City Jail Inmate Moved to Hospital Following Drug Withdrawal
A local man held in the county jail receives medical transfer as he suffers the effects of sudden drug withdrawal.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Joseph Charters, a dope fiend, who has been an inhabitant of the county jail for some time, was taken to the county hospital yesterday afternoon. Charters missed his usual supply of drugs and is rapidly losing flesh. Nature has gained the mastery over the drug and commenced a revision according to her own methods. It is believed that the care and treatment he will get at the hospital will do much toward helping him to overcome the terrible habit.
“Nature has gained the mastery over the drug and commenced a revision according to her own methods.”
This reporting illustrates the punitive and moralistic framing of addiction in the early 20th century. While we now recognize addiction as a medical issue, the link between the justice system and health care remains a critical and unresolved conflict in our city.
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