Image taken from 'Perth Now': www.news.com.au/perthnow
Pharmacies in Australia have long been targeted by robbers for pseudoephedrine (PSE). There have been many smash-and-grab incidents occurring early in the morning when the robbers smashed the pharmacy windows, stole medications and ran away. Obtaining PSE for the illicit production of drugs has been a growing concern in our community.
PSE is an effective decongestant and is a common ingredient in cold and flu tablets. It can be extracted to make methamphetamine, a core chemical for making highly addictive and destructive drugs. This problem has escalated over recent years because offenders have found more ways to extract PSE from various prepared medications and built a large network around Australia to purchase large quantities of PSE.
PSE-containing products can only be sold through a pharmacy. A 12-tablet packet costs $13 at pharmacies and can be sold to offenders for $100. Because of this huge profit, criminals have used various techniques such as employing runners who buy one pack but move from pharmacy to pharmacy. Other methods they use include break and enter, holding up pharmacy staff and ram-raids using a car to crash through a window to collect shelf stock.
Pharmacist Toan, Chemworld Oxley
In response to the pseudo issue, the Australian Government has changed its legislation in 2006 to tighten community access to PSE products. Besides, pharmacy owners are now equipped with Project Stop, a free online reporting program to effectively track pseudo runners. Pfizer Australia is working on a “lock technology” to make the ingredient harder to extract and reducing their pack sizes to prevent large purchases.
Despite all the challenges, PSE products should not be put on prescription as the number of legitimate customers has much exceeded the number of criminals. Putting PSE products on prescription will disadvantage customers, add a burden to the health system and cause congestion in doctors’ rooms during the peak cold and flu period. Pfizer Australia insists that maintaining vigilance in pharmacies, educating customers, and applying high standards of practice should be effective in controlling illicit access through pharmacies.
