How to be happy though human / by W. Béran Wolfe.

extreme depression, he may whip himself to a false sense of superiority and ability by the additional use of cocaine, which counteracts the effects of morphine or heroin. The vicious circle is begun. Because }these drugs cannot be obtained legally, the drug addict soon becomes the victim of unscrupulous pedlars who exact enormous payments for their contraband. The step to crime or to the disgrace following the discovery of the unfortunate habit is a short one. Painful periods of withdrawal of the drug are followed by succeeding depression, and again the temptation to use morphine recurs with over¬ powering force. The cure of the morphine habit must be two-fold— a physiological removal of the drug, followed by a psycho¬ logical treatment which removes the temptation to avoid reality and mental pain by the development of a better attitude toward life, and by training the addict in a better technique of living. The psychological cure is the more important part of the treatment. Psychological Aspects oj Alcoholism The use of alcohol as an intoxicant and narcotizing agent is well-nigh universal. Used in moderation by normal people, alcohol in the form of wine and beer probably has a legitimate use as a beverage, and in certain countries the use of alcohol has always been an adjunct of civilized living. In America, under Prohibition, drinking has become a political football, a holocaust of crime, racketeering, and adult infantilism. Temperance can never be achieved by law—it can be achieved only by education to normal living. To run counter to this fundamental psychological law is to court the very disaster that has followed on all attempts to limit human nature by legal compulsions. If we look aside from the national aspects of the problem of alcohol to its place in the economy of the individual, we find that the urge to abuse alcohol is comparable to that of abusing morphine and its derivatives.