27Dispensing of narcotic substances (S8)

27 Dispensing of narcotic substances (S8)

(1)  [Regulation 27 Subregulation (1) substituted by S.R. 2026, No. 4, Applied:16 Feb 2026] A person must not dispense a narcotic substance except –

(a) under regulation 23 ; or

(b) in accordance with a prescription that was lawfully written and issued in accordance with regulation 20 ; or

(c) in accordance with a prescription that the person reasonably believes was lawfully written and issued in another State or a Territory.

Penalty:  Fine not exceeding 10 penalty units.

(2)  If a prescription for a narcotic substance directs that the substance be dispensed more than once –

(a) the person responsible for dispensing the substance is to retain the prescription at the place at which the substance is dispensed; and

(b) any subsequent dispensing of the substance is to be from the same place as the original dispensing.

(3)  [Regulation 27 Subregulation (3) substituted by S.R. 2026, No. 4, Applied:16 Feb 2026] Subregulation (2) does not apply in the following circumstances:

(a) where the person responsible for dispensing the narcotic substance securely transfers the prescription to another pharmacy;

(b) in the case of an interstate prescription to be dispensed to an interstate resident, where –

(i) the interstate resident is unable to identify a suitable pharmacy to which the prescription may be securely transferred; and

(ii) the person responsible for dispensing the narcotic substance is satisfied that there are no reasonably apparent safety concerns with returning the prescription to the interstate resident.

(4)  Where a prescription for a narcotic substance directs that substance to be dispensed more than once, but does not specify the minimum intervals at which that prescription may be dispensed –