Addiction and Opiates

CHAPTER 2 THE EFFECTS OF OPIATES
and the heavy demands it makes upon him. In addition, he experiences more than his share of tragedy, frustration, and
misfortune and is affected by them much as other people are except that there is superimposed on his reactions the
artificial cyclic rhythm of addiction. Without the drug, life may seem intolerable; with it the user feels that he is in
control and that be can face his problems. Misfortunes that occur when a user is suffering from drug deprivation seem
to depress him more than they should. When be has an adequate supply, the addict feels that his reactions to
misfortune are more nearly what they should be, more like those of the average, normal non-addict.
It is well known that many addicts have led useful and productive lives, relatively unaffected by their habit Lawrence
Kob. in a study of 119 person addicted through medical practice.. -)und that go had good industrial records and only 29
had poor ones. He comments:
Judged by the output of labor and their own statements, none of the normal persons had their efficiency reduced by
opium. Twenty-two of them worked regularly while taking opium for twenty-five years or more; one of them, a
woman aged 81 and still alert mentally, had taken 3 grains of morphine daily for 65 years. She gave birth to and raised
six children, and managed her household affairs with more than average efficiency. A widow, aged 66, had taken 17
grains of morphine daily for most Of 37 years. She is alert mentally but is bent with age and rheumatism. However,
she does physical labor every day and makes her own living.(20)
After three years of observation and tests upon 453 addicts in India, Chopra found changes in personality and social
behavior in only one third of the cases, and in only 3.6 per cent were these described as major changes .(21) The most
usual were the acquisition of a sad expression, vacant look, bad memory, or tendency toward slow cerebration. About
6o per cent of his subjects had a healthy and normal appearance and were mentally unaffected by the habit. A notable
case was that of a British army officer who, at the alleged age of 111 was said to have used opium or morphine in huge
quantities for the preceding seventy years. His army career had been brilliant, and at his advanced age he was
described as unusually active and alert.(22)
Cbopra asked 1,070 addicts whether they regarded the habit as beneficial or harmful. Grouping the cases according to the
size of the daily dosage, his investigation yielded the following principal findings: (23)
Grouping the same cases according to the reason given for the original use of opium, he obtained the following results:
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