SR 654 - Ga. Drugs & Narcotics Agency - recognizing

First Reader Summary

A resolution recognizing and congratulating the Georgia Drugs and Narcotics Agency.

Page Numbers - 1/ 2/ 3

SR 654                                             LC 26 0739 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                             A RESOLUTION 
 
  1- 1  Recognizing and congratulating the Georgia Drugs and 
  1- 2  Narcotics Agency; and for other purposes. 
 
  1- 3  WHEREAS, in 1906, the General Assembly passed  Act Number 
  1- 4  463 to prevent the adulteration, misbranding, and imitation 
  1- 5  of medicines and drugs or the manufacture and sale thereof 
  1- 6  in the State of Georgia, prescribed a penalty for the 
  1- 7  violation thereof, and created the office of the Food and 
  1- 8  Drug Inspector to provide for the inspection of articles as 
  1- 9  described by the Georgia State Department of Agriculture; 
  1-10  and 
 
  1-11  WHEREAS, in 1908, the Georgia General Assembly passed Act 
  1-12  Number 518, which separated the Office of the Chief Drug 
  1-13  Inspector from the Office of the Food Inspector and provided 
  1-14  that upon the first day of August, 1908, the Commissioner of 
  1-15  Agriculture should appoint, upon recommendation of the 
  1-16  Georgia State Board of Pharmacy, a Chief Drug Inspector; and 
 
  1-17  WHEREAS, T. A. Cheatham, a pharmacist, was appointed as the 
  1-18  first Chief Drug Inspector whose time was at the disposal of 
  1-19  the Commissioner of Agriculture and whose duties were to 
  1-20  visit and inspect establishments where drugs were 
  1-21  manufactured or put up for sale, to report any and all 
  1-22  violations of the drug laws of the state to the 
  1-23  Commissioner, and to perform other duties at the direction 
  1-24  of the Commissioner; and 
 
  1-25  WHEREAS, in 1939, the General Assembly passed Act Number 270 
  1-26  which provided for the appointment of the Chief Drug 
  1-27  Inspector by the State Board of Pharmacy and provided that 
  1-28  the appointment of and supervision of the inspector's duties 
  1-29  would be transferred to the Board of Pharmacy from the 
  1-30  Commissioner of Agriculture; 
 
  1-31  WHEREAS, beginning in 1947, the General Assembly began to 
  1-32  pass a series of Acts which, over the years, authorized the 
  1-33  Chief Drug Inspector to hire the assistant drug inspectors 
  1-34  needed to assist with the duties of the office throughout 
  1-35  the growing state; and 
 
 
 
 
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  2- 1  WHEREAS, in 1964, in response to the growing problems of 
  2- 2  drug and narcotic laws being violated by drug abusers, the 
  2- 3  General Assembly passed Act Number 745 which granted the 
  2- 4  Chief Drug Inspector and his or her assistants the 
  2- 5  authorization and power that sheriffs possessed to make 
  2- 6  arrests of persons violating the state narcotic and drug 
  2- 7  laws; and 
 
  2- 8  WHEREAS, in 1976, as a result of a study by the state merit 
  2- 9  system conducted to better describe its duties, the name of 
  2-10  the Office of the Chief Drug Inspector was changed to the 
  2-11  Georgia Drugs and Narcotics Agency; and 
 
  2-12  WHEREAS, the Chief Drug Inspector, in 1976, pharmacist N.W. 
  2-13  (Bill) Chism, became known as the Director of the Georgia 
  2-14  Drugs and Narcotics Agency, and Bill Chism became the only 
  2-15  person ever to serve as both the Chief Drug Inspector and as 
  2-16  the Director of the Georgia Drugs and Narcotics Agency; and 
 
  2-17  WHEREAS, since its origins in 1908, this agency has been 
  2-18  lead by only 14 men, with all 14 men being pharmacists; with 
  2-19  one, W. S. Elkin (1935-37), being the former president of 
  2-20  the National Association of Retail Druggists; with three, T. 
  2-21  A. Cheatham (1908-27), W. S. Elkin, and Bill Chism 
  2-22  (1976-87), being former presidents of the Georgia 
  2-23  Pharmaceutical Association; with six, H. A. Deen (1932-35), 
  2-24  W. S. Elkin, Jack E. Bush (1937-41), Leonard N. Camp 
  2-25  (1942-44), Bill Chism, and Bill Atkins (1994 to the 
  2-26  present), being former members of the Georgia State Board of 
  2-27  Pharmacy; with two, Bill Cooper (1987-94), and Bill Atkins, 
  2-28  being former Representatives of the House in the Georgia 
  2-29  General Assembly; and with the rest being A. M. Stead 
  2-30  (1927-32), M. M. Yearty (1941-42), Gus Parkerson (1944-46), 
  2-31  Pat D. Horkan (1946-63), Selman L. Threadgill (1963-68), and 
  2-32  Joe Weldy (1968-76); and 
 
  2-33  WHEREAS, the Georgia Drugs and Narcotics Agency is currently 
  2-34  under the leadership of Director Bill Atkins and Deputy 
  2-35  Director Rick Allen, a pharmacist and former president of 
  2-36  the International Narcotic Enforcement Officers Association, 
  2-37  and that, on August 1, 1998, the Georgia Drugs and Narcotics 
  2-38  Agency will enter its 19th year of inspecting, 
  2-39  investigating, and enforcing the narcotic and drug laws of 
  2-40  the state. 
 
  2-41  NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE that this body 
  2-42  takes great pride in recognizing and commending the Georgia 
  2-43  Drugs and Narcotics Agency along with all of its employees 
 
 
 
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  3- 1  for protecting the health, safety, and welfare of all the 
  3- 2  citizens of the state, purposes placed upon the agency when 
  3- 3  it was first created 90 years ago. 
 
  3- 4  BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of the Senate is 
  3- 5  authorized and directed to transmit an appropriate copy of 
  3- 6  this resolution to the main office of the Georgia Drugs and 
  3- 7  Narcotics Agency. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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