, 1902-02-10
ABUSE
OF LAW GOVERNING SALE OF
HARMFUL DRUGS is ALARM
ING DENVER DOCTORS.
II is Claimed That Fully Twenty-Five
Per Cent Of Criminals Arraigned
in the Courts There are Victims
Of the Drugs, and Larger Percent.
ace Claimed in This City.

furious to health has attracted the at
tention of people all owe the state II
the matter has been freely n IRE
quietly commented upon by the papers
of the state. A Laramie criminal said
this morning that more thar 20 per
cent of the criminals that had been
tried in the courts here recently had
been victims of one n the other drugs
morphine or cocaine.
The assertion by Prof. Lee that he
could tell by their rank in class the
boys who used large numbers of cigar
cites had also set people to thinking.
and the attention of the members or
the city council has beer called to the
law relating to the sale of cigarettes
and tobacco to minors. The sale of
the drugs enumerated in Mr.. Tregon-
ing's ordinance has become a menace
to the health of the community, and he
seeks to help hold it somewhat in
check.
The following extracts are from a
IL lllSl ol lag oupgVSl Va
the use and abuse of morphine and CO.
caine in Sundays Denver Post. The
article is accompanied by portraits of
certain natives and M%ongolians who
are addicted to the excessive use of
one of the drugs, and 1t will be read
with interest at this time, now that the
subject is being agitated in the local
.law-making body:
The evil influence of the use, or more
properly speaking, the misuse of
drugs, is becoming daily more appar.
ent in Denver. Hardly a day passes
that some dope" fiend is not taken
to the city Jail to become a public
charge for a time and it is an easy
matter to trace the inspiration for the
petty crimes committed, back to the
drug store which sold the weak-mind-
ed man or mi five cents worth Of
morphine or cocaine.
1t is not generally known, but it is
a fact, that the habi, Of using cocaine
and morphine has increased in Den
YER to an alarming extent. In fact so
general is the use of the drug among
certain classes that the whisky habit
pales into insignifcance beside the
greater evil.
Though the excessive use Of the
drugs is more pronounced among the
Inhabitants OF the lower world, it is by
no means confined to their area. Rep
utable physicians assert that the NOR
phine and cocaine habits reach into
many u home where the victims are
recognized among Denver's 400" set.
The fact that they do not come before
the public in the public courts or hos.
pitfalls is largely due to their prom
inence and financial ability to keep
the grim skeleton well within their
closets.
There is a state law in Colorado pro-
hibiting the sale Of certain -poisons
other than in original packages.
Among these poisons are morphine
and cocaine. That the law is being
constantly violated is positive. In n
number of drug stores in Denver, CO.
caine and morphine can be purchased
by the five cents worth, and it is so
bought by fiends who are gradually
dissolving the mental, physical and
spiritual portions Of their lives in the
insidious potions.
records OF the city jail show that
FULLY rs per cent OF the criminals
brought in are dope" fiends. To the
drug many and many a crime is trace.
able. The drug store that furnishes
the poison is responsible, not only for
violation of a state law, but directly
Tor the crimes which keep a quarter of
the criminals in the jails at the ex-
pense of the public.
twenty-five per cent would be FIX
ing the number at a very conservative
estimate" declared a Denver physician
to a Post reporter. In the jails they
beg for shots Of morphine or cocaine.
1t is astonishing how much they can
stand. There are cases under my OBJ
servation where the victims have TAX
EN- as high as twenty-five grains in a
day. and keep this up constantly.
They buy the drug at stores, which
thrive on dissipation of victims. 1t is
no trouble to go into any number Of
drug stores which | could name, and
get five cents worth of morphine or
cocaine. The law prohibits its sale in
this form. but interruptions druggists
laugh at the law, as they laugh at the
poor. weak fools who have become
slaves to the fearful habits.
The physicians of Denver have dis
cussed this question on many occa-
sions,' asserted another physician.
land honest efforts have been made to
stop the damning sale of the poisons
to tends. Unless there is a public e
posture Of the stores selling the poisons,
little can be accomplished toward pre-
venting their sale. A few arrests
would be q healthy start toward doing
away with the trade in these drugs.
There are q number Of stores
which make no pretense At caution.
Anyone buy morphine or cocaine
and the druggists are glad to sell It.
The sale Of whisky in drug stores II
SO common now that but little atten-
ton 10 paid To the matter.
1.-The insidious poison 10 sold IN