528 
Pharmacy  and  Publicity. 
Am.  Jour.  Pnarm. 
August,  19 19. 
The  few  points  made  could  be  multiplied,  but  are  simply  intended 
to  emphasize  the  necessity  for  publicity  on  the  part  of  pharmacists, 
— publicity  which  is  truthful  and  will  lead  to  a  better  understanding 
by  the  public  of  pharmacy  and  the  drug  business,  also  to  direct  at- 
tention to  the  need  of  correcting  misstatements  which  so  often  go 
unchallenged  and  hence  are  accepted  by  the  laity  as  truths.  The  fact 
that  pharmacists  were  practically  ignored  in  the  Service  was  largely 
due  to  deficient  publicity.  The  multiplex  federal  taxation,  the 
methods  of  regulations  applying  to  revenue  laws  concerned  with 
narcotics  and  alcohol  are  in  a  degree  tinged  by  misunderstanding 
and  deficient  knowledge  on  the  part  of  legislators. 
Along  these  lines  Chairman  H.  V.  Arny,  of  the  Committee  on 
Federation  A.  Ph.  A.,  states  in  Bulletin  No.  3 : 
"  We  have  talked  a  great  deal  about  the  remarkable  influence  of 
the  American  M edical  Association,  and  on  analysis  we  find  that  the 
cause  of  its  power  is  publicity.  We  have  wondered  at  the  remark- 
able achievement  of  the  American  Chemical  Society  in  developing 
public  opinion  to  the  extent  of  establishing  a  chemical  corps  in  the 
Army,  and  when  we  seek  the  main  factor  of  success  we  find  pub- 
licity. 
"We  pharmacists  ask  ourselves  why  the  Edmonds5  bill  does  not 
pass ;  why  the  will  of  one  man  in  the  Medical  Corps  thwarts  the 
efforts  of  thousands  of  pharmacists ;  why  the  chemical  corps  gets 
credit  for  pharmaceutical  work  done  by  a  pharmacist  in  the  corps, 
and  our  answer  is  lack  of  publicity. 
"  A  federated  committee  with  funds  sufficient  to  conduct  the 
work  of  furnishing  the  daily  press  with  news  items  relating  to  phar- 
maceutical progress  is  essential  if  American  pharmacy  is  to  come 
into  its  own,  and  the  creation  of  such  a  committee  would  be  the  most 
practical  step  toward  the  federation  of  pharmaceutical  bodies." 
Preparation  for  such  coordinated  and  cooperative  work  takes 
time,  but  pharmacists  and  state  associations  can  at  once  do  a  great 
deal  in  improving  conditions  and  correcting  false  statements  which 
are  given  out  as  truthful  information.  The  assertion  that  pharma- 
cists were  not  adequately  prepared  by  education  and  training  for 
services  rendered  by  their  fraters  in  continental  armies  has  been  a 
large  contributory  cause  for  non-recognition  of  pharmaceutical 
service,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  absolutely  unqualified  men 
were  in  some  instances  assigned  duties  wherein  pharmaceutical  edu- 
cation and  training  were  necessary.   Unfortunately  the  medical  men 
