Photo Credit: Museum Victoria
The photograph above is a picture of a Victorian glass syringe
Although morphine was first discovered in 1803 and later marketed in 1827, it was not widely used until 1853, when glass syringes were invented. After that it was sold in most pharmacies and drug stores, as well as on the street from individual vendors. Morphine, along with other dangerous drugs, at the time “was not regarded as a serious social and medical problem until the early twentieth century, when doctors began to warn about the dangers of addiction. Ultimately, the use of drugs was banned in Britain by the Dangerous Drugs Act in 1920” (Diniejko). They were sold everywhere and there use was not regulated. It is very likely that these drugs were also tempered with, causing serious side effects to the user. These opiates were used to treat all kinds of symptoms, some as simple as a cough. Without investigation and a thorough knowledge about these drugs, the Victorians used them without precaution, causing damage and even caused death in some serious cases.
