312 
Cheap  Drugs. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
July,  1902. 
seem  to  know  it.  They  accept  the  goods  and  complain  simply  of 
deterioration,  without  even  ascertaining  the  commercial  varieties. 
There  are  others,  however,  who  cannot  get  drugs  too  cheap  and  they 
pay  as  little  as  possible  for  anything  that  may  resemble  the  genuine 
and  can  be  sold  for  it.  It  is  self-evident  that  they  who  regulate 
their  purchases  on  the  basis  of  price  alone  will  have  offered  to  them 
deteriorated,  admixed,  adulterated  and  sophisticated  goods,  tome  of 
which  are  most  ingenious  products. 
While  it  is  true  that  there  are  some  vegetable  drugs  that  are  not 
always  easy  to  obtain  in  any  quantity  of  satisfactory  quality,  such  as 
pilocarpus,  ergot,  cannabis  indica,and  possibly  others,  still  the  major- 
ity of  drugs  may  be  obtained  of  good  quality,  providing  the  proper 
sources  are  sought  and  the  worthless  rejected,  in  season  and  out  of 
season,  and  not  accepted  on  an)'  plea  of  the  jobber,  or  because  of 
lack  of  courage  on  the  part  of  the  retail  pharmacist.  The  latter 
must,  however,  be  careful  to  inquire  into  the  quality  of  the  drugs  he 
is  likely  to  purchase  before  he  investigates  their  prices,  To  talk  of 
prices  before  knowing  the  quality  of  drugs  places  the  pharmacist  in 
an  unfortunate  light,  and  is  likely  to  deceive  the  wholesale  druggist. 
Then,  too,  we  must  all  appreciate  that  the  consumer  will  in  nearly  all 
instances  prefer  the  best  quality,  providing  he  is  not  led  to  believe 
that  something  else  will  answer  just  as  well.  It  needs  no  argument 
to  show  that,  in  cases  of  serious  illness,  both  the  interests  of  the 
physician  and  the  patient  demand  the  best  obtainable,  and  the  latter 
is  perfectly  willing,  in  most  instances,  to  pay  for  it.  In  other  words, 
this  is  a  matter  of  education  when  dealing  with  the  public,  and  of 
having  a  thorough  understanding  with  the  wholesale  druggist. 
This  brings  us  to  the  consideration  of  our  subject*  namely,  "cheap 
drugs,  what  they  are,  and  what  causes  them  to  be  cheap."  While 
now  and  then  one  may  obtain  a  drug  of  an  unusually  good  quality 
at  a  low  price,  still,  as  a  rule,  cheap  drugs  are  inferior  drugs.  Of  the 
various  causes  that  make  them  inferior  the  following  may  be  men- 
tioned : 
(1)  Lack  of  knowledge  or  want  of  care  in  collecting  them. 
(2)  Carelessness  in  drying  and  caring  for  them. 
(3)  Insufficient  care  in  garbling  and  preparing  them  for  the 
market. 
(4)  Inattention  in  preserving  them  and  storing  them 
(5)  Accidental  admixture  in  the  store. 
