Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1906-03-14
Work of Curing Cocaine Fiends
How the Victims of the Deadest of Drugs Are Treated in
New York Hospital.

I ing all the way from half a grain &c
/ ten-grain doses, or in tablets. Some
| used it hypodermically, making a so
luton with water Physicians have
been habitues of the drug TO a larger
extent than the members OF any other
| profession, both because they have
been tempted by curiosity, and be
! cause they alone have been able to
get il without difficulty. Physicians
wives too are noticeably indulgent
and, unaccountably, shop-girls and
clerks. AS rule cocaine eaters are
persons of an intellectual bent, at
tracted in the beginning by reports
of the brain-stimulating qualities OF
the poison. Melancholy people are
lured into the vice by the optimism it
produces, only to incur the deep mel.
ancholic reaction which in turn drives
them into a renewal of the dose. Pres.
emily the habit is fixed, and acute co
, caine poisoning sets in with its bod
lily deterioration and its peculiar in
sanity. not unlike the delirium ire
mems of drunkenness.
Legislation put something of a quiet
us on promiscous abuse of ''the bane
of the South American swamps" when
last spring the sale of cocaine other
wise than on a doctors prescription,
good for once only, was prohibited.
Morphine and opium may be procured
still. by subtle ways in toothache or
earache drops, and it is likely that
the disappointed cocaine lover con-
soles himsel. with one or the other.
Another reason alleged for the no
ticeable talling off in the ranks OF the
cocaine hGbi.ue is that many people
have come to understand the dreaded
effect of the drug in the inc table re-
action that follows its use.
Whatever the causes it is a fact
that certain falling off in the num-
Der of cases of cocaine poisoning has
been noted by the specialists and
observation-disclosures of the post-gradu-
ate medical school, And they are apt
to know, for it is the opportunity to
come into contact with unguessed
notifications of disease that draws
numbers of practising physicians from
various parts of this and other coun-
tries. Living expositions of the co,
caine habit, the morphine fad, or the
absinthe evil are what-amongst
other things-the doctor from a typ
ical American town is looking for in
New York. OF course. the use of
dope" is not by any means confined
to the big and wicked cities. Here
and there in even the smallest village
somebody whom the gossiping neigh
bors describe as lawfully queer" and
who may suddenly go insane or COM
NIT suicide from cocaine or opium,
with his secret unsupported by the
neighbors. Yet for the purpose OF
making a comparative study OF such
maladies the physician goes to New
| York. He notes at the hospital a gen
! been adopted. Before the use of CO
caine has proceeded too far it may be
| overcome by an effort of the will sec
Onded by removal to a new environ
ment, and, if possible, by new and
| engrOssing occupation that will give
no time for the return of the old
! morbid ideas. The cocaine user who
| wishes to reform must place himself
100, at the mercy of his friends, seek
their society and shun his own, and
encounter all possible pleasant dis
| fractions. A cardinal rule for over
| coming the habit before it has reached
| the hopeless stage is to eat meal
| whenever the craving is felt to be
coming on. Such a rule may upset
the conventional regulations for meal
| times, yet it is claimed in some in
stances to have saved the day For
the cocaino-maniac proper there is lit
| lie hope unless he seek medical aid
ana undergo definite scientific treat.
| ment.
If he were more easily detected
medical aid would seek him instead
| for his case is one of the most inter,
! esting in neurology. In general, the
cosmopolitanism of a big city like
| New York, so valuable to the sociolo
| gist, the literateur, the artist, the po
litical economist, all ostensibly
asearch for types" but really looking
for eccentricities, is likewise particu
| larry favorable to tho physician-the
pathologist-who acquires during his
! studies at such an institution as the
| postgraduate medical school a variety
/ of experience which could not be oh
tanned in the small town or city.