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The Government will tighten control of 13 dangerous substances which have high potential for abuse by amending the First Schedule to the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance.

A notice to this effect, known as Dangerous Drugs Ordinance (Amendment of First Schedule) Order 1998, will be published in the Government Gazette on Friday (November 13).

A spokesman for the Narcotics Division said today (Wednesday) the Order adds five substances to Part I of the First Schedule and deletes eight other substances from Part IV of the same Schedule.

Two amphetamine derivatives -- amfepramone and cathine -- are added to Part I of the First Schedule to the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance because of their potential for abuse and the rise in the abuse of the amphetamine group of drugs.

In line with international efforts to minimise their abuse, three other substances currently on the list of psychotropic substances under international control -- etryptamine, mesocarb and zipeprol -- are also added to Part I of the First Schedule to the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, the spokesman added.

The spokesman went on to say that codeine is deleted from Part IV of the First Schedule to the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance in line with the amendment set out in the Poisons List (Amendment) Regulation 1995 to require pharmaceutical preparations containing 0.1 per cent or less of codeine to be sold only at dispensaries under the supervision of a pharmacist.

"It is also necessary to delete seven other substances, including morphine and codeine-like substances, from Part IV of the First Schedule to tighten control on the sale of preparations containing these substances, having regard to their current easy availability and similar medical properties to codeine," the spokesman said.

The amendments proposed in the Order has had the support of the Action Committee Against Narcotics and the Pharmacy and Poisons Board, and was endorsed by the Executive Council.

The Order will come into operation on April 1, 1999 following the legislative procedures so as to allow the trade sufficient time to make the necessary preparations.

End/Wednesday, November 11, 1998

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