The Alaska daily empire., 1915-02-11
OF 8AR8ISo
 ANTI 0PlATE LA

s-yFlH
 Both the nation and national phar
 macy arc to be congratulated over Ine fmal enactment Of House Bill No 52si which was passed on December lQin by the House of preseniatlvea 'o tho form recommended by tho confer eneo committee oi tho Senate and Che House, and which apon presentation to President Wilson received bis Ns' nature on necember l7th. The Na' don ia to be eongratulated' since slla i new law iulfills the pledges made by ] the Representatives ol the United States at the several international op' ! ium conferences held since 1903 enc drug trade Is to be feliciiateJ upon its passage, because the statute would l scarcely nave been enacted had ], not been for the earnest work in its be. ! half by ali branches of pharmacy and because. as finally passed it repre- sents a sane and workable measure, that is bound to bring about notable restriction or inc narcotic irailie.
 The signature of the President means the conclusion Of campaign ol proper national antinarcotic leg islation that has been waged for ai- most six years The movement might be said to have been inopguratod at an opium eonference-termed the ln. ternaaonal Opium commission-held In Shanghai. China, In February ls09' whom delegates from the leading pow CTS gathered to discuss ways and means to assist China in carrying out her autiopium crusade. During the sitting of the conference, on February 9th. 1909, Congress passed law pro- hibitlng tho importation of opium inc to this country except for medicinal purposes The following September the United States Government pro. posed an international conference to be held at The Hague In December of that year. President Taft. in hn annual message. urged stringent anti opium legislation. and in special message on January 9th, 1910 he ad' vooated the enactment of 6 federal statute controlling interstate com merce in habitlormiug drugs The re- suit of his advice was the introduction of. several bills of this character One of these (the Foster bil) placing m onerous burden upon wholesale and retail druggists in the form of ten dollar license tax as well as stamp tax on each batch of the narcotic sold.
 Upon his return from The Hague. conference of 19l119l2, Dr. Hamilton Wright. who had been delegate not only to lt, but Go the Shanghai conven- ton as well. resumed his activity in behalf of federal anti-narcouc legisla- ton. The result was che introduction Of a bill by Representative Francis Burton Harrison in Juni 1912 There was some objectionable features to this bil. and as result, the council Of the American Pharmaceutical As. sociaton passed resolutions during the latter par, Of that year calling for conference of the delegates from ihe several national drug associations. The first meeting Of these delegates was held In Washington on January 10th. 1913. and thus was launched the Ma donai Drug Trade Conference; the delegates to which. immediately pro ceeded to take up consideration of the then pending Harrison bill, not only among themselves, but also with Dr.. Wright and with Representative Har- rson. The proposed measure died with the expiration of the session or Congress. but lhe Drug Trade Con- ference. at a meeting held in Wash ington on April 10th and lith, sue ceeding in drafting a bin that was ac- ceptable to both the government and to the conference. and this measure was introduced by Representative Harrison as House Bill 62S2 during April; the new Congress being then convened In special session. The meas ure passed the House on June 25th, 1913. was introduced into the Senate the next dny and finally passed the Senate in amended form on August 18th, 1914. The conference commit tee of the Senate and the House re- ported an afreement during the closing days of the last session and, according to promise. the bill was pushed to iin- al enactment as soon as the present session convened
 The progress of the bill before ihe' Senate was the subject of many refer ences In recent issues Of the Circular. The Nelson amendment and the Pom creme amendment were finally dropped so that the statutte as finally enacted does not differ very markedly from the bill as 1t passed the House.
 Section i provides that after March lst. 1915. every handler, dispenser, importer and manufacturer of opium O. cocoa leaves or their derivatives must register with the collector of in-I ternai revenue and pay for the regis. tration a special tax of one dollar Q year. There is a clause exemptng federal. state, county or municipal hos pitals or prisons and those employed therein
 cection.2 2 provides that on sales of