Am.  Jour.  Pharm.l 
October,  1903.  / 
Acquirement  of  Drug  Habits. 
47  S 
Please  obtain  information  bearing  on  the  subject  from  physicians 
or  other  available  sources,  and  if  you  have  related  items  of  interest 
to  communicate  they  will  be  duly  appreciated.  If  there  are  State 
laws  or  city  ordinances  in  force  in  your  locality,  please  furnish  us 
with  a  copy,  if  possible,  and  comment  on  the  success  or  means  of 
evasion. 
Your  name  will  in  no  instance  be  used,  and  if  you  object  to  the 
committee  knowing  it  you  may  omit  your  signature. 
In  either  event  please  give  the  matter  your  serious  attention, 
make  your  report  as  accurate  and  complete  as  possible,  and  mail  it 
to  the  chairman  of  this  committee. 
Anticipating  your  favor,  we  beg  to  express  our  thanks  for  an 
early  reply. 
Accompanying  the  letter  we  inclosed  a  report  blank,  which  is 
no  doubt  familiar  to  most  of  you,  asking  for  data  regarding  the 
number  of  habitues  known,  the  drug  addicted  to,  sex,  color,  whether 
parents  or  not,  the  number  of  inmates  in  asylums,  if  pay  patients  or 
dependent  upon  charity,  whether  the  number  was  increasing  or 
decreasing,  and  also  if  habits  were  acquired  from  medicines  and 
beverages  of  unknown  composition  on  the  market.  Fifteen  hundred 
of  these  report  blanks  and  letters  were  sent  out,  every  State  and 
even  Canada  being  favored.  As  a  result  we  received  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  replies,  about  one  hundred  being  made  out  on  the 
blanks  inclosed. 
July  9th  we  sent  out  four  hundred  return  postal  cards  to  one  or 
more  persons  in  every  State,  asking  them  to  send  them  to  hospitals, 
asylums,  etc.,  as  is  indicated  by  the  following : 
The  above-named  committee  is  endeavoring  to  obtain  information 
relative  to  the  extent  of  the  habitual  use  of  narcotics,  the  results,  etc. 
We  will  not  use  your  name  nor  that  of  the  institution,  the  object 
being  to  obtain  data.  We  assure  you  that  the  greatest  care  will  be 
exercised  in  this  particular,  and  your  favor  will  be  sincerely  appre- 
ciated. Please  fill  out  the  attached  return  postal  at  your  earliest 
convenience,  as  our  association  meets  on  the  3d  day  of  August,  and 
the  return  should  be  in  the  hands  of  the  chairman  not  later  than 
23d  inst. 
On  the  return  card  we  asked  for  the  number  of  inmates,  sex, 
color,  whether  parents  or  not,  the  drug  used,  the  number  discharged 
as  cured,  what  per  cent,  were  charity  patients,  was  the  number 
