2 October 1999

Overhaul of drug laws in dire need to protect the public

(Keywords:- psychotropic drugs, illegal sales, pharmacists, dispensary owners)

          There were times when “illegal” sales of soft psychotrophic drugs were rampant -- easily available over the counters of many dispensaries and medicine shops with no question asked. Some blacksheep of the medical profession also joined the rank, “selling” soft drugs for a financial gain instead of dispensing  them for treatment. With more stringent control of movements of these drugs, such as statutory requirements of detail recordings, the situation has improved.

          Yet, loopholes still exist. It has been widely reported in the media time and again that “test purchases” have proven that  prescription drugs are readily obtainable without doctors’ prescriptions. A medical doctor has done the same experiment using his staff with success.

          Fallacies abound. In 1998, the Department of Health has instigated 9,399 test purchases resulting in 51 prosecutions, with penalties ranging from warning letters, to monetary fine, to revoking of licence. But what are the proportions of penalties? For it is the severity of the punishment, not the punishment itself, that deter people from abusing the law. To wit, a fine of a couple of thousand dollars may well be a drop in the ocean out of the mammoth profit reaped from illegal sales of drugs. Revoking the “licence to sell prescription drugs” in a dispensary does not stop it from illegal transaction because it is doing illegal sales without prescription anyway.

          In defense of the effectiveness of the prosecution, the Department of Health has argued that dispensaries without a licence to sell prescription drugs are not allow to stock such drugs. Yes, legally obtained prescription drugs will be confiscated, yet from the start they may well be selling “illegally obtained” drugs already. But, of course, that is the Security Bureau’s responsibility!

          Regrettably, this is not the end of the bureaucratic steeplechase. The current law on drug sales and the law enforcing body  -- the Pharmacy and Poisons Board through the Department of Health -- do not extend to drugs that are imported for the purpose of re-export. Whilst the law requires that such stocks must be accompanied by the relevant documents, there is no monitoring, let alone assurance that the exportation has actually taken place either in total or in part. Perhaps this accounts for the availability of illegally obtained drugs. But, of course, such is the remit of the Customs and Excise Department.

          It may be argued that pharmacists are perhaps the best gate keepers for the proper control of sales of drugs. After all, any sale of “dangerous drugs” should go through their hands. Whilst few would doubt the integrity of the pharmacist profession and their willingness to be accountable, circumstances are such that often times, they are not allowed to take responsibilities.

          Unlike the dental profession, there is no legal requirement for including pharmacist into a dispensary’s ownership. In reality, most pharmacists are employed by pure businessmen who hold the licence.

          It has been widely reported that often times, the licence holders of dispensaries indiscriminately sell dangerous drugs while the pharmacists, the persons responsible, are conveniently absent from the premises. Fear of losing their jobs, the pharmacists are often forced to turn a blind eye and passively condone the act that is against their professional conduct. There have been reports that some pharmacists were even threatened to actually involve in such illegal act.

          According to the Administration, an overhaul of our various laws on pharmacy and drugs is in the pipeline. However, if such revamp fail to address all these problems, our officials would still owe the public the responsibility of protecting them from drug abuses.

(Hongkong Standard)