The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-12-15
Lame Negro Gets BY.

I
teeth, presumed with the easy defer
ence of a Southern darby to a white
man, to explain. that although he was
a day ahead of time in calling, he
"knowed, doctah, dat yo-all wouldnt
tuhn me down, case | jes' kyant wuH
widout hit"
Or. Drake frowned officially, but
smiled humanity, and gave him his pre-
| scribed allotment
An old woman called for her daugh-
| ter's supply, explaining that the girl
was too i'll to come. The Old, woman
| paid out 81 for dope. Then she com
| planned that with a weeks supply, the
morphine solution sometimes crystalliz-
| ed before the end Of the week, and
asked advice on what to do.
Add little warm water, she was
advised and shake we'll before ad~
ministering each dose" capable nurse
put in.
4 few more came in. white and black,
with no special requests or complaints
to distinguish them from the line that
flows for an hour each morning anu
each afternoon. They just, wanted dope,
and they got it,
Then came man, who had held
responsible position, but who had been
laid off by his employer because of his
habit He still had friends, willing to
contribute to his entry into SAM
tarium where he might be cured lie
was petulant because some arrange
ment about the sanitarium had gone
wrong He also wanted an extra por-
ton. But he got only his allowance
or his drug balance" as DR., Drake
terms the minimum amount Of the drug
each individual system can DO WIN,
and not feel the terrible craving that
leads sometimes to crime, sometimes
to self destruction
Just before the hours clinic closed
1rnNn
side central police station. An eXpen-
sively gowned woman alighted from
the car, nodded pleasantly to the doc
tor and nurse, got 80 grains, paid Sl.oO
and drove away. Thus II is that the
insidious morphine invades the, homes
of the we'll to-do as well as those Of
the poverty stricken.
No cocaine or heroin Is administered
at the municipal dispensary. The et-
feet of heroin is similar to that pro-
duced by morphine, but 1t is more eX-
h!larating
Where morphine or heroin victim, to
be cured. must be "tapered off" treat
ment for an orgy IN cocaine can ne
treated inst as plain drunk-throWn
into a cell to suffer the torture OF tine
morning after" until the furry tongue
disappears and various organs again
function properly.
Eight grains a day is the limit to
Victim--a limit set by law, Ut. franz
SAYS. Most of those who obtain that
amount OF morphine from the city dis-
pensary are old persons, some OF them
suffering from ailments considered m
curable-asthma, rheumatism and the
Ike. From this maximum the various
allowances, to meet individual drug
balances" go down to below grain
day, ,,ss.,.
Working along somewhat different
lines Ia the city court--or police court
When an addict is unfortunate enough
to be hailed before the tribunal, Judge
L. r. Fitzhugh usually fines him $50 ON
vagrancy charge. This is not Tor
punishment. II works to the ultimate
good of the addict, for the reason that
most OF them haven't the $50 to pay
| the fine, and must work it out at the
| Shelby county workhouse at the rate
of 40 cents day and keep BY The
| time the fine is worked out, under the
system at the works the addict Is
| ''off of the dope" to use ''e parlance'
| Then it Is up to the individual to Keep
off, But "A return to the habit means
| pa tronizing the dope bootleggers for
| pr. Drake has adopted hard and fast
| rule that once cured. an addict cannst
| through his dispensary, again obtai7
| the drug
| Strange as it may seem, persons thus
| cured, who will aay off, soon regain
their health and take on weight. one
| confirmed morphine user, a young Whit
woman, weighed ~ pounds when sent
| to the workhouse under S25 fine re-
| Gently. She was cured, and came oui
weighing 1889.