548 
Acquirement  of  the  Drug  Habit. 
[  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I   November,  1902. 
(3)  Is  there  danger  in  some  of  our  newer  drugs  and  popular 
remedies  ? 
(4)  To  what  comparative  extent  are  the  several  drugs  and  prepa- 
rations used  by  habitues  ? 
(5)  What  is  the  responsibility  of  pharmacists  in  the  matter  ? 
(6)  What  can  be  done  by  this  section  and  this  association  to 
lessen  the  evil  ? 
To  the  first  question  nearly  all  of  us  from  personal  observation 
will  give  a  decidedly  affirmative  answer.  This  opinion  will  be,  we 
think,  supported  by  the  very  best  authority — by  reports  from  the 
United  States  Treasury  Department.  Believing  that  all  habit-form- 
ing drugs  are  imported  into  this  country  either  in  crude  or  manu- 
factured form,  your  committee  has  thought  that  data  of  this  kind 
would  afford  the  simplest  and  surest  means  of  answering  the  ques- 
tion. 
Through  the  kindness  of  Col.  W.  A.  Love,  Secretary  to  the  Board 
of  Trade,  Baltimore,  and  the  courtesy  of  Chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Sta- 
tistics, O.  P.  Austin,  we  are  able  to  give  a  very  accurate  and  com- 
plete report  of  the  importations  of  opium  and  coca  with  their 
derivatives  for  the  last  five  years. 
IMPORTATIONS. 
DATE. 
QUANTITIES. 
VALUES. 
TOTALS. 
Opium, 
Medicinal. 
Opium, 
Smoking. 
Morphia 
and  Salts. 
Opium, 
Medicinal. 
Opium, 
Smoking. 
Morphia 
and  Salts. 
CO 
03  v 
u  > 
O  rt 
Cocaine 
and  Salts. 
Opium  and 
Morphia. 
Coca  and 
Cocaine. 
Lbs. 
Lbs. 
Oz. 
Dol. 
Dol. 
Dol. 
Dol. 
Dol. 
Dol. 
Dol. 
1898  .  .  . 
72,287 
117,298 
25,79i 
162,652 
791,379 
35,659 
53,752 
59,660 
989,690 
113,412 
1899.   .  . 
343,283 
127,082 
13,081 
833,751 
837,456 
35,357 
28,388 
40,141 
1,706,564 
68,529 
19OO  .  .  . 
537,oo4 
129,336 
26,208 
i,i37,762 
938,524 
75,274 
591 
112,375 
2,151,560 
112,966 
I90I  .  .  . 
491,448 
139,519 
50,819 
1,030,209 
1,141,518 
147,517 
483 
176,948 
2,319,234 
177.421 
I902  .  .  . 
548,674 
163,442 
38,002 
1,262,369 
1,190,493 
96,559 
254,704 
2.549,421 
254,704 
It  should  be  noticed  that  where  there  is  a  decrease  of  the  deriva- 
tive there  is  a  corresponding  larger  increase  in  the  crude  product 
and  vice  versa,  showing,  also,  the  decrease  in  manufacture  of  cocaine 
and  the  increase  of  morphine  manufactured  in  the  United  States. 
The  increase  in  population  in  the  last  five  years  has  been  10  per 
