ask where illicit drug dealing began, the
prison -- with its own prohibitionist regime -- is the likely answer. by
the late 19th century, san quentin, like the state's asylums, had
accumulated a fair number of addicts who were supplied by visitors and
guards.  a series of wardens tried to stop the traffic and one, at least,
resorted to draconian methods that became the subject of scandal at the
turn of the century.

another interesting feature of this history concerns the question that
david courtwright broached years ago about when and where opium smoking
crossed the color line.  david couldn't confirm herbert asbury's account in
THE BARBARY COAST, but agrees that the timing (ca. 1875) was probably about
right and that the mutual love of gambling by chinese laborers and some
white settlers probably provided the impetus for the syncretism.  (feel
free to correct my freehand rendering, david.)  this may be correct, but
there's another distinct possibility apart from multiple origins (the most
likely explanation).  san quentin incarcerated people of many ethnic and
racial backgrounds, and while the cell blocks were segregated, these folks
mingled in work and recreational activities.  there's a strong suggestion
in the circumstances limned in the prison's punishment book and other
documents that white, chinese, and mexican prisoners gambled, got drunk,
smoked opium, and had sex together by the early 1870s.  (prison
homosexuality is quite old, too.)  thus, it's possible, certainly, that
white men learned how to smoke opium from chinese prisoners and took the
practice back into civilian life.

i haven't written up this research because it has always seemed like a
pretty obscure matter in which few would be interested, but if a research
note on this material would be useful for the group's journal, i'll be
happy to put it on the to-do list.

jim baumohl



At 12:26 PM 4/1/2005, David Fahey wrote:
>In my own country (USA) there is considerable alcohol and drug consumption
>in prisons that is against prison rules.  Do prisons in some countries
>authorize the drinking of alcohol?  Consuming any drugs?  (I don't mean
>cigarettes and coffee.)  Are prison rules against alcohol/drugs relatively
>recent or longstanding?  (The whole concept of imprisonment has changed
>enormously over the last few centuries.)
>
>David Fahey