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Show DRUGGI5T5 OF UTAH PROTEST j PROPRIETARY MEDICINES BAN j Hinckley Bill Prohibition Clauses Favored, but Provisions Menacing" Business Opposed; Chem-i Chem-i ist Helpless Without Formulae, Is Claim. RbCORDl.XG theiii.-dves as strongly strong-ly in fax or of tho pro isious of tho Hinckley bill, which arc de- signed to aid in the enforcement !of prohibition, druggists from various parts of the stato appeared before tliu lioiiso jndieiary committee yesterday to oiitlinu their objections to the sections aimed at tho proprietary medicine business. busi-ness. Another bearing is to bo hold in tho Hotel Utah at 7 :'M o'clock this evening, eve-ning, at which tho arguments for and against tbo bill will again bo taken up." James II. Wolf, representing tho stato prohibition bureau and the attorney general, is appearing in defense of tho features opposed by tho druggists. Druggists who appeared before the committee appealed for a revision of tho section which prohibits the sale of certain npeeially named remedies "and similar substances," and also against tho clauses which leavo to the stato cheuiis(t the power of deciding when a remedy is or is not a beverage. In view of tho fact that druggists say a great many standard patent medicines are composed of practically tho same drugs as somo of those specifically put under ban, it is -argued that the ''like substances" clause would causo tliu baa to bo placed on a majority of the remedies now sold, and practically kill tho proprietary medicine business. As to the provisions relating to the stato chemist, it is argued that the internal revenue department now passes upon all medicines, and, uftlcss they have satisfactory satis-factory medicinal qualities and coutain only such amounts of alcohol as arc necessary, declares them alcoholic beverages bever-ages subject to prohibition laws. It is tho contention of the druggists thatthis federal regulation is sufficient. Defeated Last Session. Wynn L. Eddy, a druggist- of Brig-ham Brig-ham City and member of the last legislature, legis-lature, was the first speaker, lie recalled re-called tho fact that the same question had come before the coinmittco oil manufactures man-ufactures and commerce, of which ho was chairman, at the last session. It was then the opinion of tho committee, ho said, that no such restrictions should be placed upon 'proprietary medicines, and that tho determination as to what constituted a beverage in this regard should be left to the internal revenue-department. revenue-department. "We gave this matter two months of careful study last season when we had the Young bill before us," Mr. Fddy said. " V"e co-operated in our study with Mr. Wolf, George A. Startup, Representative Rep-resentative Ifeppler and others, and our conclusions were against such action against tho proprietary medicine business. busi-ness. ' ' Mr. Eddy said that, in his opinion, tho people of tho stato are against unnecessary un-necessary regulation, particularly at this time. During the last eighteen months, ho declared, everything had been regulated regu-lated for them, and now they want a rest from undue regulation. ., Ninety per cent of the druggists of the state had done all in their power to prevent liquor traffic, and consequently, he said, lie believed it, unjust to place restrictions restric-tions upon them which wero unwarranted unwar-ranted in view of their support of prohibition. pro-hibition. Negligible as-Beverage. In his own city, Mr. Eddy admitted, .that he had known of perhaps ten persons per-sons who had -bought patent medicines containing alcohol to use illegitimately for beverage purposes. .But, he declared, de-clared, five thousand others bought such medicines to use legitimately. In every instance where druggists learned that a customer was buying such medicines for the satiation of a perverted craving for alcohol, they stopped such sales. "We decided two years ago that it was not right or fair to make the five thousand go without medicines they wanted for legitimate use just because five or ten had perverted appetites," Mr. Eddy stated. "Frankly, it is my belief that a majority of the people are against section 33-19 of the Hinckley bill." H. II. Peterson of Richfield, took up the matter of the needs of people living in sparsely settled sections of the state. In Wayne, Piute and Garfield countries, he said, there is only on pharmacy in each county. General stores, however, carry stocks of standard remedies. It would work a great hardship upon these people, and sometimes endanger health and lifo, if they were unable to get these remedies without going forty or fifty miles to secure a doctor's prescription prescrip-tion and buv from a pharmacy, Mr. Petersen Pe-tersen asserted. Eighty-eight per cent of the prescriptions issued by physicians, physi-cians, he declared, were for compounds identical with well known standard remedies. Excellent Remedies Banned. Referring to Tanlae, which is specifically spe-cifically placed under ban by the bill, Mr. Petersen said ho had never known one instance of this preparation having been used illegitimately. In fact, he added, he had heard scores of substantial substan-tial people in his section highly recommend recom-mend it. Mr. Eddv also declared that I he personally had been benefited by Tanlae. and knew of many others who said they were helped by it. Both witnesses wit-nesses also pronounced paregoric, which is among the drugs banned, an excellent medicine for infants, and objected ob-jected seriously to stopping its sale. Because listerine contained a high percentage of alcohol and can be taken as a, beverage by persons desiring to pervert its use, .'Mr. Petersen said its sale might bo barred by the bill. Yet, ho declared, doctors prescribed it e much during the recent, influenza epidemic epi-demic that druggists were unable to meet the demand. John (,'ulley of Ogdcn, president of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy and a recognized pharmaceutical pharmaceu-tical authority throughout the United States, also opposed tho sections of tho bil relating to preparations containing alcohol. Mr. Culley pointed out the vital part that alcohol has played in developing the modern system of medicine, medi-cine, which really began, ho said, with the discovery of the uso of alcohol as a preservative. Alcohol, ho declared, i3 I he best solvent, preservative and extract, ex-tract, for drug's known to science. Tho federal regulations, ho told tho committee, com-mittee, prohibit tho sale of any prepa-tion prepa-tion as a medicine if it contains more than enough alcohol for preservative, solvent and extractiv e , purposes. Consequently, Con-sequently, he said, there is no danger of a preparation with an excess of alcohol alco-hol being sold as a medicine. Says Chemist Helpless. "This bill says that the statd chemist can determine what is a beverage," Mr. Culley stated. "Certain preparations are particularly placed under the ban by the bill. In my belief, a like sub-stiyace sub-stiyace is any ono which can bo used as a beverage. Consequently, the bill would prevent sale of many standard remedies which certainly are 'like substances' sub-stances' to some specifically prohibited. prohib-ited. .Furthermore, tho stato chemist can analyze a mixture and tell what percentage of alcohol it contains, but, unless he is given the formula, ho cannot can-not designate its other elements. lie would bo unable to tell whether It was a good medicine or a bad medicine. If you approve of this bill in its present form, you are going to put the drug store back whero it was before we had alcohol. alco-hol. It is wrong to punish a man for an offense which he has not committed, and the druggists of this state have not abused the use of alcohol." P. C. MeDuffie, attorney for a number num-ber of tho foremost manufacturers of proprietary medicines in the United States, appeared before the committee, lie told the members the companies he represents, and said he is here to assist tho druggists of the state in placing their objections before the legislators. Mr. MeDuffie outlined the regulations regula-tions of the internal revenue department, depart-ment, and declared it impossible for any manufacturer to foist an illegitimate product through the department. Since the Hinckley bill already provided that the government standard must bo followed, fol-lowed, he said he saw no reason why-further why-further regulation should be considered necessary, especially when such regulation regu-lation as provided for in the bill would be dangerous and unjust. Analysis of Little Use. "I am reliably informed that your state chemist is a capable, honest man,'' Mr. MeDuffie said. "But, -with all due recognition of his ability, I do not believe be-lieve ho is any better able to determine what isa beverage under the provisions of this bill than is the state janitor. Unless he has before him the formula of a preparation, ho has no way under science of knowing what medicinal value the preparation may have. He can only determine its alsoholic contents." con-tents." Replying to queries from Mr. Wolf concerning his interest in Tanlae, upon which the attorney general and the prohibition pro-hibition bureau seem to bo especially centering their attack, Mr. MeDuffie said he is no more interested in that remedy thaa others, the-manufacturers of which are his clients. He said ho believes be-lieves the sale of? Tanlae in this and other sections of the country is large becauso of the advertising campaign. I Yet, he added, it is impossible for any manufacturer to make a success of a preparation through advertising alone. It must have merit or the first sale I will be the last, he asserted. "If you put Tanlae under ban you are simply penalizing success that conies from legitimate advertising," Mr. MeDuffie declared. Mr. MeDuffie offered to show the formula of Tanlae to Chairman Miles of the judiciary committee in support of his contention, that if it is banned the provision against "like substances" would affect every stomach remedy on the market. In answer to Representative Representa-tive C. M. Croft, who has a drastic bill against patent medicines also before tiie committee, Mr. MeDuffie said the preparations he represents sell just as popularly in San Francisco and Kansas City, where there is a saloon on every corner, as in Salt Lake or other Utah 1 cities. |