194 
Editorial. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
April,  19 19. 
Likewise,  was  it  a  vicious  and  unfortunate  piece  of  legislation  to 
introduce  therein  amendments  to  the  Harrison  Anti-Narcotic  Act. 
Anti-narcotic  legislation  was  never  intended  to  produce  revenue,  but 
its  purpose  was  and  is  to  suppress  the  evil  use  of  narcotics.  This 
is  purely  a  police  duty  and  the  enforcement  of  such  laws  should  be 
placed  in  the  Department  of  Justice  and  not  in  the  Treasury  De- 
partment. 
In  the  past,  on  several  occasions,  we  have  plainly  presented  in 
these  columns  the  fact  that  "the  Departments  of  the  Government 
Need  the  Advice  of  the  Drug  Trade."  The  bill  now  commented 
upon,  again  very  forcefully  illustrates  such  need  and  some  of  the 
provisions  now  enacted,  which  are  not  very  creditable  to  an  intelli- 
gent law-creating  body,  could  have  been  eliminated  or  corrected  if 
Congress  had  not  heedlessly  refused  to  accept  the  suggestions  and 
advice  of  men  fully  acquainted  with  conditions  and  the  drug  trade 
practices,  whose  services  and  counsel  were  proffered. 
Following  the  erratic  views  shown  in  the  revenue  enactments  of 
Congress,  the  drug  trade  has  again  been  singled  out  for  special 
taxation  and  the  products  usually  sold  by  the  drug  trade,  not  ex- 
cluding needed  medicines  and  the  ingredients  thereof,  bear  a  heavy 
burden  of  taxes.  Consequently  the  druggists  must  become  ac- 
quainted with  those  provisions  of  the  Act  that  relate  especially  to  the 
articles  that  enter  into  their  dealings.  This  is  going  to  be  a  difficult 
task  for  the  drug  trade,  and  the  more  one  studies  the  ambiguous 
language  of  the  sections  relating  to  these  matters  the  more  numer- 
ous become  the  uncertainties  and  the  questions  as  to  the  proper 
actions  under  the  law. 
The  interpretation  of  the  law  has  been  largely  lef«t  to  the  officials 
of  the  Bureau  of  Internal  Revenue  and  they  have  the  grave  respon- 
sibility of  framing  regulations  for  the  administration  of  a  law  the 
language  of  which  in  many  parts  is  so  involved  that  the  very  intent 
of  the  law-making  body  is  in  doubt.  With  the  most  painstaking 
and  conscientious  efforts  on  the  part  of  officials  and  merchants  alike 
there  will  remain  numerous  pitfalls  and  innumerable  possibilities 
for  errors  and  misunderstandings. 
The  collectors  of  internal  revenue  of  the  various  districts  have 
issued  notices  calling  attention  to  the  provisions  of  paragraph  12, 
section  1001,  which  provides  that  persons  carrying  on  any  of  the 
branches  of  the  liquor  business  named,  including  the  retail  liquor 
dealer,  under  which  class  many  of  the  retail  druggists  by  the  neces- 
