The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-09-27
what IL the reason?"

What Is the reason?"
@Why, the strenuous life people live In
these days. They can't keep 1t up with
out recourse to stimulants.
The beginning Of the drug habit IL very
simple, and it is only fair to say that very
few persons ever begin it voluntarily and
with their eyes open. Here, to illustrate
Ia the way dozens Of women who have come
under my observation have started:
AOne calls perhaps on another whom
she finds with headache and complaining
tormented with neuralgia. Says the caller:
Now do take one Of these powders,
or pellets, as the case may be. that have
been taking. They have done me world
Of good. I wouldn't be without them for
anything
aThe sufferer takes the powder. which
is probably morphine, and it acts like
recurrence Of the bad symptoms, and she
hastens to her friend for some more Of the
medicine, and continues to 60 until she
can get some on her own account.
in the first place, the morphine may
have been prescribed by a physician with
good cause, or without special justihca-
ton; for am sorry to say there are I'M
scrupulous physicians who, in order to
satisfy an impatient patient or because
they are pressed for time themselves, will
prescribe the quickest antidote to pain
they can think Of, thus earning the imme-
date gratitude Of the patient.
Then the prescription was doubtless
renewed without the physician's knowledge.
although the law forbids druggist to re-
new prescriptions Of poisonous drugs with
out written Endorsement from q physi-
clan.
in place Of pellets or powders hypo-
dermic needle perhaps Is the promoting
cause. In any case woman number two
is soon as enthusiastic in her use Of the drug
as her friend and In turn she Is pretty sure
to pass the cure along to friend number
three. Thus an endless chain of drug
takers is established some links Of which
are apt to be pretty weak and eventually
drop out into sanitarium. There are
thousands Of cases, however, that no one
ever knows anything about except the
physicians.
The eagerness with which some women
take to smoking is another indication OF
their appetite for drugs From smoking
to cocaine is sometimes a short step.
In the case q men 1t is the brain workers
who yield more readily to the dope habit
than others. Writer'S are no exception.
Il have known more than one case in
which young man called upon to get up
q brilliant article-or an article hewanted
to make brilliant-in hurry and perhaps
at time when he was pretty well tagged
out, has resorted to mild dose of cocaine.
Afterward he Just reeled off the sentences.
How about the next day.
"There was q pretty bad knockout, l
cantell you. He was certain TO be nerveless
OF the stuff, but few writer's will take such
risks at the start.
sWhere do I think the largest quantity
of dope IL bought? Well perhaps the
druggists in the Tenderloin do as good q
business as any.
It Is possible the doctor is mistaken on
this point. At any rate the druggists In
learned from authoritative sources that
the biggest retailers Of forbidden drugs
live In out Of the way localities.
At one Of the big drug stores on upper
Broadway the head prescription clerk
protested that instead Of an increase In the
sales Of morphine and cocaine In the last
been falling of.
1T Is q well-known fact" he remarked
In explanation, shat the best physicians
such for instance as send their patients
here-includs very few poisonous drugs
In their prescriptions. 1t Is not once q
month that fill one calling for morphine
or cocaine.
son the other hand would-be buyers or
the quiet OF either drug know better thar
to come here. They patronize the places
where a dollar counts for more
.The law says that 1t Is o midemeanol
to sell poisons without a prescription
and most OF the reputable druggists refuse
to go against the law to please anybody.
1T Is all nonsense to say that cocaine
can be bought anywhere. II the person
only knows how to 60 about 1t. know II
cannot be bought here.
Within ahOrt hlOCk IF this al ora 1,
another whose proprietor has been In bust
ness for many years and Us well INFORMED
on the drug question. He was exceedingl.
frank in his statements.
At the outse he acknowledged that tn
present consumption OF morphine ant
+ cocaine was at least double what 1t wa
five years ago.
Every druggist knows that" he de
clared.
When the doctors assertion that thes
drugs could be purchased anywhere wa
quoted to him he said, with smile:
well, II that doctor will qualify hi
statement-make it almost anywhere
he will hit 1t about right.
"A regular Gust omer can get almos
anything he wants at his own druggist 4
get what a stranger cannot buy. AS
known stores at all for prohibited arugs
They seek out the small shops.
4For instance, there Is small Sixtl
avenue drug store not far from here, tucke,
away in the middle of block, that TO
years has done a lively business In NOR
phlne and cocaine. There is another lowe
! down on the East Side that sells little else
l am told. The proprietor has made
| fortune.
Perhaps you don't know that in ad
vanced cases OF the cocaine habit If
| thousand dollars, or hundred thousan,
stoou bet ween the victim Of the habit an,
| the dose wanted, and he had the none
to put up, he would part with It without
a minutes hesitation"
"How is it thai the prophet ors OF thos
stores are not caught selling those poisonsy
Because they go by another name there
! A GUST oner doesn't walk In and deman
morphine. He inquiries for sonnet hin
quite different And the regular conner
| don't even have 10 give it any name a
all. A nod will do.
| druggists who are in the habit of sellin
the stuff can tell prospective buyer
| they say. almost before he gets inside tn
door. No, / really don't know how the
do IT..
sIet me tell you another fact that is nc
generally known. 1t is easier to buy q
ounce OF cocaine than one grain. Try
some time Go to wholesale house, an
ten chances to one any one can make dea
without being asked question, the selle
taking it for granted the poison is to be sol
again at retail
at is the same with all poisons. I can
sell five cents worth Of paris green owe
my counter without a prescription We
anybody may go to wholesale place an
buy q pound without being asked whethe
| Il Is to be used for sprinkling potato bug