New-York tribune., 1919-04-13
3 More Doctors
Are Involved in
Drug Traffic
Alleged by City Officials
to Have Given Prescrip-
tons for Large QUAINT.
ties to Addict Patients
Copeland Calls Meeting
New York and Federal Police
Officers Asked to Help
Him in His Crusade e

Developments in the fight to break
the illicit traffic in drugs in New York
City yesterday were:
7 Statements by officials that they
10 have evidence discriminating three
tors of state and Federal narcotic laws
. A confession from convict drug
80 addict and formerly notorious
"bootlegger," that on one occasion he
obtained 24O grains of heroin from a
physician under the pretense that it
was to last him six days. A man known
to him made the same arrangement
with another physician, then they ped
died the drug.
q Announcement by Commissioner of
Os Health Copeland that he would
call special meeting of the Board Of
Health tomorrow. This will be at
tended by Representatives of the State
Narcotic Commission and Federal and
local police officials, to consider amend
ing the Sanitary Code so as to compel
registration Of all drug addicts in this
city. The amendment is intended to
make it misdemeanor, punishable by
fine, imprisonment, or both, for any
physician to prescribe for an unregis-
tered drug addict
Administration Criticised
4 Criticism of the Hylan administra-
ton for its action last year in
closing down Warwick Farm, at War
wick, N. Y, which formerly was
used by the city as rehabilitation
centre for inebriates and drug addcts
City officials say they are being ham
pered in their crusade by the lack of
Institutions to which to send addicts
after they have received hospital treat
ment.
Records show that despite the fact
that onehalf grain of heroin, one
eighth grain of morphine and one-half
to two grains of cocaine are considered
fair doses, prescriptions for the follow
ing doses have been handed day after
day TO addicts by local doctors
Prescription No. /. 10 grains heroin.
is grains cocaine; No. Q. 25 grains
heroin, 10 cocaine; No. 8, 81 grains
hsroin, eoehine; No d. do grains NOR
phine; no. 6, 4b gthlns hefoin. - CO.
eaine; No. 7, 40 grains heroin. 10 CO.
ealhe; No. =, 80 grains morphine, CO.
eHlne; no, D, 80 grains hefoin, These
prescriptions, officials, say, are sam
Pies from the records Of six local
doctors,
iias Treated Thousands
Dir. Perry Lichtenstein, attached to
the Iombs, who has treated thousands
OF drug addicts, said that as "A result
OF the Harrison and Whitney acts,
which he declared had swung the drug
trafiic from pedlar to interruptions
physicians, the menace is now at its
peak.
Addicts who formerly bought from
nadIQre ioht 20, ot<,..
got a small quantity mixed with milk
sugar. AS result they had mild
drug habit Since they have been
patronizing .unscrupulous doctors they
are getting large quantities of the pure
drugs, he said, and the new crop of
adGicts are in "horrible shape"
There are eighteen addicts in the
lomos now. charged with various
crimes, according to DR. Lichtenstein.
commissioner Copeland gave out his
announcement of to-morrow's confer
ence in the following formal statement:
IN view of the large number of
addicts reporting daily for treatment
at the department clinic, 145 Worth
Street, and the difficulty of adminis-
tratlve control of the problem, it seems
desirable to have the sanitary code
amended to meet the situation.
Must Be Card Indcxed
Unless some means Of Identification
Is found there is nothing to prevent n
patient from coming to US and getting
drugs and then going to a legitimate
practitioner for more narcotic without
making known the fact that he has been
here.
"Under such condition we can never
hope to wipe out the drug menace. inst
what method of registration will ha
used is to be decided at a conference
will call Monday. The card and photo
graph system Of registration now seems
probable.
"One of the plans under considera
tIon Is to amend the sanitary code so
as to define drug addiction, then fur
ther to provide that no addict shall be
treated unless he has presented regis
tration credentials from the Depart
ment of Health. Physicians giving
drugs to patients without credentials
would be guilty of misdemeanor. The
legitimate doctor will rejoice in such
regulations, which will relieve him Of
the responsibility of treating an addict
without his full drug history, which
would be contained in the registration
credentials"
Five hundred women are needed To
AID in the work at the Worth Street
clinic and others soon to be established, |,
mrs: Philip NJ. Lydig and Miss Sarah
Graham Marshall, of the Advisory
Board Of Drug Addiction, announced
yesterday. Volunteers should applv at
145 Worth Street.