HABIT-FORMING DRUGS.

Shannon News, 10 May 1927, Page 4

HABIT-FORMING DRUGS.

J : ; ' SOME INTls»lferate 'tfJiflffli s"' ADDRESS < S. EEEDWEIiL 3 *' Dope aa#>the Drug Htfbit' > formed £" the subject-cff.an.adctriss by Mr 0. S. ' r KeedwelLat the monthly gathering of v*". the Levin Chamber of Commerce Luiich £-" Club, in thf Oxford Booms on Frik - day. From the professiouaT point of. $/ view, Mr. Keedwell' is well qualified r for such a lecture, and he gave it in a' i': popular way, with.au absence of tech-• v? nical detail. The attendance .was f air- /" ly good, and was presided over by Mr. t" ■' F. E. Parker, who welcomed io the. £ tables Mr. A. W. Hutchiugs (recently ;T elected to the Botough Council) and ;-'. Mr. D. J. Thomsoji. Four drugs were spoken of by Mr. : -~ • Keedwell, being those which have ba- "•' * eome moat familiar to the Western world—opium, cocaine, morphia and / heroin. He Stated that the class of drug depicted in the movies and refen ed to* in periodicals as "dope" eould be more correctly designated a.s a narcotic type of drug. ' rf ; LURE OF THE POPPY. !'. % ' Opium, of which so much was used k k _ in the East/ was still the most ccrtaii remedy possessed by medical seieno ': for the relief of pain, particularly of' ;7 the type met with in tho abdominal '-. regions. It was not- advocated in thf t;' treatment of cholera however, as U had rather a tendency to develop the - microbe. The use of opium dated '<■ back to the flrat centry, and it was said to have been introduced into'China ::. by Arab traders from India in the 13th century. The Arabs' had used it purely on account of it medicinal value, - realising its viae in treating dysentery In 1757 the monopoly* of the production of opium -was given to the Briti ish East India Company. Prior to the vigtory of Clive at Plaßsy the eontrol ': of the trade had been in 'the hands of the Portuguese and at no time had the quantity carried into China ■ 200 chests. Mr. Keedwell explained that a ehest of opium was not like a ; chest of tea, as it took 10 or 11 chests to provide a pound of opium. Under the East India Company's control, in 1790 the quantity transported to China leached 4050 chests/ In 1796 the traf- /< v fie had become so, serious in at the Em- * peror of China issued a proclamation' 'i forbidding the importation of the drug. This proved very difficult to i enforce, However; and in 1839" hostile measures were taken by the Chinese authorities against the British store J snips off the coast of and this , led to war, in_ which -the Chinese failed j in the attempt to suppress the opium business. '

A sample of commercial opium in a gla?s was handed round for inspection, and it was found to be in the form of a brown powder) differing from the viscous preparation which is used for smoking. Mr. Keedwell explained that the opium used in'commerce was prepared or incising* tfce grten capsule Of Papaver somiferum (one of the dried heads of which was shown, being as large as a pear and of similar shape). The milky exudation which flows from the - abrazed green capsule contains from 9 to 10 per cent, of opium.

AN EXTENSIVE INDUSTRY

The opium -poppy was grown, the speaker said, in Asia Minor. India, China and Persia." * Some Of the less valuable forms of the drug containing a lower nercentage of morphia, were made up into sticks for chewing or eating. The abuse of .opium was. largely an Eastern vice—particularly prevalent in China, where it was smoked, and in Asia Minor, Persia and India, where the habit was to eat it. This habit was ,broughi; about by a desire to relieve pain and to overcome the desire for food among the half-atarved : multitudes. In small doses it was stimulating to tlie nerves _and brain, ■ and at the same time it was a sedative to- the other nerve centres. It was on record that an actress, once well known to the English public, could never ap-, pear on the stage without haying first • taken a small dose Of laudanum. This showed its stimulant and sedative act- ' ■ ion. It was also known that one of

the best English speakers could not ' appear on the public platform unless ho ✓ had prepared himself with a small dose of laudanum. Continued use of the drug impaired the digestion and appetite and dulled the intellect. It was the sordid conditions of life and low mentality of the masses that brought about the craving for opium, the-.smok-ing or eating of which by its devotees. „ created peaceful dreams and-oblivion to the suffering around them, besides staying the pangs of hunger. Bodily and mentally, the harm done to the ■ Eastern races by it was enormous.. - China produced 15,000 tons of opium annually, or nine-tenths of the world's 3tipply. From Persia the output was uncontrolled and, there was no record-

*.'.'•: of the amount produced in that country. In India it represented one-fif-teenth of the national.income, or. rough-, v ly four millions -sterling. The inhabitants of Persia were not prepared to

forego the cultivation of the opium poppy unless something could be found which could take its place and which would be as remunerative and as easy to grow. It had been suggested that, ' the growing of silk or cotton might provide a suitable.substitute. In India. the production had recently been controlled and reduced . by half, but still it represented an en.ormpus quantity.. • A special clause was inserted in the Peace Treaty, dealing with .opium pop- , py culture, in an endeavour jfco control this menace, which was. doing incalculable harm .to .the Eastern rae'es. The! authorities recognised that the enor moua area devoted to its cultivation . could be better utilised in .growing rice to feed the multitudes. The right thinking people in China had for years ■' tried to get control, but it was a difficult problem to grapple with. CONTEOL IN NEW ZEALAND. ". The opium that entered." New Zealand? ',-,- legitimately was under control, and '/, . <«very merchant -received', it was* ',':'■ called upon tolkeep-ja regular-record"ofi. £" Vit» destination. Periodical inspection %> Qf the wcordr "^Aa-SBWde--to see who

Wasigetting the s use of it. If the Cub- . toms authorities found that any individual was .gettingonore than what theyconsidered a legitimate quantity, they official to inquire what he was doing with it. <' In Australia opium .presented a much bigger problem. There were direct shipping services to the East, with coloured and Chinese ■ crews, and on the Australian coast there were _ quite fi number of large towns in which there were large Chinese populations. It was no uncommon thing for parcels of opium to be tossed overboard, with the means of keeping them afloat. Launch es would then put out and gather up the parcels before the Customs officers could get :on the track of them. Tho Commonwealth Government was endeavouring to combat this illicit trade, and in the last quarter of 1926 there were 36 seizures of opium, of a total weight of 401bs. In all but three of these cases the ionly penalty was a fine, so the business still flourished. ARTIFICIAL VICE IN THE WEST. Whilst the East had its opium evil to contend with the Western world was fast getting into the grip of a far more insidious vice—namely, the use of cocaine, morphia and heroin. This was a menace that was creating a considerable amount of harm in America, England, on the Continent of Europe, and even in Australia; but they did not hear much of it in New Zealand. Enormous profits W6re being made, and some very wealthy and clever institutions were behind the traffic in cocaine, or -'snow?', as it was commonly alludid to. "Snow" (sample of which was handed round) was the most dangerous of the; three drugs named. An individual would become a dope fiend in three days; on cocaine, and once he was addicted to it, then it was a very difficult matter to break the habit. It was a product from the leaves of the coca plant, which was cultivated in Peru and Bolivia. The leaves contained from one-half to one and a half per cent, of cocaine. It was used quite ex-, tensively for minor surgery, such as na-sal-and throat operations, and it was a drug that! it would be very difficult to dispense vfith. Addicts to cocaine usuallv took ft in the form of snuff through the nostras, or by way of the mouth, and it wds usually considerably adult- , erated with starch or sugar of milk. Fancy prices eould as a rule be got from an addict for anything resembling cocaine". <lt gave a sensation of wellbeing, or: happiness, for a while, followed by sa period of restlessness, and then a period of anxiety, in .which the subjeet felt that the supply might not continue and so resorted to it again. The continued snuffing of cocaine up the nos-trilscCaused a sort of catarrh, ov inflammation of the membranes of the nose. As it got more and more into the system, it broke out through the skin, 'causing a pricking sensation. The addict' took to rubbing the skin until sores Jdeveloped and the body became covered with them. In Peru and Bolivia the natives were in the habit 1 of chewing coca leaves during the day on account of their stimulant and restorative ; properties, and worked , through*the day without any food. ' They preferred to get a day's work in and leave the eating till the evening. The cocaine traffic should be fairly easy to control. The coca plantations werer of'(.quite recent origin and did not represent the same economic value as opium.; Furthermore, it was possible to make a synthetic preparation of cocaine, having all the anaesthetic properties without creating the same desire .

A DISEASE OF MODERN LIFE. The indiscriminate taking of . drugs, which appeared to have come over a section of ; the world, seemed to be one of the results of modern civilisation, with the 'strenuous conditions of lift; in the cities, tending to create more idle and bored individuals and a greater number of mental weaklings who felt the need of an artificial stimulant. Morphia did not possess the sanio attractions' for the dope fiend. .If it was taken in by the mouth, it caused a feeling of nausea, and to get the desired effect it was necessary to inject it with a hypodermic, syringe which attracted attention. " Therefore it was nott so much resorted to as the two other preparations. Heroin was a derivative of morphia. It was not much used in this part of the world; but in America it had many devotees. Mr. KeedweU concluded by reading an extract from an American paper dealing with the rapid growth of ths dope habit and connecting with it the increasing number of murders in the cities, distinguished for the absence of motive and thus indicating the destruction of all sense of responsibility through drug-taking. Increased "dbp ing" in N.S.W. bad been accompanied by an increase of crime; and youths found with firearms were often referred to by the police as drug addicts.

The lecture was listened to with close interest, and Mr. Keedwell was accorded a hearty vote of thanks, on the motion of Mr. E. S. Crisp, seconded by Mr. Parker.