Dangerous Drugs Act 1951
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1951 c. 48 |
Dangerous Drugs Act , 1951
(14 & 15 Geo. 6) CHAPTER 48
An Act to consolidate the Dangerous Drugs Acts, 1920 to 1950, and section twenty-eight of the Pharmacy and Poisons Act, 1933.
[1st August 1951]
Be it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows—
Part I
Raw Opium, Coca Leaves, Indian Hemp, &c.
1 Restriction on importation of drugs to which Part I applies.
(1) It shall not be lawful for a person to import or bring into the United Kingdom a drug to which this Part of this Act applies except under a licence granted by a Secretary of State and into an approved port.
(2) In this section the expression ‘approved port’ means a port approved by the Commissioners of Customs and Excise for the importation of drugs to which this Part of this Act applies.
2 Restriction on exportation of drugs to which Part I applies.
(1) It shall not be lawful for a person to export from the United Kingdom a drug to which this Part of this Act applies except under a licence granted by a Secretary of State and from an approved port.
(2) If at any time the importation into a foreign country of a drug to which this Part of this Act applies is prohibited or restricted by the laws of that country, there shall, while that prohibition or restriction is in force, be attached to every licence which is issued by a Secretary of State under this Act authorising the export of that drug from the United Kingdom such conditions as appear to him necessary for preventing or restricting, as the case may be, the exportation of that drug from the United Kingdom to that country during such time as the importation of that drug into that country is so prohibited or restricted, and any such licences issued before the prohibition or restriction came into force shall, if a Secretary of State by order so directs, be deemed to be subject to the like conditions.
(3) In this section the expression ‘approved port’ means a port approved by the Commissioners of Customs and Excise for the exportation of drugs to which this Part of this Act applies.
3 Power to control production, sale, &c., of drugs to which Part I applies,
(1) A Secretary of State may by regulations provide for controlling or restricting the production, possession, sale and distribution of drugs to which this Part of this Act applies, and in particular, but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, for prohibiting the production, possession, sale or distribution of any such drug except by persons licensed or otherwise authorised in that behalf by a Secretary of State.
(2) This section shall, in its application to Northern Ireland, have effect with the substitution, for references to a Secretary of State, of references to the Ministry of Home Affairs for Northern Ireland.
4 Drugs to which Part I applies.
(1) The drugs to which this Part of this Act applies are raw opium, coca leaves, Indian hemp, and resins obtained from Indian hemp and all preparations of which such resins form the base.
(2) In this section—
(a ) the expression ‘raw opium’ includes powdered or granulated opium, but does not include medicinal opium;
(b ) the expression ‘medicinal opium’ means raw opium which has undergone the processes necessary to adapt it for medicinal use in accordance with the requirements of the British Pharmacopoeia, whether it is in the form of powder or is granulated or is in any other form, and whether it is or is not mixed with neutral substances;
(c ) the expression ‘coca leaves’ means the leaves of any plant of the genus of the erythroxylace from which cocaine can be extracted either directly or by chemical transformation; and
(d ) the expression ‘Indian hemp’ means the dried flowering or fruiting tops of the pistillate plant known as cannabis sativa from which the resin has not been extracted, by whatever name such tops are called.
Part II
Prepared Opium
5 Prohibition of importation and exportation of prepared opium.
5. It shall not be lawful for a person to import or bring into, or to export from, the United Kingdom, any prepared opium.
6 Penalty for manufacturing, selling, using, &c., prepared opium.
6. If a person—
he shall be guilty of an offence against this Act.
7 Meaning of ‘prepared opium’.
7. In this Part of this Act the expression ‘prepared opium’ means opium prepared for smoking and includes dross and any other residues remaining after opium has been smoked.
Part III
Medicinal Opium, Cocaine, Morphine, &c.
8 Restriction on importation and exportation of drugs to which Part III applies.
8. It shall not be lawful for a person to import or bring into, or to export from, the United Kingdom a drug to which this Part of this Act applies except under a licence granted by a Secretary of State.
9 Power to control manufacture, sale, &c., of drugs to which Part III applies.
(1) For the purpose of preventing the improper use of the drugs to which this Part of this Act applies, a Secretary of State may by regulations provide for controlling the manufacture, sale, possession and distribution of those drugs, and in particular, but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, for—
(a ) prohibiting the manufacture of a drug to which this Part of this Act applies except on premises licensed for the purpose by a Secretary of State and subject to any conditions specified in the licence;
(b ) prohibiting the manufacture, sale or distribution of any such drug except by persons licensed or otherwise authorised under the regulations by a Secretary of State and subject to any conditions specified in the licence or authority;
(c ) regulating the issue by medical practitioners of prescriptions containing any such drug and the dispensing of any such prescriptions; and
(d ) requiring persons engaged in the manufacture, sale or distribution of any such drug to keep such books and furnish such information either in writing or otherwise as may be prescribed by the regulations.
(2) The regulations under this section shall provide for authorising a person lawfully carrying on business in accordance with the provisions of the Pharmacy and Poisons Act, 1933, as an authorised seller of poisons—
(a ) in the ordinary course of his retail business to manufacture, at any premises duly registered under Part I of that Act, any preparation, admixture or extract of a drug to which this Part of this Act applies; or
(b ) to carry on at any such premises as aforesaid the business of retailing, dispensing or compounding any such drug;
subject to the power of the Secretary of State to withdraw the authorisation in the case of a person who has been convicted of an offence against this Act or the Dangerous Drugs Act, 1920, or of an offence under the enactments relating to the customs as applied by this Act or that Act and who cannot, in the opinion of the Secretary of State, properly be allowed to carry on the business of manufacturing or selling or distributing, as the case may be, any such drug:
Provided that the Secretary of State shall, before withdrawing the authorisation in the case of any such person, consult the Council of the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain.
(3) Nothing in any regulations made under this section shall be taken to authorise the sale by retail of poisons by a person who is not qualified in that behalf under, or otherwise than in accordance with, the provisions of the Pharmacy and Poisons Acts, 1852 to 1941, or to be in derogation of the provisions of those Acts for prohibiting, restricting or regulating the sale of poisons.
(4) This section shall, in its application to Northern Ireland, have effect with the substitution, in subsection (1) thereof, for references to a Secretary of State, of references to the Ministry of Home Affairs for Northern Ireland and with the substitution, for subsections (2) and (3) thereof, of the following subsections:—
(2) The regulations under this section shall provide for authorising a person who lawfully keeps open shop for the retailing of poisons in accordance with the provisions of the Pharmacy and Poisons Acts (Northern Ireland), 1925 and 1945—
(a ) to manufacture at the shop in the ordinary course of his retail business any preparation, admixture or extract of a drug to which this Part of this Act applies; or
(b ) to carry on at the shop the business of retailing, dispensing or compounding any such drug;
subject to the power of the...
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