DRUGS AND DRUG HABITS

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVII, Issue 4990, 21 June 1926, Page 1

DRUGS AND DRUG HABITS

ORIENTAL & OCCIDENTAL VICES.

“NO CAUSE FOR ALARM.”

At the Rotary Club luncheon at Wellington on Tuesday last Mr 11. E. Bonnington, of Christchurch, spoke on “Drugs and Drug Habits.” He said that when preparing some notes dealing with the. traffic in drugs he realised that the great majority of people kenw nothing oft he subject. He intended, therefore, to confine his remarks to narcotic drugs, which stimulated dull nerves or wei'e relied upon to produce sleep, such as morphine, heroin, and cocaine. The craving or habit was easily produced in those who took the drugs.

Dealing first with the question from overseas experience, he pointed out that opium-taking was a vice of the Orient a.nd had prevailed. for many years in Persia, Asia Minor, and India, while opium-smoking was prevalent in China. The habit of eatijig the drug had .arisen through a, desire to relieve pain and to overcome the want of sufficient food. The force of example had, to a very grea,t extent, spread the habit and induced the taking of the drug as a stimulant and to enable men to undergo great fatigue with hardly any effort. Bodily and mentally the harm done to the Chinese people by its use was enormous- The taking of morphia, heroin, and cocaine could be deepied Occidental vices. Their illegal use had spread to such an extent as to cause as much alarm as opium did to the Chinese. When he was in Portland, Oregon, .a drug peddler’s messenger boy gave information that thirty girls, some of whom were memoers of gopd families, still in their teens, had been given the drug by two drug peddlers and had been takejn to “snow parties.” In America drug peddling had become a fine a,rt. The use of heroin in the United States had become alarming. Drug addicts throughout the world could be numbered by millions, and they were rapidly increasing. The, supply of morphia and other similar drugs was to a great extent conducted through illegitimate channels, for those qualified had hardly antyhing to do with that trade. It was a,sked what re.ason existed for the spread of the vice of drug-, taking. Perhaps that was due to the strenuousness of .modern lite and the unnatural life in the cities. It produced idle, bored, and mdhtaj weaklings. He pointed out that a special clause had been inserted in peace treaties dealing with drugs and the culture, of the poppy. At present China’s production of opium amounted to fifteen thousand tons annually, nine-tenths of the world’s product. The export from Persia was uncontrolled. The production in India had been reduced by half, yet it represented one-fif-teenth of its entire revenue, or £4,0’00,000. In Persia, opium was the most lucrative crop, and the people there were not prepared to abandon it unless they had something better. It had been proposed to substitute the production of cotton and silk, aiid it was hoped that something" of the sort would be accomplished. During his tra.vels in the United States two years ago there was a difficulty in controlling the sale of cocaine, and opium smuggling, for 90 per cent, entering the United States wa,s for other than legitimate medical purposes.

As for the position in New Zealand, he did not think that the illegal traffic in drugs was very large, or that it was oh the increase, or that there was anything to cause alarm. A sense of responsibility as to the disposal of drugs was felt by most chemists. The system of “chain messages” amongst them prevented an addict using a prescription too often, even when he went to different chemists. Legislation on the question was improving, and in 1921 control over drugs of great importance, including cocaine and heroin, wa,s provided for. It would be a good thing for mankind when a discovery was made of some synthetic substitute for drugs which would not induce the habit which narcotics did.

In reply to Mr D. A, Ewen Mr Bennington said heroin was one of the, alkaloids obtained ’from morphia.

In reply to Mr J. M. Hott Mr Bennington said that he did not think there was anything in the talk about a, secret organisation in existence to drug girls through the medium of chocolates.