Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1915-02-12
THE FEDERAL DRUG ACT.

well, sir, the Harrison act, the new
Federal law regulating the sale Of
drugs, ETC.. is surely going to stir up
things" remarked a York county
man who is in a position to see the
widespread effect Of the drug habit in
this, as we'll as other counties, yester-
day. IF enforced, and there Is nc
doubt 1t will be, because Uncle Sam
usually attends to such matters, there
will be little use Of opium, morphine,
heroin, codeine, cocaine, etc., except
for purely medicinal purposes. How
in the world the scores Of people who
have been using various opiates for
years, are going to get their daily
dope, Is something I have not been
able to figure out.
by the Harrison act" continued
the observer, "the old laudanum bot
tie, which for many years has been a
familiar ornament to the family medi-
cine chest, will be rarely seen and
'Papine,' Dovers powders, and vari-
Gus so-called cold tablets containing
narcotics in some form, will be hard
to get unless they are really needed,
and scores Of compounds which can
now be bought by any n who has
the price, will after March 1, be sold
under the closest scrutiny.
1.-The negro cocaine 'sniffer' will be
no more after the first day Of March,
for while state and city laws have
been ineffective in keeping down the
cocaine habit, this Federal law may
be depended upon to do the business"
The gentleman pointed out that
there are some features of the law
which are not thoroughly understood.
For instance, no drug or compound
containing more than two grains of
opium, more than one-fourth Of a
grain of morphine, %one-eighth Of q
Of heroin, or more than n grain of
codeine, or any salt o n derivative of
them In one ounce, will be sold to the
consumer except upon the written
prescription Of a physician. dentist or
veterinary surgeon.
Before a physician can give a pre-
scription for any Of these drugs or
compounds. he must be registered
with the collector Of internal revenue
and must pay a special tax Of 81 per
year. Upon such registration the ply
stefan is given a number. which is
duly recorded. Any druggist who
honors a prescription for these drugs
which does not show the physicians
registration number and other neces-
sary data, will be subject to prosecu-
ton at the hands Of the Federal au-
thorities.
Physicians, dentists and veterinary
surgeons who have duly registered
and paid the special tax will be per-
mitted to buy supplies Of these drugs
for professional purposes, but they are
required to make out their order on
special blanks which must be pur-
chased Of the government agents at
81 per 100. These orders are made
out in duplicate, the duplicate being
retained by the physician ordering.
Both originals and duplicates are
carefully preserved and filed. subject
to inspection by Federal officials.
Physicians, dentists and veterinary
surgeons may dispense the drugs
which they have purchased in this
manner, but they are required to keep
an exact record, showing the date
when any drug was dispensed or dis
tributed, and the kind and quantity
dispensed or distributed in each case.
This record will be subject to inspec-
ton by Federal officials.
Manufacturers and wholesale and
retails distributors Of these drugs are
all required to register and receive a
number and pay the special tax Of 81
per year. When thus registered they are
permitted to purchase the special or
der blanks which are necessary to
every purchase of drugs Of this char
acter. Whenever a wholesaler buys
from a manufacturer, or a retailer
from a wholesaler. OF a retailer from
a manufacturer, an order blank must
be used.
In order to enforce the law. every
manufactures or retailer is required to
make a full inventory Of his stock,
coming under the law, on March 1,
showing the quantity he then has on
hand. Federal inspectors r author
lied 10 require further inventories fire.
quently in order to check up the
amounts sold with the orders filed.