Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Act 2016

Amendment of section 5 of Principal Act

3. Section 5 of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) in subsection (1), by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (f):

“(f) subject to subsection (1A), regulating the issue of prescriptions for controlled drugs and the supply of controlled drugs on prescription by—

(i) registered medical practitioners, registered dentists or registered veterinary surgeons,

(ii) relevant nurses, or

(iii) relevant midwives,”,

(b) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (1A):

“(1A) The Minister shall not make regulations under subsection (1)(f)(ii) or (iii) unless the Minister, having had regard to the nature and purpose of the controlled drug (including any deleterious effects which may arise from the misuse thereof), is satisfied that it is reasonably safe to permit the issue of prescriptions for that controlled drug by relevant nurses or relevant midwives.”,

(c) in subsection (2)(a), by the substitution of “(other than a relevant nurse or a relevant midwife)” for “(other than a registered nurse)”,

(d) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (3):

“(3) Subject to section 13, the Minister may make regulations under this section so as to secure that it is not unlawful under this Act for a practitioner who is a relevant nurse or a relevant midwife, for the purpose of the practitioner’s profession as a relevant nurse or a relevant midwife, to prescribe, administer or supply a controlled drug if the Minister, after having had regard to the nature and purpose of the controlled drug (including any deleterious effects which may arise from the misuse thereof), is satisfied that it is reasonably safe to permit the practitioner, for the purpose of the practitioner’s profession as a relevant nurse or a relevant midwife, to prescribe, administer or supply that controlled drug.”,

and

(e) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (3):

“(4) In this section—

‘relevant midwife’ means a registered midwife or a class of registered midwives;

‘relevant nurse’ means a registered nurse or a class of registered nurses.”.