London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
City of London 1926
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Port of London]
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43
DANGEROUS DRUGS.
On the 30th March, your Medical Officer certified that the Master of the ss.
"Golaa," of Norway, was authorised to purchase, and be in possession of 4 ozs.
of Tincture of Opium for the use of the ship until it next reaches its home port.
The certificate was issued under the Dangerous Drugs (No. 3) Regulation, 1923,
amending the Dangerous Drugs Regulations, 1921, Regulation 15 of which is as
follows :
"If a foreign ship in any port in Great Britain requires to obtain a supply of any of the
drugs in order to complete the necessary equipment of the ship, the master of the ship is
authorised to purchase and be in possession of such quantity of any of the drugs as may be
certified by the Medical Officer of Health of the Port where the ship is (or in his absence by
the Assistant Medical Officer of Health of the Port) to be necessary for the purpose, the
quantity not to exceed what is required for the use of the ship until it next reaches its home
port. The certificate given by the Medical Officer or Assistant Medical Officer of Health of
the Port shall be marked by the supplier with the date of the supply and shall be retained by
him and kept available for inspection."
FOOD INSPECTION.
Action under the Public Health (Imported Food) Regulations, 1925, resulted
in 4,011 tons 15 cwts. 3 qrs. 5½ lbs. of unsound food being destroyed or disposed of
in such a manner as to prevent its being used for human consumption. Exceptions
are shown in the disposal of some of the goods for the manufacture of confectionery,
distillation, refining and by exportation.
Disposal of the material was carried out as follows, only those goods which could not be used for some useful purpose being actually destroyed.
| Tons. | Cwts. | Qrs. | Lbs. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boiled down (recovery of fats, &c.) | 150 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| Cattle and Poultry Food | 440 | 18 | 1 | 18 |
| Re-manufacture (Confectionery, &c.) | 2 | 12 | 0 | 3 |
| Distillation | 51 | 16 | 1 | 20 |
| Refining | 614 | 19 | 3 | 23 |
| Paste-making | 9 | 14 | 0 | 26 |
| Exportation | 2,533 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| Destroyed—Buried | 191 | 1 | 0 | 10½ |
| Burnt | 17 | 11 | 0 | 27 |
| Total weight | 4,011 | 15 | 3 | 5¾ |
The number of detentions and seizures made during the year was 1,620,
a record number, and is accounted for to a large extent by the control of Fats,
which has greatly increased the work of the Authority.
The annual number of seizures each year since 1908 is as follows:—
| Year. | No. of seizures. | Year. | No. of seizures. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1908 | 437 | 1918 | 359 |
| 1909 | 578 | 1919 | 449 |
| 1910 | 839 | 1920 | 634 |
| 1911 | 747 | 1921 | 586 |
| 1912 | 694 | 1922 | 932 |
| 1913 | 781 | 1923 | 848 |
| 1914 | 791 | 1924 | 992 |
| 1915 | 639 | 1925 | 1,196 |
| 1916 | 690 | 1926 | 1,620 |
| 1917 | 473 |
The detention and control of Fats during the year was as follows:—
| Total No. of casks, barrels, etc., reported as imported into the district | 71,108 |
| No. of casks found to be officially certificated ; material released | 6,690 |
| No. of casks not officially certificated, and released to wharves under Notice of Exportation | 17,928 |
| No. of Notices for exportation served in the case of uncertificated material | 438 |
| No. of casks released for exportation | 28,225 |
| No. of casks released direct from ship for purposes other than human food—soapmaking, lubrication, etc | 17,230 |
| 'No. of casks released for soapmaking, from stocks detained at the docks under notice | 312 |