Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
December,  191 7.  J 
Editorial. 
563 
Among  the  uses  for  non-beverage  alcohol  that  Congress  had  in 
mind  was  the  medical  uses  and  such  legitimate  manufactures  as 
food  products,  pharmaceuticals  and  perfumes.  The  latter  was  spe- 
cifically named  in  a  clause  providing  that  the  same  rate  of  tax  be 
levied  on  the  alcohol  in  imported  perfumes  as  was  paid  on  non- 
beverage  alcohol  used  by  the  domestic  manufacturer. 
The  regulations  as  promulgated  under  the  Food  Control  Act 
with  the  approval  of  the  President  are  simple  and  provide  for  the 
proper  labelling  of  spirits  produced  for  non-beverage  purposes  after 
the  passage  of  the  Act  and  the  penalizing  of  violators. 
The  regulations  covering  non-beverage  alcohol  promulgated  since 
by  the  Treasury  Department  attempt  to  cover  both  of  these  laws 
and  are  complicated  and  confusing,  and,  despite  the  several  mod- 
ifications made  in  subsequent  rulings,  these  are  still  far  from  clear. 
Among  its  other  provisions  the  original  Treasury  regulation  on 
this  subject  forbade  "the  selling  or  delivery"  of  non-beverage 
alcohol  "to  any.  person,  firm  or  corporation  not  qualified  as  a  user 
or  dealer  "  (i.  e.,  by  taking  out  a  permit  and  filing  a  bond)  "  and 
then  only  upon  delivery  by  the  person  so  qualified  of  an  application 
therefor  in  due  form,  approved  by  the  collector  of  the  district  in 
which  the  applicant's  place  of  business  is  located." 
Under  the  regulations  a  druggist  must  qualify  by  first  filing  an 
application  in  duplicate  for  a  permit  and  giving  bond  in  duplicate 
and  then  can  purchase  the  alcohol  only  on  approval  of  the  collector 
of  the  district.  The  druggist  having  complied  with  this  regulation 
cannot  sell  to  the  baker  or  confectioner  any  of  this  non-beverage 
alcohol  for  cutting  the  flavors  used  in  their  business  until  they  each 
have  gone  through  the  same  rigmarole.  Moreover,  a  customer  who 
needs  some  alcohol  for  external  application  to  reduce  the  tem- 
perature in  a  fever-stricken  member  of  his  family,  must  be  denied 
even  when  a  prescription  is  furnished,  unless  he  likewise  has  gone 
through  the  prescribed  rigmarole  that  will  make  him  also  an  official 
user  or  purchaser. 
To  meet  the  strenuous  objections  of  physicians  and  patients  to 
this  radical  ruling  the  regulations  were  modified.  The  modified 
Treasury  decision  2559  now  permits  "  '  pharmacists,'  who  hold  permit 
and  have  given  bond,  to  sell  non-beverage  alcohol  either  with  or  with- 
out a  physician's  prescription,  to  persons  who  do  not  hold  permits  and 
who  have  not  given  bonds  under  the  provisions  of  Treasury  decision 
2559,  in  quantities  not  exceeding  one  pint,  but  not  in  advance  of 
