Evening star., 1922-09-10

| the District Of Columbia is CO.
caine. with morphine a close second. 1t
is cocaine which stimulates nearly so
per cent of.the criminal classes to COM
init ma jor crimes, many vicious. Hardly
big job is pulled off without the pre-
liminary shot Of cocaine to stimulate
the perpetrator to commit acts of law
| lessness.
preparation. not only to provide for the
| appointment of additional agents to
suppress the Illicit traffic in narcotic
drugs. but also to enable the depart
ment to promote officers already in the
| service. who daily are exposing them
selves to danger not eaualed in any
other line of investigation.
'It might be of interest to know the
effect Of narcotic drugs on the health
and also the withdrawal symptoms
manifested when an addict is unable to
receive his supply
There are hundreds of persons to-
day who are taking from sixty to a
hundred times the amount of NOR
phine which would kill a person 9TH
er than one known as an addict.
Morphine is taken in a different
manner. Some use the needle. by
which morphine is injected under the
skin. Others use the little white pei
lets, and in case it is impossible to
secure the drug-and this applies
more generally to the earlier stages
laudanum or paregoric is taken.
These, however, are not used by the
confirmed slave, because the contents
are of such a small proportion that
they would have to swallow great
quantities of the liquids in order to
secure the desired effect.
Put aside for the moment the
moral and physical side of the ques-
tion and place it entirely upon a
monetary basis. When the drug user
has arrived at certain point he or
she begins to find out that the daily
supply OF drugs is IAN item of quite
some moment. for neither morphine
nor cocaine can be purchased legiti-
mately or illegitimately without the
expenditure OF considerable amounts
of money. DR.. Rhees' description of
the effect of narcotic drugs on the
health is as follows:
Beginning with small. nom
poisonous dose of morphine, the vic
tim is enabled. generally, to take
more and more of the drug, until
| finally he may use from sixty to one
hundred times the amount which
would be fatal to one not accustomed
to its use. AS a result of the con-
tinued taking of the drug the user
becomes. in the majority of cases,
most deplorable mental, moral and
physical wreck.
eTHERE are two distinct features
in an average case Of chronic
morphinism: One is the ability on
the part of the users system increas-
| ingly to destroy the drug so that he
may take more and more without
actually endangering life; the other
is the development of an appetite or
craving for the drug which finally
overcomes every scruple. every men,
tai or moral principle. When the
habit has become established we see
the following picture: The victim is
nervous. morose. his sense Of moral
obligation is gone and his will power
has ebbed away. He has lost all am
bition and has become indolent and
apathetic. He is quite unable to do
any mental or physical work and his
health is undergoing rapid decline
He has become emaciated and his skin
is yellow and leathery. His eyes
stare. his mind has lost the power of
memory, of reasoning and rejecting
He has lost his appetite. is restless.
apprehensive and extremely irritable
His shattered nerves are upset by the
most trifling disturbance. He is the
victim of distressing hallucinations.
Every injection of morphine causes
temporary relief of these symptoms.
but the symptoms return when the
immediate effect Of the drug is lost
together with an almost insane crav-
ing for the drug. Such Is the picture
OF many cases Of chronic morphinism,
and such it continues to the end. even
if this end is deferred for many years.
The last years of a morphinist are
most pitiable. All his interests and
desires in life are centered in the
drug. He lives only in and for NOR
phine."
The user Of cocaine, like his COM
panion who is addicted to morphine.
suffers tortures of the damned when
deprived of his drug, and even police
officials, accustomed to scenes Of sor-
row and misery in general. cast
plying glance at the addict when
he or she is brought into the precinct
station They realize that many Of
these addicts have been brought to
their present condition by the dia-
bolical acts of others.
Touching upon the matter of CO.
caine. DR. Rhees says: Cocaine is
snuffed or injected simultaneously.
Cocaine poisoning causes dryness of
the throat and nose. with a tickling
and burning sensation. The victim
has a burning sensation in the stom-
ach and complains of collie. He has
no appetite; his pulse is rapid; he has
Cheyne-Stokes respiration. These
symptoms are followed by a feeling
of elation, with laughing. loud and
aimless talking, staggering and wild
hallucinations. Then comes depres-
sion. with melancholia and fear of
persecution. For the moment he Is
truly insane and is capable of COM
mitting any crime. even murder. He
suffers from pain in the chest and
feels as II he were about to faint.
His face is pale; he sees specks be-
fore his eyes; he is dizzy and cyanotic
and is in complete collapse: he feels
cold and has a feeling of ants creep
ing all over his body; there may be
a partial loss Of sensation; the victim