The Washington herald., 1919-02-17
MILLION DRUG
ADD|CTS IN U. S.
New York Health Officer
Warns of Narcotic
Peril to Nation.
By Z. c. RODGERS.
Washington Herald stan Corre-
RpOUdent.

Washington Herald stan Corre-
spondent.
New York, Feb. 16-"There'n be
an increase in The drug habit as soon
as prohibition goes into effect. As
the number of 'drunks' grows small
er the number of coke fiends' will
get larger"
That is the dry wave" warning
straight from DR.. Royal S. Cope
land, health commissioner of Amer
ica's largest city. which houses more
happy dust users than any other
city in the United States.
Cocaine in its effect is the next
thing to alcohol" DR.. Copeland ex-
planned. ''and naturally the habit
must grow as soon as the country
is made dry. The narcotic evil will
become a menace in this country"
Increase In "Dry' Sections.
DR.. Copeland is not alone in his
fears. Investigations of the Con-
gressiOnal committee, headed by
Representative Rainey, of Illinois,
disclosed the fact that drug habits
were increasing in territory already
dry" and that thousands of drafted
men were dismissed from military
camps after it was learned that they
were drug addicts.
The new revenue bill increases
the efficiency of the Harrison mar
cotic law, providing for the regis
tration of manufacturers and deal
ers in proprietary medicines con-
tanning compounds of narcotic
drugs.
The United States internal rev.
enue service estimates there are
100000 users of narcotics in New
York City alone; that there are l.
100000 known drug addicts in the
United states. and probably as many
more secret drug users.
Demand in dry States. especialIy
of the South, for narcotic patent
medicines has increased tremen-
dously within the last year or two.
Control by Regfstration.
The evil can be controlled only
by registration of the 'fiends'," as
serts DR.. Copeland Give them
cards bearing their fingerprints and
their photographs. Establish an
agency which they would have to
come to with their prescriptions to
get their supplies. In this manner
their doses can be gradually reduced
until they are cured OF the habit"
Internal revenue officers raided
one New York drug store and took
with them in taxicabs 64.sOO pre-
scriptions for morphine and heroin.
This was Cohen's pharmacy. 16 Am
sterdam avenue. 1t represented that
stores annual crop of dope" pre-
scriptions, and cost drug fiends
: i
$4,000 worth of dope" in the store.
These prescriptions had been fur.
nished dope fiends by physicians,
three of whom were arrested.
Cohens pharmacy was described by
revenue agents as the greatest re-
tail market for drugs they had ever
heard of. But they insist that many
other drug stores make large profits
filling dope" prescriptions given by
doctors, and they assert that many
doctors make a speciality of catering
to drug users. selling narcotic pre-
scriptions at from 81 to 81.
Million Drug AddIcts.
DR.. Charles a. Rosewater. of New
ark, n. j., has been investigating
the narcotic evil in other cities.
The habit is increasing" he said.
There are at least 100000 persons
i'm the United States who are ad-
dicted to narcotic drugs, and make
use of either cocaine or opium and
its derivatives"
DR.. Rosewater asserts people with
out number use all manner of inju-
rious preparations containing opium
and cocaine, as for example. pare
gortc, which may under the Harrison
law contain two grains of opium to
the ounce.
One physician in a Southern city
prescribed 5000 morphine tablets in
six months practice. The importa-
ton of coca leaves from which CO.
caine is extracted has increased.
The enforcement of national prohi-
bltion without control of the traffic
in drugs will be followed by an in
crease in the use of patent medicines
in which narcotics appear as ingre-
dents"