DRUG FIENDS.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 18420, 29 June 1925, Page 4

DRUG FIENDS.

VERY FEW IN CHRISTCHURCH.

At the annual meeting of the Social Welfare Guild, held on Friday alternoon, the president, Mrs H. F. Herbert, stated that drug addicts were on the increase in the Dominion. The habit was getting a great hold on some people, who experienced no difficulty in securing the drug they wanted, and tho requisites for making injections. She instanced the case of a woman in Christchurch, who was getting as much as £2 worth of narcotic per week from a local chemist or chemists.

In view of tho alarming nature ot Mrs Herbert's statement, a represents* tive of "The Press" called ou a num« ber of Christchurch chemista on sSaturday, and was giveu tho reassuriag new* that, with the exception of oao or two very isolated cases, there was ab« solutcly no prevalence of d?ug taking in the city. Ko one ean obtain narcotics without a signed order, or proscription from a doctor, and then only in such quantities as are deemed advisable for the curing of some malady. There were, of course, occasional cases of addictß who used all sorta o£ eunniug methods when overcome by the torriblo craving, going to the extent of making all sorts of misrepresentations. But the chemists were usually able to "spot" bogus eases—that is, cases whero the purchaser is simply a! drug fiend and desires to use tho narcotic solely for tho purposo of satisfying a craving. Certain drugs were used in various, lotions, eyedrops, and other prescriptions, and cases had been known where people would make use of these to get tho dru£ contained therein. K$ chemist will sell a narcotic wutout medical instructions, and one xnw stated that the case quoted by Mrs Herbert, in which the woman bad: obtained £2 worth a week, was a most unusual one, and the narcotic must have been secured by very clever means to avoid the vigilance of the chemists. Christchurch chemists, the rcporte? learned, have a special system bymeans of which every shop in the city and suburbs can be brought into direct, communication with each othcrin half an hour. When a suspected Q r doubtful person cornea in with what, appears to bo a bogus prescription, enquiries arc mado immediately, and all the shops informed of tho case, each being warned against supplying the required drug. The roporter also made enquiries into the matter from one or two well-known Christchurch doctors, who stated that drug addicts wcro not. at all prevalent. In fact, the position here was very good in that rospect. Drug fiends were very few and far between, and one reason for that was probably tho care taken by the local ehomists in adhering strictly to the instructions oi-' the medical men. One doctor aaid that he had only come across two drug addicts in tho last four years—one a very bad, caso and the other a slight one. With tho exception of these two he had not como into contact with addicts, nor had lie hoard of any. The chemists of Christchurch, he said, would not supply drugs or any narcotic to any person without written authority froin a doctor, nor would any reputable chemist repeat a prescription without fresh authority. Ho commended the chemists of Christchurch in that respect, saying that ho had never experienced a caso whero a breach of those regulations had occurred.. The foregoing appeared to be the general opinion among tho Chemists and medical men of Christchurch with whom tho reporter communicated. In a case where a person presented a prescription containing a narcotic Signed by a doctor in another country, fresh authority from a local doctor is required by the chemist before the prescription is supplied.