Pre-publication of the Regulations Amending the Precursor Control Regulations (PCR) and Schedule VI to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA)


This is to advise you that the Regulations Amending the Precursor Control Regulations were pre-published in the Canada Gazette, Part I, on June 11, 2005, for a 75-day comment period.

The proposed amendments to this new regulatory framework have been identified by Health Canada and stakeholders as issues which can only be effectively resolved through amendment of the Regulations.

Among other things, the proposed amendments will add six substances to the CDSA and the PCR: gamma butyrolactone (GBL), 1,4 butanediol (BDO), red phosphorus, white phosphorus, hypophosphorous acid, and hydriodic acid, due to their extensive use in the illicit manufacture of the controlled drugs methamphetamine and gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB).

Methamphetamine is abused for its rapid ability to produce euphoria, increased alertness and enhanced performance. It has become a "party or clubs" drug of choice. GHB is abused for its ability to produce euphoric and sedative effects, as well as for its alleged role as a growth hormone. Over the past years, GHB has increasingly become a substance of abuse in clubs and at all-night dance parties and is known as a "date rape drug".

Other amendments are proposed to strengthen the regulatory framework, minimize regulatory burden and any negative impact on the legitimate trade of precursors, and clarify and streamline the requirements for certain provisions. These and other proposed amendments to the PCR are set out in the regulatory proposal, and explained in the Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement (RIAS). The Regulations and RIAS are available on the Canada Gazette web site at:

  • http://canadagazette.gc.ca/partI/2005/20050611/pdf/g1-13924.pdf (PDF Version - 1289 K)
  • http://canadagazette.gc.ca/partI/2005/20050611/html/index-e.html

Canada Gazette is also available at most public libraries. To subscribe to, or obtain copies of the Canada Gazette, please write to:

Government of Canada Publications
Public Works and Government Services Canada
Ottawa, Canada, K1A 0S5

Health Canada invites interested persons to provide written comments on the proposed amendments to the PCR before August 25, 2005, by e-mail, regular mail or fax, addressed to:

Drug Strategy and Controlled Substances Programme
Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch
Health Canada
Address Locator 3503D
Ottawa, ON K1A 1B9
Fax: 613 946-4224
E-mail: OCS_Policy_and_Regulatory_Affairs@hc-sc.gc.ca

Should this notification not reach the appropriate contact person, would you please forward it to the appropriate person and inform the Office of Controlled Substances of this change by sending an e-mail to: OCS_Policy_and_Regulatory_Affairs@hc-sc.gc.ca.

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