The Detroit times., 1916-03-24
Autobiography Of a Drug Fiend

Es SsRsii;sias sssia ss -Bl
DR., John Harrison Hughes. q pfsc-
ticising phvsician " San Jose. Cal.
tor many years addicted 60. .druge
tells the strange story Of his life
without ressrvs-how he won the
NO. 2o-sHERLock HolMgs 40
4 DRUG FigNp.
And now, for q little while. we
must revcnt to that great. powerful.
naughty, and ajl-controlling king Of
drugs, opium. ! have given you.
briefly. my conclusions on the psy.
chology and character Of these other
drugs. In order that might here. In
comparison. speak OF opium. And.
lot Il be clearly understood, that !
an here considering opium In any
u In forms, when used alone and
not associstaed with the use Of any
other drug.
have told you how alcohol I'm
ereases cellular activity In the brain.
and how. when such activity u too
greatly increased. cellular disorgau-
isation takes place, with the result.
Ink phenomena Of illusion and hallu'
cination. Also, how cocaine always
and on all occasions, In greater or
less degree, produces such cellular
disorganisation. II now remains TO
tell you that opium never produces
such Decentralization pro-
duces either illusion or hallucina-
tion OF normal brain finctionation.
When habitually used opium 10 not
an erratic drug. for. IS have al.
ready said In the chapter on drug
euphoria, . definite amount becomes
accumulated or stored up IN the sys-
tam. thus maintaining . regular, or.
DERBY functionstion Of both body and
brain. You may say that such func-
tionation Is not natural. and will
not argue with you--T simply main.
tain that II is orderly and not err
ratio.
As ! have already mentioned, the
euphoria Of Opium, or sense OF physi.
cal we'll being and mental exaitstion,
passes within the first few months
OF habituation, but increased mental
power may remain indefinitely. OPP
UNI exercises the brain, inst ~
pounding hot iron exercises the mus
cleo of the blacksmith's right arm
and there Ia no reason why the ono
should not be as lasting as the
other.
But now, to bet back to the pri-
mary mental exaltation produced by
opium. You will remember my ex.
pertence. Ms ! described Il, with the
excessively large dose OF morphine
that old Doc Tom ignorantly gave
me: how, under its influence. plan
ned all sorts OF schemes for increas-
ing the yield of our corn fields: how
to get rich selling the corn for .
dollar a bushel to the Kansas Jay
hawkers during q drought year: the
great fun I was going to have sleigh
riding with the big girls. and how !
viewed myself rs a naturaiborn
teacher. But the morphine on that
occasion broke no new ground u
thought, nor has II ever done so with
met simply brought out into moro
vivid comprehension thoughts had
already had. The whole scheme OF
lffe--as I had many times thought II
out while stnbbing my bare toes
against the sassafras roots bet wees
the corn-rows--simply became one
great, glorious and vivid panorama.
Al In a real panorama. the natural
Thoughts had had were there. next
to ma, furnishing the realism Of the
setting, while the balance OF the
panorama, the elaboration eject of
the painting. was done by the great
artist, Morphia.
Thus opium leads its new devot~e
along the mental paths he loves most
70 travel. This characteristic OF the
drug 1 have repeatedly noted In
others than myself--tbat Is. in those
having thin king brains. There II an
other class, those whose ideal mental
state Ia one Of sleep. In such the
first. last. and only mental effect OF
opium IL hypnosis. eep. And here
It again shows It diplomacy by CIV
ing such brain that which It most
desires.
Regarding the popular notion that
has attributed 10 opium a tendency
toward crime, let me tell you some
thing. The opium or morphine habit
In not confined exclusively TO the
rifY-raff OF the streets and the IN
regenerate OF the teaGerloin dis
tricts; thousands OF cases exist
among the beet aud most moral
classes of People. OF course, these
Ia nothing to prevent the physically