Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1907-06-12
WIDE EFFECT OF
PURE FOOD LAW
PATENT MEDICINES NOW CON
TAIN NO SECRET DOPE.
BOOZE is FREELY CUT OUT
Buyers of the Mixtures Need Only to
Look on the Label to Know Of the
Presence of Alcohol or Poison-Oo
the Doctors Derive Any Advan-
taae7

The American citizen who prefers
to be his own doctor and who pins his
faith to so-called patent medicines can
buy such things today just as he
could before the pure food and drug
act went into effect June l but he will
know today, il he cares to read the
bottles label. just what amount of
alcohol and narcotic drugs are present
in the preparation he is putting into
his stomach.
Prior to the passage of the law
many persons. principally women, took
medicines that they purchased out Of
stock in a drug store, and thought
that some wonderful tonic was in the
compounds. for dose or two gave
added strength almost instantly.
OF course it was the alcohol, or the
opium, or the cocaine, or the other
poisonous what-not that did the in
Simultaneous building up" but nine
times out of ten the potion takers did
not know that they were taking poi
son, and when the reaction came from
the dose they simply took another
dose and felt good" once more.
Now patent medicines are labeled
so that the buyer may know whatever
there is Of alcohol W poison In the
mixture
1t would seem that the person who
formerly took the medicines simply to
get the alcohol or the narcotic would
still continue to buy them. Probably
he does. but the men or women who
pay a high price for a possibly nause-
ating mixture simply to get small
dose of opium or one OF its deriva-
t:ves, are few and far between.
They can buy whisky straight. and
there is no great obstacle in the way
of their buying opium straight
Since the food and drug act was
put en- the statute books the com
Founders of several proprietary medi-
cines have cut the alcohol out. 1t
has been a fond belief that alcohol
was absolutely necessary for preserv-
alive and solution purposes There
are other mediums possibly a trifie
uIOEt Justly WHICH " III dASHtt tdC
preservative purpose just as well.
The truth is that the medicine men
knew that the alcohol gave the medi-
cine taker a feeling OF exhiliration
and OF renewed strength. They knew
also that as long as the stuff kept the
taker feeling a little above par he
would keep on taking it. In other
words it was the alcohol that sold the
goods.
There { re certain sections of the
country Where laws are in effect forbid
ding the sale OF intoxicating liquor in
which as medicines O. certain kinds
are sold today as they were sold be-
fore congress took up the matter of
protecting the stomachs Of the peo-
pie In the sections In mind the
medicines were bought knowing that
they contained q large percentage of
alcohol and they were drunk simply
that the patient might become
drunk
IN other places the sales of the med
icines has dropped off materially. To
some extent the doctors are benefited,
for more people go to them now for
prescriptions but to some extent the
doctors are losing because today they
are robbed of those patients who
finally were forced to go to the doc
tors after they had been made i'll by
a. course of self-prescribed nostrums
containing bad whisky. cocaine, OPT
um or possibly some of the narcotic
derivatives of coal tar.