Barre evening telegram. (Barre, Vt.) 1898-19??, 1901-05-07
BARRE, VT, MAY I, 1901
oUT.MoRRows MORROW.

WI. mOxtxSOW = 4x4S4S4tS
1t is Hayes of Essex. He has dis
covered an existing evil, he has put on
the war paint, taken up the tomahawk
and gone at the enemy with stead.
fast resolution to see its finish. He
has revealed the startling fact that an
article does not necessarily come with.
in the shadow Of the prohibitory liquor
law in order to be classed poison or
to be a menance to health and society.
The crusader above referred to h as
struck vein that needs attention
and he has presented two columns OF
sound argument for the public to d.
gest. He says; - Vermont needs
more leagues. She should have an
anticipation league, an anti-morphine
league, an anti.paregoric league and
several other such organizations to
stem the fast growing drug habit
among her inhabitants. The De
Quincy pictures of the opium eater
pale in comparison to what may be
seen almost any day in any Vermont
village.
"You may poo.hoo at the state
ment, but facts are plenty and at hand
to prove everything herein set forth.
Last week we told you that in the II
towns having liquor agencies $751;
612 80 worth of that which intoxi-
Gates was sold during the last fiscal
year. This enormous sale really
means rivers Of rum with hardly
profit to the state to pay for the ink
used in entering the sales on the
records. But the rum habit, bad as 1t
is, is nothing as compared with the
consumption of such drugs as gum
opium, morphine, in powder and pill,
paregoric, laudanum and other mar
cotics.
"In another article in this issue you
will find a table showing the consump-
tion Of drugs for single month.
This work was accomplished by DR..
A. p. Grinnell after months OF effort,
The doctor tells you that to arrive at
somewhere near the actual figures
showing the extent Of the consump-
tion of drugs you should multiply the
figures given in the table by five.
This is for the reason that he has no
returns from the wholesale drug stores
in the state, has not included in the
sales the prescribing by physicians
who deal out their own medicines,
makes no mention OF the drugs used
by manufacturers of medicines placed
on the market, and reject in his COM
pilation the reports Of all druggists
and storekeepers who said their sales
were small.
"We find that in a months time
there has been consumed Al pounds;
II ounces of opium, 10 pounds, Is
ounces of powdered morphine, 1898
grains Of morphine, in pills, rs pounds
Of dover powder, 32 gallons, one quart
of paregoric, 80 gallons, one. quart of
laudanum, p ounces, one drachm,
30 grains of cocaine, 32 pounds four
ounces chloral, 81 ounce Indian
hemp, Is pounds, one ounce powdered
quinine and 74,2oO quinine pills. Re-
ducing the amount of opium to grains
we find we have $50, 1850 grains. The
same reduction of the amount of NOR
phine shows sale of 1928, 800 grains.
"The average adult dose OF powder.
ed opium is one grain, and of NOR
phine one-eighth to e-quarter grain.
One-half grain of morphine will pro-
duce death, and there are cases on
record where one-sixth OF grain of
morphine has proven fatal. The cas-
ual reader or the visitor to Vermont
would naturally infer that every resi-.
dent carried hypodermic syringe
and that every few minutes he pricked
his arm and became happy. Or, upon
looking over the scoumn of figures on
the sales of opium, he might be in.
clined to look around expecting to see
everybody chewing poison as people
chew tutti.frutti or hitting the pipe
as do our brothers of the Celestial
kingdom.
"Does it stir you any to be told
these truths? Do YOU realize the