FEDERAL OPIUM-COCA LAW. Prescription His Office Address and His Registry Number, and Sign His Name in Full
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i6o CALIFORNIA STATE JOURNAL OF MEDICINE Vol. XIII, No. 4 duty of our nation to initiate such legislation as If a physician is in personal attendance on a may be necessary. patient, he can administer any treatment he sees For the carrying out of our international obliga- fit in the form of hypodermic injection, sprays, tions, three bills were drafted. The first, H. R. applications, etc. If he orders a nurse to give 1966, prohibited the importation of opium for any such treatment, then the written order must ap- other than medicinal purposes. The second, H. R. pear in the history sheet with the physician's 1967, prohibited the manufacture of smoking initials. The statement recently appeared in a opium in the United States. Both of these bills druggists' journal that an official ruling had dis- became laws over a year ago. As there are only criminated between a visit to the patient at his a few firms in the country which import opium home and personal treatment of a patient by a and none which manufacture it, these laws af- physician at his office, and that one was personal fected a limited number of persons and so at- attendance and the other was not. This state- tracted little public comment. The third bill, ment is without foundation. No such ruling has H. R. 6282, which became a law December 17, been made. 1914, is the Harrison law, now going into effect. If a physician dispenses his own drugs, then he In various forms and under different names it has must conform to the same restrictions as a drug- been before Congress for nearly six years. It gist. He must order the drugs specified by this does not forbid the sale of' habit-forming drugs. law on the blanks furnished by the internal rev- Only state laws can do that in this country. It enue collector, and he must keep a record of the restricts traffic in them to persons engaged in dispensing of such drugs, the date, the quantity legitimate businesses in order to make it possi- and the name and address of the person to whom ble to trace these drugs from the importer to the they were given. This record must be kept in a ultimate consumer. The suppression of illegiti- "suitable blank book," and must be preserved for mate traffic in these drugs can be accomplished two years. Drugs dispensed while the physician only by state laws properly drawn and enforced. is in personal attendance on the patient do not The object to be attained is the world-wide need to be recorded. Neither do preparations restriction of the use of opium and cocain to which do not contain more than 2 grains of opium, their proper medicinal purposes. In securing this, '/4 grain of morphine, /8 grain of heroin or 1 the sympathy and support of every right-minded grain of codeine. man and woman should be forthcoming. But These provisions are simple and need cause plhysicians, especially, as those who know better the physician little annoyance. The great major- than any other class the dangers and ravages of ity of physicians write prescriptions. Physicians drug addictions, should endorse and support in who dispense, only occasionally dispense prepara- every way this effort for the uplifting of humanity, tions of narcotic drugs. The restrictions for both to which our national honor is pledged.-Journal classes are simple and easily observed. The cost of the A. M. A. for all physicians is the same, a nominal fee for registration, a small cost for order blanks. Addi- tional rules may be found necessary as the law is THE PHYSICIAN AND THE HARRISON enforced, but there is at present nothing that NARCOTIC LAW. need cause physicians any inconvenience or an- noyance. From the large number of inquiries received, it is evident that many physicians are in doubt as to But what about old habitues, persons suffering what they are required to do under the Harrison from painful and incurable diseases, and others to law and what the law will do to them. So many whom opium in some form is absolutely necessary? misstatements on this subject have appeared that Every physician knows of such cases. For them a of the purposes and requirements the physician so long as he complies with the law brief summary of his own state can prescribe whatever he sees of the law may be reassuring. fit. But it must be done openly and without at- The law affects the physician both as a pre- tempt at evasion and the physician must be ready scriber and as a dispenser of drugs. The only and able at any time to justify his acts. The effect it has on the former-the prescribing phy- whole purpose of the law is to restrict the use sician-is that it requires him to register with of opium and cocaine to legitimate channels.-Jour- the collector of internal revenue of the district, nal of the A. M. A. and that in writing a prescription for narcotic or habit-forming drugs he must write thereon the name and address of the patient, have on the FEDERAL OPIUM-COCA LAW. prescription his office address and his registry number, and sign his name in full. He can-and The following is a partial list of preparations should, probably, if he has printed blanks-have that come within the scope of the new Federal his registry number printed on the blank. He need not keep either copies or records of pre- Law and has been compiled by D. 0. Haynes scriptions; this is done by the druggist. These & Co., New York: prescriptions cannot be refilled. This is all there This law applies to the production, importation, is to the Harrison narcotic law so far as it affects manufacture, compounding, sale, dispensing, or the prescribing physician. The only expense is giving away of Opium or Coca Leaves, their salts, in securing his license once a year, at a cost of derivatives or preparations. one dollar. And the only facts to be kept in It does not apply to preparations which con- mind in writing prescriptions are that the pa- tain two (2) grains or less of Opium, or '4 grain, tient's name and address must be written thereon or less of Morphia, or Y8 grain or less of Heroin, a nd that the physician must sign his name in full or 1 grain or less of Codeine, or any salt or -precautions, however, that should be taken on derivative of any of them in one fluid ounce; or if all prescriptions. a solid, or semi-solid preparation, in one avoirdu- If the physician desires any of the specified pois ounce. drugs for his own use, he must then make out Neither does it apply to Liniments, Ointments an order for them on a blank form bearing his or other preparations which are prepared for ex- registry numnber. These blanks are furnished by ternal use only, except Liniments and other prep- the Internal Revenue Department in packages of arations which contain Cocaine or any of its salts ten for ten' cents. The physician cannot order (alpha or beta eucaine) or any of their salts or drugs for his own use on a prescription blank. any synthetic substitute for them. APR., 1915. CALIFORNIA STATE JOURNAL OF MEDICINE I6I OFFICIAL PREPARATIONS EXEMPTED. Powder, Ipecac and Opium (Dover), U. S. P. The following official preparations contain Powder, Kino Compound, N. F. Opium, Morphine, Codeine, etc., but not in suffi- Powder Morphine Compound (Tully), U. S. P. cient quantity to require a physician's prescription Solution Morphine Citrate, N. F. or the special order blank, when purchased or sold Solution Morphine, Hypodermic (Magendie), N. F. or when dispensed by a physician or a pharmacist: Syrup Codeine, N. F. Syrup Ipecac and Opium (Dover), N. F. U. S. P. PREPARATIONS. Syrup Morphine Sulphate, N. F. Camphorated Tincture of Opium-1.9 grains opium Syrup Poppy, N. F. in fl. ounce. Tincture Ipecac.and Opium, U. S. P. Compound Mixture of Glycyrrhiza-0.218 grain in Tincture Kino Compound, N. F. fl. ounce. Tincture Opium, U. S. P. Opium Plaster. Tincture Opium, deodorized, U. S. P. N. F. PREPARATIONS. Tincture Poppy, N. F. Acid Camphor Mixture-0.54 grain opium in fl. Troches Glycyrrhiza and Opium, U. S. P. ounce. Troches Morphine and Ipecac (U. S. P. 18.00). Antiperiodic Tincture (Warburg's Tinc.)-0.114 Vinegar Opium, U. S. P. grain opium in fl. ounce. Wine Coca, U. S. P. Carminative Mixture-Dalby's-l s grains opium Wine Coca, Aromatic, N. F. in fl. ounce. Wine Opium, U. S. P. Compound Elixir of Tar-0.16 grain morphine in fl. ounce. DRUGS AND CHEMICALS. Compound Liniment Opium. Acid Meconic. Compound Syrup of Morphin-0.25 grain in fl. Antispasmin. ounce. Apocodeine Alkaloid. Compound Syrup of White Pine-0.23 grain mor- Apocodeine Hydrochloride. phine in fl. ounce. Apomorphine Muriate Amorphous. Elixir of Terpin Hydrate with Codeine-1 grain Apomorphine Hydrochloride, U. S. P. codeine in fl. ounce. Apomorphine Sulphate. Jackson's Pectoral or Cough Syrup-0.25 grain Beta-Eucaine. morphine hy'd'chld in fl. ounce. Benzoyl Ecgonine. Mixture of Sassafras and Opium-1.6 grains opium Cocaine Alkaloid, U. S. P. in fl. ounce. Cocaine Borate. Pectoral Tincture-2 grains opium in fl. ounce. Cocaine Carbolate. Stokes' Expectorant-0.319 grain opium in fl. ounce. Cocaine Citrate. Mixture of Magnesia and Asafetida (Dewees' Cocaine Hydrobromide. Carminative)-0.456 grain opium in fl. ounce. Cocaine Hydrochloride. Troches of Morphine and Ipecac-0.7 grain in av.