Public Health (Prohibited Drugs) Act 1975 (ACT)

No. 37 of 1975

AN ORDINANCE

To amend the Public Health (Prohibited Drugs) Ordinance 1957-1966, as amended by the Ordinances Revision (Health

Commission) Ordinance 1975.

I, THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL of Australia, acting with the advice of the Executive Council, hereby make the following Ordinance under

the Seat of Government (Administration) Act 1910-1973.

Dated this twenty-third day of October 1975.

JOHN R. KERR Governor-General.

By His Excellency's Command,

D. EVERINGHAM

Minister of State for Health.

PUBLIC HEALTH (PROHIBITED DRUGS) ORDINANCE 1975

1. ( 1 ) This Ordinance may be cited as the Public Health (Pro­

hibited Drugs) Ordinance 1975.*
(2 ) The Public Health (Prohibited Drugs) Ordinance 1957-1966J
as amended by the Ordinances Revision (Health Commission) Ordin­

ance 19754 is in this Ordinance referred to as the Principal Ordinance.

(3 ) Schedule 2 to the Ordinances Revision (Health Commission)

Ordinance 1975 is amended by omitting the words and figures—

"Public Health (Prohibited Drugs) 1957-1966 | Public Health (Prohibited Drugs)

| 1957-1975 ".

(4) The Principal Ordinance, as amended by this Ordinance, may

be cited as the Public Health (Prohibited Drugs) Ordinance 1957-1975.

2. Section 2 of the Principal Ordinance is amended—

% Ordinance No. 17, 1975.

(a) by inserting before the definition of " Commissioner " the following definitions:—

" 'cannabis' means a cannabis plant, whether living or dead, and includes, in any form, any flowering or fruiting tops, leaves, seeds, stalks or any other part of a cannabis plant or cannabis plants and any mixture of parts of a cannabis plant or cannabis plants, but does not include cannabis resin or can­ nabis fibre;

'cannabis fibre' means goods that consist wholly or substantially of fibre obtained from a cannabis plant or cannabis plants but do not contain any other substance or thing obtained from a cannabis plant;

• Notified in the Australian Government Gazette on 24 October 1975.

t Ordinance No. 9, 1957, as amended by No. 19, 1966.

'cannabis plant' means a plant of the genus Cannabis; 'cannabis resin' means a substance that consists wholly

or substantially of resin (whether crude, purified or in any other form) obtained from a cannabis plant or cannabis plants;"; and

(b) by omitting the definition of "prohibited drug" and sub­ stituting the following definition:—

" 'prohibited drug' means—

(a)	a substance the name of which is specified in the Schedule;
(b)	a substance of a kind specified in the Schedule; or
(c)	goods that consist in part of a substance the name of which is specified in the Schedule or a substance of a kind specified in the Schedule;".

3. Section 3 of the Principal Ordinance is repealed.

4. Section 4 of the Principal Ordinance is amended by omitting

sub-section (2) and substituting the following sub-section:—

" (2 ) Notwithstanding sub-section ( 1 ) , the only penalty that may be imposed on a person convicted of an offence against sub-section ( 1 ) —

(a ) of having used cannabis; or

(b) of having had in his possession a quantity of cannabis of less than 25 grams,

is a fine not exceeding $100.".

5. The Principal Ordinance is amended by adding at the end there­

of the following Schedule:—

SCHEDULE Section 2.

SUBSTANCES THAT A R E PROHIBITED DRUGS

Allylisopropylacetylurea

Amidopyrine

Derivatives of amidopyrine

Buclosamide
Buniodyl sodium
Cannabis
Cannabis resin
Desomorphine
Salts of desomorphine
Diacetylmorphine
Salts of diacetylmorphine
Ketobemidone
Salts of ketobemidone
Methyl cinchophen

Tetrahydrocannabinol, being—

(a) a substance having the structural designation l-hydroxy-3-pentyl-6a, 7, 8,

10a-tetrahydro-6, 6, 9-trimethyl-6H-dibenzo [b,d] pyran or 2'-hydroxy-4'-pentyl-3,

4, 5, 6-tetrahydro-l, 8, 8-trimethyl-8H dibenzo [b,d] pyran; or

(b) a 3- or 4'-alkyl homologue within one of those structural designations

Thalidomide
Triparanol