The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1876-01-22
The Opium Law.

To the Editor Of The Pacific Commercial advertiser :
SIR have long wished that an exposition could
be made of the injustice Of the opium law passed at
the last session Of the Legislature, and now in force
but knowing that a deaf ear is go often turned 10
those who would ventillate questions not directly
affecting the influential portion of the community, /
have hesitated until now to express, what seem in
my humble opinion to be some very decisive reasons
why the law, as it now stands, should be blotted
from among our statutes, as we have the most tangi-
BILE evidence that it bears very u~nequally according TO
individual status. By the law, 2 years imprisonment
may be imposed upon any one, not a physician, in
whose possession opium or any preparation thereof
may be found, unless by the prescription Of a Dhysi-
clan, the possessor is authorized to use the same.
Some poor unfortunates, addicted TO the use Of
this drug, have already been made to suffer the pen
atty of the law, for gratifying an appetite rendered
by habit as irresistible as the impulses Of the maniac,
whom the law docs not hold responsible for the
crimes he commits.
1t is so natural and so just that a man shall
defend his own life, that the law allows him even 70
take the life Of another in its defense; and.yet with
the greatest inconsistency it demands that the habitue
Of opium, p~erchance so fettered by its influence as 10
render death the inevitable consequence Of lite with
drawal, shall suddenly suspend the habit.
In one case, though both are parallel, the privilege
is extreme; in the other, the penalty severe. IL is
true that the life may be q worthless one, as far as
the community are concerned, and one the loss Of
which would not be felt; but the user Of opium is
not the only one to whom such conditions would
equally apply; nevertheless. the rights Of the indi-
vidual are sacred, without regard to his condition.
When the great Coeridge could lie 10 obtain
opium, think you that il is perfect equity 10 deal 20
severely with the ~benighted Celestial for no greater
Sin
Again, will the defenders Of the law,-tbe execu-
ive-dare to invade the households Of respected
citizens and drag parents to justice, because, per-
chance, the wonted vial Of p~arSgOTic (hat sovereign
remedy for the ills Of childhood) is 10 be found upon
the shelves Of their nurseries7 Shall the colicky
infant be deprived Of it's soothing syrup, aud conse-
-quently, the parents Of their rest, and its vendors be
imprisoned Shall patients be allowed to die for the
want Of '~Jayne's Expectorant, Z" or his wonderful
(by ADVERTISEMENT 90 Carminatiye Balsam,' - those
sure resuscitators Of fading function; and those who
sell them, be punished for the bodily salvation they
are forever dispensing to the physically unregener-
ate-and all, because they are-not exactly opium
but preparations thereof
Shall the sale Of the celebrated ." Chlorodyne " be
stopped. and the agents be prosecuted under the
law; and the same be done with those who have in
their possession a few Bronchial Troches," the
pocket companion Of the auctioneer and the orator.
because these medicines may be found TO contain
opium, or a preparation thereof? If not, what O
CHASTITY parody upon the beautiful motto Of our
courts, Fiat Just,cia, Tudt co0ium) are our executive
allowed to perpetrate, when the poor Celestial alone
is held to account for the violation Of a Law which Is
equally violated in nearly eUsTV househoId of the
Kingdom. Has not death, in at least one instance,
been the result Of a violation Of this law by a drug
gist in this city, selling without the prescription ola
physician; and can the mere title Of doctor prevent
him from the consequences Of the law, which would
certainly accrue to less favored individuals
II is perhaps no great reflection upon the intelli-
gence Of the trainers and promulgators Of this law,
to say that it could have required but a small stretch
Of this peculiar style Of scumeD, to have framed a
law against the use Of steel, and all preparations
thereof, because homicides have been committed with
knives and hatchets.
I append q list Of some Of the medicines in common
use, the sale or possession Of which are properly
subject to the provisions OF this law, as all Of them
contain opium or some derivative Of opium; and ask
that the police will prosecute the sellers Of them,
aud those in whose possession they may be found, or
cease to modest the Cinnamon for their, no greater, |
iufraction Of the law.
Opium, or some preparation Of opium, is contained
IN the following named medicines, viz: Laudanum,
~paregoric, Dover's powders, black drop, nepenthe,
% Battley's sedative,' - I" GOdfrey's cordial, - Mrs.
Winslow's soothing syrup. - ~"Jayne's Expectorant,"
" Brownies bronchial troches,' aud chlorOdyne
The last mentioned drug is far more commonly
used than the opium pipe, and far more dangerous
TO be trihed with; because. in addition 10 moi 9hia
and chloroform ii contains prussic acid, one Of the
most deadly poisons known.
It is to be hoped that the wiseacres who framed this
indiscriminate law, were not wise enough 10 have
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