El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-12-17


in dealing with the problem in the
United States. Under the new law, the
drug is not admitted a our ports I'M
less intended solely for medicinal use;
yet there is no Question of the fact
that something like tlree-fourths of
the $4,000 pounds of opium imported
annually is consumed by the unfortu-
mates known popularity as dope
fiends."
Dope Fiends of Various Kinds.
Of such dope fiends there are a num-
Der of SpecieS-which is one reason
why the opium problem is so hard to
tackle successfully. There are, to be-
gin with, the makers of opium, who
are said to compose an army of about
10000 of our citizens. These, however,
are minority in the total number
of victims, most of whom pursue the
destructive habit in its more highly
specialized forms-particularly the TAX
ing of morphine, in pills, or by hypo
dermic injection.
AS fast as a stop is put to one meth
Cd of procuring or using the drug, an
other springs up in response to an un-
falling and always profitable demand.
For instance, the average apothecary
nowadays finds a large and unprece-
denied demand for "codeine"-one of
the alkaloids, or active principles, of
opium 1t is only about one-third as
powerful as morphine, but acts sim
ilarly- The sale of morphine is forbid
den by law nearly everywhere at the
present time. except on prescription by
a physician, but in most of the states
there is no restriction in regard to CO.
deine-hence the growing popularity
of the latter
Heron Also Is Used.
The sale Of ''heroin' also has greatly
increased since the enforcement of re-
Strictions on opium and morphine. This
is what chemists would term NOR
phine derivative"-tha is to say, SUBJ
stance derived from morphine by GER
tain monkeyings in the laboratory. 1t
acts just like morphine, and the habit
formed by taking it is not less de-
structive. Yet, at the present time,
there is nowhere any law or ordinance
against the sale of ''heroin," and the
only charge that can be brought against
a druggist who supplies it is that he
deals in dangerous poison
Paregorie a Substitute.
But what is the use? Where opium
itself is taken as a habit, it is in most
instances consumed in the form of a
tincture-that is to say as laudanum.
The sale of laudanum, save on prescrip-
ton, is forbidden in most Of the states;
yet the 'fiends" manage to get it in
ever, that they cannot obtain it; they
can always get paregoric, on the sale
of which there is no restriction what
ever.
Paregoric as everybody ought TO
know, is heavily loaded with opium. II
also contains about as high a percent
age of alcohol as does ordinary whisky.
Accordingly, the consumer has the ad-
vantage of indulging two habits at
habit Most people. unfortunately,
have a notion that paregoric is a
harmless and excellent medicine; they
even give it to their babies, for whose
consumption ii is deemed especially
beneficial AS for the dope" fiends,
they know that il has the stuff in it
they want.
But, just for argument, let us sup
pose that neither laudanum nor Co
define" is to be had, and that the local
supply of paregoric has given out
even then the "fiend" is by no means
at the end OF his resources, in case he
finds himself in a town where the law
against the selling of opium or NOR
phine is very strictly enforced. He
goes into the first drug store he comes
across, and says that he wants some
liniment for rheumatism, consisting of
mixture of laudanum and olive oil
y
can hardly refuse to sell it to him, and
the olive oil does not make the stuff
less available for internal use.
Hard to Get Around a ssFiend.,
Thus one sees that the :-fiend" is a
pretty hard person to beat. He, or
She is bound to get the drug in one
way, if not in another. Not infrequent-
ly victim of the opium or morphine
habit makes himself independent of To-
cal sources of supply by sending for
the stuff to some other city. he gets
it by mail, perhaps, from an apothe-
cary of liberal ideas in a place where
restrictions are less severe than they
are at home. Or he may even obtain
it in quantities from one or another
of the great wholesale manufacturers
of drugs in New York, Philadelphia, or
elsewhere. These firms can sell to
whom they please and they do not al
ways inquire about their customers, if
check is sent with the order.
Opium a Complex Substance.
Opium is one of the most complex of
organic substances. More than 20 diff
ferent a1kaloids, or active principles,
have already been separated out from
1.-THE best known of these, of course,
being morphine. A very large part of
the drug imported into this country is
used for the extraction of morphine,
and what remains as a residue of the
process, when not throw away, is made
by subsequent chemical manipulation
to yield other alkaloids, such as Co
define" s'tnarcotine,'' '-thebaine," papa
VERNE "rhoeadine." ''cryptopine" and
"laudanine.''
Morphine, every one knows, has
important legitimate uses in medicine.
Properly employed, it is a great bless
ing, soothing the agonies of many a
sick bed. But, unhappily, the patient
who has once experienced the relief
from pain it gives is exceedingly apt
to seek the anodyne again. without the
advice of a physician. He, or more
often she, has the prescription renewed
again and again-a thing now forbidden
by law in some of the states-and soon
a fresh victim of the vice is added TO
the number of the unfortunate.
Is Taken In Various Ways.
Morphine is consumed to some extent
in the form of pills, but when intro
duced directly into the blood stream
with the hypodermic needle, its effect
is more immediate and more pro-
nounced- Hence it comes about that
great ma jOrity of mOrDhine users are