South Australian Consolidated Acts South Australian Consolidated Acts18A—Restriction of prescription or supply of drug of dependence in
certain circumstances
(a1) A person must not
prescribe for a person or an animal a drug of dependence except as follows:
(a) a
registered health practitioner may prescribe a drug of dependence for a person
if the practitioner is acting in the ordinary course of the practitioner's
profession and—
(i)
the practitioner is a dentist, medical practitioner or
nurse practitioner; or
(ii)
the practitioner is a registered health practitioner
whose registration is endorsed under section 94 of the Health
Practitioner Regulation National Law as being qualified to prescribe a
scheduled medicine or class of scheduled medicines and the drug is a scheduled
medicine or of a class of scheduled medicines specified in the endorsement; or
(iii)
the practitioner is authorised to prescribe the drug by
the regulations;
(b) a
veterinary surgeon may prescribe a drug of dependence for an animal if the
veterinary surgeon is acting in the ordinary course of the veterinary
surgeon's profession.
Maximum penalty: $10 000 or imprisonment for 2 years.
(1) A
registered health practitioner must not prescribe any drug of dependence for,
or supply any drug of dependence to—
(a) a
person for regular use by the person during a period exceeding 2 months, or
during a period that, together with any other period for which a drug
of dependence has, to the practitioner's knowledge, been prescribed or
supplied by a registered health practitioner, would result in drugs of
dependence being regularly used by the person during a period exceeding
2 months; or
(b) a
person who the practitioner knows or has reasonable cause to believe is
dependent on drugs,
unless the practitioner prescribes or supplies the drug in accordance with an
authority granted by the Minister under this section or in circumstances that
are exempted from this subsection by the regulations.
Maximum penalty: $4 000 or imprisonment for 4 years.
(2) For the purposes
of this section, a person is dependent on drugs if—
(a) the
person—
(i)
has acquired, as a result of the repeated administration
of prescription drugs or controlled drugs, an overpowering desire for the
continued administration of such drugs; and
(ii)
is likely to suffer mental or physical distress or
disorder on cessation of the administration of such drugs; or
(b) the
person has a history of consuming or using prescription drugs or
controlled drugs in a quantity or manner that—
(i)
in the case of drugs lawfully supplied to the
person—is contrary to the prescribing practitioner's instructions
relating to consumption or use of the drug; and
(ii)
in any case—presents a risk to the person's health.
(3) An application for
the authority of the Minister to prescribe or supply a drug of dependence
under this section must—
(a) be
in writing and be signed by the registered health practitioner who proposes to
prescribe or supply the drug; and
(b)
contain such information as may be prescribed.
(4) The Minister may
give an authority to the registered health practitioner by whom any such
application is made to prescribe for or supply to the person to whom the
application relates a drug of dependence specified in the authority for
therapeutic purposes.
(5) Any such authority
must be in writing and must specify—
(a) the
quantity of the drug of dependence that may be so prescribed or supplied by
the practitioner; and
(b) the
period for which any such drug may be so prescribed or supplied.
(6) In the case of an
emergency the Minister may issue a registered health practitioner authorised
to prescribe a drug of dependence a temporary authority to prescribe or supply
a drug of dependence under this section.
(7) A temporary
authority—
(a) may
be applied for, and given, orally; and
(b)
cannot operate in respect of a period longer than 2 months.
(8) An authority or
temporary authority given under this section—
(a) may
be subject to such conditions as the Minister thinks fit; and
(b) may
be varied or revoked by the Minister at any time by notice in writing given
personally or by post to the holder of the authority or temporary authority.