DRUG ADDICTS IN UNITED STATES.

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 72, 25 March 1922, Page 15

DRUG ADDICTS IN UNITED STATES.

ISUMBEB TWO MILLION. (From Our Special Correspondent.) SAN FRANCISCO. February 7. A. police officials, ibe medical ] ro•'n and Government experts, who if!, been exhaustively studying the qucsiJemnt in N- V.nk. s.aUug that Scotin ilruf!* .-»>'""<<' ""; "or-l evil i hirh is the cln.'t breeder ol .'rime and ! 2 erentc-t menace to public health and ImeotaWy- ~. , , i The use "I lllHlt dnl '-" " il< ~,!' "'a sril tfflß endou=ly in the i'nited StaU» durL the last fi'V' years, and eiatistus : s to,v that Amerii a use. Hi times more ! lm and its derivatives—liiToin and j /orphine-than any other country. The I .ime is l rm ' °' >' o, ' B " U! ' ootauiea ivohi I [te South African cocoa plant. i Figures indicate that American,, hoav I ,h__B much opium as China did 15 years I no the United States having supplanted I flina as the world's greatest opium conI pinier. Hundreds ol" millions of dollars I irk spent annually for these habit-form- \ )„« drugs—almost a billion dollars if . f t_tistical estimates arc correct. ' There is no wav of obtaining a reliable ; eBBUS of "dope users. A year ago ; t riilence presented before CongrCfs by (-dinn-essman 11. T. Raui".v estimated the ; number of addicts—.onllrmed liurcotie ■ users—at almost 2,000,000. Dr. .Cartoon I .unoii, special deputy police commla- ! .ioner of New York, head of the most j elaborate police narcotic division in the country, and chairman ot the Narcotic Police Conference of the United States, _, conference in which :!H1 American cities * re represented, conservatively estimates that Xcav York City alone has •>O.DfIO addicts. Proportionately, therefore, the United States has 400..0C0 I addicts, Avho consume 200 tons of narcotics a year!

Ralph Oyler, chief of the XeAv York narcotic squad of the Internal ReAenue Bureau, avlio has had eleven years in the Federal narcotic service nil over the country, says the illicit drug traffic is greatest, in proportion to population, iii Toledo, Kansas City, and St. Paul. Among; the larger cities, O.vlcr says, narcotic conditions are Avorst in NeAv York, Philadelphia. Son Francisco, and Chicago. MUCH ADULTERATION. recently the traffic has been greatly checked in XeAv York, according to Dr. Simon' and Chief Oyler. Philadelphia is taking Xew York's place as the greatest smuggling port. Both these officials agree that there are ieAver drug addicts, lint the quantity of "dope' J consumed Is greater, OAving to lower prices prevailing. They have found that most drug atjilicts use cocaine and heroin, both of which are stimulants. Morphine has the opposite or quieting effect, and only one in ten uses morphine. Relatively few smoke opium, though this habit is increasing. Just as liquor bootleggers dilute whisky, drug vendors adulterate cocaine and heroin AA-ith sugar of milk. Their profits are tremendous. One-eighth" of a grain of "dope" aa-_ll Jilt a normal person to sleep for many lours, but some addicts use from 5 to 10 grains a day! Some vrould make great inroads into an ounce—4Bo grains—if they could get it! , Chief Oyler estimates the average consumption of a single addict at an ounce a month. Dr. Simon's survey agrees with this, lie says an addict spend* from odols to Sdols a day for drugs. The enormous cost of this contraband —beside which bootleg Avhisky is cheap and plentiful —is the thing that breeds 'crime, says Dr. Simon. Smuggling on a large scale is responsible for bringing in most of the illicit drugs. Forged permits sometimes are used to Avithdraw the . contraband from GoA'ernment Avarekouseg. Similar to liquor smuggling, the immense drug traffic is made possible liecausc of lack of sufficient Federal force to 6top liinuggling.

"The system operates so efficiently," J jays Dr. Simon, "that Avhen a smuggler my; his drugs abroad he is given names of dealer.- in the United States to whom 1. can sell his cargo." Profits of illicit drug traffickers are even more enormous than of liquor bootleggers. A smuggler or "wholesaler," can buy narcotics in Kurope for OPdol) a kilo. Avhic-ii is .Itidols a pound, or Sdols an ounce. In 1!)_!0, before prices dropped, le could sell tq retail vendors for UOOdols a poun.t or -"iOdo!,. an ounce —a profit of 1(500 per cent. The present price is 12dols to l.dol? an ounce, or l.Wdois a pound— a profit of more than 300 per cent. If lie adulterates it his profit may reach 1000 per cent- Street vendn-s usually adnlterate the drugs, and. selling it by the "derk" of from one-half to live sjrains or the bottle of from eight to ten grains, pet from ...Idols to 400dols an ounce. The average, perhaps, is ISCdo's an ounce, or 21(i0dols a pound—a profit of 1300 per cent!