Captain CRAIGasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he can state if the Pharmaceutical Society have yet framed bye-laws for the registration of Army compounders and certified dispensers under section 4(6) of the Poisons and Pharmacy Act of 1908; whether he is aware of the effect upon Army compounders and certified dispensers who have for many years held good appointments and yet who, until registered, 1178W are liable to a penalty of £5 if they dispense a prescription containing even an infinitesimal quantity of poison, although actually qualified to do so; and what steps he proposes to take to hasten the Pharmaceutical Society in drafting the necessary bye-laws?
§ Mr. GLADSTONEI am informed that a Committee of the council of the Pharmaceutical Society is now engaged in the consideration of the question of these byelaws, but that some time must necessarily elapse before they can be formulated. The matter will not be lost sight of. I would point out that a certified assistant who dispenses a prescription containing poison is not liable to a penalty of £5; the penalty is incurred only when unregistered persons sell poison or keep open shop for the sale of poison.