Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(drugs) cocaine.

1910		J. Sullivan ‘Criminal Sl.’ in Amer. Law Rev. LII (1918) 892: A cocaine fiend uses ‘burnese’ a preparation for snuffing through the nostrils.
1914		Jackson & Hellyer Vocab. Criminal Sl. 21: burneys [...] A catarrh powder containing an illicit proportion of cocaine, used as a snuff, administered with a combination detachable rubber and glass blowing tube. [Ibid.] crowns [...] Used by drug fiends. Same as ‘burneys’.
1924		G. Henderson Keys to Crookdom 399: Burnes. One form of cocaine.
1933		D. Maurer ‘Junker Lingo’ in AS VIII:2 27: Bernice or burnese is crystallized cocaine prepared for inhaling into the lungs.
1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn) 39: burnes [sic] A form of cocaine.
1953		Anslinger & Tompkins Traffic In Narcotics 306: burnese. A catarrhal powder high in cocaine content.
1959		J.E. Schmidt Narcotics Lingo and Lore.
1960		(con. 1950-1960) R.A. Freeman Dict. Inmate Sl. (Walla Walla, WA) 21: Burnese – narcotics.
2001		ONDCP Street Terms 4: Burnese — Cocaine.