PETHIDINE DRUG ADDICTS

Press, Volume XCII, Issue 27751, 31 August 1955, Page 7

PETHIDINE DRUG ADDICTS

GROWING NUMBER IN NEW ZEALAND WARNING TO MEDICAL PROFESSION “Because there are now 24 known pethidine drug addicts, as a result of very free use of the drug in the last two years, the attention of the medical profession has been drawn to the need for a more cautious use of it,” says the annual report of the Director of the Division of Public Hygiene (Dr. F. S. Maclean), which is included in the Health Department’s annual report. “Pethidine was first used in New Zealand about 10 years ago and it was then expected that it would to some extent replace morphine. It was also thought by many medical men that the addictive properities were slight and that the drug was a safe one to use. Unfortunately experience throughout the world has shown that pethidine is as dangerous as morphine as a drug of addiction. “The consumption of pethidine in New Zealand, which was 8.4 kilogrammes in 1948, rose to 43.69 kilogrammes in 1951, and to more than 91 kilogrammes in 1954. “The first pethidine addict in New Zealand came to notice in 1949, and in the last two years, as a result of the very free use of the drug, the number of known pethidine addicts has increased to 24, that is to say more than one-third of the total number of addicts known to the department.”