The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-03-27

a raging torment until the craving is sat isfied.
 There is no habit so difficult to break from as the opium habit. and there is no slave more to be pitied. It makes men and women mental and physical wrecks besides making them liars, thieves and worse. Opium they must and will have Refined women will stoop to the lowest degradation to satisfy the hor- rible craving.
 That there is an increase of drug-tak- ing is abundantly proven by the enor- nous increase paid in the last five years for opium and other drugs.
 In 1898 opium was received into this country to the value of e222,OS6. In 1902 it increased to 9452 OPP.
 Other drugs not itemized, were re- ceived in 1898 to the value of 9S6S TSP. In 1902 they amounted to 91.07O,S7S
 The prices of these products vary but little from what they were in 1S9S there fore the enormous increase in the value of the imports is considered very signifi- cant
 Society Women Among Victims.
 That the situation is serious cannot be doubted and investigations already made prove that the terrible habit is by no means limited to any class.
 Society women resort to drugs to ere ate an artificial brilliancy which they find it impossible to maintain owing to the self-made demands upon their strength and endurance; while arsenic, both in form of liquid and powder, has an enormous sale among those anxious to secure a peculiar whiteness of the complexion.
 It is an open secret that there is a large sale of cocaine to society girls, who pay heavily for small quantities They take the drug to their rooms. saturate bits of cotton wool and inhale it until a sense of exhilaration comes to them.
 Cocaine, next to opium, Is the most favored drug and the cause can be in- directly traced to the use of this drug in certain catarrh prescriptions. many of which contain cocaine. After using the medicine for a little while, the pa tient discovers what he has been taking and from the medicine to the pure drug is an easy step.
 A considerable danger to the public lies in the fact of the spread of the habit among persons having responsible duties which entail a severe nervous strain, such as railway men, signal men, etc. These men fear to take alcoholic liquors because the signs of it's use are easily detected, but the use of cocaine cannot be detected until they finally break down.
 Effect of Use of Narcotics.
 The terrible effect of the habitual use of narcotics on the brain has been made the subject of careful investigation. In- sanity is the inevitable result. The hal Inclination which grows temporarily out of indulgence in opium and the collaboration caused by cocaine are but the forerunners of permanent disorders of the brain which surely follow in the course of time, and in remarkably brief period of time in large proportion of cases.
 The statistics of the lunacy commis- sioners show an alrming increase in the number of patients suffering from mental disorders. of which comparatively few can be traced to heredity of predisposing causes.
 Ten years ago there were 80, ,s22 patients in lunatc asylums. exclusive of those treated in their own homes. Last year there were 110,19, showing an increase of upward of 20000 patients. The annual increase is estimated at 2769 patients.
 The question is a serious one. Investi- gations have abundantly proved the ap- palling spread of the drug habit, which is leaving insanity and death in it's wake.
 A difficulty lies in the fact that the vice is not noticeable in it's earlier stages. Often the terrible truth that a friend or relative has fallen victim is only discov- cate the habit.
 Opium dens, with their pitiable bur den of nerve-broken humanity. continue to exist and f1ourish-tea shops find abun- dant custom where liquors, spirits and