8o 
Inaugural  Address. 
J  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I    February,  1909. 
only  to  read  the  text  of  the  Food  and  Drug  Acts  to  understand  its 
purpose.  It  is  true  that  very  often  in  the  legislation  which  results 
in  the  enactment  of  these  laws  special  interests  receive  unwarranted 
and  reprehensible  consideration.  There  is  scarcely  an  act  which 
relates  to  the  public  welfare  which  is  not  to  some  extent  moulded 
by  this  special  influence.  This  is  true  of  drug  as  well  as  of  food 
acts ;  acts  regulating  interstate  commerce,  rates  and  corporations ; 
but  such  manipulation  of  the  law  is  not  evidently  the  purpose  of 
the  legislators.  Judge  McPherson,  of  the  Western  District  of 
Missouri,  in  a  recent  decision  under  the  Food  and  Drugs  Act,  em- 
phasized this  idea  in  a  most  convincing  manner.  He  says :  "  This 
statute  is  to  protect  consumers,  and  not  producers.  It  is  a  most 
beneficent  and  righteous  statute,  and  within  the  powers  of  Con- 
gress to  legislate  concerning,  and  should  be  enforced."  The  sooner 
the  manufacturer  realizes  this  fundamental  principle  of  this  legisla- 
tion the  better.  The  main  purpose  of  a  drug  law  is,  first,  to  see  that 
the  consumer  gets  the  drug  which  the  prescription  calls  for ;  second, 
that  he  is  not  subject  to  extortion  through  any  secret  manipulation 
falsely  enhancing  the  prices  at  which  the  drug  was  sold ;  third,  that 
the  citizen  be  protected  properly  against  the  formation  of  the  drug 
habit;  and  fourth,  that  the  citizen  who  has  already  formed  this 
unfortunate  habit  may  be  so  restrained  in  his  access  to  the  "  dope  " 
that  he  may  be  cured  of  his  disease. 
The  incidental  protection  to  the  pharmacist  comes  in  those  pro- 
visions of  the  act  which  require  that  he  be  a  qualified  man,  that  he 
be  licensed  to  practise  his  profession,  and  that  he  be  protected  from 
unfair  competition  in  the  exercise  of  his  profession.  These  features 
of  the  law,  which  mean  to  protect  the  pharmacist,  are  mere  inci- 
dentals in  that  the  real  protection  of  the  consumer  may  be  more 
perfect. 
In  the  third  place  I  may  say  that  the  existing  drug  laws  through- 
out the  United  States,  while  admirable  in  conception  and  useful  in 
practice,  still  lack  many  features,  which,  if  added,  would  greatly 
increase  their  efficiency.  I  have  no  time  here,  nor  would  it  be  an 
appropriate  moment,  to  make  a  digest  of  the  various  state  laws  and 
regulations  relating  to  traffic  in  drugs.  I  may  refer  for  just  one 
moment,  however,  to  the  national  law  as  an  illustration  of  the  state- 
ment above  made. 
The  provisions  of  the  national  laws  relating  to  drugs  are  most 
salutary  and  admirable  in  so  far  as  they  extend,  but  they  are  not 
