Am.  Jour.  Phann.f 
February,  1911.  ( 
Anti-Narcotic  Legislation. 
71 
pounds  is  used  by  the  fiends,  either  in  the  form  of  smoking  or  by 
using  morphine.  It  is  said  that  80  per  cent,  of  the  400,000  pounds 
used  in  this  country  is  used  in  the  manufacture  of  morphine  and  that 
about  75  per  cent,  of  morphine  made  in  the  United  States  is  used 
by  dope  fiends.  It  will  be  interesting  to  know  that  these  dope  fiends 
are  divided  as  follows  : 
Six  per  cent,  of  all  the  persons  entering  our  large  penal  institu- 
tions have  been  found  to  be  addicted  to  the  opium  habit  in  some 
form,  and  of  the  general  criminal  population  of  this  country  45.48 
per  cent,  are  habitues  of  opium,  morphine,  or  cocaine  ;  21.6  per 
cent,  of  the  lewd  women  of  this  country  and  their  hangers-on  are  also 
addicted  to  the  drugs  ;  2.06  per  cent,  of  the  medical  profession  of 
this  country  are  addicted  to  drugs;  1.32  per  cent,  of  the  trained 
nurses  of  this  country  are  addicted  to  drugs  ;  .684  per  cent,  of  other 
professions  are  addicted  and  .18  per  cent,  of  our  adult  population, 
outside  of  those  enumerated,  are  addicted  to  opium  or  its  derivatives. 
We  find  that  outside  of  the  large  cities,  even  into  the  country  dis- 
tricts, the  use  of  opium  and  its  derivatives  has  increased  tremen- 
dously. One  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  ounces  of  cocaine  are 
manufactured  annually  in  the  United  States,  of  which  about  135,000 
ounces  go  to  make  demons  out  of  human  beings.  Cocaine  is  without 
exception  the  most  dangerous  drug  known  to  society.  It  is  seduc- 
tive in  character  and  produces  a  sense  of  keen  exhilaration  and 
exaggerated  power.  It  completely  wrecks  the  individual  and  makes 
a  dangerous  criminal  of  him.  A  man  or  woman  charged  with 
cocaine  will  commit  any  crime  or  stoop  to  the  lowest  and  most  im- 
mortal acts.  Most  of  the  crimes  committed  by  the  Southern  negroes 
are  the  result  of  coke-charged  brains.  It  has  been  found  that  the 
cocaine  habit  is  becoming  very  prevalent  among  the  negro  race, 
not  only  the  negroes  of  the  South,  but  the  negroes  of  our  own 
city  and  other  cities  of  the  North,  and  it  has  been  found  that  in  cer- 
tain low  dives  in  the  South  much  of  the  whiskey  sold  is  doctored 
with  cocaine. 
It  has  been  said  that  the  cocaine  habit  is  essentially  American ; 
but  do  not  let  us  think  for  a  moment  that  it  is  confined  entirely  to 
the  lower  classes.  In  fact,  it  has  invaded  the  higher  ranks  of  the 
so-called  society  of  our  country,  and  it  is  astounding  to  find  how 
general  is  its  use  among  those  who  consider  themselves  the  great 
social  leaders  of  the  country.  Cocaine  has  invaded  even  the  ranks 
of  the  Army  and  the  Navy,  and  I  regret  to  say  that  it  has  even 
