Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1942-10-21

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enough Knockout drops TO make
them unconscious. Then they
are robbed.
Being respectable men In
every other sense, they never
report II, but friend mentions
II often enough 10 give Us an
idea Of its prevalence"
The average citizen doesn't
even know the chemical name Of
the drug. but the underworld
does. They can buy il from a
druggist or dealer in chemicals.
The girls, says Bowling gem
orally carry il in tiny vial
in a pocketbook, or sometimes in
a secret pocket sewed into their
underwear
A pinch in the victims drink.
and he sees fog rising before
his eyes. In a few seconds he
is unable 10 see. He feels HIM
self losing control of his muscles
and his brain, and he sinks into
deep stupor, remembering
nothing until he wakes up per-
haps two days or more later.
Sometimes, like Mccoy, he never
awakes again.
Death il not as rare as you
may think. A few years ago
Bowling prosecuted Ernest and
Laura DemZik for killing "Uncle
Peter" Vlohos, man who
thought they were his friends.
Vlohos died of the dose they
gave him. The Demziks tried
to brazen IL out, but were sent
to prison for life.
How many die is as conjectur-
able rs asking how many are
drugged. Unless suspicion Is
aroused, the victim can be mis-
taken for a victim of heart
trouble. In Dowling's opinion:
"More die, that we never know
about, than from any other
cause except natural causes,
generally speaking" BY that he
means In the country in gen
eral-New York. Chicago, and
points south, east, north and
west.
No matter how sweetly the
strange young lady smiles, when
she suggests having n few limo
cent drinks, she may have
bottle Of white crystals, and
you may be dead before morning.
Or il the victim has a weak
heart. he may be dead in a few
minutes. An overdose can kill
a strong man. OF course. the
light-fingered ladies don't mean
10 commit murder, but murder il
is, just the same. And" says
Bowling, "the most vicious form
OF murder in the annals of crime"
The holdup man at least has
a gun in his hand. The girl with
the knockout drops is an easy
to-meet lady who leads her VIC
tim on with a smile, a promise
Of fun, and q dose Of poison
administered under a guiSe Of
friendship.
The current prevalence ~
using knockout drops, Bowling
says, dates back about 10 years.
Already il has grown 10 such
an extent that Bowling has
asked the coroners to perform
an immediate post-mortem on
all cases involving any suspicion
Of poison, not even waiting 10
identify the victim. The main
cause OF this request, he said, Is
knockout drops.
Can't anything be DONE Yes
The chemical is never sold
except with a poison label. of
course. but the girls who use II
don't care. Death is just an IN
fortunate accident 10 them-if
it's someone else's death.
But after the DemZik case.
Bowling asked Rep. Francis
Nowak TO introduce a bill max
ing IL mandatory 10 sell the
drug only on a doctors preScrip-
ton. That way the poison could
he traced.
Pitifully. the Legislature re-
iected the measure. Dow ling
bIames the rejection on "the big
rural area that can't understand
the problems that we have in a
city. They don't have II in their
districts."
But perhaps the murder ~
Clyde Mccoy IL shocking enough
to bring recognition Of this evil
which isn't very often talked
about, and IL doubly deadly for
that very reason.