Chemists’ lives at risk, says guild

Press, 7 May 1983, Page 2

Chemists’ lives at risk, says guild

The Chemists’ Guild has expressed concern about the number of incidents in which chemists’ lives are being put at risk and their property damaged by drugseekers. ■'

The president of the Canterbury division of the guild, Mr A. D. Douglas, said yesterday that chemists had always been aware that sooner or later one of them would be injured, and their fears had now been realised with the assault on a Linwood chemist, Mr Derek Leeming, on Thursday. The guild had examined ways to minimise the danger to chemists and had found some solutions but not a completely effective deterrent.

One step which had been taken was to limit severely the quantity of narcotics stored in chemists’ shops. “We are down to the bare minimum. We stock only what are called starter packs, and the rest we procure during the day. There is probably no more than $2O worth in a shop at any one time,” he said. The matter had been discussed at the guild’s annual meeting recently and it was still examining the problem.

One thing the guild had been doing was to make strong representations to the police and the Judiciary to enstire that drug offenders were not granted bail.

“We have also been pressing for the Judiciary to use available sentences as fully as possible. Recently a well known offender was given a sentence of 2¥a years imprisonment. We considered that too ligfit.” Chemists also felt that there appeared to be a trend to let offenders out of prison before their full term was served, and these people tended to reoffend. Rehabilitation of drug offenders was the ideal solution, but there did not appear to be any good rehabilitation programme in existence.

“So you have to look at the next best option, and that is to take reoffenders out of society. You have to ask yourself, ‘Who are we looking after, the public in general, or reoffenders?’ ” Mr Douglas said. A big fear facing chemists was that the type of person likely to come through their doors demanding drugs was likely to be

irrational. Nurses working at night have once again been threatened by intruders demanding drugs, and hospital security measures must be improved, according to Miss Carroll, spokeswoman for the New Zealand Nurses’ Union. Intruders entered a small Erivate hospital in the forth Island earlier this week and demanded drugs from staff nurses. “Representations to the Hospital Boards’ Association and the Private Hospitals’ Association have been made for years to urge them to improve security measures in public and private hospitals,” Miss Carroll said. “Many of them have done so. But this incident highlights the need for security at every hospital to be reviewed regularly,” she said. “Nurses must be instructed to put their own safety and that of their patients ahead of any attempted drug theft,” she said. “They should hand over the drug cupboard key or the drugs, and it is up to the police to take it from there,” Miss Carroll said.