THE SALE OF DRUGS.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—As the Spectator is prominent for its sound common sense in many matters, I should like to ask you for your opinion on the question of the sale of drugs. Is it right that there should be so little restriction on the sale of these articles P There are at the present time such drugs as veronals, sniphonals, and trionals sold by chemists to the public with- out any medical authority whatsoever. Again, there are prescriptions given to patients from time to time containing such poisons as morphia, etc., and the prescriptions once given can always be used by the patient ad infinitum, thus convert- ing the use of drugs into the incalculable abuse of the same. Could not a law be passed which should prohibit the sale of these drugs without proper medical authority P The law should be so framed that prescriptions once given should only hold good for the quantity prescribed, and each further pre- scription should have the fresh endorsement of the medical authority. Each prescription should be properly dated, and such drugs as veronals, sulphonals and trionals should come under the same category. The chemists, for selling these drugs without this authority, should be made liable to a fine of £100. The drug habit, like a vampire, slowly catches hold of its prey, who, once entrapped, are unable to release themselves from its deadly embraces. Cannot the law of the land do something to mitigate this evil. Can nothing be done P These deadly little doses become, as it were, a lying spirit in the mouths of its unfortunate victims. It is a well-known fact, that the most beautiful characters become transformed, and that the abuse of drugs changes the whole nature of people, making them unreliable, deceitful, and morally irresponsible. The question may he a difficult one, but it is one that should be honestly tackled, and I believe that if such a law was passed as is here suggested it would not only meet the approval of the doctors and the chemists, but also the public. At the same time, it would undoubtedly be a great boon to many a home which has hitherto had this blight in its midst. What does the Spectator say P—I am, Sir, &c., OBSERVER.
[Undoubtedly the sale of drugs capable of doing serious mischief, such as the anodynes and soporifics mentioned by our correspondent, ought to be placed under close restriction. .—En. Spectator.]
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