The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1896-10-29
THE POPPY INSIDE AND OUT.
Wise and Unwise Use of This Potent
Drug,

RpOu, anu JllS Is UIle case WIFI Tic pup
Ply. AS a relicver of pain it is facile
princepS among ali the remedial agents
known 10 mankind. This is told to the
medical student, or if not he speedily
discovers the fact after entering upon
the duties of mis- profession. Because.
he knows this, he falls back upon it con-
fidently in all cases of intense physical
suffering. The evil of the whole thing.
lies in it's virtue. This seeming paradox
becomes clear when | add that the Ger
tainty and quickness of it's action inn
pei the physician to have recourse to it
when some harmless hypnotic remedy
would be dll-sufficient, and 20 hold on
to it too long for the after peace, health
and happiness of the patient
1t is not true by any means that man
knows a good thing when he sees it
that is to say, in the sense that he can
apply and Use it for himself, or for
others. If it were fact he could rec
cgnize and apply all the suffering and
distress of :he world would be ended,
and a millennium would be uShered in
of Joy and song and gladness all the day
long. The mischief is that good thing
is too highly appreciated and becomes
missionary of the devil. Alcohol has
lnaGy good Offices, and if restricted sole
ly to these there would no longer be
need for a cure for the drunkard, be-
| cause there could not be found one upon
the face of the earth. Opium is un"
deniably a good thing, but it is too fire.
! quently changed from an angel of light
into a spirit of damnation.
What shall l say, then, touching the
administration of this most subtle drug,
which danns as well as saves! Adj
hitting its efiicacy in the time of dan
ger to the human subject, how shall one
determine the line, crossing which the
opiate becomes a perpetual curse. L
would answer that the giving of it
should invariably cease when the neces-
sity for its administration no longer
exists. 1t should be used only in emer-
gency cases, in limited number OF
chronic disorders and in one or two dis
cases peculiar to females. Recourse to
it should never be had in neuralgia or
headache, yet it is most common prac-
tice among physicians to administer it
in these very disorders. Headache or
neuralgia never kills, and if relief must
needs be afforded there are other agents
to be had than opium. The reader who
is informed need scarcely be told that
use the word opium in its generic
sense, including in it morphine, laud-
anum, parego &c, etc, as we'll as the
gum itself. The physician usually en-
ploys morphine because it's action is
more immediate and for the reason that
It does not so disorder the stomach as
the other forms of he drug.
Recurring to the main Thought, | re-
peat the use Of it should cease promptly
when the need for it no longer exists.
There are instances i'll which, if were
physician, the giving of it should end
only with life. This is when the mala-
dies are incurable and attended with
great bodily suffering. should be most
pam wotGda efhG6iir ye the e. fact that the
itself would not be very far removed.
In the remaining instances OF it's admin
istration let the physician and not the
patient be the judge of the time when
the giving Oft shall cease. Because the
latter says he has need for it it does not
follow that this IS true. There is wide
difference oftentimes between wanting
and needing. A child who insists v it'll
whines and tears that it wants candy
has need, instead, of sound spanking.
1t would be far better in every ,Ase
If the physician were to keep the pa
tent i'll ignorance of the nature of the
drug. Suppose the man or woman does
want to know it; he certainly has no
need to know it.
1t is not necessary to descant upon
the misery that has been fastened upon
humanity through the careless and un-
necessary administrations of this drug,
the responsibility for which lies for The
most part with the physician. One of
the most distinguished physicians of
Chicago declared it to be his belief
that fully 90 per cent. of optimism
might be traced to the imprudence of
members of his own profession. A good
thing should not be brought into utter
dlsrepute by those whose duty it is TO
hold it in sacred trust. That which is
an inestimable boon to humanity when
safeguarded should not be turned loose
to destroy homes, wreck lives and fill
| graveyards with the dead who die I'M
timely. He who is responsible for the
wreckage of q single life has dread
account for which to answer when
| brought face to face with his victim
and those who loved him, before the
| great white throne of God Better not
to have given the drug at all than to
have given it too long. Better the pass
ing out of the life at once than the on
come of bodily decay, mental distress,
moral sin and despairing death.
Opium does not necessarily shorten
life when its use is persisted in, al
though it were consummation most
devoutly to be wished. Thomas De
Quincy used it in large quantities daily
for upwards of half a century. He
drunk laudanum, and in my study of
the matter have discovered that users
of the allialoid (morphine) suffer more
and die sooner than those addicted to
the drug in any of its original forms,
as laudunum, paregoric, gum or pow
dered opium, etc. The trouble, the
weeping, crying trouble, the heart