The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1899-09-20
USEES OF MORPHINE.
The Drug Rapidly EnIarg:ng Its |
Circle of Victims.

The Drug Rapidly Enlarg:ng Its
Circle of Victims.
he amount Of morphine used by won.
Ell in New York is increasing at an alarm.
ing rate, said a physician. Il do not
give the drug at all, save in extreme
cases, for | believe we doctors are large
ly responsible for the spread of the evil.
1t seems such an easy, merciful thing to
relieve acute suffering by a dose of NOR
phine. and it would be all right if the
patients couldn't get the drug themselves.
Then can get it. There's the trouble.
Il was called to see one of my patients
la las, week. She is wealthy woman.
She developed the morphine habit two
years ago, when she had a serious illness.
SINCE then she has I'D periodical sprees
with morphine, i'll splte of all we could
do to prevent her. She always says that
the deplorable state she gets into is due
to other causes, but l can tell, as soon as
| see her, whether she has been taking
morphine. Last week, when l went to
see her. she was a nervous wreck anu
said she had been agoniZed with rheu-
matism. rheumatism is q handy thing.
\ doctor can't swear that Il patient hasn't
got 1t. | accused the woman of having
been on morphine spree. She denied 1t;
l appealed to her husband. He searched
her bureau and chiffonier and found 2OO
morphine pills She had bought them all
at one time. but wouldn't tell who sold
them to her.
'Of course there's a law against selling
morphine except Oh prescription, put a
morphine fend can always get 1T II he
is persistent, and generally he is So ANY
physician can tell u h1bitual morphine
taker at a glance. SO can druggist.
hn Ia dc ho ir1l,t "a X q hlp
in mans face. and. if he hasn't con-
science, will sell the morphine victim
what he wants. The druggist knows that
the purchaser will guard the secret quite
as closely as he could. But, if a person
with DO symptoms of the morphine habit
wants to buy the drug, he will probably
have great difficulty i'll getting 1t. No
pharmacist, even if not particularly rep
| utable, wants to take the chances of
being hauled uD for a breach of the
law.
Il am constantly running across cases
of the morphine habit, especially, as |
said, among women. The life they lead
when active socially, uses up their nerves,
and they take morphine for neuralgia I'M
til they can't get along without it. Us
ually they are ashamed of the habit and
conceal it carefully, but sometimes they
are quite open about it, take their NOR
phine regularly and will not listen to rea-
son. Not month ago beautiful young
woman showed me a new catelaine or
nament she had just bought 1t was a
remarkably handsome gold case, studded
with jewels. and loked like vinaigrette
The top opened, and inside were a tiny
hypodermic syringe and tube of NOR
phlne. l said something more forcible
than polite and tried to make her see
the insanity, of the thing. but she only
laughed and told me she carried NOR
phine pills in her chateaine bonbonniere.
so that she would be all right if she
happened to be where she couldn't use
the hypodermic, which she preferred
threatened to tell her husband. but she
said he knew about if and didn't care.
She didn't bother him. and he didn't
bother her. ] went to the husband, and
he merely shrugged his shoulders and
said he never interfered with his wife
Then | relieved my mind again and told
him what l thought of him-and now
there IS one family less on my list of
patients.
That was an exceptional case, / ad-
init. Usually relatives and friends of a
person who takes morphine do everything
possible to break up the habit, but a
morptA,ne fiend is remarkable for clever
ness. a great many women who don't
want anyone to know that they have the
habit work the physicians for morphine
| know women of good family who never
go more than two weeks without terri
bic attacks of neuralgia or rheumatism
or something else that causes excruciat,
ing agony. The doctor is called in and
tries to relieve the woman, but nothing
| relieves her until he tries morphine. If
ne is clever enough to see through the
thing and too conscientious to help out
the little farce, he gives up the case
Another doctor is called in and another,
until one prescriDes what is wanted
That's an old, old game. Many Il strug-
Cling young doctor has thought his for
tune made because wealthy woman in
his neighborhood called him in, but when
she is seriously i'll she goes back to her
old DOCTOR She only wants the new
one to prescribe morphine for her neural
gia.
There's no excuse in the world for
doctor acquiring the morphine habit He
knows better. Yet some of the doctors
do it. One famous old New York doc
tor used to take his morphine as regular
~ as he took his breakfast, and, when
ever he gave a hypodermlc injection to
n patient, he took one himself while he
had the syringe out, just for sociability,
| suppose. He never went to pieces I'M
der it. but | presume he would have
done so in time.
''No one but a physician can realize
how this special vice is increasing and
how serious problem it presents. AS
class the medical profession takes a
strong stand against it, but | confess
I'm feeling rather discouraged. The per-
son who takes a dose of morphine for
anything within the limits Of endurance
is fool--but the world is full of fools. =
New York Sun.
IL =,