Ease of drug purchases shown

Press, 10 January 1986, Page 4

Ease of drug purchases shown

PA Auckland The ease with which the public can buy the ingredients from chemists for homebake heroin cook-ups was proved in Auckland yesterday. Within a few hours, three “Auckland Star” reporters bought enough material to supply 10 to 15 heroin or morphine cook-ups. Homebake addicts use six small packets (16 to 20 tablets in each) of codeinebased drugs for one cook-up. A cook-up can produce up to

eight heroin or morphine injections. The reporters said they had little trouble buying large quantities of the codeine products in a test of a police assertion on Wednesday that addicts had lists of a few “tame” chemists who supplied Pirophen, Panadeine or Codral Forte with no questions asked. Their survey of 25 Auckland pharmacies included the seven named by the police to the Health Department yesterday as regular

suppliers to homebake addicts. The three “Star” reporters visited the chemists on Wednesday and yesterday, asking for codeinebased Pirophen, Codral Forte or Panadeine. They said a number of chemists breached Pharmaceutical Society recommendations that the codeinebased products be kept out of sight, that one small packet be sold to each customer, and that it be signed for when bought. One of the seven pharma-

cies named to the department handed over its entire stock of Pirophen, which contains lOmg of codeine, without any questions asked. The Auckland president of the Chemist’s Guild, Mr Owen Berrill, said yesterday that he was “sad and very disappointed” at the results of the “Auckland Star” survey. The guild and the Pharmaceutical Society had sent countless letters to chemists containing “stringent warnings about professional re-

sponsibility,” he said. “We have been constantly concerned since homebake use began in Auckland over 2% years ago,” said Mr Berrill. “Ninety-eight per cent of chemists are taking responsible action. It is the others who give us a bad name.” He said sales of packets of 10, 16 and 20 pills were sufficient. “The codeine-based tablets should not be on sale to the general public and should not be visible to customers,” he said.