Laws: Cases and Codes : U.S. Code : Title 21 : Section 209


   
U.S. Code as of: 01/19/04
Section 209. Poisons; book entry of sale; labels

      It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation whose
    permanent allegiance is due to the United States to sell or deliver
    to any other person any of the following-described substances, or
    any poisonous compound, combination, or preparation thereof, to
    wit: The compounds of and salts of antimony, arsenic, barium,
    chromium, copper, gold, lead, mercury, silver, and zinc, the
    caustic hydrates of sodium and potassium, solution or water of
    ammonia, methyl alcohol, paregoric, the concentrated mineral acids,
    oxalic and hydrocyanic acids and their salts, yellow phosphorus,
    Paris green, carbolic acid, the essential oils of almonds,
    pennyroyal, tansy, rue, and savin; croton oil, creosote,
    chloroform, cantharides, or aconite, belladonna, bitter almonds,
    colchicum, cotton root, cocculus indicus, conium, cannabis indica,
    digitalis, ergot, hyoscyamus, ignatia, lobelia, nux vomica,
    physostigma, phytolacca, strophanthus, stramonium, veratrum viride,
    or any of the poisonous alkaloids or alkaloidal salts derived from
    the foregoing, or any other poisonous alkaloids or their salts, or
    any other virulent poison, except in the manner following, and,
    moreover, if the applicant be less than eighteen years of age,
    except upon the written order of a person known or believed to be
    an adult.
      It shall first be learned, by due inquiry, that the person to
    whom delivery is about to be made is aware of the poisonous
    character of the substance and that it is desired for a lawful
    purpose, and the box, bottle, or other package shall be plainly
    labeled with the name of the substance, the word "Poison", the name
    of at least one suitable antidote, when practicable, and the name
    and address of the person, firm, or corporation dispensing the
    substance. And before delivery be made of any of the foregoing
    substances, excepting solution or water of ammonia and sulphate of
    copper, there shall be recorded in a book kept for that purpose the
    name of the article, the quantity delivered, the purpose for which
    it is to be used, the date of delivery, the name and address of the
    person for whom it is procured, and the name of the individual
    personally dispensing the same; and said book shall be preserved by
    the owner thereof for at least three years after the date of the
    last entry therein. The foregoing provisions shall not apply to
    articles dispensed upon the order of persons believed by the
    dispenser to be recognized and reputable practitioners of medicine,
    dentistry, or veterinary surgery. When a physician writes upon his
    prescription a request that it be marked or labeled "Poison" the
    pharmacist shall, in the case of liquids, place the same in a
    colored glass, roughened bottle, of the kind commonly known in
    trade as a "poison bottle", and, in the case of dry substances, he
    shall place a poison label upon the container. The record of sale
    and delivery above mentioned shall not be required of manufacturers
    and wholesalers who shall sell any of the foregoing substances at
    wholesale to licensed pharmacists, but the box, bottle, or other
    package containing such substance, when sold at wholesale, shall be
    properly labeled with the name of the substance, the word "poison",
    and the name and address of the manufacturer or wholesaler. It
    shall not be necessary, in sales either at wholesale or at retail,
    to place a poison label upon, nor to record the delivery of, the
    sulphide of antimony, or the oxide or carbonate of zinc, or of
    colors ground in oil and intended for use as paints, or calomel;
    nor in the case of preparations containing any of the substances
    named in this section, when a single box, bottle, or other package,
    or when the bulk of one-half fluid ounce or the weight of one-half
    avoirdupois ounce does not contain more than an adult medicinal
    dose of such substance; nor in the case of liniments or ointments
    sold in good faith as such, when plainly labeled "For external use
    only"; nor, in the case of preparations put up and sold in the form
    of pills, tablets, or lozenges, containing any of the substances
    enumerated in this section and intended for internal use, when the
    dose recommended does not contain more than one-fourth of an adult
    medicinal dose of such substance.
      For the purpose of this and of every other section of this
    chapter no box, bottle, or other package shall be regarded as
    having been labeled "Poison" unless the word "Poison" appears
    conspicuously thereon, printed in plain, uncondensed gothic letters
    in red ink.



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