Editorial: Pseudoephedrine action not the best prescription

Alarming statistics, including one from the United Nations that assigns New Zealand the third-highest rate of methamphetamine use, have spurred decisive Government action.

Cold and flu tablets containing pseudoephedrine, from which 'P' is made, have been made a prescription-only drug.

The Government has deemed that the risk that P users pose to themselves and others outweighs the cost and inconvenience of this restriction to the majority.

That may be a reasonable conclusion, given the extent of the scourge, and the move will probably reduce the number of small-scale P laboratories.

It is doubtful, however, that this was the smartest approach.

An alternative was the introduction of an electronic database to track pharmacy pseudoephedrine sales.

This has proved successful in Queensland in reducing both 'pill shopping' and the number of P labs, and is now being adopted Australia-wide.

Its downside is the set-up and operational costs, at least some of which would be borne by the Government. More positively, it means people can still obtain cold and flu tablets containing pseudoephedrine for legitimate use.

But neither approach offers anything like a comprehensive solution. Police find evidence of domestically bought cold and flu tablets in only about a third of the P labs they bust. The major problem is, therefore, the importing of pseudoephedrine and P.

That suggests the redeployment of 40 Customs officers to concentrate on this trade is the more important part of the Government package. Their work, with a new police "control strategy", must be effective if major dents are to be made in the production of P.

With the ban on over-the-counter sales of pseudoephedrine, Customs can expect bigger and bolder attempts to import supplies. This is where the war against P must be won.