The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-11-08
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER s, 1899.
THE USE OF MORPHINE AND ALCOHOL,

THE USE OF MORPHINE AND ALCOHOL.
| 1t is a common thing to hear men,
and especially young men, who are
| drifting into habits of drinking, to refer
to the habits of physicians to prove that
there is no harm to be feared physio-
logically. The boy forgets, perhaps, that
the man of drugs is human, that no
man can act up to his ideal or always
fail to err when the path looks pleas
ant. To err is human. While we would
always prefer to follow the a1vice and
! example of the doctor it isn't always
possible. At recent meeting of the New
! York State Medical association, DR.. T.
d. Crothers asserted that the evidence
| to show that of all medical men, ten per
cent used morphine. OF male morphin-
| lists statistics from Paris show that
forty per cent are doctors. In England
the practice is not prevalent; it is very
prevalent on the continent. American
physicians are by no means so generally
addicted to the use of alcohol as a bev-
erage and stimulant as their brethren
in Europe. The situation is really seri-
Gus. In the current number of the Med
ical Record, in an editorial, DR.. shrady
says:
Nevertheless the main point cannot
i be evaded, viz, that physicians are more
addicted to the use of morphine and al
cohol than other professional men, This
being so, what is the cause? for no one
can pretend to assert that the physician
is naturally more vicious than his fell
bowman, probably the reverse. Are
| there no extanuating circumstances? If
! the matter be well looked into it will
quickly be seen clearly enough that
there is greater temptation for the doe
tor to use morphine or drug of a like
nature or alcohol than for a man in
any other branch of life.
The chief factor is undoubtedly the
mental and physical strain forced upon
him by the exigencies of his profession.
| The fact must be remembered that the
busy doctor is at the beck and call of
every one; he has not a moment he can
call his own. Often at night, after a
| heaVy days work, when the minister
or lawyer is enjoying the sleep of the
just, an urgent message will be sent in
and go he must maybe to a case in
volving life or death and requiring the
exercise of his utmost skill and intelli-
gence. After such tension of mind and
| body reaction will surely supervene
What cause can there be for wonder,
then, that the temptation to stimulate
or soothe exhausted nature and the
tired nerves by means of alcohol or
drugs proves too great, and he falls a
victim?
Again, take, for example, a physi-
clan practicing in TIE country in a
sparsely populated district, driving long
distances by night and day, exposed to
all inclemencies of the weather; is there
not greater excuse for a man circum-
stancad thus to resort to a means which
will for a time at least, infuse fresh life
and vigor into his body and mind than
for him whose pursuits call for no such
| eXertion?
J Sick people, too, are VIGOROUSLY self
| ish, and have no consideration for the
physician. but expect, however trivial
may be their ailments, that when he is
sent for he will go promptly; if he does
| not, in very ma ~ instances they will
dispense with his services entirely The
medical man is well aware of this lido
| syncraSy on the part of his patient, and
when tagged out or racked with pain
will turn to the baleful drug or the only
| less harmful alcohol in order to be able
to fulfil his engagement.
| I'm speaking in this strain it must be
distinctly understood that there is no
| intention 20 condone the sin or to palli-
ate the folly of using either drug or
spirit in the manner referred to, but we
would merely point out that in many
| instances the 1ong-suffering doctor who
| has become victim of the habit should
/ be regarded as an object for pity rather
than blame, and would further empha-
size our contention that medical men
are more exposed to temptation in this
respect than are members of other pro-
| fessions. The truth is beyond contro-
versy that the use of morphine, con-
tinued as a habit, will lead-and in some
cases much more quickly than in
1 others-to mental moral, and physical
| destruction, and we would advise in the
strongest possible terms that medical
men, whatever may be their trials,
lstrictly guard themselves against seek
/ ing a panacea in morphine.
"Once the needle has been inserted
and the insidious drug injected into the
| system allaying pain, composing the
tired nerves, and, for time bathing
| the mind in the waters of Lethe. it will
again and again be resorted to for the
same purpose until at length, some
times gradually, sometimes more rapid
| ly, it will complete the ruin of its slave.
| Totally to abjure it's use is the surest
safeguard against this result"