Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1895-08-24
MORE ABOUT OPIUM.

on opium. The commission finds
lit proved beyond reasonable
doubt that the prevalence of the
use of opium is founded, first on
the universal tendency amongst
mankind to take some form of
sstimulant with which to comfort
Or distract themselves, and second
ly, on the widespread popular
belief in the medical efficacy of
the drug" The Celestial Empire
quotes and comments on the re-
port as follows:
Looking to the whole evidence,
we find a marked preponderance
on the side of the view that the
common use of opium in India is
a moderate use leading to no evil
dent i'll effects. Among the Sikh
community in particular, which
is almost entirely agricultural: the
habit of opium. eating is widely
diffused. This community is dis
tinguished for hard work, energy
and thrift. One of the witnesses
quoted here, DR.. Ell. Martin Clark,
of the Church Missionary Society,
.says:-"WbiIe it does no good, it
does not appear to do the slightest
harm, the people who use it are
hale and hearty, fit for work and
exposure, and the habit seems to
interfere neither with their long
evIty nor their health" So,
again, treating of the Mar
varies, q tribe of traders, we
learn that they "are shrewd, en-
terprising and successful in COM
merce, and that their use of opium
does not cause any loss of intelli-
gence or business capacity" So
large employers of labor state
that they are never brought into
contact with the effects of the
habit, and many of the high Off
- Gers of government state that in
their long experience the use of
opium has never come to the front
as a reason for dismissal or de-
graduation. The commission found
likewise. the use of opium was not
an incentive to crime, and that
its effects in inducing insanity
were actually nil. Also (page 1901,
the commission found that taking
the evidence as to acceleration
of death caused by the ha-
bit, and its prolongation in certain
ctses, the balance. If any, seemep
to be in favor of the latter. In
fact, on the whole, the report
clears the ground from under the
old theorists. Taken as opium
is in India it is positively with
.out pernicious influence, and
There is no need to interfere with
ats use further than has been
done. Sensible people in China
have practically come to the
same conclusion. The statistics
of Shanghai, where opium-smok-
ing is perfectly free, and the sur
roundings snch as to encourage
IFS use, do not show any evil re-
suit. When we look back over
the numbers of natives with whom
we come daily in contact, and
many of whom we have known as
.opium-smokers for years, we have
to arrive at the same conclusion,
and wonder how few of them
have dropped out of the current.
Most of us could count the cases
on the fingers of one hand. This
is the more marked when amongst
the comparatively small numbers
of Europeans we come In contact
with, we note the number who
have gone under or had to be sent
away, for alcoholism. Such is
human nature, and we cannot al
ter that, and taking this into con-
sideration, the report of the COM
mission goes far to prove that
opium is the most satisfying and
least dangerous of the long list.
In view of the revelations of
the British commission, it can
hardly be immoral to advocate the
abolition of discrimination against
opium amongst the stimulants fav-
rored by mankind. Especially