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THE PRACTICE OF MEDICINE 161 To be sure, since the passage of the Harrison Narcotic Law in 1914, the federal government through its Commissioner of Internal Revenue, has conducted'a vigorous campaign against narcotic drugs, but it must be remembered that the law is primarily a revenue measure and that the federal authorities never posed as doctors nor did the act attempt to supplant the physicians in the treatment of habitual users. If, in controlling and restricting the amounts of narcotics that may be prescribed under the law, more serious attention was called to these pitiable unfortunates, and if perchance such propaganda has resulted in a more scientific handling of these cases, it cannot be denied that the problem in last analysis remains distinctly medical. Furthermore, although the Treasury Department had hoped to secure the assistance of the United States Public Health Service looking towards the institutional care of addicts, no appropriation has been made by Congress for this purpose and so the burden for the care of drug cases really falls upon State and municipal authorities just as the indigent sick of a community are public charges. (1) North Carolina has no statistics by which to estimate the number of drug addicts within its territory. However, it is believed that there are over 1,000,000 addicts in the country although estimates have run as high as 4,000,000. This is taken from a report of a Special Committee of Investigation appointed by the Secretary of the Treasurer and published in June, 1919. In it we also find the following data: that the number of addicts under treatment by physicians registered in North Carolina at the time of the report was 8,077 (which is prob-ablv an underdetermination since it is based on an estimate of onlv v « 27 per cent of the physicians who replied to the circular questionnaire) ; that "the consumption of narcotic drugs in this country has steadily increased from the date of their introduction"; and that "about 90 per cent of the amount of these drugs entered for consumption is used for other than medical purposes." We read also that "the predisposing causes of drug addiction in order of their frequency as stated in the reports of Health Officers are chronic diseases, prostitution, mental troubles, nervousness and neurasthenia. The ways in which the habit was acquired, stated in the order of their frequency, are as follows: Through physicians' prescriptions, use of drugs for chronic diseases, prohibition, association, use of patent medicines, prostitution, as a means of producing stimulation, and through curiosity." "The drugs used by addicts in order of their frequency, as shown in the replies to all forms of questionnaires sent out by the committee, are as follows: morphine, heroin, opium (all forms) and cocaine.
Object Description
Rating | |
Fixed Title * | NCHH-16: Transactions of the Medical Society of the State of North Carolina [1891-1939] |
Document Title | Transactions of the Medical Society of the State of North Carolina [1891-1939] |
Subject Topical | Medicine -- North Carolina -- Societies, etc. |
Subject Topical Other | Societies, Medical -- North Carolina. |
Description | After 1939 transactions published in the North Carolina Medical Journal |
Creator | Medical Society of the State of North Carolina. Annual Session. |
Publisher | Raleigh, N.C. : Medical Society of the State of North Carolina, 1891-1939. |
Repository | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Health Sciences Library. |
Host | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
Date | 1921 |
Identifier | NCHH-16-068 |
Form General | Periodicals |
Language | English |
Rights | This item is part of the North Carolina History of Health Digital Collection. Some materials in the Collection are protected by U.S. copyright law. This item is presented by the Health Sciences Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for research and educational purposes. It may not be republished or distributed without permission of the Health Sciences Library. |
Digital Collection | North Carolina History of Health Digital Collection |
Sponsor | The North Carolina History of Health Digital Collection is an open access publishing initiative of the Health Sciences Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Financial support for the initiative was provided in part by a multi-year NC ECHO (Exploring Cultural Heritage Online) digitization grant, awarded by the State Library of North Carolina, and funded through the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA). |
Volume Number | 68 |
Health Discipline | Medicine |
Digital Format | JPEG 2000 |
Print / Download PDF Version | http://archives.hsl.unc.edu/nchh/nchh-16/nchh-16-068.pdf |
Document Sort | all; group-d; nchh-16 |
Volume Link | http://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/search/collection/nchh/field/identi/searchterm/NCHH-16-068 |
Title Link | http://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/search/collection/nchh/field/documa/searchterm/NCHH-16 |
Catalog Record link | http://search.lib.unc.edu/search?R=UNCb2983307 |
Description
Fixed Title * | Page 161 |
Document Title | Transactions of the Medical Society of the State of North Carolina [1891-1939] |
Subject Topical | Medicine -- North Carolina -- Societies, etc. |
Subject Topical Other | Societies, Medical -- North Carolina. |
Description | After 1939 transactions published in the North Carolina Medical Journal |
Creator | Medical Society of the State of North Carolina. Annual Session. |
Publisher | Raleigh, N.C. : Medical Society of the State of North Carolina, 1891-1939. |
Repository | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Health Sciences Library. |
Host | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
Date | 1921 |
Identifier | NCHH-16-068-0189 |
Form General | Periodicals |
Page Type | all; article |
Language | English |
Rights | This item is part of the North Carolina History of Health Digital Collection. Some materials in the Collection are protected by U.S. copyright law. This item is presented by the Health Sciences Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for research and educational purposes. It may not be republished or distributed without permission of the Health Sciences Library. |
Filename | transactionsofme68medi_0189.jp2 |
Digital Collection | North Carolina History of Health Digital Collection |
Sponsor | The North Carolina History of Health Digital Collection is an open access publishing initiative of the Health Sciences Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Financial support for the initiative was provided in part by a multi-year NC ECHO (Exploring Cultural Heritage Online) digitization grant, awarded by the State Library of North Carolina, and funded through the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA). |
Volume Number | 68 |
Page Number | 161 |
Health Discipline | Medicine |
Full Text | THE PRACTICE OF MEDICINE 161 To be sure, since the passage of the Harrison Narcotic Law in 1914, the federal government through its Commissioner of Internal Revenue, has conducted'a vigorous campaign against narcotic drugs, but it must be remembered that the law is primarily a revenue measure and that the federal authorities never posed as doctors nor did the act attempt to supplant the physicians in the treatment of habitual users. If, in controlling and restricting the amounts of narcotics that may be prescribed under the law, more serious attention was called to these pitiable unfortunates, and if perchance such propaganda has resulted in a more scientific handling of these cases, it cannot be denied that the problem in last analysis remains distinctly medical. Furthermore, although the Treasury Department had hoped to secure the assistance of the United States Public Health Service looking towards the institutional care of addicts, no appropriation has been made by Congress for this purpose and so the burden for the care of drug cases really falls upon State and municipal authorities just as the indigent sick of a community are public charges. (1) North Carolina has no statistics by which to estimate the number of drug addicts within its territory. However, it is believed that there are over 1,000,000 addicts in the country although estimates have run as high as 4,000,000. This is taken from a report of a Special Committee of Investigation appointed by the Secretary of the Treasurer and published in June, 1919. In it we also find the following data: that the number of addicts under treatment by physicians registered in North Carolina at the time of the report was 8,077 (which is prob-ablv an underdetermination since it is based on an estimate of onlv v « 27 per cent of the physicians who replied to the circular questionnaire) ; that "the consumption of narcotic drugs in this country has steadily increased from the date of their introduction"; and that "about 90 per cent of the amount of these drugs entered for consumption is used for other than medical purposes." We read also that "the predisposing causes of drug addiction in order of their frequency as stated in the reports of Health Officers are chronic diseases, prostitution, mental troubles, nervousness and neurasthenia. The ways in which the habit was acquired, stated in the order of their frequency, are as follows: Through physicians' prescriptions, use of drugs for chronic diseases, prohibition, association, use of patent medicines, prostitution, as a means of producing stimulation, and through curiosity." "The drugs used by addicts in order of their frequency, as shown in the replies to all forms of questionnaires sent out by the committee, are as follows: morphine, heroin, opium (all forms) and cocaine. |
Digital Format | JPEG 2000 |
Print / Download PDF Version | http://hsl.lib.unc.edu/specialcollections/nchealthhistory/nchh-16-pdf |
Document Sort | all; group-d; nchh-16 |
Article Title | The Menace Of Drug Addiction�Suggestions For Its Eradication |
Article Author | Louis E. Bisch |
Volume Link | http://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/search/collection/nchh/field/identi/searchterm/NCHH-16-068 |
Title Link | http://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/search/collection/nchh/field/documa/searchterm/NCHH-16 |
Catalog Record link | http://search.lib.unc.edu/search?R=UNCb2983307 |
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