Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-10-17
The Opium Habit Among American
WOMEN,

Although many persons. when the subjects Of
"opium-eating" ''chioral-taking, and the like
are mentioned, at once hold up their hands in
horror, aud descant with more or less vou-
bility on the dangers Of such practices, few re-
alize how great an evil it is, or how common q
practice it has become in these DAYS of hurry,
excitement nervous strain and tension, and life
under high pressure, to steep both mind and
body in dangerous narcotics. to still nervous
excitement. lull pain, WOO sleep. and stimulate
tagging bodies and exhausted brains with nep-
enthes more dangerous, more deceitful, and by
far more treacherOus than the assassin knife.
MANY, indeed most persOnsLand herein lies a
great danger-while recognizing the great evils
of such practices, invest the whole subject with
a cloud of mystery, base their fancied know
ledge on De Quncey's false but fascinating de-
scriptiOns. glitterng with Oriental magnificence,
and come to look upon an opium eater or a NOR
phine-taker as a curiosity, distinguishable by
certain peculiar marks, and rather rdra apis.
They, do not know that they are daily sur
rounded by such people, that they are constantly
jostling them in the street, being waited upon
10y them at table and in stores, meeting them in
society, studying them in favorte authors or in
the pages Of their magazines, being married.
dOctored ay, even buried by them And it is So
Addiction to narcotics has become so common a.
vice Cor disease if you prefer the term) that ex-
amples of it are to be fOnnd ON every hand
holds your life in his hands, to the miserable
wreck who shambles hastily and expectantly
forward to open your carriage door.
No viceis so carefully concealed, so iealousy
guarded, as this have known wives to use
morphine habitually for years without the nus
themselves mentally and financially through in
ordinate use of choral without any one but the
druggist being aware OF it. One particular sad
example of it comes to my mind at this moment
A father had an only son upon whom he had
event am about to relate the young mans
health was noted to be gradually failing, al
though no positive ailment could be discovered
by the physicians who were consulted upon his
behalf. With weakness and feebleness of BODY
came also after time mental alteration, and
many strange actions on his part filled his IA
theirs mind with both fear and surprise One
morning the youth, for he was but TWENTY-FIVE
years old, was found dead in his bed and a
search of his effects, as well as the soaring on
certain parts of his body, and the sad story Of
use of morphine-a fact that had never for a mo-
ment been suspected. Manysuch deaths annually
occur from overdOses Of morphine, Choral and
chlOrOfOrm, for haDitual users after time be-
come both careless and reckless
Amongst women especially owing to the
prevalence Of nervousness" "eXhaustion."
neuralgia" and the like, has the habitual use
of narcotics become very common. 1t is so easy
to glide into these letters, at first so silken and
pleasant, but afterward SO CALLING and so thor
oughly frightened by the hand Of habit, that es-
cape, collaboration, is impossible We're it more
commonly known that the more nervous" and
exhausted apersOn is, the more apparent the ne
cesSity for and the more decided the relief OBJ
tanned by the use of narcotics, the more danger
there is offorming lifelong habit, fewer persons
would tamper with these deadly drugs. Ply
sicians themselves. who so thOughtlessly ad-
minister these powerful nepenthes. should take
warning by the numberess wrecks that are
stranded on these shoals, and be more careful
how they place such dangerous temptation in
their patients way.
So nearly alike are the sad histories of these
poor habitues that one Illustration will serve as
a fair type for all. A lady through family cares,
oVerw0rk, late hours, or social dissipation. finds
herself weak, nervous, and exhausted She can
hardly get up energy enough to attend to the
ordinary duties of life has no appetite; Is Ian
guld ana exhausted, nervous and sleepless. One
day, either In going out or by reason of sitting
In q draught, she has an attack of facial neural
gla. The pain being agOniZing, and rest and
comfort impossible, a physician is sent for. and
OF course administers a doZe of morphine either
Dy the mouth or hypOdermically. Like magic
the pain Vanlshes, and the much-needed rest is
found The next day the pain returns again, and
another morphine injection is given. So day by
day this is repeated, until there being no further
need for it, the physician discontinues its use
what then! The patient first feels nervous, rest
less. and uncomfortable; misses the pleasant
and dreamy sensations that followed it's use:
longs for the drug that mended the tagging stem
steadied the palpitating heart, frightened the
dull and weary eye and gave an energy and
zest to life, the more strongly missed and
longed for by having once been felt. One of
three courses is usually pursued. 1t the woman
recognizes the danger of further use or fears
to trust SO subtle an agent, she masters the
nervousness and Overcomes the craving as best
she can. If not. she either teigns return of the
neuralgia. and summons the physician with his
deadly needle the usual cOurse), or else, pro-
curing morphine surreptitiousy, continues it's
use In gradually increasing doses. At first the
results are very pleasant, and the fondness for
the drug gradually increases. After time the
physician or patient, becoming alarmed by the
hold that it has obtained over the system.
makes an endeavOr to stop it's use Both sad
and numerous are the histories of such failures.
and terrible the realization that they bring
with them of the bondage in which their actors
are enchanted. Some fume and fret and mourn
tnelr tate; some impotently rail against the ply
siclan who not only led them into temptation.
but did not warn them OF their danger; and vet
others, grown desperate and reckless, plunge
deeper into the shadows of their doom. Month
by month, year by year. they 20 on, the dreary
of their hopeless lives of slavery
orc, oy futile efforts to burst their bonds
ana subsequent sinkings deeper into the mire
and misery that threaten their destruction
Some, their minds unsettled by the narcotic
whose fumes becloud their brains, wander
through life neglecting both duties and pleas
ures, forgetting marriage VOWS and family ties,
hopeless, befogged, and sometimes reckless.
until finally an overdose or the CHASTITY hand of
suicide puts an end to the misery and despair.
Scarcely a day passes but the account of some
sudden death or strange suicide could be made
clear by the knowledge that narcotism was at
the bottom of it. We hear of postmen robbing
the mails, ladies, wealthy and respected. pur-
Joining goods from stores. cashiers ruined by
speculation. men such as DR.. LamsOn MUIR
derlng their fellow-men, and in many, many
cases can see the CHASTITY finger of this secret
vice pointing the moral
1t matters little whether it be morphine gum
opium. laudanum, McMunns Elixir paregOric,
chioral, chloroform, ether, or hasheesf, the re-
suit is eventually the same-mental. moral. ply
steal, and financial ruin. the sundering of family
ties, the loss of self-respect, and to some, the
most unfortunate, insanity, idiocy, suicide,
tnelt, and murder Of course there are excep-
ti0ns to this as to every other comprehensive
statement, but in the great majority OF cases it
is but too true.
AND now, as though we had not dangers and
pitfalls enough of our own to entrap the ig-
norant, careless, or unwary, az though almost
every block IN this great city did not have it's
slaves TO narcotics, as though almost every little
hamlet IN the land, however humble. did not
nave at least one 0pvofoo. and ororv DIR, tor~