Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1899-03-11
The MORPHINE HABIT.
A Physician Says That 1t Il Spreading ut
an Alarming Rate In New York.

an Alarming Rate In New York.
"The amount of morphine used by
women in New York is increasing at
an alarming rate" says a physician.
81 do not give the drug at all save In
extreme cases, for believe we doctors
are largely responsible for the spread
of the evil. 1t seems such an easy,
merciful thing to relieve acute suffer-
ing by dose of morphine; and it
would be all right if the patients could
not get the drug themselves. They
can get it. There's the trouble.
II was called to see one of my pa
tients last week. She Is a wealthy
woman. She developed the morphine
habit two years ago, when she had .
serious illness since then she has had
periodical sprees with morphine, in
spite of all we could do to prevent her.
She always says that the deplorable
state she gets into is due to other
causes; but Can tell, as soon as ] see
her, whether she has been taking NOR.
phine. Last week, when went to
to see her, she was nervous wreck,
and said she had been agonizing with
rheumatism. Rheumatism Is handy
thing. A doctor can't swear that a
patient hasn't got it. accused the
woman of having been on morphine
spree. She denied it. appealed TO
her husband. He searched her bureau
and chiffonier and found 200 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 on prescrip.
lion; but morphine fiend can always
get it if he is persistent, and generally
be is so. Any physician can tell hs-
bitual morphine taker at a glance. SO
can druggist. The latter reads the
unmistakable signs in mans face,
and if be hasn't conscience will sell
he morphine victim what he wants.
The druggist knows that the pur-
chaser will guard the secret quite as
closely as he could. But if person
with no symptoms of the morphine
habit wants to buy the drug he will
probably have great difficulty in get
ting it. No pharmacist, even if not
particularly reputable, wants to take
the chances of being hauled up for
breach of the law.
~ 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, until they can't get along
without it. Usually they are ashamed
of the habit and conceal it carefully;
but sometimes they are quite open
about it, take their morphine regularly
and will not listen to reason. Not
month ago beautiful young woman
showed me q new chatelaine ornament
she had just bought. 1t was re-
makably handsome gold case, stud
ded with jewels, and. looked like
vinaigrette. The top opened, and in
side were tiny hypodermic syringe
and q tube of morphine. l said some.
thing more forcible than polite and
tried To make her see the insanity OF
the thing; but she only laughed and
told me she carried morphine pills in
i her chatelaine bon bonniere, 80 that
she would be all right If she happened
to be where she couldn't use the hypo-
dermic, which she preferred. I Threat.
ened to tell her husband, but she said
he knew about it 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 1 relieved my mind again and
told him what I thought of him-and
now there is one family less on my list
of patients.
"That was an exceptional case, l ad-
NIT. Usually relatives and friends OF
person who takes morphine do every
thing possible to break up the habit;
but q morphine fend is remarkable for
cleverness. A great many women
who don't want any one to know that
they have the habit work the physici-
ans for morphine. I know women OF
good family who never 60 more than
two weeks without terrible attacks of
neuralgia or rheumatism or something
else that causes excruciating agony.
The doctor is called in and tries to re-
lieve the woman; but nothing relieves
her until he tries morphine. If he is
clever enough to see through the thing
and too conscientious to help out the
little farce he gives up the case. An
other doctor is called in, and another,
until one prescribes what is wanted.
That's an old, old game. Many
struggling young doctor has thought
his fortune made because wealthy
woman in his neighborhood called him
| in but when she is seriously Ill she
goes back to her old doctor. She only
wants the new one to prescribe NOR
phine for her neuralgia.
"There's no excuse, in the world,
for a doctor acquiring the morphine
habit. He knows better. Yet some
of the doctors do it. One famous old
New York doctor used to take bis
morphine as regularly as he took his
break fast; and, whenever he gave
hypodermic injection to patient ne
took one himself while the syringe was
out, Just for sociability, I suppose. He
never went to pieces underit, but pre-
sumo he would have done so in time'
"No one but physician can realize
how this special vice Is increasing, and
how serious problem it presents. AS
a class the medical profession takes