Am  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
April,  1909.  j 
Habit-Forming  Drugs. 
187 
of  this  communication  is  to  consider  legislation  dealing  specifically 
with  the  sale  of  habit-forming  drugs,  and  therefore  laws  dealing 
with  other  features  will  be  considered  only  incidentally. 
The  earliest  law  at  present  in  force  in  the  United  States  (to  the 
writer's  knowledge)  restricting  the  sale  of  opium  was  passed  in 
1885  in  the  state  of  Oregon,  and  the  same  law  is  also  effective  in 
Alaska.  In  1887  a  Federal  law  was  enacted  forbidding  Chinese 
subjects  from  importing  opium  into  the  United  States.  In  time 
additional  restrictive  legislation  was  enacted  in  several  states,  but 
it  was  not  until  about  a  decade  ago  that  more  general  interest  was 
manifest  in  protecting  the  public  against  the  indiscriminate  use  of 
these  baneful  agents.  With  one  exception  every  state  and  territory 
in  the  Union  has  on  its  statute  books  some  law,  however  limited 
or  circumscribed,  governing  the  sale  of  certain  habit-forming  drugs. 
The  Federal  Food  and  Drugs  Act  and  state  laws  similar  to  the 
Federal  law  are  undoubtedly  considered  mild  restrictive  measures 
and  contemplate  a  diminution  of  the  use  of  certain  drugs.  These 
laws  have  undoubtedly  accomplished  much  good,  but  it  is  well 
known  that  in  some  cases  where  no  specific  state  legislation  exists 
against  the  indiscriminate  selling  of  cocaine,  morphine,  opium  and 
certain  other  life-wrecking  remedies,  habitues  seek  out  for  their 
use  those  products  which  contain  the  greatest  amounts  of  the  desired 
drugs.  Fortunately,  however,  a  goodly  number  of  state  laws  forbid 
the  sale  of  cocaine,  morphine,  opium,  etc.,  or  any  of  their  salts  or 
preparations  containing  any  of  the  foregoing  substances  except  upon 
original  prescriptions  of  legally  qualified  physicians.  Some  of  these 
laws  exempt  preparations  containing  less  than  given  quantities  of 
cocaine,  morphine,  opium,  etc.,  their  salts  and  derivatives,  and,  with 
certain  restrictions,  liniments,  ointments,  diarrhoea  mixtures,  etc., 
containing  same,  but  a  number  of  states  do  not  possess  any  specific 
restrictive  measures  whatever.  In  order  that  existing  conditions  may 
be  clearly  realized  a  brief  resume  will  be  here  given  of  the  Federal, 
state  and  territorial  laws. 
FEDERAL  LAWS. 
The  importation  of  opium  by  Chinese  subjects  into  the  United 
States  was  prohibited  in  1887,  and  the  traffic  of  opium  in  China  and 
certain  Pacific  islands  by  citizens  of  the  United  States  was  for- 
bidden in  1902.  The  high  duty  of  $6  per  pound  placed  upon  smok- 
ing opium  and  opium  containing  less  than  9  per  cent,  of  morphine 
