New-York tribune., 1922-09-03

only snow now rapidly the evil is
spreading. Since the war the number
of persons caught in this traffic is in
creasing by leaps and bounds. They
are: 1919, SO arrests; 1920, ISL; 1921,
212. Even so, not one in a thousand
is caught. For this reason the po-
lice departments are considering spe-
cial measures to put an end to the
traffic, and if they are aided by the
new laws which are proposed this
great danger to the public health will
be completely suppressed.
The laws recommended by the Acad-
emy of Medicine are:
]. Increase the penalties. Five or
ten years imprisonment, without leni-
cncy, for any one found with cocaine.
and fines proportionate with the profits
IN the trade.
2. Strict adherence and application of
cocalne-seliing to law whereby the
establishment where the offense oc-
Cured shall. be closed permanently.
Z. A special customs surveillance.
4. The creation of an international
drug commission, which shall draw up
laws on the subject and superintend
their application.
S. special police surveillance in
France for drugs such as that now in
existence for forgers.
Evils Resulting in Use
Of Narcotic Are Revealed
In pointing out the evils resulting
from the use of cocaine DR.. Courtois-
Sufit said:
The first shifts of cocaine evidently
give you a. feeling of pleasure and a
cerebral or physical stimulation which
augments intellectual. activity The
moderate use of the coca leaf by the
Indians in South America has never
seemed to harm them, and most of
them have very long lives. Only those
who abuse the drug become thin. vel
low and suffer from intestinal obstruc-
ton. Therefore the abuse Of cocaine
is the danger which carries drug
tiends, who unavoidably increase the
dose progressively to the madhouse or
the grave. A cocaine user has hallu-
cinations; the sensibility of his skin
is either greatly enhanced or disap-
pears entirely; he feels an itching as
thcGgh he were covered with innumera-
BILE crawling vermin; his senses arc
affected so that he can no longer see.
hear nor smell normally; his nerves
shake to such an extent that he caa no
longer write, and it is difficult for him
to talk; his intelligence weakens; his
ailmentary canal stops working; he
loses appetite but cannot keep anything
IN MS stomach; he grows thin rapidly
and his eyes become caverns, Will. hi
cheekbones stand out; he suffers pain.
fui crises like combined pleurisy and
delirium. These are but the symptoms
of emaciation and cachexy which pre-
I cede death with syncope, amid horri-
Bile convulsions. Cocaine intoxication
predisposes one to tuberculosis, de-
flirium of persecution, suicide and
murder"
"Men and women with the cocaine
habit" added DR.. Icard, "see little
| white, red or black points running over
them, and they try to point them out
to bystanders. They hear strange
sounds, especially at night, and sit up
in bed thinking some one is walking
near them. Other times they are GER
tain that they hear people talking, near
them, when nobody is around. One
patient had the sensation of being
eaten by rats, and he was always try-
ms to chase them away. Another was
certain that she had little animals be-
tween her skin and flesh. She was
ever trying to crush them, and only sue
eeeded in cutting her skin, SO that we
Rad to bandage her frequently.
There are Others who see Are all
around them and jump out Of the win
dow; some see an imaginary. enemy
end shoot at the air; many suffer ter
rlbly durirs hallucinations and tear
their clothes, roll on the ground, grind
their teeth against marble stand and
mutilate themselves horribly"