By ALISON BROWN and REBECCA DEVINE in Rotorua
A move by Rotorua pharmacists to restrict access to pseudoephedrine products is keeping society's dregs out of the city and stopping petty crime in chemists' shops.
It is nearly a year since doctors and pharmacists announced a ban on prescribing
and stocking medicines containing pseudoephedrine, one of the ingredients used in making pure methamphetamine, or P.
The ban was designed to discourage suspect shoppers from requesting the products amid growing concern about the safety of pharmacy staff and the country's burgeoning P problem.
The Rotorua move sparked calls for a nationwide ban and prompted pharmacies in Gisborne, Bay of Plenty and Northland to follow the city's lead and impose voluntary bans.
In August, nine months after the ban was announced, The Daily Post revealed some Rotorua pharmacies were still selling pseudoephedrine products to people suffering from colds and flu.
The system sees genuine customers who are known to the pharmacists ordering the products and picking them up the following day.
But despite the products still being available, both pharmacists and police agree the move has achieved what it set out to, by keeping "undesirables" out of their stores.
The city's top cop, area commander Inspector Bruce Horne, said police realised the ban didn't solve the problem of P.
Nevertheless, it was making a difference.
"Pharmacies banning it has been very successful ... it pushes it out of the community."
Mr Horne said there were no longer "undesirable people" going into pharmacies that there were a year ago.
Any loss in income due to the ban was offset by the lack of petty thefts and other problems in pharmacies, he said.
People who worked in pharmacies also felt safer as a result of the ban.
Rotorua Community Pharmacy Group chairman Derek Lang said pharmacists had never said they would not sell the products - only that they would not stock them. .
It was up to each pharmacist to judge the legitimacy of customers.
Those allowed to purchase the drugs were usually regular customers who were known to staff, he said.
Ngongotaha Pharmacy owner Ian Moore said the ban had achieved its desired effect.
"We don't have the problem of staff harassment.
"Basically, what was a concern 12 months ago isn't really a concern now and the risk of burglary just isn't there," he said.
Pharmacists in other parts of the Central North Island say Rotorua's ban has had spin-offs for them.
One pharmacist, who did not want to be identified, said there were less suspect shoppers visiting his store.
"The message seems to be out there among the darker side of life that pharmacies just don't stock pseudoephedrine anymore. I thank the Rotorua pharmacists for that."
Megan Aldridge from Total Health Chemist in Whakatane said pharmacists felt more confident they were off the "national pseudoephedrine shopping list".
Ordering in medicines containing pseudoephedrine for genuine users ensured it was much harder for suspect shoppers to get hold of the products, she said.
People did not mind waiting for the medicines to arrive because other remedies were available, such as decongestant nasal sprays, for temporary relief.
Efforts by pharmacists to limit the availability of pseudoephedrine products has forced many P cooks to resort to importing pills.
Customs Manager for Drug Investigations, Simon Williamson, said customs officers were intercepting and detecting large amounts of pills used to make P almost on a daily basis.
Police and customs officials have seized more than 1.6 million tablets at the border so far this year.
They say all of the seized material was destined for the domestic methamphetamine drug trade.
- additional reporting NZPA
