§ Captain Kerbyasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will prohibit the sale, without a doctor's prescription, of Vitrell Amyl Nitrite a stimulant drug, now widely peddled and used by prostitutes, procurers and other members of the organised vice racket in the West End of London and elsewhere; and if he will make it a criminal offence for anyone, other than a doctor, to administer this drug bearing in mind that it undermines moral resistance and is the first step to drug addiction.
§ Mr. R. A. ButlerAmyl nitrite is controlled as a poison, but the Poisons Board has not in the past considered that there was sufficient evidence of its abuse to warrant the application to it of the stricter controls which apply to the more dangerous poisons. I am, however, keeping the matter under close review and I shall be glad to have any evidence my hon. and gallant Friend can give me of the abuses to which he refers.