The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-04-09
WOMEN AND MORPHINE USAGE.
Increasing Prevalence of the Narcotic
Habit.
The use of narcotics is grown

Habit.
The use of narcotics is growing
alarmingly frequent among the restless,
nervous members of the gentler sex.
THE amount of morphine used by
women is increasing at an alarming
rate" said physician. Il do not give
the drug at all. save in extreme cases,
for l believe we doctors are largely re-
sponsible for the spread of the il. 1t
seems such an easy, merciful thing to
relieve acute suffering by a dose of
morphine and it would be all right If
the patients couldn't 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 Wo-
man. 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 l see
her whether she has been taking NOR
phine. Last week, when l went to see
her, she was a nervous wreck and said
she had been agonizing with rheuma-
tism Rheumatism is a handy thing.
A doctor cant swear that a patient
hasn't got it. | accused the woman of
having been on a 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 would
not tell who sold them to her.
of course there's a law against sell
ing morphine except on prescription,
but a morphine fiend can always get 1t
if he is persistent, and generally he is
so. Any physician can tell habitual
morphine taker at a glance. SO can
druggist The latter reads the unmis-
taxable signs in a mans face and if
he hasn't conscience will sell the
morphine victim what he wants. The
druggist knows that the purchaser will
guard the secret as closely as he could.
But if a person with no symptoms OF
the morphine habit wants to buy the
drug he will probably have great diff
Guilty in getting it. No pharmacist,
even if not particularly reputable,
wants to take the chances of being
hauled up for a breach of the law.
II am constantly running across
cases of the morphine habit, especial
", as I said, among women. The lie
they lead when active socially uses up
their nerves, and they take morphine
for ne1lralgia until they can't get along
without it. Usually they are ashamed
of the habit and conceal it carefully,
hut sometimes they are quite open
about it, take their morphine regular
" and will not listen to reason. Not
a month ago a beautiful young woman
showed me a new chatelaine ornament
she had just bought. 1t was remark
ably handsome gold case, studded with
Jewels, and looked like a Vinalgrette
The top opened and inside We're a tiny
morphine syringe and a tube or NOR
phine. I said something more forclble
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 chatelaine bonbon-
Mere, so that she would be all right II
she happened to be where she couldn't
use the hypodermic. which she pre-
ferred. 7 threatened to tell her hus-
band. but she said he knew about it
and didn't care. She didn't bother him
and he didn't bother her. l went to
the husband and he merely shrugged
his shoulders and said he never inter
tered with his wife. Then / relieved
NV 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, / ad-