The reason there are so few deaths
from acute tobacco poisoning is that but very little of the nicotine is
absorbed.
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.
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