CHEMICAL INJURY TO THE NERVOUS SYSTEM 257 



are so-called habit-forming agents. Caffein, cocain, heroin, 

 codein, acetanelid, chloral hydrate, and other alkaloids and 

 artificial compounds have been used to make the medicines 

 attractive to people in search of health or suffering from pain. 



Every person should be informed of the dangers that lurk 

 in these preparations. Every progressive government is tak- 

 ing steps to prevent the use of these dangerous drugs in 

 the exploitation of people's ignorance, and of their desire for 

 health, for the private gain of a few unscrupulous men. It 

 is only under the direction of a competent physician that 

 any of these substances should be used. 



309. Drug regulation. Notwithstanding the danger of drugs, 

 it is as important for the public to have pure drugs, and even 

 liquors, as it is to have pure food. In recent years both the 

 public and the physicians have come more and more to appre- 

 ciate the importance of having drugs standardized. For the 

 sake of those who depend upon having prescriptions that 

 conform to the wishes of the physician, it is necessary that 

 the composition and strength of the various preparations be 

 reduced to definite standards. 



The conditions that have made it necessary for the public 

 to undertake the regulation of water and food supplies have 

 also made it necessary for the public to regulate the sale of 

 drugs. The interest of all people in their health, combined 

 with the ignorance of most people in regard to the condi- 

 tions of health, has made it possible for unscrupulous men 

 to sell for millions of dollars countless bottles and boxes of 

 worthless liquids and powders and pills, with the promise that 

 they will cure or prevent all kinds of diseases. 



In recent times the public has come to realize the amount of suf- 

 fering that the patent-medicine business represents and the amount 

 of injury these supposed remedies are causing. We are accordingly 

 extending the regulation of business to require manufacturers to state 

 what their products contain. This is only a step in the direction of 

 complete protection, for to most people the names of even dangerous 



