§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many prescriptions were issued for the drugs cannabis and heroin in 1979 in England and Wales.
§ Sir George YoungThe estimated number of prescriptions written for heroin—diamorphine—and dispensed by chemists and appliance contractors in England and Wales in 1978, the latest year for which figures are available, was 37,300 ; this estimate is based on a one in 200 sample of prescriptions. There were no prescriptions for cannabis, because cannabis is not regarded at present as a therapeutic substance.