The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1906-01-18
THE DOPE HABIT.
This Curse of the Age on the In
crease-Horribie Effect on Victims.
FairbrOther's Everything.

FairbrOthers Everything.
The dope is one of the most gigan-
tic and subtle evils of the AEGEAN
evil that burrows under the ground
and only now and then comes to
light in its hideOus defOrmity; anevil
that somehow and sOmeway assOci-
ates with responsibility and attempts
to claim for itself respectfully, and
hinges it strongest claim upon the
fact that respectable men sell the
compound and the Pure in Heart
who see evil only in alcohol never
raise their voice or hand against
this more sinsidious foe-against a
certain moral and physical death
which masquerades as a drug and
Opiate, and which, alas, is too often
given by doctors in their pathetic
helpleness to relieve II real or imagi-
nary pain described by an impatient
patient, evidence is found on every
.;and. We have known physicians
who were deceived by dope fiends.
They insisted, these cunning dOperS,
that terrible pains; pains that they
could no longer endure we're tearing
them to pieces and doctors will to
give relief Use the needle and the
grinning dope fiend congratulated
himself upon how easily he had
worked the physician. Morphine
and cocaine and choral and other
drugs which make grinning idiots out
OF otherwise intellectual people are
Increasing their sales; some say the
cigarette hastens the desire, and it
is only once in awhile that the victim
manifests his murderOus designs and
therefore thousands OF cases do not
become public. They are spoken of
only with bated breath in house
holds desOlated and sometimes dis
hOnOred, or not spoken OF at all,
gnaw at the hearts of those who
know the dreadful secret. Who can
tell how many Of these unfOrtunates
there are. Don't ask the Pure in
Heart who see only John Barley
corn as an enemy. Don't ask the
saloon keeper who has been long ago
consigned to hell by these self-same
pure III heart-but 90 to the man
who sells the dope and let him tell
you the number Of his helpless vic
tins. Don't blame him for selling il,
because it wasn't whiskey-but reach
out to him your glad hand of well
come: give him II front seat and tell
him how different is the man who
sells dope to wreck for ever his broth
or and the miserable who sells whis-
key to his neighbor.
Men have recovered from whiskey
OF their own accord But the per
centage Of those who do not recover
from the Use of dope is much larger
Death is generally the end of dope
not physical death, comparatively IL
small matter; but intellectual death,
the gradual unbalancing OF intellec-
tual power, of hope, of faith, of love,
OF all that ennobles and purifies the
character
And while the sacrifice to those
near and dear is terrible, it is well
that once i'll awhile the cover of sec
recy that wells this horrible pit from
the public gaze should be lifted Il lit
tie away. There may be some who
look into it that have started on he
path that inevitable leads to its fear
ful depths. May they be warned. and
turned back before it is too late. De
Quincy wrote about it and the man
who can sit with him and see the
thousands of crOcidiles, cold and
Shiny leering at him from every view
point; who can feel almost the can
cerOus kiss which he described need
not believe De Quincy because ON
every hand, and with astonishing
multiplicity are cases within sight
that verify all he said.
Fine assortment of crockery and glass