Boylan Act Explained

The Boylan Act (or the Boylan Bill or the Towns-Boylan Act) was a piece of April 1914 legislation in New York State, dealing with narcotics and addiction. The Act predated the federal 1915 Harrison Act, and in some ways anticipated it. Charles B. Towns, one of the sponsors of the Act, stated "it takes only five or six days to cure a drug fiend in hospital."^[1]

Provisions

• That opium and morphine be dispensed only by pharmacists, with a written prescription from a physician
• Any prescription for opiates required a physical examination by a doctor to establish necessity
• Prescriptions exceeding four grains of morphine, 30 grains of opium, two grains of heroin, or six grains of heroin must be verified by the dispensing pharmacist with a phone call to the prescribing physician
• Only physicians and pharmacists may dispense syringes or hypodermic needles
• Per Section 249a, addicts who break the law may be institutionalized for addiction treatment, and addicts resisting treatment could be forced to enter an institution for vagrants^{[2] [3]}

Overturning

In 1917, the Whitney Act weakened the Boylan Act by allowing physicians to prescribe narcotics to addicts in the course of treating their addiction.^[4]

The Act was later overturned, as it had the unintended consequence of stimulating the black market for narcotics.^[5]

Notes and References

1. Book: Ross Coomber. The Control of Drugs and Drug Users: Reason or Reaction?. 16 January 1998. CRC Press. 978-90-5702-188-6. 16–.
2. Book: United States. Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse. Drug Use in America: Problem in Perspective: Second Report. registration. 1973. Ardent Media. 978-0-8422-7239-1. 259–.
3. Book: Rick Csiernik. Substance Use and Abuse: Everything Matters. 7 January 2011. Canadian Scholars’ Press. 978-1-55130-375-8. 307–.
4. Book: Morton Keller. Regulating a New Society: Public Policy and Social Change in America, 1900-1933. 1994. Harvard University Press. 978-0-674-75366-2. 116–.
5. Book: Howard Padwa. Jacob Cunningham. Addiction: A Reference Encyclopedia. registration. January 2010. ABC-CLIO. 978-1-59884-229-6. 90–.