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161
or poisons depend upon the place assigned to it in the schedule. The
obstacles in the way of sale to the public are greatest with regard to all
poisons included in Part I. of the schedule. Frequently complaint is
made that these regulations are unduly troublesome to the vendor, and
protests are raised when any additions are made to the list, even though
the need of such additions has been emphasised by repeated misadventures,
as is notable in connexion with veronal and hypnotics of allied
chemical composition. It is generally assumed, when there has been
delay in the inclusion of new poisons in the schedule, that the fault lies
in the intricacy of the steps by which the change is to be effected. This
is not strictly true, though the recommendations have to receive the
approval of certain public officers after they have been transmitted from
the Pharmaceutical Society. To judge from recent pronouncements it
would seem that the reasons for delay are more intimately connected
with an amiable desire to meet the demand for the articles. The alteration
in the strength of the official tincture of opium has had the effect
of bringing it automatically within the scope of Part I. of the schedule,
which includes opium and all preparations or admixtures containing
1 or more per cent. of morphine. While no objection has been taken
to the alteration in strength, there has been an outcry against the retention
of the synonym "laudanum," since it appears that under this name
the drug has hitherto been freely sold in small or large quantities. The
matter has been deemed of sufficient importance for the Pharmaceutical
Society to seek the advice of its Law Committee, and it has received
and adopted the following report:—
That the policy to be advocated by the Council in regard to
the sale of laudanum should be that when "laudanum" is asked
for, the 1914 preparation should be supplied, and the poison book
signed; but where the 1898 preparation is demanded care should
be taken to label accordingly, and the attention of the purchaser
should be called to the fact that it is the 1898 preparation.
It would be interesting to know how often we are likely to meet
with a member of the public who has any notion of the difference.
Probably the majority will ask for what they have been in the habit of
using, and if tinctures of both strengths are kept, the one will be reserved
for the emissary from the local inspector, the other, with a few words
of explanation, will be supplied to the public as before. There is always
danger in keeping preparations of different strengths with similar names,
and it is to be hoped that this suggested system of meeting the demand
for the sale of a remedy which may become a poison if improperly
employed, will speedily be rescinded.