The previous Labour Government used to be called the Nanny State after the number of restrictions they placed on the lives of citizens doing day to day tasks. However, one of the better things that the previous Government did was to lower the restrictions on some pharmaceutical drugs so that you would not need a doctors prescription to get access to some medications. This means that people who need the drugs but cannot afford to visit the doctor regularly for repeat prescriptions can more easily purchase what they needed.

Since the National Government took power a little over a year ago there has been a steady increase in restricting access to common and well used drugs. One of the first drugs to be restricted was pseudoephedrine which is commonly used in cold and flu medications but also used as a precursor ingredient in the manufacture of pure methamphetamine aka ‘P’. Following on from this the Government decided to make it illegal to drive while under the influence of benzodiazepines. Now the Herald reports that the government is looking at putting restrictions on the use of codeine because of “addiction fears”.

These restrictions are now beginning to get plain stupid. The government was elected on a policy of getting tough on drugs. Restricting access to common pharmaceuticals to ordinary citizens is not the approach to take on this. The major drug rings do not get the majority of their chemicals through pharmacies – they don’t get enough volumes this way, it is too expensive and too many questions get asked. Instead of restricting access and making life deliberately and unnecessarily complex for ordinary uses of common medications the government needs to invest more in the police, border security and actually targeting the major importers and cooks of the drug manufacturing process. However, this will probably require more action than hot talk, so somehow I doubt it will happen.