Pharmacy

Preliminary requirement for entrance to the study of pharmacy is four years of accredited high school work or its equivalent. The minimum course is of three years duration, each year consisting of 32 weeks of college work with certain requirements as to credit hours and curricula. The minimum degree is Graduate in Pharmacy (Ph.G.), which is acceptable as qualifying for regis tration under most State laws. The degree of pharmaceutical chemist (Ph.C.) is also given for a somewhat more advanced course, and the degree of Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy (B.Sc. in Phar.) is annually conferred upon many students who volun tarily take a longer and more difficult course, as this degree is usually the minimum educational qualification for official govern mental and State positions and for many positions in manufactur ing establishments. Post graduate courses leading to the degree of Master of Science in Pharmacy (M.Sc. in Phar.), and Doctor of Pharmacy (Phar.D.) are available for those who wish to con tinue their studies, particularly with a view of entering research work or the profession of teaching.

Beginning with the classes entering the pharmacy colleges in 1932 no student will be accepted for a course less than four years duration, so that by 1936 the minimum course in pharmacy recog nized in the United States will be that leading to the degree of Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy.

Registration Requirements.

There is no national examining or registering body in the United States and each State has its own laws applying to the subject. These laws and the procedures growing out of their enforcement have been materially harmonized and rendered more nearly uniform by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy. The majority of the States now require graduation from a recognized college of pharmacy as a necessary qualification for admission to the examination for registration. In addition to this, all of the States require from two to four years of what is called "drug store experience," a custom dating from the time when a college education in pharmacy was not required.

Laws Affecting

laws pertaining to the adulteration of drugs and medicines and the enforcements of legal standards are both State and national in scope. Prior to 1906 there was no Federal law and the States alone controlled the situ ation. The passage of what is known as the Federal Food and Drugs Act in 1906 greatly strengthened the control of adulteration and misbranding of drugs. The Federal law affects only those products which enter interstate commerce and specifically recog nizes the standards of the U.S. Pharmacopoeia and the National Formulary as officially governing drugs and medicines. Since 1906 many State laws have been brought into harmony with the pro visions of the Federal Act, and as the State laws control intra state transactions, the entire situation is governed.

Another important act affecting pharmacists in the United States is the Harrison Antinarcotic Act, which is an act giving police power to the United States government in the control of the distribution of habit-forming drugs such as morphine, cocaine, etc. The provisions of this Act require the registration of every physician prescribing certain habit-forming drugs and of every pharmacist dispensing such drugs, as well as control of the manu facturers and jobbers or wholesalers.

Still another act of prime importance affecting pharmacists is the Volstead Act, which provides the legislative regulation for the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America, commonly known as the "Prohibition Amendment." This legislation makes the physician and the pharmacist jointly and solely responsible for the dispensing of intoxicating liquors used in the alleviation and cure of disease. A system of registra tion and of permits, together with numerous regulations and in spections is in constant enforcement by Federal officials, who, as in the Antinarcotic Act, are given police powers in dealing with the situation. Frequent reports are required in connection with

the enforcement of both the Antinarcotic and Prohibition laws.

Pharmaceutical Manufacturing and

ceutical manufacturing on a large scale has reached a very high state of efficiency in the United States. This does not take into account the nostrum or so-called "Patent medicine" business, over which no supervising control whatever is exercised, except in the matter of labeling, where the Food and Drugs Act holds the manufacturers of such preparations to strict accountability in connection with claims for composition and curative value. The manufacture of official preparations which a century ago was almost entirely in the hands of retail pharmacists themselves, has almost all been given over to the large scale manufactures. In addition there is a great volume of business in non-secret medi cines which physicians are induced to prescribe by name instead of writing a detailed prescription for each patient.

American pharmacy is confronted with a very embarrassing situation in that the professional courses for registration are longer and more exacting and the demand for professional pharma ceutical services seems to be diminishing. This has led to the development of commercialism in pharmacy to a degree not yet experienced in other countries, and the independent pharmacist who desires to maintain his professional status is having a diffi cult time to hold his own. (C. H. LAW.) BIBLIOGRAPHY.—Yearbooks: Yearbook of Pharmacy (London) ; Jahresbericht der Pharmazie (Gottingen) ; Yearbook of the American Pharmaceutical Association (Baltimore). Journals: Pharmaceutical Jour.; Chemist and Druggist; British and Colonial Pharmacist; American Jour. of Pharmacy; Jour. of the American Pharmaceutical Association; Archiv der Pharmazie; Pharmazeutische Monatshefte; Pharmazeutische Nachrichten; Pharmazeutische Zentralhalle (Dres den) ; Schweizerische Apothekerzeitung; Jour. de Pharmacie et de Chimie ; Bulletin des Sciences Pharmacologiques ; Pharmaceutisch W eek blad; Jour. de Pharmacie de Belgique. General: N. Guibourt, Histoire abregee des drogues simples (182o) ; J. Pereira, Elements of Materia Medica and Therapeutics, 2nd ed. (1842) ; 0. Berg, Anatomischer Atlas (1869) ; F. A. Fluckiger and D. Hankury, Pharmacographia (1874) ; L. Koch, Mikroskopische Analyse der Drogenpulver (Igoi) ; A. Schneider, Powdered Vegetable Drugs (1902) ; H. G. Greenish and E. Collin, Anatomical Atlas of Vegetable Powders (19o4) ; Realencyclo paedie der Gesammten Pharmazie (1904-12) ; Pharmacopoea Hel vetica (1907) ; H. V. Arny, Principles of Pharmacy (3rd ed., 1926) ; L. Koch, Pharmakognostischer Atlas (1910 ; 0. Tunmann, Pflanzen mikrochemie (1913) ; Cook and LaWall, Remington's Practice of Pharmacy (7th ed., 1926) ; Wood, LaWall—United States Dispensatory (21st ed., 1926) ; A. Astruc, Pharmacie galenique (1921) ; M. Barrow cliff and F. H. Carr, Organic Medicinal Chemicals (1921) ; P. Haas and T. G. Hill, Chemistry of Plant Products (1921) ; H. B. Lucas and E. W. Stevens, Practical Pharmacy (1921) ; H. G. Greenish, Microscopical Examination of Food and Drugs (1923) ; H. Molisch, Mikrochemie der Pflanze (Jena, 1923) ; H. G. Greenish, Textbook of Materia Medica (1924) ; T. Thorns, Handbuch der Praktischen and Wissenschaftlichen Pharmazie (1924) ; H. Hager, Pharmaceutischtechnische Manuale (1925) ; T. E. Wallis, Practical Pharmacognosy (1925) ; V. Evers, Chemistry of Drugs (1926) ; Pharmacopoeia of the United States (1925) ; Sir W. Hale-White Materia Medica (19th ed. London, 1927) ; J. M. Bruce and W. J. Dilling, Materia Medico and Therapeutics (13th ed. London, 1926) ; Sir W. Whitla, Elements of Pharmacy, Materia Medica and Therapeutics (11th ed. London, 1923) ; C. H LaWall, Four Thousand Years of Pharmacy (1927). See also bibl. under PHARMA COPOEIA.