Under part III and IV of the Food and Drugs Act of 1953, the Bureau of Dangerous Drugs (BDD) (formerly known as the Narcotic Control Division) is responsible for the investigation and inspection of all activities (import, export, manufacture and distribution) relating to supplies of narcotics and controlled drugs within Canada. As part of Canada's international treaty obligations, the Bureau issues licenses to various pharmaceutical firms to import and export narcotics, conducts investigations of narcotic drug stocks and dispensing practices of hospitals across the country, and generally monitors the operations of pharmacies, pharmacists, doctors and other licensed dealers (i.e. veterinarians and dentists) for their control of narcotic drugs.
This accession consists of a wide variety of the records created by the Bureau in the pursuit of their duties. Boxes 1 to 111 are physician files through which the Bureau monitors the practices of doctors licensed to dispense natcotics or controlled drugs, looking for such irregularities as excessive prescriptions, forged prescriptions, double doctoring, etc. Documentation on these files consists mainly of correspondence, information extracted from pharmacy sales reports, and BDD control cards. Boxes 112-116 are similar files for dentists and boxes 117-118 are for veterinarians. Boxes 119 to 123 are files relating to specific narcotics or controlled drugs which are of concern to the Bureau, such as PCP ("angel dust"); these files contain correspondence and reports, notes on adverse reactions, research papers (reprints) on the drugs news clippings, police reports and pharmacy sales reports. Material relating to cooperation and liaison with bodies such as universities, their medical schools and veterinary colleges, and licensing bodies (i.e. a college of pharmacists or college of physicians and surgeons) on all matters relating to the monitoring, licensing and control of narcotics and controlled drugs, are found in Boxes 123-125 and 125-128 respectively. Subject files on the interaction between Canada and the United Nations Narcotics Commission (UNNC) are contained in Boxes 128-129. Individual case files dealing with the monitoring and coordination between the BDD and licensed dealers, similar to the cooperation and liaison or practitioner files, are found in Boxes 130-172, while files relating to investigations and prosecutions for violations of the legislation and regulations relating to narcotics and controlled drugs are found in Boxes 173-179.