Case Information
*1 OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS AUSTIN
Honorable Homer Garriaoti, Jr., Director
Department of Public Safety
Camp Mabry
Austin, Texas
Dear sir:
Oplnlon No. o-4135
of October 16, 1941, ch vould include out a preacrlp- Said artlale is the Uniform Maraotlo Section 1, subdivision (12)x "Opium' ln- cludee morphine, codeine, and heroin, and any compound, manufaature, salt, derivative, nlx- ture, or preparation of opium, but does 2ot include apomorphlne OP any of its aalte. _ *2 Jr., Page ? ~~~erabla It-mer Osrrl~em. Saotlon 1, laubdirla2~ (14): “Iazwotlo
drugs' me898 coaa leaver. opium, pyote. meaoal bean, and cannabis, and e~a8-y mabatmoo neither ohemloally pop phyaloally diatlngulahable from them. "
Seotion 21 "It shell be unlavful for eny gw;.w;tlto manufacture, poaaeaa, have under hLa administer, dispense, sell, preaoribe, comph any narootlo drug."
teotlon 2Ai "It shall not be unlavful to abanufactun, poa8ea8, ham, oontrol, sell, pre- aorlbe, admfniater, dlapenae, QP oompound any narootlo drug vhere eFe ia authorized under the terms of thla Act.'
Seation 6, oubdlvlaion (l)t "An apMmary, in good faith, asy sell and dlaponao aamotlo
drugs to any pocaon upon 1. trltten proaor~ption of a phyaloian, dentlat, OE vetorinerlan, dnted and aQned by thm pe~mon &woaox!lblq on the second day afCer the afma la iorued and bearing
the full naae and addmae OS the patient for vbom, OP of the twner of the animal for vhfeh, the drug la dlapenaed. azdthe full~me. addreae, arid mglatm nwabor under the tedorul lavootlo Lava of the peraon preaoriblng, Sf he is mqtired by thoae lava to be 80 mglatemd. the preaerlp- If titin bo for aA allimal, it she411 a-to tha l pooloa of en-1 for vhlah the drug la pmaacibod. The peraon filling the pre6arIptlon ahall vrlte date of filling and hia ova algnature on the fao) of the preaarlptlon. Wm pmacslptlon ehell be by the proprietor of the he~meoJ retalned on file in vhlah it la filled for a period of tve '?) P yearn, ao aa to be readll~ aooeaaible for inspeo-
tion by any pub110 offloer or employee engaged in the anforoement of thla Aot. The preuaription shall not be refilled.'
section 91 1's a +, Provided, hovever, eny one can puroheae one (1) ounce of paregoric ior medioal purpoeee without a preaorlptlon. As
emended Acts 1941, 47th Leg., S.B. g-0, 8 ?."
There are other aelea of nerootioa authorited b;r the Aot, not necessary be pointed out here (for inatinoe, author- laed se.108 Ucenaed VhOleWleTe).
Section 1 of snld Senate Bill lo. 70, cited above, *3 Bonorable Ecmer Ckrrlson, Jr., Page 3
vhi& beaeme effective Oatober 2, 1941, eme@s Seotlon 8 of Artiole ??5b to read es follovsr
*Sec. 8. Except as othdruiae l.n this Act speclflcally provided, this dot shall
not apply to the folloving oaae8r or sellfng “Administerin& dispensing,
at retail of any medicinal prepamtton that oontalns in one (1) fluid ounoe, or if a
aolld or semi-solid prepamtlon, in one (1) ounce, not more thea one (1) avoirdupois
grain codeine or of any of lta ealta.
'The exemtion authortied by this Seo- tlon shell be subjeet to the follovi~ con- ditional (1) That the medloI.nnl preperat10n
admlnlatered, dlapeneed, sold, shall ton- in l ddltlan to the niwootio drug in it,
taln mom drug drags waferrIng upen it sudlol- nal qualities other tMa oaaeaaod by these the naruotla drug alone; and (2 P that suuh
prep8ratlon ah811 be m3mlnlatersd, dispensed, end sold in good faith as a mddlclne, end
not for the purpose of evading tha p~ovlelans of this Aot.
'Iiothlng in this aeotian ahell be con- strued to llmlt the kind awl quantity of any narcotic drug that my be presorlbed, awnis- temd, diapeaeed, or sold. to cay poraon 0s for the uuo of .mq person or Bnimal, when it la prescribed, Umlnlatemd, dlrpnaed, or
sold, In c~ll6uioo Vith the gasmrel prorielona of this Act.
Section l-a of said Sen@e Bill lo. 70 fa es follovar "Section l-e. On and aftet September 1, 1943, Seation 1 of Senate Bill Rg..yD, Regular Seaston, 4X-h Legislature, is repialed, and In lieu thereof thle Beotlon l-a ahall prevail and be in lieu thereof. And on end after September 1, 1943, Section 8 of Hour Bill IIQ. *@O, Regular E
%onoreble Haamr (iarrison, Jr., Peg% k
Seseion, 45th Legislature, Aota of 1937,
Chapter 169, es umnd6d by Senate BLll Ho.
70, Regular 8ee810B* 47th Ileg:aleture, be
end the aalss la hereby Swther emended so
as to read au follows on an8 after September 1, 1943
n'sootSon 8. (Prepaxatione Exempted). Exospt a8 otherwise iia this Act epeo:Sloell~ prunided, thio Act shell not apply to the
following caeee:
"'(I) Preacrlblng, adainiatsrLng~g~~~l penalng, or aelllng at rwt8il OS
9rwareflon that aatafna in on8 (1 fluid "3 ounub, or lr a aolld or semi-aolid pmparatlon,
fno~~(l) avoirdupois oumb, (a) not more then
alna OS opium, (b) not more than one- quartor l/4) of a grain of marp~ 0 of any r Its salts, (c) not more than OBa (1 @en f OS codeine or OS (d) not more of Its salts,
t&n one-eighth (1 ,) SS o gn?P of heroin or 3 of any of :ta salts, (0) not mom than one-half
(l/2) of a gnin of srtrsot of wumabla nor more th60 one-half (l/a) of a grain of any more derivative or ppwuratlon of uennabfa, pot8nt (S) end not more than one (1 of t& md aboW* in almaea (a), b), (a),
"'(2) Preamiblxq, adxtiniatoring, dia- pensing, or sollAng at retail of linlmentr, olntmenta, end other preparations, that an
auaoeptlble of external uai only and that con- tain narcotla druga in such combfnationa as prevent their being readily urtrauted from
such 11ni.mant8, olntmanta. o* preparationa, emopt thnt this hot ah&l1 apply to all llnl- manta, olntm~nta, and other preparations, that oontain cocn leaves in say quantity or eombina- tion.
"'The exemptions authorized by this Section ah811 be subjeot the folloVfB&$ cotrditioxU!*
" 1 (a) %a pero~n ahall prosorlbe, adm&&er, aapensg, or a.11 under .xsPptlons of thf* *5 Bonerable tlomer ffsrrison, Jr., Page 5
aeation. to any one person, or for the
use of any me person or anim31, OpJ pm-
paretlctn OP prrparatloaa Included within
this Section, vhen he knowr, or aa~~ b#
reasonable dlllgenoe aaoert@In, thbt auoh
preaorlblng, 8&8in16tml.ng, dlapenalng, oc
selling vi11 provide the person to vhor or
for whose uao, or the owner of tha anIrp1
for the use of vhlah auoh preparation +a pruorlbed, sdmlaiatend, dir ensed, or
aold, vithfn a.ay Sortpelght 118 aonaeau- ‘i tlto hours, vith ROM than four 4) raino
0r epiw, or more than oae-halt l/2 grrin 1 7 or OS any OS lta salts, lora of wrphine two (9) grains of cedel.na or OS a
than ) 32 OS Its a8lta. oc mm0 than onequarter (1 a grain of haroln or of any of it a salts, mare than ona (I) grain of utrrot OS
manabla OF ofm (1) grain of 8ny wro petont derivative of or pnpentbn OS eumabfa, or
will protide rush permn or the owner of l uah
enlwl, wlthSn fort]r-.I@ (58) oonaeootiro 'hours, vlth more than one preparation exempt- ed by thla Seotioar from the operation of thla Ad. "l(b) '12u Ydll~IMl preparation, or the OC other prqaration aua-
1Inlmant, olnlmnt,
ueptlblo OS utomal UL(I only, pnaorlbod,
adminiatmsd, dIapenard, or meld, ahall oon-
tain, in addition to the neraotlc drug ln It, sow drug or drugs oanfrrriog upon It medicinal qualitlea other than those poaaeaaod
naraotlo e&q alcmu. such pnpwatioa &all
be prescribed, edmlnIat~nd, dlapanaed, aad
sold In good faith as a medIoIne, and wt for the purpose of evading tha prorlaiana of this Act.
"'llothin$ in this Scretlom ahall be eon- atrued lirit the kind and qcmntlty of am
narcotic drmg that may be pnaarlbed, adrinlater- ed, dlapenaed, or mold, ,tb any porann or ior tha use of any pimaon or aaIm1, vhen It Is preao~lb- ed, adminlatered, dIapwaeQ, or sold, in ma- pll'anoe vith the gver8l pmrlalana of this Aat."
R%ws%bl% Boner Qarilaon, Peg% 6
Prom e studs OS th% quoted aeotlona of the statute, It vi11 be aeon thet Ssatlon 2 of the Act Is the princlpel pp&SbItiBg aeotion th%r%oS, and Sootion 8, both as It reeds nov end as It will r%ed after September 1, 1943, IS ea oxenpt- ing, rather then e prohibiting, provlalcm, %xo%pt as to aub- ~lviaIon (a) thereof, vhloh vi11 nterel~ pleae a further liml- tation on the exc%ptlon thereln provld%d.
Sootlon 2 plrohlbita th% aele of eny nerootic drug. It th%r%Sor% beeoma neaeaaery for us to determln% whether peregorio Is e nerootlc drmg within the deflnitlona of the Act.
The Aa%rIcane Enoyolopedie d%Slma It es follows; "Par%gorIo (Week --- SOOthInd en OHat%, the ce#qphoreted tinoture OS oplula. It Is composed of opium, benzoio eold, oam- phor, all OS culls%, honey end dilute alcohol. Ev%rj fluid oum% eontalna two grelna each of the opium, eeld end oemphor e&l tvo minima of oil of enlsa." St%dmen's "Praatleel Hedloel ni%tion%l?g" (11th Ed., 1930) gIv%a this formula for pemgorIo: “Tiwtura 0~11 %emphoretet o lua 4, b%neoIo aold 4, -or 4, oil OS anIs% 4, gljo%rIno P 0, diluted aloohol to meke 1003.
United Stetea Phermecopo%Ia (11th RerI%:on, Jun% 1, 193zp+ acribes the follovIng Sorntle for pangorlor
"Capphor8tsd TIn%turs of Opium yiolda, m eeoh 100 c a, not leas then 0.035 gnu
ti not wm then 0.045 gram of auhydrous
aaorphino.
"TlnalP% OS 0p:lim
Oil or AnIae
Benzolc Acid
Cemphor
TO raSk8 We era InSorwd by th% State Heelth.D%partm%nt thet thIa formula contains not aoc% then two grains of opium to the Sluuid ounae, end that the other drugs in paregopia oonier upon It wdloinel qualities othsr then those poa%%aaed by the opium elona.
It la therefore our opinion that the eels of not more then one ounce of persgoriti Sor laedloal purposea vithout a pr%- ecription la peraitted by Seation 9 of Artlole 725b, V%rnonfa p0rid cod%, es mnd%d, but that the sale wn than one ounoe of paregoric does not at th% pnaent tlm okii?ithIn the ox- emption &&ion 8 OS Article 725b, Vsrnon'a P%dsl Code, =d that lta ael% Is prohlblt%d by S%otion 2 OS eaid htIol%, but *7 ~onoreble Bomer Barrlson, Page 7
that it ~KLJ lawfully bo sold by a drugglat on preaorlption In 4cmplianos vlth the provisions of Seotlon 6 of 4ald Article.
ft 14 our fuythst opinion that par4gorla la within the 4xemp- tlons of Station l-a, 9enato Bill Ilo. 70, 47th LogieJature, Regular Ses4lon, amondlng Section 8 of said Article 725b, 4% f4otlve s4pt4mber 1, 1943.
We oall to your attention, howovor, the fact that a ledloin lab414d "parogorlo" urf, roaaon of maporation or ror other roa4on, oontain mor4 than tire g~ln4 of opium in om fluid ounc4, and thus bo vlthout the oxoaptlon provldod in Sec- tion l-a of Senate Bill lo. 70. In the rlnal analy4i8, whothor It la sold in good faith a4 a madlolm, etc., and vhethor It aontalm moot) than two grains of opium per fluid ounc4, mast bs dotormlnod aa a Bsttsr of fact In each ln4t4me.