(1)  The Minister, by order, may adopt Part 4 of the Uniform Standard, as amended from time to time, as the Poisons List for the purposes of this Act.

(2)  The Minister may, by order, amend the Uniform Standard in its application to Tasmania –

(a) by adding a specified substance or class of substances to, or omitting a specified substance or class of substances from, any of the Schedules contained in the Uniform Standard; and

(b) by transferring a specified substance or class of substances from any of those Schedules to any other of those Schedules; and

(c) by amending an item appearing in any of those Schedules; and

(d) by omitting all or any of those Schedules and substituting a new Schedule or Schedules.

(3)  In amending the Uniform Standard under subsection (2) , the Minister must have regard to any relevant classification of substances made from time to time by the United Nations Organization or any of its agencies.

(4)  The Uniform Standard contains the following Schedules and the substances specified in those Schedules are classified in accordance with the following provisions:

(a) Schedule 1 substances;

(b) Schedule 2 substances – Substances, the safe use of which may require advice from a pharmacist and which should be available from a pharmacy or, where a pharmacy service is not available, from a licensed person;

(c) Schedule 3 substances – Substances, the safe use of which requires professional advice but which should be available to the public from a pharmacist without prescription;

(d) Schedule 4 substances – Substances, the use or supply of which should be by or on the order of persons permitted by State or Territory legislation to prescribe and should be available from a pharmacist on prescription;

(e) Schedule 5 substances – Substances with a low potential for causing harm, the extent of which can be reduced through the use of appropriate packaging with simple warnings and safety directions on the label;

(f) Schedule 6 substances – Substances with a moderate potential for causing harm, the extent of which can be reduced through the use of distinctive packaging with strong warnings and safety directions on the label;

(g) Schedule 7 substances – Substances with a high potential for causing harm at low exposure which require special precautions during manufacture, handling or use, which should be available only to specialised or authorised users who have the skills necessary to handle them safely and to which special regulations restricting their availability, possession, storage or use may apply;

(h) Schedule 8 substances – Substances which should be available for use but require restriction of manufacture, supply, distribution, possession and use to reduce abuse, misuse and physical or psychological dependence;

(i) Schedule 9 substances – Substances which may be abused or misused, the manufacture, possession, sale or use of which should be prohibited by law except when required for medical or scientific research, or for analytical, teaching or training purposes with approval of Commonwealth or State or Territory health authorities.

(5)  An order under subsection (1) or (2) is a statutory rule for the purposes of the Rules Publication Act 1953 .