EFFECTS OF OPIUM SMOKING.

Globe, Volume III, Issue 224, 26 February 1875, Page 3

EFFECTS OF OPIUM SMOKING.

It is just possible that the evil effects of opium smoking may have been as much exaggerated as those of tobacco smoking, and some startling observations on this point are made by Vice-Oonsul King in his report on the trade of Kewkiang, China, for the year, just issued. Mr King, like many other persons, had formed the opinion that the effects of opium smoking had for the most part, though not invariably, the results of undermining the constitution, destroying the appetite, and incapacitating the body for labor; but during a tour in the Upper Yangtsze and in Szechuen he was thrown into the closest relations with junk sailors and others, almost every adult of whom smoked more or less, and he was much struck with the effect it had upon them, which seems from his account not only not injurious, but most beneficial. Their work was of the hardest and rudest, rising at four and working with hardly any intermission till dark, having constantly to strip and plunge into the stream at all seasons, and this often in the most dangerous parts. The quantity of food they ate was "simply prodigious," and from this and their work it seems fairly to be inferred that their constitution was robust. The two most addicted to the habit were the pilot and the ship's cook. On the incessant watchfulness and steady neive of the former the safety of the junk and all on board frequently depended, while the second worked so hard from 3 a.m. to 10 p.m., and often longer, and seemed so independent of sleep or rest, that to catch him seated or idle was sufficient cause for good-humored banter. This latter had a conserve of opium and sugar, which he chewed during the day, as he was only able to smoke at night. ViceConsul King does not wish to express it as his opinion that opium-smoking does no harm; but his opinion with regard to it has been much modified, and he is, he adds, bound to recognise the fact that the habit can and does exist without detriment to health or capability, merely affording a solace and a stimulant.