entries for each drug and must be written in ink with no use of correction fluid. Disposal of expired stock must be witnessed by a designated inspector (either a police officer or a suitably qualified official). Until 2005 prescriptions for most schedule 2 & 3 drugs required certain details to be handwritten by the prescriber, unless he or she held a handwriting exemption certificate. The Shipman Inquiry however, found that this was one of the weaknesses in the audit system. Whereas computer generated prescriptions automatically left an audit trail which was easy to follow, handwritten prescriptions did not, even though all filed prescriptions are eventually sent to a central UK depositary. Therefore, good practice now calls for these prescriptions to be computer generated. Schedule 3 - CD No Reg Include drugs subject to the same prescription requirements as Schedule 2 drugs, but without the requirement to maintain registers. With the exception of phenobarbitone or related drugs for treatment of epilepsy, no Sch 3 drug can be given as an emergency supply. Safe custody is currently only required for Tenuate Dospan (diethylpropion), buprenorphine products, temazepam and flunitrazepam (Rohypnol). Neither phenobarbitone nor midazolam require safe custody. Other Sch 3 drugs can be stored in the general dispensary. Schedule 4 Controlled drug prescription requirements and safe custody requirements do not apply. Included drugs are Benzodiazepines (Subclass CD Benz), other than temazepam, flunitrazepam or midazolam, and androgenic and anabolic steroids (Subclass CD Anab). However CD Benz products- which also include mild stimulants such as mesocarb and femcamfamine, formerly prescribed as anorectics- are illegal to supply or possess without prescription and all Sch 4 drugs cannot be legally supplied without medical authority. As of April 2014 "Sativex", the cannabis derived medicine prescribed for spasticity due to Multiple Sclerosis, is listed as a Schedule 4 Part 1 drug, whereas before that date it was a Schedule 1 drug requiring reporting and recording protocols (as earlier indicated on this page). Schedule 5 - CD Inv P & CD Inv POM Includes items which, because of their strength, are exempt from all requirements other than the need to retain invoices for two years. See also Drug policy of the United Kingdom Drugs controlled by the UK Misuse of Drugs Act References External links Laws in the United Kingdom Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 Drug control law in the United Kingdom Pharmacy in the United Kingdom de:Betäubungsmittel hy:Վերահսկվող թմրադեղեր