Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1867-08-29
WHO EATS OPIUM IN MEMPMS9
A Fow Facts and Figures which
may startle Some People.
Several Thousand People In Mem
phis Constant Opium Eaters.
How and why it il Used--- The
Glasses by whom 1t 10
Consumed.

fact that this powerful narcotic IS used
to an extent in our midst which may
startle the masses who have never given
a thought to a subject apparently so tri-
vial 1t is not trivial matter, but one
of great import; one which, when few
facts and figures are given, may cause
some to open their eyes in wonder
Then, who eats opium in Memphis
us it possible" asks some young miss,
whose clear, bright eyes and speaking y
face prove her anything else than sopo-
rifcally inclined, "that many people in
Memphis use opium except when re-
quired by medical advisers ?" Yes,
many-so many that druggists stand
aghast, Mortified, while furnishing the
coveted drug.
Memphis contains nearly one hundred
places where opium can be obtained,
With the Wholesale trade we have moth
ing TO do, but will confine ourselves to
the traffic in small quantities. Four
large drug stores on Main street derive
daily revenue of about $40 each from
the sale of opium in small quantities and
in the different forms. This, taking
crude opium as the basis, is so ounces.
Experienced druggists inform US that
scarcely a drug or medicine store in
Mor, Knbta sAha hne h. mill
less than $40 per day as the receipts
from the sales of crude opium, morphine
and laudanum. A calculation will
readily furnish the extent to which this
powerful drug is used.
OF this large quantity probably not
more than twenty-five per cent is pre-
scribed by physicians. Two or three
druggists say fifteen or twenty per cent,
but we use the former figure. This re-
veals the startling truth that fully sew
enty.fve per cent. of the opium daily
purchased at retail in Memphis is con-
sumed fer the soothing effects it is be-
lieved to give. OF this latter quantity,
three-fourths, probably ourfifths, is
consumed by women, none of whom are
seldom free from its influence.
Crude opium retails at 81 per or,
morphine 81 rs per o., and laudanum
81 per or. The quantity that can be
purchased for ten cents, if taken at one
time, will kill one unaccustomed to its
use, or intoxicate one who has used the
drug in moderate quantities for two or
three years. There are AZ grains of the
crude article and laudanum, and nearly
43 grains of morphine. DeQuincy, by
gradually increasing the quantities, was
ultimately enabled to consume 600 drops
of laudanum in day. But it shattered
him like reed, aud at times filled his
mind with fantasies more horrible than
death itself Yet he courted its general
influence; the intoxieation was bliss
and it was only the terrible reflection
that human nature would soon sink be-
meath the burden, which at last awakened
him to the necessity Of triumphing over
the monster, to whose strange fascina-
tons he had so long yielded There are
women in Memphis whose daily con-
sumption of laudanum or morphine
many times exceeds the quantity that
would have killed them when it's use was
first commenced.
There are several thousand persons
in Memphis who regularly consume
opium-either in its crude state or in
morphine or laudanum. Let us take the
four drug stores, already mentioned, as
the basis of the calculation. Their re-
tail sales of the article aggregate $50 per
day. This sum would purchase eighty
ounces or 38, 400 grains of crude opium.
But as great portion is morphine,
which costs twenty-five per cent more,
let 10000 grains be the quantity, and we
have Gal doses of 48 grains, according to
a calculation already made, each enough
to kill a. novice in opium-eating. In
this we have not deducted the rs per
cent. purchased at the instance Of physi-
clans. If four establishments furnish
revelations so startling, how great must
be the quantity of this deadly poison
daily procured for consumption at the
scores of places in the city and suburbs
where it can be obtained The curious
may make their own calculations
What class of people use the opium
not ordered by physicians Its con-
sumption is confined to no particular
class. The great majority of the orders
are filled for women, many Of whom
have become habitua,ed to its use by the
soothing effects derived therefrom in
sickness. But there are others-too
many-to whom it is sorrows antidote
who use it to desden grief, without re-
decting upon the frightful consequences.
We heard Of lady who, only a short
time ago, was elected from a boarding
house for intoxication. Opium was the
cause, aud grief the motive. She sought
relief from sorrow BY drowning thought
How many others Of her sex, who read
this with a shudder, are themselves
emerging from the narrow paths into the
broad road VIII they 20 on, or halt
before entering the dark shadows ?
L. Il IL. Il -. u. .L-an.r Zen, |