New-York tribune., 1890-04-13

without 1t. Becomes a victim Such is the
history of hundreds, / might say thousands, of
cases in this city"
BUYING MORPHINE AT THE DRUG STORES.
But, how can these victims obtain the NOR
phinc' The law expressly forbids its sale ex
ccpt on physicians prescriptions.
quite true; but who will say that the law
is not dead letter? Have you ever tried to
buy poison without prescription" ?"
lned TO buy some strychnine pills, and
Indeed? Well, now, just. for experiment,
suppose you try to get me little morphine. 60
to to, any drug store you please. | think you will
me a syringe, too, while you are buying. We
might as well do the thing completely"
Within block OF Madison Square the reporter
stepped into a drug store and said To a clerk
i want some sGlphate of morphine"
Ihe clerk looked at him rather intcntly, but
said not word. Then, as If his inspection was
satisfactory, he went behind the prescription
counter, fumbled in drawer. and returned with
something in his hand which the purchaser did
not see. This he proceeded 10 wrap IN paper.
How much? ~ said the buyer.
one dollar, said the clerk.
Don't keep p' 'em. ' You'll find em >; at Blanks
on the corner"
Yes, Blank had EN-. Three dollars apiece
Eeautlful little instruments they were. too. with
their keen needle points and graduated glass
fronts
The doctor said, "Ah, l thought So" when his
morphine and found small bottle covered with
bright red paper Al the top of the label there
was skull, with two crossed bones beneath it.
while on either side in white letters was the
word Poison" Then. Sulphatc Of Morphine.
Is OF. avoirdupos. Powers & Wcightman, Phila-
dclphia' The same label was found on the
bottle after the red paper was removed. The
stopper was covered with tinfoil. which bore the
s SKIP ~ is. towers " "eiSn''H"n' iHi''0'i'i'i"
" How many places did you try" said the
]
"Onc only for the morphine. Two for the
And the law SAYS that no poison shall be sold
at retail except upon a physicians prescription.
There's no Jaw against the sale OF syrlnGes. There
ought to be. Now, suppose we continue the cN
pertinent. We'll invest say s. in morphine ap
five different stores What say YOU ?'
The reporter again started out. going first TO
one of the largest and most reputable druGstores
Let me have an eighth Of an ounce Of NOR
phne," he said
and the reporter heard him ask one, OF ms
fellows: Are we all out Of those small bottles
of morphine ?" And when the other said "Ycs.
he got down a large bottle and began TO weigh
out Is Of an ounce. Then there was some whls-
pcrng by the other clerk, whose suspicious were
| evidently aroused or whose greater experience
taught him 10 be cautious. No. J advanced 70
desk with pencil and pad ..
viii YOU write a prescription for this Sir ?
Prescription ?" exclaimed the morphine hunter.
What in the world do know OF prescriptions
Never wrote one in my life. Is II habit 81 your
customers 10 write their own prescriptions
You would have thought that drugstore the
home of all the virtues if you could have hcard
those clerks cxpatate on how they kept the law
though others might violate II with lmpumty.
But for hcing "out of the small bottles the
poison would have been sold without question.
1t was the weighing ont that did ,he business.
4 second store was tried. probably the most con-
spcnous in the city
/ want small bottle of morphinc-about an
| eighth of an ounce.
! Ava y nh
" ! am not"
Got prescription? -
"No"
Cant let you have il. We cannot sell opium
in any form except to physicians or on their pre-
scriNtions.'
. The reporter turned his bark on the big stores
Nnd went among the little ones in Fourth and Sixth
aves.. where he soon got rid Of the - in exchange
for five small Powers d Wcichiman bottles.
| there was not the slightest trouble hut when il
came to weighing out Quantity from nrniSr iargrr
broke up tie trade Al this being reported TO
the doctor. he said
These small fellows, who do n business Of
$500 OF $500. or 81 900 a wear. net. can't afford
10 LET 81 sin through their fingers. They have
So little M stake that thcy willing 70 take con-
siderable risk. The bigger men nrc more cautious
But I'll WAGER that the biggest ~ them VIII no'
Of their regular customers among the upper ten.
To a stranger they assume all sorts ~ virtue.
TRYING A MorpHlyE INJECTION.
Sulphate Of morphine is white substance,
which, on looks alone. would pass muster any
where ms quininc a beginners dose is about an
eighth Of a grain the doctor explained, and he pro-
ceedcd 10 remove few Of the CRYSTALS from one
Of the bottles ard place them IN his butter plate
Then filing the syringe with water from his Cob
let he sQuiricd all Of It's contents into The butter
plate with the morphine, which rapidly dissolved
The solution was then sucked into TIE syringe.
leaving The plate dry Not drop was wasted.
" | shan't give YOU all Of this the doctor said.
"becausc YOU don't need any Of IT, suppose we
| inject about Ouc-third'
With that he began turning a nut on the piston
rod. When II had reached hgurc indl'itlnr
orc-thrd Of the contents Of the svrnec' i"
stopped. In pushing the piston In II could 20 no
| further than the nut 50 there was no Possibility
| Of inectin9 more than the Guaniiiy decided upon
The reporter rolled up his sleeve. holding his arm
| behind the table and the doctor. pinchnp MP VI"
| skin near tho elbow. inserted the hollow needle
| and fred away. There was slight sting al first
| but the sensation immediately gave place - one
Of comfort and pleasure II his brain was affected
| in any way The reporter did not know H. Inc
| dose Joss than onc-twcnty-founh Of grain, was
| probably too small 10 cause any noticeable change
| in his mental worry.
That's ali thcre is 70 it," said the doctor.
| "You never anything simpler in your Iie
What's 70 prevent the whole world. men, women
| and children from doing il? WHY bless my SOUL
| every young scaawac 81 medical student yon
| meet has one Of these syrngcs in his poc"t ana
| hr goes about sticking il into everything. no
trouble for them TO get morphine. The can write
| their own prescriptions It's one Of the hrst
| thcings they learn"
THE HABIT ON TIE INCREASE
"Do you think the opium habh is on tie in
crease among us?'
Il fear So There is no possible way OF Oh
tanning accurate information on the SUBJECT pc-
cause We cannot draw the line between the lcgl'i-
mate and the illcgitmatc use OF the drug 10
look at our imports during the last three years
you would say unhcsiiatingy that the use OF
opium is on the decrease. In lSS7 we imported
jGs 2G3 pounds OF crude or gum, opium In 1888
only 441, ,020 pounds, ana in 1889 but @Vl 30"
pounds great falling off there, you hee-l'''-
700 pounds in three Years Conclusive eNdchce
Of a decrease. ell? Wait How much OF tha'
was left in bond, or, rather, how much oil IL
paseed the Custom House and entered for
Do.a.1unilnu2 LII lss1 dniN WIS paId on 1Gs.-