The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-06-23

moor victims are seldom rescued anu
If all earth's unfortunates, are almost
if not quite. the most pitlabie. man ;
safety from this danger n hnally
disease and ruin and death, is IN pre-
vention. More drugs are use4 me,
ultimately per capita IN the oHa.eu
States than in any other nation 1ne
in cocaine. opium anu 10
alkaloids approXimateS that Oh lhi'
VIGOROUSLY drugged nation emma: III
1906 ITO per cent OF the Ch!neoe
were opium smokers. AT tnat tilHe:
44-10 per cent Of the population y
the United States were drug hapl.ues.
Has the time really come When ohiha
should send its emissarles 10 US ana
teach US not to use drugs!
IT is Well-known fact that cocaine
is more dangerous than opium, ootn
to user and society. AuthofllieS 'el1
us that 80 per cent OF the cocalne useu
is used illegitimately. n value u
coca leaves imported in the Onlteo
states in 1898 to 1902 was approx
mately SS32,OO0, from 1907 TO I9o'
it had doubled, reaching oVer sl,ooo,-
600. n cocaine fend is an unusual
menace to a community ana IL IS d
matter to which the attention OIL ouI
law makers has already been directed,
but the execution Of such laws mas not
been as strict as it should be, or else
| the law itself is g~rievously at fault.
| The federal government should sup
plement the state with national laws.
| These are badly needed. l sincerely
trust that the law relative to the use
of drugs and especially cocaine, Will
be amended and made effective. The
| physician can be of much value ana
assistance in this matter, and L urge
| hat it be given careful conSldera-
ton.
Closely allied in many respects to
| drug using is that arch enemy OF the
| human race-alcohol. 1t is not my
purpose to discuss the harmfu1ness or
liquor. There is not a doctor In the
world who does not know that there
is more harm tina good in them.
| Every intelligent man knows that 1t is
ten thousand times more destructive
tina war, that it has no food value,
that it causes more crime than all
III agencies combined, that it de-
fies nature, curses God; that it lowers
vitality, invites disease, that it's deadly
breath blows out the mental flame OF
one out Of every four who sits in
mental darkness; that not satisfied
with cursing homes, Stabbing hearts,
blighting hopes. damaging souls, it
shoots the forked lightning of its
blasting cursedness beyond life as it
lives, into the future and takes it's
awful toll of progency even to the
fourth and fifth generation. 1t is
more to be dreaded thar a ma dog.
On every occasion it should be booted
and the DOT thrown away.
AS a medicine, in the opinion Of
many of GU greatest doctors, it has
practically no value. The great
weight Of scientific evidence leads to
the conclusion that alcohol is an IN
mitigated evil. It is about, if not
already, to be eliminated from the
pharmacOpoeia. The figures gathered
by the state BOARD of health show that
only about ga of a tablespoonful per
year per patient is prescribed by our
best and highest class physicians.
That it is not efficient as a medicine
is easily shown by the fact that many
) of our best doctors never prescribe il
at all. There are a number of cities
} in North Carolina in which it is not
! kept at the drug stores, and Where
no prescriptions have been written fol
it since statewide prohibition went
!, into effect. When the Legislature per.
for bona fd patients, it gave then
unusual power and confided in then
4 a ~fduciary trust. This confidenc.
i must be kept inviolate. AS long a.
4 this trust is reposed in us, we mus
not prove r%ecreant to it. He VIII,
breaks it is worse than an Achan.
In view of our present knowledge
"A why SIIOulU lllOAlCdutS De sofa eve
as a drug. In all reason, 1 can Sc,
none. It's last refuge in this goo,
time is behind the clock of the doctor
e knowing the high regard il which
e our profession is held, in this hour @
e it's extremity, it shields itself benin,
the medical profession and cries Gin
toxicants are good medicines and tn
doctors prescribe it." 1t is not a goo
y medicine, and l for one want to Sc
its mask stripped off. Let it stan
forth in its true form, ugly and hide
q Gus, without a single vestige of yirtu,
The hour has arrived for us to pu
,e our stamp Of disapproval upon liouo,
e and thus drive it from it's last lines G
$ defense. l earnestly urge. that tn
sc society go on record as opposing tn
s sale of liquor even on prescriDtio,
le We as a profession are i
RS Gllgal, and it is not enough that "
IT dlsoWn any Achan which NAV be
SIS our m1dSt-we must go further an
e render such an one impossible-if U
e. hope to capture Al. If we are to ha,
OF prohibition, then in the name of trut
s. and men, let1t prohibit.
he Board of Health-Perhaps the mo
&c efficient and the most serviceab