Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America

by Beth Macy

I know persons who have been opium-eaters for some years who now daily consume enough of this poison in the form of morphine to kill a half dozen robust men not used to the poison. I have heard them, with tears in their eyes, say that they wished it had never been prescribed for them, and…many of them [have] inserted into the flesh frequently during each day, in spite of the painful abscesses it often causes, until in some instances the whole surface of the body seems to be tattooed. I have heard one exclaim with sorrow that there was no longer a place to put it. Whilst they know it is killing them, more or less rapidly, the fascination and power of the drug [are] irresistible, and it is a rare exception if they ever cease to take it as long as it can be obtained until they have poisoned themselves to death. Should not this, then, be prevented, though the profits of [the drug-sellers] be diminished?

W.g. Rogers , richmond 1884