The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1915-09-07
Report Says Number of Ad-
diets Is O%soreStimated.
FIGURES BASED ON THE TAX
enforcement Of Harrison Anti-nsr-
ootie Law Has Been a Big Success.
Most Of Opium and Coca imported In
This Country Are Found to Be Used
For Legitimate Purposes.

While holding IL true that the amount
country annually Is u of all proper
lions to the actual need for medicinal
purposes. Martin |. Wilbert. technical
assistant. division OF pharmacology.
hygienic laboratory of the United
States public health service. is OF the
opinion that the number OF drug fiends
Is overestimated. To correct existing
impressions the health service has been
looking into the subject.
Practically all the opium and coca
used In this country are imported
through legitimate channels. Mr.. VIII
bert finds. Because OF the compare
lively high import tax care In exercised
TO insure the reporting and recording
OF all the products. so that fairly accu-
rate data are at the disposal OF the In
vestigator. The records show that for
several years the total amount OF such
drugs imported has been fairly uniform
n will aggregate an average of ap-
proximately 2.50O,OO0.0O0 doses OF
opium. Its derivatives and alkaloids
and 325.O00.0O0 doses of coca leaves
and cocaine. These figures serve to
definitely fix the amount of available
material. and quite regardless OF the
proportion of the several drugs that
may be used. legitimately or illegiti-
mateiy. the sum total of lllegitimate
8 cannot well exceed the sum total
OF the available material.
The investigator found a rather in
teresting source of information regard
Ing the actual numbr and kind Of adj
forcement of the Tennessee anti-nar-
cotic law of 1918. Lucian +. Brown.
the state food and drugs commission
er of Tennessee. In a recent report
says that after twelve months OF opera
ton there were registered In the state
Of Tennessee under the provisions of
the anti-narcotic law 1870 persons of
all ages and color. These included
IS4, or 33.1 per cent. males. and 1.5s6.
or 66.9 per cent. females.
Based on Tennessee Report.
The average consumption per day
Of morphine addicts was SO grains. or
approximately 1000 doses each month.
or 1900 doses a year." said Mr.. VII
bert Tennessee contains slightly
more than > per cent of the total pop
ulation of the United States. and on
the superstition that the same ratio OF
addicts and the amount Of material con
sumed win hold good throughout the
country. we would have a total OF
something more than $4,000 drug ha-
bitues. consuming approximately LAC
HD,occ average doses a year.
Granting the somewhat improbable
assertion that 90 per cent of the opium
imported is used illegitimately. at the
rate that 1t Is said to be consumed In
Tennessee. we could have as a maxi
mum not more than Isl 1000 users OF
opium in the United States.
In regard to the use Of cocaine. a
recent authority asserts that one ounce
OF cocaine is enough to keep fifty
tends thoroughly well doped for a
week. or. in other words. that one
ounce Of cocaine Is enough to keep
one iend thoroughly well doped for a
year. Granting that all the available
10000 ounce OF cocaine were used
illegitimately. there could be at this
rate a total Of 10000 cocaine fiends in
the United States"