Misuse of Drugs Regulations, 1988

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR SI 328/1988
• Year: 1988

S.I. No. 328 of 1988.
MISUSE OF DRUGS REGULATIONS, 1988.
ARRANGEMENT OF REGULATIONS
PART I
GENERAL
1. Citation.
2. Revocations.
3. Interpretation.
PART II
PRODUCTION, SUPPLY, IMPORTATION AND EXPORTATION OF CONTROLLED DRUGS
4. General prohibition.
5. Licences.
6. Administration.
7. Exemption for practitioners, pharmacists, etc.
8. Supply in hospitals, etc.
PART III
POSSESSION OF CONTROLLED DRUGS
9. General exemptions.
10. Exemption for midwives in respect of pentazocine and pethidine.
11. General authorities.
PART IV
DOCUMENTATION AND RECORD KEEPING
12. Documents to be obtained by a supplier.
13. Form of prescriptions.
14. Supply on prescription.
15. Marking of containers.
16. Keeping of registers for drugs in Schedules 1 and 2.
17. Record-keeping in particular cases for drugs in Schedule 2.
18. Keeping of records for drugs in Schedules 3 and 4.
19. Preservation of registers, etc.
20. Preservation of records for drugs in Schedules 3 and 5.
21. Furnishing of information with respect to controlled drugs.
PART V
MISCELLANEOUS
22. Destruction of certain drugs.
23. Disposal of certain drugs on cessation of business.
24. Forged, etc. prescriptions.
25. Publication, sale etc. of certain books, periodicals and other publications.
26. Amendment of the Misuse of Drugs (Safe Custody) Regulations, 1982 (S.I. No. 321 of 1982).
27. Transitional provisions.
SCHEDULES
Schedule 1
Controlled drugs subject to the requirements of articles 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 21, 22, 23, 25 and 26.
Schedule 2
Controlled drugs subject to the requirements of articles 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 21, 22, 23 and 26.
Schedule 3
Controlled drugs subject to the requirements of articles 12, 13, 14, 15, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 and 26.
Schedule 4
Controlled drugs subject to the requirements of articles 20, 21, 22 and 23.
Schedule 5
Controlled drugs exempted from the prohibition on importation and exportation and subject to the requirements of article 20.
Schedule 6
Forms of register.
S.I. No. 328 of 1988.
MISUSE OF DRUGS REGULATIONS, 1988.
The Minister for Health, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by sections 4 , 5 , 18 and 38 of the Misuse of Drugs Act, 1977 (No. 12 of 1977), and section 5 of the Misuse of Drugs Act, 1984 (No. 18 of 1984), hereby makes the following Regulations:
PART IGENERAL
	1 Citation.	1. These Regulations may be cited as the Misuse of Drugs Regulations, 1988.
	2 Revocations.	2. The Misuse of Drugs Regulations, 1979 ( S.I. No. 32 of 1979 ) and the Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Regulations, 1987 ( S.I. No. 263 of 1987 ) are hereby revoked.
	3 Interpretation.	3. (1) In these Regulations—
"the Act" means the Misuse of Drugs Act, 1977 :
"the Acts relating to merchant shipping" means the Merchant Shipping Acts, 1894 to 1983 and the Mercantile Marine Act, 1955 (No. 29 of 1955);
"authorised as a member of a group" means authorised by virtue of being a member of a class in respect of which the Minister has granted an authority which is in force under and for the purposes of article 8(2) and "his group authority" in relation to a person who is a member of such a class means the authority so granted to that class;
"health board" means a board established under section 4 of the Health Act, 1970 (No. 1 of 1970);
"health prescription" and "health service requisition" means a prescription or a requisition issued in connection with arrangements made under section 59 of the Health Act, 1970 upon a form supplied by or on behalf of a health board;
"installation manager" "offshore installation" and "Industrial Medical Adviser (Offshore Installations)" have the same meaning as in the Safety, Health and Welfare (Offshore Installations) Act, 1987 (No. 18 of 1987);
"master" has the same meaning as in the Acts relating to merchant shipping;
"matron or acting matron" includes any male nurse occupying a similar position;
"medical preparation" has the same meaning as in section 65 of the Health Act, 1947 (No. 28 of 1947) as amended by section 39 of the Health Act, 1953 (No. 26 of 1953);
"the Minister" means the Minister for Health;
"officer of customs and excise" means an officer within the meaning of the Customs Acts;
"person keeping open shop for the dispensing or compounding of medical prescriptions or for the sale of poisons" means a person lawfully keeping open shop for the dispensing or compounding of medical prescriptions or for the sale of poisons under the Pharmacy Acts 1875-1977 as amended by the European Communities (Recognition of Qualifications in Pharmacy) Regulations, 1987 ( S.I. No. 239 of 1987 );
"An Post" means the company referred to in section 10 (1) (a) of the Postal and Telecommunications Services Act, 1983 (No. 24 of 1983);
"practitioner" means a registered medical practitioner, a registered dentist and a registered veterinary surgeon;
"prescription" means a prescription issued by a registered medical practitioner for the medical treatment of an individual, by a registered dentist for the dental treatment of an individual or by a registered veterinary surgeon for the purposes of animal treatment;
"produce", where the reference is to producing a controlled drug, means producing it by cultivation, manufacture, synthesis or by any other method;
"register" means a bound book and does not include any form of loose leaf register or card index;
"sister or acting sister" includes any male nurse occupying a similar position;
"the State Chemist" means the head of the State Laboratory;
"wholesaler" means a person who carries on the business of selling drugs to persons for the purpose of resale.
(2) In these Regulations any reference to an article or Schedule shall be construed as a reference to an article contained in these Regulations or, as the case may be, to a Schedule thereto; any reference in an article to a sub-article shall be construed as a reference to a sub-article of that article; and any reference in a Schedule to a paragraph shall be construed as a reference to a paragraph of that Schedule.
PART IIProduction, Supply, Importation and Exportation of Controlled Drugs.
	4 General prohibition.	4. (1) Subject to the provisions of these Regulations a person shall not—
(a) produce a controlled drug,
(b) supply or offer to supply a controlled drug, or
(c) import or export a controlled drug.
(2) (a) Sub-article (1) (c) shall not apply to any drug specified in Schedule 4 or 5.
(b) Sub-article (1) (b) shall not apply to poppy straw.
	5 Licences.	5. A person so authorised by a licence granted by the Minister under section 14 of the Act and for the time being in force may, under and in accordance with the terms of the licence and in compliance with any conditions attached thereto—
(a) produce, supply, offer to supply, import, export or have in his possession any controlled drug to which the licence relates or
(b) cultivate opium poppy or any plant of the genus Cannabis, or any plant of the genus Erythroxylon as may be specified in the licence.
	6 Administration.	6. It shall not be a contravention of the provisions of article 4 (1) (b) for—
(a) any person to administer to another any drug specified in Schedule 5,
(b) a registered medical practitioner or registered dentist to administer to a patient any drug specified in Schedules 2, 3 or 4.
(c) any person, other than a registered medical practitioner or registered dentist, to administer to a patient, in accordance with the directions of a registered medical practitioner or registered dentist, any drug specified in Schedules 2, 3 or 4.
	7 Exemption for practitioners, pharmacists, etc.	7. (1) A practitioner or pharmacist may, when acting in his capacity as such, for the purpose of his profession or business—
(a) supply or offer to supply any drug specified in Schedules 2, 3, 4 or 5 to any person who may lawfully have that drug in his possession, or
(b) manufacture or compound any such drug.
(2) A person keeping open shop for the dispensing or compounding of medical prescriptions or for the sale of poisons may, when acting in his capacity as such, for the purpose of his profession or business, at the premises at which he keeps open shop—
(a) supply or offer to supply any drug specified in Schedules 2, 3, 4 or 5 to any person who may lawfully have that drug in his possession, or
(b) manufacture or compound any such drug
provided that nothing in this article shall be construed as authorising a registered druggist to supply or offer to supply a controlled drug on foot of a medical prescription.
	8 Supply in hospitals. etc.	8. (1) A person may supply or offer to supply any drug specified in Schedules 2, 3, 4 or 5 to any person who may lawfully have that drug in his possession where the person so supplying or offering to supply the drug is a person acting in his capacity as—
(a) the matron or acting matron of a hospital or nursing home which is wholly or mainly maintained by a public authority out of public funds or by a charity or by voluntary subscriptions, and the drug is a medical preparation,
(b) the sister or acting sister for the time being in charge of a ward, theatre or other department in such a hospital or nursing home where the drug is a medical preparation supplied to her by a person responsible for the dispensing and supply of medicines at such hospital or nursing home,
(c) a person in charge of a laboratory the recognised activities of which consist in, or include, the conduct of scientific education or research and which is attached to a university or a hospital referred to in paragraph (a) of this sub-article, or a person in charge of any other laboratory engaged in the conduct of scientific education or research and which is attached to any other institution approved for the purpose by the Minister,
(d) the...