Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1876-09-20
THE OPIUM HABIT.

Joe."
THE OPIUM HABIT.
Disorder which Threatens to Become
National-Ef.c cts of Opium on the Sys-
tem-How the Habit is Acquired.
Morphine eating has increased with
wonderful rapidity, writes druggist to
an exchange. Ounces are sold now to
where grains were sold when / went
into the drug business. A great many
persons use it habitually. Especially
among what are termed the better
classes it is used to a fearful extent.
Generally speaking, the habit is first
begun through the prescription Of a
physician The soothing, lulling effect
it has upon the physical pain first at
tracts the attention of the sufferer, and
when the pain recurs, morphine is re-
sorted to without the prescription or ad-
vice of a physician. Itgrows upon what
it feeds, and the habit is soon formed
Once fixed, it is impossible to break it
up, and the poor victim drags
out miserable existence, alternating
between the pleasures Of elysium when
under the influence of the customary
dose and the horrors of hades when de-
prived of it. Sulphate or morphia is
the preparation generally used, though
some use green opium, and others tine
ture Of opium or laudanum. The daily
quantity varies greatly. With some
but a small quantity only is necessary
to get up to the opium caters heaven,
while others take enough to kill doz-
en- people.
The largest quantity I ever knew a
person to take at dose was an ounce
of solid opium. A man came into my
store one day and purchased an ounce
of green opium. l wrapped it in a
paper and he paid for it and started
out. Before he got fairly outside the
door, he unwrapped it and put it in his
mouth. I thought he was trying to
commit suicide, and I ran out and
/ took him by the throat and compelled
him to disgorge. AS soon as he recov-
cred sufficiently from the effects of the
choking-and I did not handle him
very gently-he confessed that he was
an opium eater, and that an ounce was
his regular daily dose. Further obser-
walton convinced me that he was tell
ing the truth He was teamster, and
had been wounded in a scuffle with q
comrade. His physicians gave him
opium to relieve the pain and kept
him under the influence of it for some
time. When his wound was healed the
habit was firmly fixed. He could not
sleep without it, and continued to use
it in increased quantities until he had
reached the enormous dose of an ounce
per day.
Not long afterward I saw him on an
extremely cold day without coat. So
terrible had been his appetite for opium
that he had pawned his coat to get
money to buy opium. The rigors of
temperature below zero were less pain
full than the horrors of deprivation of
his daily dose. He realized his condi-
ton and desired to be cured, for in his
case it was disease, and succeeded in
getting Kim into a hospital, and the last
| heard Of him he was improving with
hopes of recovery. The medicinal dose
of morphia is from one eighth to one
quarter of a grain, and Of opium from
one to two grains. At first it produces
sedative effect, and dries up all the
secretions. After taking it little while
it ceases to affect the bowels. A per-
son in the habit of using it,
when deprived of it, becomes
nervous, restless and unable to
remain in one position any length of
time. If the deprivation is continued,
this extreme nervounesss continues till
it amounts to delirium. never saw any
one who took morphine or opium for
the taste. 1t is always for the effect. 1t
soothes pain, and puts person in a
dreamy, comfortable state. When un-
der the influence of the drug, they
have no desire for food, and if they
work it is in a mechanical sort of
way. The habit robs them of all
energy and ambition. If they can only
get their daily dose they care for
nothing else. 1t is really more demon
alizing than liquor in it's effects. It
blunts the moral sensibilities. A per-
son usually honest and truthful in
other matters will lie and steal to get
morphine | never knew a morphine
eater who got morphine on credit to
pay for it.
Four Australian fortune-tellers are in
Paris en- route for England. These are
four old men, with long, white boards
and red cloaks. They cure illness and
help people to be revenged upon enc
mics, known or unknown. One of their
chief remedies IL extremo cases of i'll
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