Men who chew tobacco make themselves disagreeable to others. Smoking of cigarettes is to be condemned not only because it poisons the body, but causes inattention and inability to concentrate on the part of the smoker, as well. Every little while he feels the desire to take a smoke, and if smoking is forbidden he devises means of getting away. He robs his employer of time for which he is paid and injures himself.
The ability to work is decreased by indulgence in smoking. Recent experiments show that for a short time there is increased activity after a smoke, but the following depression is greater than the stimulation, so there is an actual loss.
A few years ago, according to Mr. Wilson, who was then Secretary of Agriculture, there were about 4,000,000 drug addicts or "dope fiends" in the United States. Without doubt this estimate was too high, for the proportion of addicts in the country is not as great as in the large cities. The drugs chiefly used are cocaine, opium, laudanum, morphine and heroin. These drugs are much more destructive than alcohol. Cocaine and heroin are the worst. It is very difficult to stop using any of them once the habit has been formed. Nearly every "fiend" dies directly or indirectly from the effect of his particular drug. Every one weakens the body so that there is not much resistance to offer to acute diseases. Every one destroys the will power so that a cure is exceedingly difficult.
It is well to bear in mind that all are not possessed of strong enough will power to resist their cravings and that some take to cocaine when they can not get liquor. Cocaine is far worse than alcohol.
People should be very careful about taking patent medicines. There is no excuse for taking them. The most popular ones have as their basis one of the habit-forming drugs.
Most of the soothing syrups contain opium in some form. To give babies opiates is a grave error, to speak mildly. It weakens the child, may lay the foundation for a deadly habit later in life, and often an overdose kills outright. Well informed mothers avoid such drugs and keep their children reasonably quiet by means of proper care.
Many of the remedies for nasal catarrh and hay fever contain much cocaine. Cocaine is an astringent and a painkiller and people mistake the temporary lessening of discharge from the nose and disappearance of pain for curative effects. But there is nothing curative about it. In a short time the mucous membrane relaxes again and then the discharge is re-established. The nerves which were put out of commission resume their function and then the pain reappears.
Opium or one of its derivatives is generally present in the patent medicines given for coughs. Opium is also an astringent and will suppress secretions, but this is not a cure. Excessive secretions are an indication that the body is surcharged with poison and food. Let them escape and then live so that there will be internal cleanliness and then there will be no more coughs and colds.
The unfortunate people who get into the habit of using these drugs degenerate physically, mentally and morally. They need more and more of their drug to produce the desired effect until they at last take enough daily to kill several normal men. Sometimes they are able to keep everybody in ignorance of what they are doing for years. They develop slyness and secretiveness. They become very suspicious. They are nearly always untruthful, and those who deal with them are surprised and wonder why those who used to be open and above-board now are furtive and dishonest. They often lie when there is not the slightest excuse for it. The moral disintegration is often the first sign noticed.
After habitually using any of these drugs for a while the body demands the continuation and if the victim is deprived of his accustomed portion there will be a collapse with intense suffering. Every tortured nerve in the body seems to call out for the drug. The victim will do anything to get his drug. He will lie, steal, and he may even attack those who are caring for him. For the time being he is insane.