REASON FOR ADDICTION

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29998, 6 December 1962, Page 14

REASON FOR ADDICTION

Drug Given To Kill Pain Press Association) AUCKLAND, Dec. 4. A drug which was prescribed for a woman as a painkiller led to her becoming addicted to it, said Senior Sergeant G. A. Dallow in the Magistrate’s Court at Auckland today. Before Mr W. J. Meade, S.M., was a 38-year-old mother of three children who pleaded guilty to a charge of theft of drugs and to two charges of procuring dangerous drugs. Her name was suppressed. Mr W. Hunt, for the accused, said it was not a case of a criminal appearing before the Court. Mr Hunt said the accused slipped on a floor in 1949 and had suffered a spinal injury. She began to have spasms and the drug was the most effective way of helping her. Her addiction was partly caused by her taking more than she had beer! told to. The Magistrate said it was a pathetic case. When the accused’s need for the drug grew, she resorted to various subterfuges, including dishonesty, to get it. The magistrate said the accused had a most unfortunate history of illness. The ultimate solution was in her own hands. He adjourned the case until February 19.