The Portland daily press., 1900-05-12

Using Some OF the Drug store Prepare
ations.
(Srom the New Orleans Tines-psmo.
GRAFT
sThe sale Of cocaine here IL very large
and steadily on the increase" said one
Of the best-postsd drug men In the city
yesterday. "Of course great many OF
the druggists won't take she risk OF dis
psnsing 10 Enthusiastically, but I am
sorry to say that . number Of them have
no such soruplss, and they are well
known to the victims Of the habit.
could name four or i've places where, to
my personal knowledge. anybody can
walk In and buy oooainS powders without
the slightest question. have repeatedly
seen negroes step mp to the counter and
say "Give roe dimes worth Of ooke."
The clerk would make no comment,
but simply hand out one of the little
pockets.
"It IL an interesting and rather alarm
ing fact" continued the drug nan. ''thas
there are at least half . dozen prepara-
lions Of cocaine now on the opsn market
masa uerading a. headache powders and
remedies for hay fever and oatarrh. Thy
ere snuffsd up into the nasal passages.
and at the outset they AFFORD considerable
relief, but the danger OF contracting the
habit must be very great"
A reporter found four Of the preparn-
tions named on sale at difsrsnt drug
| stores in the business distriot. 1hey
were all pstsns medicines. and the -sad :
ing master on the wrappers stated that
ey were perfectly harmless. Questioned
en- the subjsot q physician said:
81 am familiar with the cocaine pow
ders that are sold Is remedies for hay
fever and coryza. or nasal catarrh, and
cannot condemn their use too STRONGLY.
When they are first taken the effect seems
absolutely magical. No matter how
badly the tissues are intismed. all pain
Immediately departs and the agonlzing
snssziug Of hay fever Is checked at once
But the patient pays dearly for this tenn
porary relief. In . short time the vase
motor nerves become paralyzed and EVIL
IDENTIFY chronic congestion Of the tissues
| obliged to uss the powder more frt quent-
", and at last It falls to have any eject.
| Nv that time he IL Q confirmed habitue. -
| In ths fall OF 1888 DIR. william 5ohep
pegrell, tbs well known specialist Of this
oity. called attention. In paper reed
he dangers of the uss OF oooa!ns. 10
his psper DR.. Scheppsgreil said!
| 1.-THE developments OF the cocaine habit
/, an e,sy process, and the results are
not only as dangerous 80 those OF the
morphine habit, but are claimed by some
to te even more raIi Loewerber
records two cases Of young women.
The origin OF the habis was the
use OF q snuff powder which contained
oocains. Instead OF using three or four
particles a day. these pasiente took the
powder In Its entirety. the writer estimat-
Ing that one aud half grams, or twenty
three grains, were used daily. In case
| reported BY "A. r. Luff the patient used
q DER cent. solution OF cocaine In tho
| nostrils ON account Of attacks Of coryza.
| The remedy was found TO be 20 pleasant
that the patient becams addicted to its
uss and continued 1t for three years Al
| that time he was completely unit for
| work. A similar case 10 reported by
Finkelberg, In which q woman developed
| the cocaine habit from using snuff con-
listing OF cocaine and starch 70 to 1901
"a peculiar phase Of the cocaine habit
which has developed In New Orlsans and
O number OF other Southern cities Is
the contraction of this habit BY the
usgross. The e1tsnt to which this has
spread cAn be easily verified w druggists
aud In police oirclss- Is Is not used in
the manner Rensraliy presoribed, but q
few orr stals OF the drug are snutfsd into
the nostriis. The physical and mental
wrecks which soon result from this
vicious habit attest to its rernioious
effects.
In December, 1898, the Laryngcs,op a
medical magazine published In st.
Louis. COD tained an interesting editorial
on ''The Legislative Regulation OF the
Sale of Cocaine" IL said In part:
"The abuse Of cocaine has reached such
propori ions that special laws regulating
its sale have been considered in several
states, and already enacted In Louisiana
and Texas. The penalty for the infrinr-
ment of there laws IL o tine OF from $40
to 500, and 10 the case Of New Orleans
also imprisonment.
"It is not generally known that several
of the patent medicines sold for colds.
hay fever. etc., owe their transient,
pleasant effects to the cocaine which they
contain. While the quantity Is usually
not sufficiently large TO give rise to direct
toxic effects, Its continued uss IL I'M
doubtedly irj lrious to this nasal cavities.
and 1t 10 not improbable that the cocains
habit may bs also Established In this
manner.
"Attsntiop has bssn rscsntly called to
special development OF the cocaine habit
which Ia ON the inoreass In the Southern
States, espst iiily among The negro popu
lation. The cocaine IL ussd ~ kind Of
snuff for Its collaborating { II sst and IL Is
diapsnled In small packages. which .are
sold by druggists at from i've to ten
cents each. That the evs. has reached
DON sidsrable PROPORTIONS Is demon stratsd
by the fact that some druggists were In
the habit Of selling more than 100 pack.
ages OF cocaine per day. The records OF
the criminal co urts bear evidence OF the
fact that the evil results are far more
strik Ing and rapid than from the NOR