Dope by Sax Rohmer was both the first novel to speak openly about the world's international drug trade, and the first story to centre around the death of a celebrity by drug overdose. (Google)
Arthur Henry Sarsfield Ward, better known as Sax Rohmer, (1883 - 1959) was a prolific English novelist. He is best remembered for his series of novels featuring the master criminal Dr. Fu Manchu.