Two poisons stolen

Press, 3 August 1983, Page 8

Two poisons stolen

Strychnine and arsenic capable of killing scores of people were stolen when burglars apparently seeking drugs burgled a Christchurch pharmacy at the week-end.

Dr W. A. Malpress, the Medical Officer of Health in Christchurch, said last evening that both poisons were extremely powerful and potentially very dangerous.

He hoped that anyone who had them or found them would have the sense to turn them in to the police.

The poisons were taken from a security cabinet. Drugs of the type normally sought by addicts were also stolen. The amounts taken were small —25 g of strychnine and 20g of arsenic. However, they could kill in very small doses, said Dr Mal-

press. In the case of strychnine, as little as 16mg had been known to be fatal.

The poisons were in small glass bottles clearly labelled strychnine and arsenic. Dr Malpress said that there was no way they could be used to produce the kind of kick addicts usually sought. He said that the poisons were once prescribed as medicaments and some pharmacists still had them as a hangover from those da y_ s -. .. . _

"I believe that these particular substances should not normally be carried by pharmacists in this day and age,” Dr Malpress said. “I suspect pharmacists will be approached by the department (of Health) in the not too distant future with a view to deciding what to do with the surplus chemicals they do not need.”