Drugs (Prevention of Misuse) Act 1964

JurisdictionUK Non-devolved


Drugs (Prevention of Misuse)Act 1964

1964 CHAPTER 64

An Act to penalize the possession, and restrict the importation, of drugs of certain kinds.

[31st July 1964]

Be it enacted by the Queen'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:—

S-1 Penalization of unauthorised possession of scheduled substances.

1 Penalization of unauthorised possession of scheduled substances.

(1) Subject to any exemptions for which provision may be made by regulations made by the Secretary of State and to the following provisions of this section, it shall not be lawful for a person to have in his possession a substance for the time being specified in the Schedule to this Act unless—

(a ) it is in his possession by virtue of the issue of a prescription by a duly qualified medical practitioner or a registered dental practitioner for its administration by way of treatment to him, or to a person under his care; or

(b ) it is in his possession by virtue of the issue of a prescription by a registered veterinary surgeon or a registered veterinary practitioner for its administration by way of treatment to an animal under his care; or

(c ) he is registered in a register kept for the purposes of this paragraph by the Secretary of State as a manufacturer of, or a dealer in bulk in, substances for the time being specified in that Schedule,

and a person who has a substance in his possession in contravention of the foregoing provision shall be liable—

(i) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding 200 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to both;

(ii) on conviction on indictment, to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or to both.

(2) Subsection (1) above shall not be taken to prohibit the possession by a person of any of the following kinds, namely,—

(a ) a duly qualified medical practitioner;

(b ) a registered dental practitioner;

(c ) a registered veterinary surgeon;

(d ) a registered veterinary practitioner;

(e ) a registered pharmaceutical chemist;

(f ) an authorised seller of poisons;

(g ) a person acting in accordance with the directions of a person of a kind specified in any of paragraphs (a ) to (e ) above;

(h ) a person appointed by the person in control of a hospital, clinic, nursing home or other institution providing medical, surgical, dental or veterinary treatment to be in charge of drugs kept there for the purpose of the administration thereof to patients by way of treatment;

(i ) a person in charge of a laboratory the recognised activities of which consist in, or include, the conduct of scientific education or research;

(j ) a public analyst appointed under section 89 of the Food and Drugs Act 1955;

(k ) a sampling officer within the meaning of the said Act of 1955;

(l ) a person employed or engaged in connection with a scheme for testing the quality or amount of the drugs and appliances supplied under the National Health Service Act 1946 and the regulations thereunder;

of a substance for the time being specified in the Schedule to this Act provided that it is in his possession for the purpose of his acting in the capacity of a person of that kind.

(3) Subsection (1) above shall not be taken to prohibit the possession, by the owner of a medical store-carrying ship, of a substance for the time being specified in the Schedule to this Act for the purpose of the administration thereof, by way of treatment, to persons on board of the ship, or to prohibit the possession, by the master of such a ship which does not carry on board as part of her complement a duly qualified medical practitioner, of such a substance for that purpose.

(4) Subsection (1) above shall not be taken to prohibit the possession of a substance by any servant of Her Majesty or constable acting in the course of his duty as such.

(5) The Secretary of State shall have power, in his discretion, to refuse to register a person in a register kept for the purposes of subsection (1)(c ) above if, in the Secretary of State's opinion, he is not a proper person to be registered, and to cancel the registration of a person who, in the Secretary of State's opinion, has ceased to be a person proper to be registered.

(6) This section shall, in its application to Scotland, have effect subject to the following modifications, namely,—

(a ) for references, in paragraphs (j ) and (k ) of subsection (2), to the Food and Drugs Act 1955 and for the reference in the said paragraph (j ) to section 89 thereof there shall be substituted respectively references to the Food and Drugs (Scotland) Act 1956 and to section 27 thereof;

(b ) for the reference, in paragraph (l ) of that subsection, to the National Health Service Act 1946 there shall be substituted a reference to the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1947.

(7) This section shall, in its application to Northern Ireland, have effect subject to the following modifications, namely,—

(a ) for references to the Secretary of State there shall be substituted references to the Minister of Home Affairs for Northern Ireland;

(b ) for paragraphs (j ), (k ) and (l ) of subsection (2) there shall be substituted the following paragraphs, namely,—

‘(j ) a public analyst appointed under section 31 of the Food and Drugs Act (Northern Ireland) 1958;

(k ) a sampling officer within the meaning of the said Act of 1958;

(l ) a person appointed under section 8 of the Pharmacy and Poisons Act (Northern Ireland) 1925 as extended by section 13 of the Pharmacy and Poisons Act (Northern Ireland) 1955 by the Minister of Home Affairs for Northern Ireland as an inspector or additional inspector;

(m ) a person employed or engaged in connection with a scheme for testing the quality or amount of the drugs and appliances supplied under the Health Services Act (Northern Ireland) 1948 and the regulations thereunder’.

S-2 Power of arrest.

2 Power of arrest.

2. A constable may arrest without warrant a person who is found committing, or is reasonably suspected by the constable of having committed, an offence under section 1 of this Act if—

a ) the constable has reasonable ground for believing that that person will abscond unless arrested; or
b ) the name and address of that person are unknown to and cannot be ascertained by, the constable; or
c ) the constable is not satisfied that a name and address furnished by that person as his name and address are true
S-3 Power to search for scheduled substances.

3 Power to search for scheduled substances.

(1) If a justice of the peace is satisfied by written information substantiated on oath that there is reasonable ground for suspecting that a substance for the time being specified in the Schedule to this Act is, in contravention of section 1 of this Act, in the possession of a person in any premises, he may grant a search warrant authorising any constable named in the warrant, at any time or times within one month from the date of the warrant, to enter, if need be by force, the premises named in the warrant, and to search the premises and any persons found therein and, if there is reasonable ground for suspecting that an offence under the said section 1 has been committed in relation to any such substance as aforesaid which may be found in the premises or in the possession of any such persons, to seize it.

(2) This section shall, in its application to any premises in Scotland, have effect subject to the following modifications, namely,—

(a ) for the reference to a justice of the peace there shall be substituted a reference to the sheriff, or a magistrate or justice of the peace, having jurisdiction in the place where the premises are situated;

(b ) for the reference to written...

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