P measure 'cheap but not efficient'

BY CHLOE VAUGHAN

Proposed legislation to make pseudoephedrine-based products prescription-only to curb their use in the manufacturing of methamphetamine is not the best way to solve the problem, some pharmacists in the Nelson region say.

They would have preferred to see a trial of an Australian scheme called the Stop Project, a database system that lets pharmacies know immediately if a person has already bought one of the medicines that day.

The New Zealand legislation is due to come into effect on November 1 but in Nelson, many pharmacies took pseudoephedrine-based products off their shelves more than six months ago.

Unichem Motueka pharmacist Dave Ross said it had been a number of years since pseudoephedrine-based products had been on his shelves.

He did not think a genuinely sick person should have to suffer because a minority was abusing the product.

"Projects cost money, and it is far easier to put it in legislation. It's a cheap method but it is not efficient."

Mr Ross said that as a result of the legislation, waiting times in doctors' surgeries were likely to increase, because people would need to get prescriptions for some medicines they could previously buy over the counter.

He believed that alternative products without pseudoephedrine provided substandard relief from colds and flu.

After a visit to Australia more than four years ago, Mr Ross suggested that the New Zealand Pharmacy Guild introduce a scheme like the Stop Project, but it was put in the "too hard basket" because it would cost money, he said.

Prices Pharmacy owner Stuart Hebberd said he thought all pharmacists were concerned about the issues surrounding pseudoephedrine products.

Such products had never been kept on the shelves in his pharmacy, and photo identification was required to buy them.

Prices also kept records of frequent buyers of the medicines, Mr Hebberd said.

He agreed that it would have been worthwhile to have trialled the Stop Project.

"There is probably no opportunity for it to be trialled in New Zealand now, because of the Government's legislation."

Queen St Richmond pharmacist Jo Kay said the pharmacy had taken the medicines off its shelves six months ago so it would not be bothered by people seeking them for suspicious use.

"We find it easier to keep them behind the counter."

Golden Bay Pharmacy manager Wouter de Maat said it was a shame that a lot of people would be affected by the proposed changes because of the actions of a few, although there was an alternative to pseudoephedrine, called phenylephrine.

"It's not like they are having their legs chopped off, although some people may not suit the phenylephrine.

"It is a pity for the majority of people that they have to take the sledgehammer effect. It's going to be good in some ways, but a pity for the genuine users."

Some of the common medications that contain pseudoephedrine are Sudomyl, Coldrex Day & Night, Sudafed Sinus + Pain Relief, Codral Original Cold & Flu, Nurofen Cold and Flu, and Duro-Tuss Chesty Cough Liquid.

- © Fairfax NZ News