144 FOOD ADULTERATION, ALCOHOL, AND DRUGS 



formers. Any one who began to take them soon became depend- 

 ent upon them. 



Another more deadly kind of medicine commonly sold is the 

 subtle poison acetan'ilid, sl powerful heart depressant contained, 

 even at the present time, in a good many of the so-called headache 

 powders. Although the Pure Food and Drug Act now requires 

 that the label show a statement of the alcohol, acetanilid, cocaine, 

 opium, and certain other harmful drugs contained in a "patent 

 medicine," many people do not read the label, so the danger con- 

 tinues. What is far worse, the use of such drugs often leads to the 

 drug habit. There is danger also from prussic acid, arsenic, and 

 other deadly drugs not covered by the law. 



Perhaps the worst thing about patent medicines is that they 

 rarely cure any one, and they take an immense amount of money 

 from people who can ill afford to spend it. Nearly $100,000,000 a 

 year is estimated to be spent for patent medicines alone in this 

 country. Many ignorant people, incurably ill with tuberculosis 

 or cancer, make their condition worse through the purchase of 

 cough or cancer cures, which probably contain a habit-forming 

 drug or alcohol. Think how much more good the money thus 

 spent would have done had it been invested in proper foods and 

 good nursing, or in gaining the advice of a physician. 



Every boy and girl should read the booklets of the American 

 Medical Association which treat of the various phases of the 

 patent medicine evil. Make a collection of the free samples of 

 drugs given away and see how many of them are condemned on 

 their own labels. Above all, never use drugs except on the advice 

 of a reliable physician. 



Summary. — The Pure Food and Drug Act has done some good 

 in exposing adulterations and protecting people from the dangers 

 of drugs. But education must do more. We must learn, as a 

 nation, that drugs should be given only by physicians. The drug 

 habit is one of this nation's most serious problems. 



As for the alcohol question, although we have prohibition, we 

 know well that alcohol is used to-day by a great many people. 

 These people are not only breaking the law but they are also 

 taking a foolish risk, because it is certain that a large percentage 

 of the liquor illegally sold to-day is impure and far more dangerous 



