Ban on P ingredient at least a year away

Many cold and flu remedies sold in New Zealand have been reformulated to remove pseudoephedrine to frustrate local 'P' makers. Photo / Supplied

A promised Government crackdown on the main ingredient in the drug P is likely to be at least a year away.

Prime Minister John Key announced in October that the drug pseudoephedrine would be virtually banned from cold and flu medicines because of its alternative use in making methamphetamine.

But the Ministry of Health estimates the law change will not come into force until January or February 2011, followed by a two-month transition period allowing pharmacies to get rid of old stock.

As a result, the ban is unlikely to be in place until March or April of that year.

The pseudoephedrine ban was the main plank in a range of anti-P initiatives, including greater detection efforts by police and Customs and more money to treat methamphetamine addicts.

It was welcomed by anti-drug campaigners and victims' families but strongly opposed by some pharmacists and cold sufferers, who said pseudoephedrine-based pills were the best treatment available.

Last night a spokesman for Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne confirmed medicines affected by the ban would still be available for the next winter flu season, because of the time needed to introduce a law change.

Pharmacists had been told so those who still sold the drug could order supplies in time.

The virtual ban will make pseudoephedrine a class B2 prescription-only drug, meaning patients will need to see a doctor, who cannot prescribe more than 30 days' supply.

Pharmacists will have to store the drug in a locked safe and record their dispensing in a controlled drugs register.

Pharmacists have predicted these restrictions will effectively take the drug off the market, except for hospital pharmacies.

Pharmacy Guild chief executive Annabel Young said the delay was a surprise but she did not believe the Government had changed its mind about banning pseudoephedrine.

She said it would be interesting to see the arguments in front of a select committee, especially as most pseudoephedrine used in P was smuggled into the country, not bought from pharmacies.

Methamphetamine use had also declined from about 2 per cent to 1.5 per cent of the population as its reputation grew worse, which could change the cost-benefit equation of taking pseudoephedrine out of circulation.

"The middle class are not using P any longer because they've worked out that it's a really dumb drug to use.

"The effect is at least a year's delay in a market where less and less people are using it anyway."

Ms Young said that although the Pharmacy Guild originally opposed the ban, it had since taken a neutral position as its members were divided on the issue.

Many pharmacists had stopped selling pseudoephedrine-based pills in favour of phenylephrine, an alternative drug.

"Some people think very strongly that there is no drug that is the equivalent of pseudoephedrine and if you've genuinely got a cold, it's the magic bullet."