Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-07-13
1erlcan Intelligence Prevents Drug Danger

No reputable physician will prescribe
drugs save In cases Of dire necessity.
y Il
ITO me the satdest thing in all this
situation is that these terribly danger.
Gus drugs are manufactured and dis.
tributed in the United States by peo-
pie OF great name and standing They
violate no law by spreading the con-
sumption of them. although they must
be quite aware Of the Incredible harm
this does.
"At present they may sell any guam
tity requested to any person who for
wards an order from outside the
United States. as from Canada. Cuba
or Mexico. and such orders invariably
are filled, I feel quite certain. IL they
are accompanied by cash or its equiv
alent. They need make no accounting
to the federal government or anybody
else Of such transactions.
mo prohibition or regulation Of
manufacture exists in the United
States or across either border; smug-
Cling OF drugs Is very easy spare
set OF tires (tires never are searched)
coming on a motor car from Canada
could contain enough drugs to thrust
every person In any American city
into drug addiction II it were sys-
tematically used for that dread pur.
pose. Once in. the act Of peddling
them would not be so very risky.
There is an erroneous idea in most
minds which have thought casually
about this problem that the drugs
which have made America notorious
as above all others the most drug
ridden among nations have been Of
foreign manufacture, thrust upon us
principally through the greed Of Ger.
mans.
1T Is true that most of the worst
forms Of habit-forming preparations
are of German origin, and that by de-
Vising them the brilliant German
chemists probably have more than off,
set all the good that they have done
through all the efforts they have made
on other. better lines, but the drugs
which now are working an Incredible
harm in the United States are manu-.
featured here.
Their producers must be strictly
regulated: before real correction Of
existing evils is accomplished this ma
tion must make agreements with its
nelghbors that neither 1t nor they
Will buy or sell such drugs save from
or to manufacturers or dealers under
government supervision. this agree
ment to be pending an international
opium conference called to adopt final
regulations.
"The safeguard Of this nation after
the enforcement of prohibition must
be strict supervision not only of hab-
reforming drugs. but of all medicines
containing them or alcohol in any
quantity.
Nor. to my mind, can state and
national legislation ever wholly ac-
complish the necessary object The
interests concerned are too great and
powerful. and. unlike the liquor in
terests. too respectable to permit
this.
primarily. I believe the problem
must be handled by the health boards.
Danger would be decreased infinitely
II throughout the country generally
they were given authority to adopt
such rules and regulations as they
may find necessary to combat the
problem locally.
"As a matter of fact, practically
all. IL not all. of the various habit.
forming preparations could be elm
mated from the surface of the earth
without placing any handicap what
ever upon medical practice Crude
opium, unprepared and therefore of
no interest to the great manufacture
ing organizations, would serve every
medical purpose now served by it's
various derivatives which are mar
keted under many trade names.
whatever happens in the way of
legislation. whether the nation pro-
ceeds sanely or insanely. we who
know something OF the problem must
deal carefully with present drug VIC
Tins, They have increased rather
than decreased In number under the
supposedly restrictive legislation, and.
after prohibition starts thousands
searching for that stimulation which
they have so disastrouSly learned to
crave, II we are uuwise their number
may increase more rapidly. If We