HABIT-FORMING DRUGS

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27097, 21 July 1953, Page 13

HABIT-FORMING DRUGS

South African Sales Cause Concern STRICTER CONTROL URGED fFrom a Reuter Correspondent.) . PRETORIA. Responsible South Africans are becoming disturbed at the extent to which habit-forming drugs are available in a country that has a mixed and often illiterate population. The country’s chemists have been asked officially to agree among themselves on the control of the sale of sedatives and stimulants which can be bought freely over the counter, shoos™ wbi^ Sts ’ Shops and ordinary ~*‘°P. S • w “ 3 S h carry proprietary r^^-l, ClneS If the cile mists do not . agreement soon, the GovernS ] S e y *2 lntrodu ce legislation ? dd drugs to the poison thfmmhfi.^ he ,9 her V ists themselves, national organisation, are p t , he authorities to introduce a form of control. They would like to see sales of all medicinal substances channelled through their own dealers 10 ”’ ® nd forbidden t 0 ordinary

wHan. S l uth African Department of Health has published a warning against excessive use of many of the sedatives and stimulants at present sold freely over the counter. The Acting-Secretary for Health (Mr R. J. Smit) has written to the “South African Medical Journal,” appealing * doctors to restrict the prescription or the amphetamine group of drugs, ihese drugs, sold under a variety of trade names listed in the journal, are stimulants used for slimming, he says.

Cases of Addiction Mr Smit says that the department jj. P lsc overed several cases of addiction as a result of the use of these drugs. “In each case,” he says, j individual admitted that he or she had become an addict. It was obvious that these unfortunate people were morally and physically undermined.” Revealing that these durgs are sold in quantities that amaze the layman, he says: “Registers in pharmacies indicate that prescriptions for amounts of 100 tablets and more not uncommon, even from specialists, and one is therefore forced to conclude that the profession is not sufficiently aware of the addictionproducing potentialities of this group of drugs.;’

According to doctors, the amphetamines are widely used by men and women for slimming. They are also sometimes used by students who want to keep awake while studying for examinations, and by motorists driving at night. Their use sometimes leads to insomnia. Then people have to take drugs of the barbiturate group to get to sleep, and so a vicious circle builds up.

Though the amphetamine group of drugs are popularly used for slimming, the “Medical Journal” says well-controlled studies have failed to reveal that their use produces any definite benefit. “The harm likely to occur from the abuse of these drugs does not appear to be seriously enough considered by many practitioners, and there are many lay people who use them without restraint.” it says.

Sales of Proprietary Drags South African chemists agree that many proprietary and packed medicines contain harmful or potentially harmful substances and may be subject to wide abuse, particularly by the African masses, who are largely illiterate and widely credulous. The drug traffic is new to South Africa, and officialdom is only beginning to become aware of its menace. Recent cases in the courts‘indicate that there is a disturbing tendency for the sale of the smoker’s drug, dagga. (marihuana) to develop into big business. It is also alleged that cocaine and heroin are being smuggled into South Africa, and are easy to obtain.

Whether this is true or not, the fact remains -that some doctors think that there is not sufficient awareness of the dangers of the barbiturates and the amphetamines, among doctors, chemists or public. Some people, it is alleged, think nothing of offering a well-known drug of the amphetamine group along with a cocktail, “to pep up the party.” Some chemists are reported to offer a “party mixture” to clients who ask for something to counter a “hang-over.” This mixture” is said to contain drugs which can lead to addiction, and which are doubly dangerous if taken in a cycle of drugs and alcohol.