ABSTRACT
The addicts whom author interviewed can be grouped in two classes with respect to their first experiences with withdrawal symptoms. The first group became acquainted with them gradually, sometimes as a result of repeated experiences with relatively mild symptoms. Others, because they knew in advance what to expect, noticed and recognized the symptoms at once. Since the experience of addicts is in a sense crystallized and summarized in their special language or argot, it is significant to note some of the features of this language which are relevant to the ideas being considered. Morphine addiction seems to be a case in which foreknowledge is a dangerous thing, in the sense, that, if the drug is administered regularly, this very knowledge aggravates susceptibility to addiction rather than providing immunity. As would be expected, the basic features of drug addiction in India are the same as they are in the United States and in other countries of the world.
