The Washington bee., 1908-09-19
We HAVE AN OPIUM
EVIL OF UUR OWN.
Extent of Legitimate Use
of the Drug In This
Country.
The Smokers Not Confined to the
Chinese, Who Seem to be Adopting
Measures to Stamp It Out-In New
York City It Is Estimated That 3.
600 Whites Hit the Pipe.

Washington, d. C.-In spite of the
TACT that the Chinese population in
the United States is much smaller
than it was in 1878 the importation
OF smoking opium into the United
States has increased more than $50
per cent since then. In 1907 the
importation of smoking opium was
$4,000 pounds. These facts are
only few of the startling features
OF the reports now being received at
the State Department by the Ameri-
can commissioners to the interna-
tiOnal congress to investigate and re-
port on the growth of the opium hab-
it.
The investigation is being conduct
ed by DR.. HaI ilton Wright of Wash
ington, one of the commissioners who
has his headquarters in the Office of
Assistant Secretary Huntington Will
son of the State Department AL
ready he has reports that show that
the importation of opium to the
United States from 1903 to 1907 in
creased 100000 pounds over the
impOrtatiOns for comparative per-
iod Immediately preceding. 1t has
been ascertained also that about rs
per cent of the importstions are used
in the manufacture of morphine. OF
the manufactured products of the
drug only Is per cent get into legiti-
mate uses.
In New York City there are said to
be about 3,0O0 Cinnamon, of whom
500 are smokers of opium; another
report places the percentage of the
smokers at one-third of the entire
population. In Philadelphia there
are 1000 Chinese, fully one-third OF
whom are addicted to the habit Of
smoking. These figures do not take
into consideration the moderate
smokers of whom there are many.
The returns made to the commission
estimate that there are 5000 white
smokers in New York City.
The sources of information upon
which the commissioners rely are
state pharmacists, members of the
American Medical Association, police
reports, manufacturers of opium,
chemists, druggists, and boards of
health.
One of the interesting facts CLEAN
ed by the investigation is that the
users of the drug among the Chinese
population in the United States are
anxious to give it up and the young
men are being strongly impressed
by Chinese medical authoritieS with
the destructive influences of the use
of opium, Chinese doctors have de-
vised a cure for the habit which is
being generally resorted to by vic
tins Of the drug. The efficacy Of
the cure has not yet been fully test
ed
When the commissioners to the in
ternational congress were appoint
ed they were instructed that the pTi-
mary purpose of the international
congress was to consider the growth
of the opium habit in the far East.
1t occurred to DR.. Wright that We
might profitably investigate the prev
aIence of the habit in the United
States. He set about getting reports
from all the large cities, and up to
this time the replies have been Tath-
er startling He believes that 1t
proves conclusively that we have an
opium evil at home which demands
our attention before we start out to
reform the Orientals.
He mas not yet received full re-
ports from New York City, and those
that have come are conflicting, but
enough has been received to indicate
that in the United States the use OF
opium as a habit has grown to an
alarming extent and tn its growth
is not among the Chinese residents,
VINO, on the contrary, seem to be
adopting measures for stamping 1t
out, but the progress is among the
whites and what surprises him is that
It is not among the slums but in the
professional classes, where the high
~ keyed nervous systems seem to
crave narcotics. Many reports lndi-
cate that the strenuous life" is in a
measure responsible for the recourse
to the drug.