Douglas daily dispatch., 1928-02-19
DRUG ADDICTION Is PROBLEM
OF REAL DANGER TO NATION
If NOT KEPT UNDER CONTROL

Half dozen employees of the GUS
toms office ,in douglas were called
to Tucson last week for a couple
of days to appear as witnesses in
the case of the United States
against Raymond IVidaurli, who was
charged with a violation of the
Harrison narcotic law. The case
resulted in a disagreement of the
jury. 1t was fthe second trial OF
the same case with the same result.
The government was not defeated,
and yet it did mot win. But the
case emphasized the fact that the
government service in common with
the community has a problem in
the enforcement Of the anti-narcotic
law. 1t is a problem which, ac-
cordinl. to E., IN. Specht, deputy col
lector in charge of the Douglas Of
flee, is ,of vital Importance to every
community because If it were to be
neglected and allowed to spread it
would present la greater menace
than the liquor problem could un-
der Rny conceivable conditions.
Prosecutions against offenders
under the anti-narcotic law cover
a wide range. 1t is an offense
either to possess, to vend, to buy
or to transport narcotics. 1t is an
offense to import drugs except ac-
cording to specific rules and regu-
! lations governing such importations.
1t is the smuggling oil drugs that
results in much df the enforcement
work of the local office. In fact,
! it was an alleged violation of that
law which resulted in the arrest
and two trials of the defendant vi
| daurri.
! Drugs Most Often Found.
The most common of the narcot-
les found by the enforcement Off
GERS in their efforts to stamp out
IThe use of the drugs are cocaine
and morphine. IN the opinion of
/ Collector Specht, this probably is
due to the fact that those drugs
so much resemble quinine and the
ones using them have hopes of
slipping by because, if they should
be arrested, the officers might fail
to identify the drug. That, the
officer says, not infrequently hap
pens, but it is happening less fre-
quently nowadays than, itr did a few
years ago, prior to the general de-
Termination of the department to
Esuppress the traffic.
Some years ago, opium was the.
outstanding drug among the adj
diets to the usetnf such stimulants.
But opium brought it's own ban
with it. The very character of the
drug makes Opium inadvisable for
the addict to try to handle and it
is especially undesirable to the drug
peddler. That is due to the fact.
that opium in bulk, if placed into
the container in a moderate tenn
perature, will make its presence
known when taken to a warmer
temperature. 1t expands because OF
the heat and if the space is too
small it will burst the cOntainer.
Furthermore, opium has IA smell
that will reveal it's presence to the
nose attuned to sensing out the
presence of that particular narcot-
ic, and it is a dangerous drug for
the peddler to try to vend. For
all those reasons, opium is now lit
tie used by the addicts.
Methods of COncealment.
| The other drugs are refined until
there is not the trace of an odor
about them and they can be safely
handled on that ground.
| Methods of concealment by SNUG
glers, peddlers and addicts are nu-
merous and diversified. Some of
them are ingenious, some are
astonishing and many of them are
effective unless the Officers use eV-
cry means known to a prying mind
to discover where the drug is hid
den or carried. 1t is the frankly
expressed opinion of the collector
that many get through the line with
drugs because they ,are not suspect
ed of having drugs with them, but
he says that where one is suspect
ed, the chances are that he will
know he has been searched before
he is passed unless the cache for
the drug is easily and quickly un
covered.
''The automobile offers such
wide range lof opportunity to hide
drugs about it that l sometimes
wonder we find them as often as
we do,' said the collector. IF one
will look over an automobile and
see what number of cracks and
crevices there are into which a lit
tie package might be cached with
drugs in it, one will have a clearer
vision of the problems of the in
spectors in looking for such things.
"But the crevices about the cars
are not all the places used by the
smuggler and the addict for secret
ing the powder One fellow was
brought in and we failed in what
seemed to- be very thorough
search to find the drug. II SEEM
ed that he had been well Searched.
But we took one more round with
him and found plenty of it in the
cuff seam of his trousers. 1t was
so carefully placed that there was
not the hint of it apparent.
Another fellow was p.ened up
whom we felt sure 1had the drug.
He wore no coat, and his sleeves
rolled up and there was not, so
far as we got the first times over,
hint of the drugs about him. We
went over him once more and then
we rolled down the sleeves. There