What is Judge Murphys book, The Black Candle about?
Judge Murphy wrote to leaders, police chiefs, judges and others around the world to explain the drug trade in Canada . Published in 1922, her book The Black Candle primarily describe the extent of the opium trade in Canada . (Copies were purchased by the League of Nations and formed the framework of their deliberations, and many of her recommendations became the basis of federal laws which were not amended until the 1960s.) She describes the distribution of drugs in Canada as being primarily organized by Asians, principally Chinese. Indeed, Chinese men were brought to Canada to build the railroads and they were prohibited by custom and law to enter other occupations. When these men were no longer able to work on the railroad or did not wish to continue in that work, many chose to challenge custom and law, but others entered the criminal world. Judge Murphy had visited opium dens and described the terrible living conditions of drug addicts, but unfortunately some readers chose to believ
