Radical action is demanded from medical and legislative authorities. While these may mitigate the evil complained of, they cannot eradicate it. The drug habit is the unfailing accompaniment of the neurosis produced by this wonderful age of private-owned machinery. Machinery imposes an exhaustive drain on the nervous system. It compels an acceleration and competition in all departments of life, that is reflected in increased physical breakdown.
Drugs then step in as a stimulant.
Further, machinery has the tendency to drive men out of fruitful beneficial production into parasitic occupations. Among the latter are the quack and the drug seller. These batten upon the nervous and the physical wrecks of society, dosing them with narcotics and otherwise encouraging the spread of the drug habit, in order that they may eke out a livelihood and attain a competence in their nefarious callings. Were their victims able to secure the rest, change of scene, and wholesome, normal conditions they so much need, these rogues would be without a means of existence. But such is capitalism that any relaxation of effort entails a loss of position and business standing.