A British reader of this site recently sent me an email asking if Sherlock Holmes drug use broke the law and if he bent/broke the law in solving any case.
The answers are no and yes, in that order.
Sherlock Holmes Drug Use
Sherlock Holmes is depicted in the Arthur Conan Doyle series of novels and short stories as an occasional user of cocaine and morphine, both derivatives of opium. Drug use was largely unregulated in the 19th century.
The recreational use of these substances was not addressed until the (non-binding) International Opium Committee, which convened in Shanghai in 1909. The later International Opium Convention, held in The Hague in 1912, set down guidelines for controlling the traffic of opium and opium derivatives, but was not made into law until it was included into the Treaty of Versailles, signed in 1919 by the UK, France, the United States, Italy, and others.
The Sherlock Holmes stories all take place between 1878 and 1903, thus Mr. Holmes drug use was legal.
Sherlock Holmes and Bending the Law
The Sherlock Holmes stories are a project of the Victorian Age, where a gentleman felt obligated to do whatever necessary to help a woman in distress or to aid a good cause. That Holmes-esque tenent is still prevalent in modern day detective fiction. Holmes never committed a major crime in solving his cases, but there are numerous instances of breaking and entering, burglery, and concealing evidence. A few examples are:
- In "The Adventure of the Speckled Band," Holmes and Watson break into Dr. Raylott's home in order to prevent a murder.
- In "Scandal in Bohemia," Holmes and Watson break into Irene Norton's (nee Adler) home to obtain a compromising photograph for the King of Bohemia.
- In "The Adventure of the Illustrious Client," a member of the British royal family hires Holmes to break into a home to get his "black book of conquests" back from a former lover.
