Take Caution Selling Medicine Bottles
by Bob Brooke

This seemingly isolated incident raises some questions about selling any sort of containers, mostly for their value to advertising collectors, that contain some of their original contents–old medicine bottles, household cleaners, insect sprays, poisons, etc. If a container still has some of its contents, are those contents dangerous or harmful to humans? If so, and a human is injured or killed from ingesting the contents of an old medicine bottle, for instance, who is responsible? And what does this have to do with the heightened terrorism awareness since 9/11?

Cough syrups and other medicines often contain alcohol which is classed as a flammable liquid. Roberts pointed out that investigators make little distinction in regard to risk when they discover violations of the regulations–and the penalties may be severe.

Nationally, it’s the responsibilities of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to regulate toxic substances and investigate violations. Rebecca A. Frierson, a pharmaceuticals collectibles specialist with Liberty Antiques and Auctions of Newbury, South Carolina, who has sold over 700,000 old bottles, always has a DEA agent come in to inspect items before she they go on the auction block. "One of the first things I do when I go into a new state to do an auction, is contact the local DEA office and that state’s Department of Environmental Control and invite them to my auction site so that they can go through and identify any items that may be in violation of the law," she said. "Though environmental laws vary from state to state, the DEA law is national."

In 1970, Congress passed the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), Title II of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act, which became the legal foundation of the government's fight against the abuse of drugs and other substances. This law is a consolidation of numerous laws regulating the manufacture and distribution of narcotics, stimulants, depressants, hallucinogens, anabolic steroids, and chemicals used in the illicit production of controlled substances.

Under the law, the DEA may begin an investigation of a drug at any time based upon information received from law enforcement laboratories, state and local law enforcement and regulatory agencies, or other sources of information.

"There’s a great concern about substances getting out and made into dangerous cocktails, especially from cough medicines," Frierson said. "The DEA doesn’t care if a substance is 200 years old, especially if it’s included in their Schedule II list. I’ve seen them go to antique shows, and if they find dealers selling that kind of stuff, they shut them down."

Frierson noted that rules are a bit more lax for poisons, such as strychnine and a deadly product called mercury bi-chloride, formerly used as an anti-syphilitic and to clean wounds. "This is nasty stuff, contains heavy metal, and is very dangerous." Though she can sell bottles containing these substances, they most likely fall within eBay’s category of "controlled substances."

However, since 9/11, the DEA has pulled poisons like cyanide, which Frierson frequently finds in another, more deadly, form, off the market. Now she’s much more reluctant to put certain substances on the market.

"Most pharmacies have expired stock and keep it in a special place," said Frierson. "When I start sorting through a pile of drugs in an old pharmacy, the drugs get older and older as I get towards the bottom. That’s where I usually find the earlier ones."

Frierson also said that many more drugs have to be destroyed. She personally goes through all the items in a sale and hand touches all the bottles to make sure they have no contents. "There’s no problem selling the bottles as long as they’re empty," she said. "And there’s still significant collector value to a bottle without contents. There’s also a market for bottles with contents."

In the collectibles market, this goes both ways. Frierson said that the narcotics law requires the substance in question must be deleted from the seller’s inventory upon shipment and added to the buyer’s inventory upon receipt of shipment. Each must also have a secure storage facility. And both must be licensed by the DEA to traffic in controlled substances. Any seller or dealer and buyer or collector caught not obeying these requirements faces a heavy fine or imprisonment.

Frierson uses reference books to see how a substance is or has been used. This is especially important for substances no longer in the Physician’s Desk Reference or for poisons listed in Merck Manual. The above-mentioned mercury bi-chloride is a good example. Widely used in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries, it’s no longer listed since it’s not used by doctors today. "I constantly see information about sales through other auctioneers who don’t have a clue as to what they’re selling," added Frierson. "I worry about substances people will use to get high or perhaps die from."

Some collectibles, like cereal boxes, are worth more with their contents unopened, but this isn’t so with old medicine bottles.

Often collectors look beyond the bottle or the contents and to the acquisition of one company over another such as Mallencrot acquired by Merck and Co., which used to be Merck, Sharp and Dohme. And before being Mallencrot, it was Powers and Weightman and before that there was a Powers and a Weightman– all significant drug companies. A very early pre-acquisition bottle can be worth substantially more, according to Frierson. Some bottles are worth more from the companies they came from than the contents they contained.