Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1905-09-05
SLAVES OF COCAINE.
lts Use Growing Among the Lower
Glasses.

lts Use Growing Among the Lower
Glasses.
| One Of the growing evils of Wash
ington among the lower classes, says
correspondent, is the cocaine habit.
The authorities view the growth Of the
habit with alarm and try to check Its
prevalence, but in vain, as there are
no laws under which they can do any
| thing. A year and a half ago a bill
which would have eradicated the evil
was presented in the senate by Mr..
Gallinger, but for some reason failed
to pass. The bill was drawn up by the
commissioners Of pharmacy at the in
stigation of the commissioners and
with the cooperation of the various
pharmaceutical societies and other
parties interested.
The bill provided several regulations
for the use Of the police In checking
| the sale of cocaine and other drugs.
1t limited the sale to prescriptions only,
and put a check upon unscrupulous
practitioners. 1t also safeguarded the
public against pharmacists. regulating
prescriptions and sale much the same
way with a trif1e more strictness, as
In the sale Of liquors. But as they had
incorporated the pharmacy law with
the bill against poisonous drugs, and
as certain parties with drag" object
ed to parts Of the pharmacy law, the
entire bill was pigeonholed and has
never shown its face since. The only
way to get legislation upon the sub
ject will be to separate the two and let
each stand on its own feet.
From a medical standpoint cocaine
Is one Of the most dangerous drugs In
use. 1t Is far more dangerous than
morphine, chloral hydrate, or opium.
The man who becomes addicted to Its
use becomes slave much quicker than
those using other drugs and is more in
its grasp than he would be II he used
another drug. He becomes a physical
wreck and the use Of his mental facul-
ties becomes greatly impaired.
1T enslaves him the quicker" said
DR.. William P. c. Hazen, because he
loses the use of his mind enough to be
unable to resist the temptation to take
more. A very interesting case came
under my observation a short time ago
of young man who had started the
use Of cocaine to cure q cold. One
day he took so much Of 1t that he
started on a general rampage around
| the house His wife came after me.
was seated across the street In a snow
bank, absolutely bare Of clothing. He
had also made a visit to the drug store,
In his wife's absence, armed with a
six-shooter. with which he had held
up the force and demanded cocaine.
After falling to persuade him out Of
his desire Of the drug, the drug store
furnished him with 1t. But the strang-
est part was that when he found out
how he had been acting he broke of
the habit Immediately, and never
touched 1t again. But this Is rare.
The habit Is usually contracted
through the use of patent medicines"
| Cocaine Is administered In three
ways. The commonest way Is to snuff
1t up the nose. In this way the drug
can be taken easily and quickly, and
as 1t Is quickly absorbed by the entire
body 1t distributes itself almost imme-
diately. Some persons take 1t inter-
nally, but this Is not the most pleasing
i 4lx tot 4
sometimes by the hypodermlc syringe,
and the starting of the habit In this
way will continue. Its effects are very
| Injurious. The man who uses 1t Is
Immediately lifted off his feet and
loses complete control of himself. Its
chief temporary effect Is upon the
nerves, and through that the common
est excuse that Is used by the coke"
fiend is that he wants 1t for an aching
TOOTH or the like. A man commonly
INDUCES In wild flights Of imagination
when he Is under the influence Of CO.
caine. The commonest imaginative ef-
feet Is to give the user the idea that
some person or persons are following
| dlu pun oi"oSo
inative.
Druggists do not have much trouble
with cocaine eaters. Very few drug
stores in the city handle 1t, and these
few are we'll known to the cocaine
fiends, and they always frequent them.
One Of the prominent druggists said:
I'VE do not have any trouble with the
cocaine fiends. They used to trouble
us somewhat, but when they learned
that we did not sell 1t except upon
prescription, they gradually ceased
coming in and asking for it. AS
matter Of fact, l would be very glad II
we were not allowed to sell 1t at all.
All poisons are too much Of bother.
For as little as cents worth of car
bolic acid we have to wrap the pack
age. besides labelling 1t twice and reg
istering the sale. We could much bet
ter be selling something that Is profit
able and does not waste so much
time"