INTRODUCTION 



On account of the general interest manifest in the subject of drug 

 legislation and the repeated requests that are coming to the Bureau 

 of Chemistry for information on the subject from Federal and State 

 legislators, physicians, and druggists, it was considered (desirable to 

 collect into bulletin form for ready reference all existing laws at 

 present in force which have been enacted for the purpose of minimiz- 

 ing the sale of adulterated and deteriorated drugs, and for safeguard- 

 ing the public health by restricting the sale of poisonous and habit- 

 producing drugs. 



In order to obtain the latest and most authentic information 

 regarding recent drug legislation and enforcement of the same, a 

 circular letter was addressed to the various State boards of health, 

 pharmaceutical boards, and other officials charged with the enforce- 

 ment of drug laws, and the numerous replies form the basis of the 

 remarks preceding the laws of each State. 



The following statement explains the system of references used in 

 this publication : 



Two classes of references are employed, which, for convenience, 

 may be designated as " general " and " historical." The former show 

 where the law may be found in one of the most recent compilations 

 of the State statutes or in session laws issued subsequently to the 

 publication of the compiled statutes. Such references are placed in a 

 separate line following the sections to which they refer. Each general 

 reference covers all sections included between it and the general refer- 

 ence just preceding. 



The aim of the " historical " references is to indicate where the law 

 may be found as originally enacted in substantially (although not 

 always exactly) the present form. These references do not attempt 

 a complete history of all the amendments to the laws, and are 

 intended merely to indicate the length of time the law given, or a 

 similar one, has been enacted. These references are found in italics 

 at the end of certain sections. If in parentheses the reference relates 

 only to the immediately preceding section ; otherwise it relates to all 

 sections included between this reference and the preceding one, either 

 " general " or " historical." 



