The Poisons Act

The Poisons Act was passed in 1919 with the objective of consolidating and amending the laws regulating the import, possession for sale sale of poisons. 

The Poisons Act of 1919 consolidates the laws regulating importation, possession and sale of poisons. Specific permits are needed and substances are classified as poisons as per scheduled list. 

The Poisons Act 1952 (revised 1989) regulates the importation, possession, manufacture, compounding, storage, transport, sale and use of poisons. Essentially, the act determines whether a pharmaceutical product is a prescription item, a pharmacy-only item or an over-the-counter (OTC) item. The classification of a pharmaceutical product into the various categories is the function of the Poisons Board whose secretariat is placed at the offices of the Director of Pharmaceutical Services. The Director of Pharmaceutical Services is also the competent authority for the issuance of import and export authorisation of psychotropics under the Convention on Psychotropic Substances 1971. 

There is no control on the import and use of raw herbs in the country. Raw herbs should not include substances listed in the Schedule of the Poisons Act (Chapter 234) however. 

For import of products containing ingredient(s) controlled under the Poisons Act or the Misuse of Drugs act, the importer must have the relevant import licences. 

The sale of non-medicinal poisons in England, Scotland and Wales is controlled by the Poisons Act 1972, the Poisons Rules 1982 and the Poisons List Order 1982 and amending Orders made to these by statutory instruments. In Northern Ireland, non-medicinal poisons are covered by the Poisons (NI) Order 1976 and the Poisons (NI) Regulations 1983. 

A non-medicinal poison is one included in the Poisons List made under the Poisons Act 1972. No matter how toxic or potent a substance may be it will not be termed a poison unless it is included in the Poisons List. Because an item is listed in the Poisons List this does not preclude it from also having medicinal uses. When the substance is sold for medicinal use then the controls applied are those listed in the Medicines Act 1968 it is only when they are sold for non-medicinal purposes that they are subject to the Poisons Act. 

The Poisons List is the list of substances that are classed as poisons under the Poisons Act and is set out in the Poisons List Order. The list is divided into two parts ... 

If a person is convicted of being in breach of or failing to act in accordance with the requirements of the Poisons Act 1972 or the associated Poisons Rules, they may be liable to a fine of up to 2500 and a further fine of up to 10 for each day the offence continues. In addition, if a person wilfully delays or obstructs an inspector, refuses to allow samples to be taken or fails to give information which they are required to give, they may be fined up to 500 on conviction. It should be noted that the fact that an employee acts without the authority of the employer is not considered to be a defence. 

The Poisons Rules are the detailed legislation of the Poisons Act and outline the rules regarding transport and containers, record-keeping and... 

Section 4 of the Poisons Act 1972 list circumstances when poisons may be sold by individuals who are neither non-pharmacists nor listed sellers. Exemptions include ... 

Under the Poison Prevention Packaging Act of 1970, any product that, if consumed by a child, could result in harm to the child must be packaged using components difficult for a child to open. This is referred to as child-resistant packaging. 

FIGURE 13.42 (a) An enzyme poison (represented by the blue sphere) can act by attaching so strongly to the active site that it blocks the site, thereby taking the enzyme out of action, (b) Alternatively, the poison molecule may attach elsewhere, so distorting the enzyme molecule and its active site that the substrate no longer fits. 

One form of biological poisoning mirrors the effect of lead on a catalytic converter. The activity of an enzyme is destroyed if an alien substrate attaches too strongly to the enzyme s active site, because then the site is blocked and made unavailable to the true substrate (Fig. 13.42). As a result, the chain of biochemical reactions in the cell stops, and the cell dies. The action of nerve gases is believed to stem from their ability to block the enzyme-controlled reactions that allow impulses to travel through nerves. Arsenic, that favorite of fictional poisoners, acts in a similar way. After ingestion as As(V) in the form of arsenate ions (As043 ), it is reduced to As(III), which binds to enzymes and inhibits their action. 

Parts 800 to 1299. Medical devices and radiological health. Regulations under the Federal Import Milk Act, the Federal Tea Importation Act, the Federal Caustic Poison Act, and for control of communicable diseases and interstate conveyance sanitation. 

Most low-valence metal complexes are generally deactivated by air and sometimes also by water. Carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide, and PH3 frequently act as poisons for these catalysts. Poisoning by strongly co-ordinating molecules occurs by formation of catalytically inert complexes. An example is the poisoning of Wilkinson s catalyst for alkene hydrogenation ... 

In 1970 the Poison Prevention Packaging Act was passed. It provides for packaging designed and constructed to be difficult for young children to open within a reasonable time and that is not difficult for adults to use properly. Establishing child-resistance effectiveness in a flexible unitized package is considerably more complex and, in certain circumstances, more difficult than doing so with a child-resistant cap on a bottle [21]. 

Since in the normal state both nicotine and curari abolish the effect of nerve stimulation, but do not prevent contraction from being obtained by direct stimulation of the muscle or by a further adequate injection of nicotine, it may be inferred that neither the poison nor the nervous impulse acts directly on the contractile substance of the muscle but on some accessory substance. 

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