An Unmitigated Evil by Harvey W. Wiley

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Sep 10, 1914

An Unmitigated Evil

By Harvey W. Wiley

A most interesting discussion has lately taken place respecting the advisability of eliminating brandy and whisky from the pages of the Ninth Revised Pharmacopœia of the United States. As chairman of the pharmacopœial convention and a member of the committee on revision, I have been greatly interested in this matter. The arguments which have been advanced in favor of the deletion of these articles are in my opinion sound and convincing in so far as principle is concerned.

In brief, the argument is as follows: Brandy and whisky are no longer used as medicines in sufficient quantities to warrant their retention by the pharmacopœia. This fact has been ascertained by consulting large numbers of acting practitioners, who have responded in such a manner as to show that brandy and whisky are rarely found at the present time in the prescriptions of the most progressive physicians. What the final decision on this matter will be, of course I am unable to say; but at any rate, I may say that if brandy and whisky are retained in the pharmacopœia, it will be on the ground that there are a few physicians who sometimes prescribe them, and hence, as they are sometimes used as medicines, it would hardly be fair to remove them from the pharmacopœia, where they have found a place for many years.

Aside from the practice of medicine, what is the general trend of scientific thought on this question? I may answer that in my opinion the great weight of scientific evidence and the force of scientific opinion at the present time lead to the conclusion that alcohol in its various forms is an unmitigated evil.

Personally I should be glad to see nation-wide and world-wide prohibition. While I am not a teetotaler, I am a prohibitionist. I am firmly convinced that the evils produced by alcohol so far outweigh any of its supposed advantages as to lead logically to but one conclusion; namely, the absolute prohibition of the use of alcohol for any but industrial purposes. — Harvey W. Wiley M. D., in Sunday School Times.