El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-12-17
FIGHTING THE OPIUM EVIL
UNCLE SAM FINDS THE JOB BESET WITH MANY
DIFFICULTIES.
People Who Want Opium Are Bound to Get It in Some
Way-The Morphine Branch of the Problem Sale
of Laudanum Restricted, But Paragoric Easy
to Buy Anywhere Increasing Popularity
Of ''Heroin.

syringe, which, neatly packed in a
leather case, is purchaSable at any drug
store The effects of the habit are
nothing short of frightful, and five or
six years may be said to represent
about the limit of the life of the user
of the drug by this ingenious and re-
fined method.
Many Cough Medicines Contain 1t.
Many of the cough medicines most
widely advertised contain considerable
quantities of morphine. So likewise do
the baby syrups. The difficulty, in
deed seems to be to get away from
opium and its alkaloids, even when one
wishes to do so. Above ALL the victim
who is anxious to escape from the
habit should be on his guard against
the advertised opium cures" and
morphine cures" These practically al
ways contain morphine, and the suf-
ferer, led to imagine that he is being
cured by the remedy" is in reality
being plunged yet deeper into it by
heavy doses of that which he is most
anxious to avoid.
Manufacturers of such preparations
care nothing for the cost in human
lives and human suffering, if they can
make money. Not very many years ago
an INSCRIPTIONS medical practitioner
from our own country settled in Can
ton, China, and advertised to cure the
opium habit. He built up large for
tune by supplying his patients with
little pills which did undoubtedly take
away the craving for the drug. The
reason they took away the craving was
that the pills contained morphine, and
the unfortunate people who bought
them acquired thereby a vice far worse
than that with which they had orig
inally been afflicted
Nature Supplies Cure
1t is worth mentioning. by the way.
that an opium cure which really seems
to be efficacious while entirely harm
less, has recently been discovered in
a plant native to the jungles of south
ern Asia, and known to botanists as
Combretum sundaiacum. An aqueous
extract" made by soaking the leaves
the plant is a vine-in water serves
as the medicine. We in this country
are far from realizing what terrible
curse opium is to the inhabitants of
China and Malay Peninsula. 1t is al
most as destructive as alcohol is with
us-though not quite. Hence the eager
ness with which multitudes of Chinese
and Malays beSiege the depots already
opened by philanthropic societies in
many towns and villages. So marked
has been the success achieved by the
use of this cure that the plant is be-
ing introduced into cultivation, and be-
fore very long it will doubtless be i'm
ported by the great American drug con-
Germs and supplied by them to drug
gists- At the present time it is not
easily obtained in this country.
Plans Growing American Opium.
In conclusion may be mentioned the
interesting circumstance that an appli-
cation was made only few weeks ago
to the collector of internal revenue in
Chicago for a license to manufacture
opium for smoking purposes. Natural
~, it was asked how the applicant ex-
pected TO get his opium, inasmuch as
the law now forbids the Importation
of the drug except for medicinal pur-
poses. The man replied that he ex-
pected to produce it himself on plan
tation already established. If this be
trne il represents the beginning of
new agricultural industry in the United
States: and as the law now stands.
there is nothing to prevent this or any
other individual from growing and put
ting on the market as much opium as
he chooses, so long as he pays the gov
eminent $40 pound by way of inter-
nal revenue tax. But where is the
plantation? That is the point which
has not been revealed.
Rene Bache.