Morfina-20 (morphine hydrochloride) injectable ampoule box

Object/Artifact

-

Archive of Cuban Socialism

Name/Title

Morfina-20 (morphine hydrochloride) injectable ampoule box

Entry/Object ID

2025.1.137

Description

A Cuban prescription pharmaceutical box for "MORFINA-20," an injectable morphine preparation, now empty. The front is printed on buff card with a dark teal/blue title panel: "MORFINA-20 / Inyección Subcutánea o Intramuscular." Below: "10 ampolletas de 1 ml," a "MINSAP" roundel logo (Ministerio de Salud Pública) with a "CM" device, an ampoule pictogram, and the formula "Cada 1 ml contiene: Clorhidrato de Morfina 20 mg." A second printed face carries the regulatory and control text: "SUJETO AL CONTROL DE ESTUPEFACIENTES / ADVERTENCIA: Puede crear hábito. / PROTÉJASE DE LA LUZ / VENTA BAJO RECETA MÉDICA / Precio Público por ampolleta: $0.30 / Lote: 0001." Two printed red vertical rules (a common narcotic-marking convention) run down the box. A handwritten pencil notation ("14/3/…" or similar, with figures) appears at one side. The box is heavily aged, browned, stained, and edge-worn. It is empty; no ampoules are present.

Use

Medical supplies of Leopoldo Arús Gálvez

Collection

The Cabrera Arús family collection, Leopoldo Arús Gálvez collection

Acquisition

Accession

2025.1

Made/Created

Manufacturer

MINSAP

Place

Country

Cuba

Region

Caribbean, Central America

Notes

Maker Cuban state pharmaceutical production under MINSAP (Ministerio de Salud Pública, the Cuban Ministry of Public Health), per the MINSAP logo. Specific manufacturing plant not named on the visible faces. Date Circa 1960s–1970s (tentative; inferred). The MINSAP institutional branding, packaging design, and fixed public price are consistent with that period; "Lote: 0001" is a batch code (and, as a first lot number, may indicate an early production run, though that is not certain). No printed manufacture date. Within the collection range.

Inscription/Signature/Marks

Notes

Front: "MORFINA-20 / Inyección Subcutánea o Intramuscular"; "10 ampolletas de 1 ml"; "MINSAP" roundel with "CM" device; ampoule pictogram; "Cada 1 ml contiene: Clorhidrato de Morfina 20 mg." Control panel: "SUJETO AL CONTROL DE ESTUPEFACIENTES / ADVERTENCIA: Puede crear hábito. / PROTÉJASE DE LA LUZ / VENTA BAJO RECETA MÉDICA / Precio Público por ampolleta: $0.30 / Lote: 0001." Two printed red vertical rules. Handwritten pencil notation (possibly price calculation "14/3/420") at one side.

Material

Cardboard

Condition

Overall Condition

Poor

Relationships

Related Person or Organization

Person or Organization

Leopoldo Arús Gálvez

Notes

owner

Related Places

Place

City

Havana

Country

Cuba

Region

Caribbean, Central America

Notes

use

Research Notes

Notes

A Cuban state pharmaceutical package for injectable morphine, documenting the domestic public-health system's handling of controlled narcotic medicines. The "MINSAP" mark (Ministerio de Salud Pública) attributes it directly to the Cuban Ministry of Public Health apparatus, a different institutional marker from the "Empresa Consolidada"/"Laboratorio Farmacéutico" attributions on the collection's other Cuban medicines (Homatropina, the two Aminofilina boxes, the Cloruro de Potasio). The packaging is notably explicit about narcotic control: "Sujeto al control de estupefacientes" (subject to narcotics control), "Puede crear hábito" (may be habit-forming), prescription-only sale, and the two printed red rules conventionally used to mark controlled drugs — together with the fixed state price ("$0.30 por ampolleta"), all characteristic of state-regulated narcotic dispensing. As an empty box it also survives as packaging and documentation.

Created By

María A. Cabrera Arús

Create Date

February 26, 2026

Updated By

María A. Cabrera Arús

Update Date

June 14, 2026