MISSION
GPhA champions pharmacy by cultivating leaders who advocate for a healthy Georgia.
VISION
The unified voice of pharmacy in Georgia.
GPhA represents every patient, pharmacist, technician, and pharmacy student in the entire state, advocating for their future and ensuring a diverse and equitable experience for all Georgians, with fair pricing for patients, and fair reimbursements for pharmacies.
VALUES
Patient-centered.
Innovative.
Enjoyment.
Responsible.
Those are the values – our PIER, if you will – upon which GPhA will build the next 150 years of the association. Each of our members, sponsors, and affiliates, as well as the staff and Board of Directors, must uphold these core beliefs in every action we take, every bill we sponsor, every decision we make. We put the patient first; we work to innovate the practice of pharmacy; we’re responsible members of the community; and most importantly, we enjoy and take pride in the work we do creating a healthier Georgia
Our History
On October 20, 1875, a group of more than twenty pharmacists met at Freeman’s Hall in Macon, Georgia, with the intention of creating a pharmaceutical organization that would bring together all “reputable druggists” in the state to act in the interests of the profession at large. Each member should be a “druggist and apothecary of good moral and professional standing whether in business, or in retirement from business, or employed by another, and the teachers of pharmacy, chemistry, materia medica, and botany, who may be professors in any college of pharmacy, should constitute the membership of this Association."
Then known as the Georgia Pharmaceutical Association, the group elected a slate of officers that included President John W. Clark of Milledgeville; First Vice President John Ingalls of Macon; Second Vice President Theo Schumann of Atlanta; Third Vice President Dr. J. R. Janes of Dawson; Treasurer L. W. Hunt of Macon; and Secretary Dr. Fred King of Atlanta.
The primary focus of the Association was to further advance the growing profession of pharmacy, which at the time was not heavily regulated and almost anyone could hang a sign on a shop and call themselves an apothecary. This first group saw the need to regulate the profession, which was experiencing rapid growth, into a more specialized field. Scientific advances were happening regularly, and methods of developing and purifying medicines were changing.
These early groups of pharmacists were instrumental in changing the face of pharmacy in Georgia and influenced many laws, including:
- The 1876 "Poison Law,” introduced and passed in Legislature which limited the sale of poisons to "druggists" and regulated labeling and packaging, as well as registration of listed poisons.
- The 1881 Pharmacy Practice Act, which was the first real pharmacy law sponsored entirely by the pharmacists of the State. In this Act, a Board of Pharmaceutic Examiners was established.
- The 1891 law passed requiring physicians to pass the State Board of Pharmacy examinations to be granted a license to practice pharmacy. Prior to this change, physicians had been granted pharmacy licenses simply by virtue of graduating from medical school.
- The 1907 law which prohibited the sale of narcotics except with prescriptions. Previously, opium, laudanum, morphine, heroin and cocaine were prescribed by physicians and sold in drug stores as indiscriminately as aspirin is today.
- The 1933 law which required pharmacists to be at least 21 years of age and graduate from a recognized school of pharmacy
- The 1998 Pharmacy Practice Act law, expanding pharmacists to technician ratio, among other safety measures
Other highlights of the history of pharmacy in Georgia include:
1886 – Pharmacist John Stith Pemberton invents Coca-Cola
1890 – Jacobs Drug Store becomes the first chain pharmacy in the state
1891 – The Atlanta College of Medicine establishes the first pharmacy school in Georgia
1903 – Both University of Georgia and Mercer University established Schools of Pharmacy; Southern College of Pharmacy is established
1904 – Moses Amos becomes the first African American licensed pharmacist in Georgia
1909 – The first woman applies for a pharmacy license in Georgia
1984 – Francis G. Lipscomb becomes the first woman elected President of the GPhA Board of Directors
1988 -- GPhA created the Georgia Pharmacy Foundation, Inc. as the non-profit, charitable research and education arm of the Association.
1993 – The Georgia Pharmaceutical Association changes its name to the Georgia Pharmacy Association
2024 – Dawn A. Randolph, MPA, becomes the first female CEO of the Georgia Pharmacy Association
