Weekly independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 1887-1914, 1903-01-02
Efforts Being Made in Illinois to
Check the Evil.
DruERists Ask Legislature to Make
Illicit Sale of the Drug. .DImcult
How Its User. Are
Affected

AHectcu.
Alarmed by the rapid spread of the
cocaine habit in Chicago and the at
tendaut denI"rali&ing Consequences,
druggist, uf the city. allied with Others
from over the state. have begun n con-
certed movement against the proIniscu-
Gus sale of the drug. The legitimate
dealers are unanimously uf The opinion
that legislative action is necessary to
regulate the present rrcklessdistribu-
tion of cocaine. and the matter received
no little attention at the recent
meeting of the Illinois Pharma
ccutical associate ion nj jacksonville. 4
resolution was passed which favnrs
transferring the present law govern
ing the matter from the civil to the
- riraccutical code. In this way, says
the Chicago Tribune, il is believed the
sale of cocaine by unscrupul"us deal
ers could bc better regulated and the
evils resulting from n too general use
of the drug reduced to n minimum.
One of the leaders of the movement
looking to legislation for the curbing
of the traffic is Walter II. Gale, of Chi
cAgo, president Of the state associn-
tion.
81 do not pretend TO be conversant
with the details Of the trade" says Mr..
Gale. "Reputable pharmacists do not
engage III il. But we all know that
th"r" are many disgrace es to the profess
';nn who make large profit thereby.
The evil results are enormous. cspe-
cially in the case "f cocaine, which is
the most deadly Of all these drugs.
''It is true that there is n law on
the statute book prohibiting the sale
except on prescription, but il is inef-
fectivc. Druggists Who know their
customers have nothing to fear. II
questioned il is easy for them to say
that they sold the stuff on prescrip-
ti"n. which prescription they have not
preserved. 1t is probably impossible
actually Ia eliminate the evil by legis-
lati"n. but something can be done to
curb it. My idea is to procure the pas.
sage Of law something like that in
force i'll Pennsylvania. According to
II. II is AN nfTcnsc to sell dclcterious
drugs /" any one known to he addicted
to their use. 'fiends.' in fact. Further
more. any friend or even acquaintance
Of the iicnd. can notify the drug stores
In the locality. and il the druggists
persist in selling To the fond, on pre-
scripti0n or otherwise. he can be pun
ishcd."
y high pharmaceutical authority,
questioned on the subject, said:
THE cocaine fcnd hns no morals.
He neither knows the meaning of
truth nor comprchends the rights OF
property. lie will never hesitate to
steal anything he may lay his hands on
IN order tn procure the drug The men,
tnl effects are peculiar and erratic.
once knew an intelligent young man
who became addicted To the habit. lie
wns able Ia do his regular work all
right. but outside Of TINT he relapscd
into almost idincy. This. | understand,
was typical case. The physical effects
include emnciation. debility, and un-
earthly pallor. An ever present symp-
tom is n peculiar. CLASSY stare. The
effect of cocaine umthc eyes tnanifests
itself often in u remarkable manner
what is known MS cocaine bugs symp-
toms somewhat similar to delirium
tremcns. The drug ncts on the pupils
and g" intcrferes with vision. The vic
tim sees spots before his eyes, which,
under the influence of n appreciated
imagination, he tnkea for bugs. Ihave
seen man tcnr Oft his coat, roll up his
sleeves, and start to picking these
imaginary insects from his arms.
IA fnvuri;c method of taking cocaine
nowadays is in SNUFF. Thus II is pleas
nntcr to administer than with the
hyp"hcrmic needle. and equally, II not
more. effective. Many tricks are re-
sorted Ia by the sellers Of cocaine.
Often the druggist viii give the habit
unl customer ticket, on producing
which he can obtain what he desires.
Such n ticket will bc good with oil the
druggists who compose this evil trn.
tcrmity. Knowing their man. they hive
nothing To- fcar."
\ man who formerly worked In a
lcvcc drug store. doing lnrgc cocaine
traffic, spoke strongly Of the evil con
sequences.
"Cncninc ficuds arc the lowest Of the
low" he said. "Thcrc Is nothing they
will not stoop to. in order to obtain the
drug. Stcal3 They will steal my
ihiug. ;ln-" often Ind men come in
with perfumes. drugs. md the like.
which knew they had stolen from
some other store. and try to trade
them Tor cncninc. We have had cunpi.
d"rs. several 81 thcm in day. stolen
from the store. unGucstionnbly for tho
same purpose. Directories are never
safc. which Is ono reason why they nrc
chained ia TIE desk.
"Ih- iiru'- have certain meeting
places on tie lcvCc. old shnntics or
shncks where they meet and pass
around the drug, the needle, and the
snuh h"X. Npmnrcntly they enjoy