§ Sir E. Graham-Littleasked the Home Secretary whether his attention has been drawn to the recent case at Croydon where an unqualified person was fined for selling certain tablets containing poison, and it was shown that he had acted in ignorance of the contents due to the fact that the tablets had been supplied by a wholesaler without any warning; and 1419W whether he will consider the desirability of making regulations placing upon wholesalers the responsibility of refraining from selling preparations containing poison to persons other than qualified chemists?
§ Sir S. HoareMy attention has been called to reports in the Press of two recent cases at Croydon in which keepers of drug stores were convicted for selling a poison contained in Part I of the Poisons List, though the reports which I have seen do not altogether bear out my hon. Friend's description of the circumstances. As regards the second part of the question, I would point out that the Act itself provides for the sale of certain poisons by persons other than chemists; and I do not think that it would be practicable to place upon wholesalers the responsibility for ensuring that the retailers to whom they supply poisons are, in fact, entitled to resell them. Wholesalers are required to label the containers of poisons with the name of the poison and certain other particulars, and so far as the present cases are concerned, I understand that this requirement was complied with.