The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1884-09-18
Slaves OF Degrading And Brutalizlng
Habit.

lteu tue lact tuat tue opium nablt hal
long been recognized by them as one o
the great evils Of society. 1t existt
chiefly among the middle classes, but il
unhappily confined to no rsak or condi
ton ofmen, and includes among its yictimt
even members Of the medical profession
whose knowledge of the dangerous char
acter OF the drug would naturally be
supposed to deer them from induigipl
in its use.
A prominent physician of Boston, who
was questioned on the subject, says:
81 believe that the practice Of taking
opium is on the increase. 1t il difficult
to get good idea of how far the habit il
prevalent, for the tendency of opium
using is to make men stealthy and deceit
ful, so that the cases which the doctors
treat are exceptional ones. Very often
me: ere led irto tho nabit by having
taken opium in some form to relieve
pain. l had one case, that of young
man who had been suffering from a
painful disease, and having certain
amount of work to 60 IN given time
took opium to enable him to accomplish
the task. He succeedei, tut found him.
self slave to the hatit treated him
for it, and ho profease.. to be willing to
follow my direc.iou,. He was taking
ten grains dov when he came to me,
and / began to reduce the dose. He took
it in the form of hypodermic injection,
and pledged himself to take only the
dose which / would put in the syringe.
| cof1mouced reducing at the rate Of a
tenth of grain day. If reduced at
a greater rate he would feel It, and would
be sfter me as early rs 4 o'clock In the
morning to give him another dose. He
would not abide by my treatment, but
used to buy laudanum and drink it. Of
course, under these circumstances could
do nothing for him. He finally commit.
ted suicide, as nearly all opium eaters do
at last. The habit leads 10 condition
Of melancholy, with suicidal tendencies.
II have known people to do without
the necessities of life to satisfy the
cravings OF their appetite for opium.
The old woman, dependent on chari.
table institution, used to sell what she
got as charity each month in order to
buy the drug. People who are slavea to
the habit will do anything to appease
their cravings.
II consider that the prevalence of the
vice is largely due to carelessneBs in pre-
ecribing by physicians. I am very care
full not to label medicines containing
opium in such way as to let the patti
ents know what they are taking, or to
give them the opportunity to duplicate
the prescription. Some people are afraid
to take prescription with opium in it.,
and am frequently questioned on the
subject by my patients. DO not know
of any cases Of opium smoking outside
of the Joints but the drug Is taken In
various other ways. Sometimes it is In
the form of laudanum, at other times it
is the crude opium, and very often it is
in the form of morphia. The method
usually depends on the way IN which the
victim first formed the habit. The by.
podermic injection is as common form
as any"
II think the habit of opium taking has
very much increased in the last twenty.
five years." was the opinion of another
physician. "In proportion to the mum.
ber of opium users great many arc to
be found among the physicians. / know
OF four cases among my own personal
acquaintsnces. In one case the result
has been fatal In causing prostrs.;oH. Ia
another the Tssuit has been suicide. The
other two are living, but ruined mon.
All these men were physicians. 1t is
strange that of all mon the doctors
should become victims, but 1t is 80. The
opium habit is far worse than the habit
of excessive use of alcohol, as regards
the hold 1t takes upon one. The liquor
habit bears about the same relation to
opium that tea and coffee do TO liquor"
Still another Boston physician adds bis
testimony, as follows:
THE carelessness of physicians in
prescribing and the use of patent medi.
cines containing large proportion of
opium are powerful sources Of the for.
nation of the habit. Opium is ono of
the most valuable of drugs, but must be
prescribed with intelligence, or Il be.
comes one of the most dangerous. The
majority Of the men who are addicted to
the vice become 30 through having taken
the drug to relieve pain. We sometimes
nave reason to suspect the opium habit
when there are no means Of proving 1t.
Those who are addicted to 1t ere secretiye
and deceptive, and take great pains to
keep the fact concealed from ue. We
had one patient whom we attempted to
treat, and he professed to be willing to
CO o.operate with us, but after G while we
discovered that he had a box Of opium
pills concealed in his bed, and was thus
counteracting all We did. The opium
habit Is infinitely worse than alcoholism.
Liquor is an infant and opium is q giant.
When man he's been addicted to the
habit for three OF more YEATS he 10 brac.
tically incurable. He has not the will
power TO cooperate, and without the CO.
operation Of the patient the opium habit
cannot, under ordinary conditions, be
successfully treated.
"The proportion Of opium nsers, how.
ever, is greater amCug the women the.
among tha men, aud In many csses wo.
men form the habit for the sake Of the
stimulus. Il Is more convenient than
liquor and less liable to be detected.
have heard tho statement ms le that
factory girls 10 O town In this State were
In the habit Of buying three, or fanr
ounces Of laudanum after they got paid
off for the week, and with this they
would have regular opium drunk
"When q man has the opium habit,
the cure Is not question Of weeks, but
of months, and to be cured at all he
must be kOpt under surveillance, so that
he cannot eluds his physicians and con.
tinue the habit. Otherwise his will.
power to reform is gone and his moral
sense Is destroyed, so that he will even
steal in order to get the drug. The only
case I ever treated successful ly, was that
Of q man who had been al ifcted to. the
habit for about three m1nths. had
nurses with him day and night, 90 that
he had no chance TO p.ocure the drug,
and in his case I stoy ped the supply at
once. II had E., case of three or four
years standing, I would want ct least Q
year IL which TO treat the patient, and