Pubdate: Tue, 30 Dec 2003 Source: Northern Territory News (Australia) Copyright: 2003 Northern Territory News Contact: http://ntnews.news.com.au/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/283 Author: Paul Dyer Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) EXPECT QUESTIONS IF YOU WANT FLU TABLETS Territory Pharmacies will crack down on the sale of cold and flu tablets in a bid to curb the manufacture of illicit drugs. The non-prescription medicines are to be moved from the shelves to behind the counter. Pharmacists can also question suspicious customers and limit the number of packets they buy. NT chief health officer Steven Skov said cold and flu medicines often contained pseudoephedrine - a key component in the manufacture of methamphetamine, commonly called speed. He said the campaign aimed to prevent medecine bought from a pharmacy being used to manufacture the popular party drug. "All over Australia people have started to notice this business of people going into chemist shops and buying repeated packets of common cold preparations," he said. "This is designed to make it more difficult for people to pick up three packets of this stuff." Mr Skov said pharmacists could refuse service. But he said it was voluntary and there were no legal requirements for either pharmacists or customers to comply. "We are trying to get pharmacists to have a bit of a look at the person and think about whether there might be something that is a little bit suspicious," he said. "We are just trying to get pharmacists to be more aware." In WA, customers are required to show photographic identification to buy pseudoephedrine. Mr Skov said more stringent restrictions could be introduced in the Territory. The initiative is a collaboration of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia NT, NT Police, Pharmacy Board of the NT and the Health and Community Services Department. - --- MAP posted-by: Josh