Chemists facing jail over flu drug sales

Police are investigating two North Island pharmacists for selling large quantities of over-the-counter cold and flu tablets containing pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient in the manufacture of methamphetamine, or speed.

Pharmaceutical Society registrar Jim Thomson would not say where the two chemists were based.

Under the Misuse of Drugs Act, pharmacists selling the tablets in quantities clearly intended for amphetamine manufacture can face up to seven years in jail.

A new monitoring regime aimed at more easily identifying pharmacists who break the law will be set up in December.

Mr Thomson said he knew of cases where pharmacists had been threatened and intimidated by people wanting supplies of the pills.

Detective Sergeant Simon Perry, of Wellington's organised crime unit, said one man had been prosecuted in Upper Hutt recently for possessing large quantities of pseudoephedrine as a "precursor drug."

He said methamphetamine was fast becoming the biggest drug problem in the region.

This was partly because the base chemicals used to make it were easily available from pharmacies.

Detective Sergeant Tony Quayle of the National Drugs Intelligence Bureau said police were working with pharmaceutical industry groups to develop a "memorandum of understanding" so they could identify pharmacists who ordered excessive quantities of the tablets.

- NZPA