§ 57. Mr. Parkinasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will seek powers to establish by order control of the distribution between wholesaler and retailer of amphetamine derivatives, and such other Schedule 4 poisons as may appear to him from time to time necessary, by requiring wholesalers to keep available for inspection 16W records of every outgoing sale, of current stocks, and of their purchases from manufacturers.
§ Mr. BrookeI would refer the hon. Member to the replies I gave on 30th January to Questions on this subject by the hon. Member for St. Pancras, North (Mr. K. Robinson) and himself.
§ 58. Mr. Parkinasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is aware that the stage in the large-scale manufacture of scheduled drug tablets most vulnerable to organised theft is where components emerge as tablets not yet counted or assessed, and where there is a variation of up to 4 per cent, in quantities expected to produce 100,000 tablets; and whether he will seek powers to supervise manufacturers' own security measures at this point and to consult them as to the effectiveness of security measures at other points.
§ Mr. BrookeI understand that many manufacturers of tablets apply weighing as well as counting procedures at this stage, and that their general methods of control obviate the possibility of organised theft. I have already asked the pharmaceutical industry to review their precautions to ensure that such drugs do not get into the wrong hands.
§ Mr. Parkinasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, in view of the recent disturbance by an accident at one of the main distribution centres in London of amphetamine derivate tablets for illicit sale, if he will instruct the Commissioner of Metropolitan Police to institute a special watch on this place and on the clubs and cafés chiefly used for large-scale operation of this illicit traffic.
§ Mr. BrookeThe police are well aware of this problem, and are taking action to deal with it.