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pharmacies and drug laws?

ygolometsipe

A few months into covid, I stared thinking well if I get it, I am quarantined for two weeks, so I should get flu/cold remedies now.

However when I went to tesco I never saw "drowsy" cough syrup. Eventually I realized this can only be bought in a pharmacy.

This "awakened" my views on drugs and pharmacies. The last pharmacy I visited even has aspirin in the "locked window".

Does anyone else think this is really strange. I mean in tesco you can buy
a case of whiskey (which is far more damaging) and no one bats an eye lid.

However you cannot buy two packs of paracetamol (despite the obvious fact that Tesco is everywhere an you could clearly go across the road)

What is the nature of this policy? it seems really strange.

I know in the USA/Canada (Ireland prescription level) drugs are freely available in pharmacists however the opioid epidemic was a doctor prescription issue.

what percentage of people in Ireland are abusing drugs at such a level that asprin need to be locked away?

I recently read a report that cannabis/cocaine and alcohol are the most widely used drugs in Ireland and can be bough online and delivered via the web/dark web.

is it odd or am i wrong?

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ygolometsipe

global23214124 wrote: »

Yeah I agree with you. Across all the legal "drugs" you can get with or without prescription there is no balance. In America you can you buy a 100 pack of ibuprofen for like 5 dollars and nobody bats an eyelid (coming form 5 years ago experience, assuming its still the same now). Alcohol is just weirdly socially acceptable.

General question for all. Does Ireland have a problem with prescription meds?

ok but i was only using alcohol as an example.

the are plenty of toxic chemicals sold by tesco that can kill. I just don't see any numbers on any of this.

what % dies of alcohol intoxication?
what % dies of eating detergent?
what % dies from paracetamol?

I want to see a weighted graph!

i.e. if the population of Ireland is 5 million and 1% die of alcohol intoxication
then I want to see relative and valid reasons why "zyrtec"/"drowsy cough syrup /asprin" are locked. Why?

I really have no agenda here, i just think this is ****ing bizarre and it makes zero sense so I really would like to understand the policy. If someone shows up and
can prove to me that access to lethal chemicals like "detergents" (ffs even hand sanitizers is lethal, bleach, salt e.t.c.) is un-questioned
but paracetamol e.t.c. should be locked away, I really want to know why?.
you can buy x gallons of petrol, drink that?

As a policy, it's strangely stupid but yet oddly specific, so why??

I know this shouldn't bother me this much but I tend to get enraged with this kind of stuff. I genuinely through there was/is a reason, I hope! it really cannot just be this dumb.

BalcombeSt4

It's because some otc painkillers have Codeine in them. Codeine is a weak opiate, but it's in the same class of drugs as Morphine, Heroin, Vicodin, Oxycdone etc... it's unlikely you'll get addicted to Codeine because the high is so **** but a small % of people do get addicted, and it's a much, much smaller % compared to people who get addicted to Cider, Whiskey, Vodka etc...

Another otc drug with small abuse potential is a antihistamine called Diphenhydramine Hydrochloride, it can make you pretty drowsy & is used as a sleep aid. It's only been used here in Ireland as a sleep aid very recently in a brand form called Night Nurse 50mg, before that it was only used as an ingredient for a cough suppressant brand called Panadol Night which was 500mg of paracetamol & 25mg Diphenhydramine Hydrochloride. Again the high is so crap you'd get a better buzz banging your head off the wall until you felt drowsy. Like I said its only been used in Ireland as a sleep aid very recently, maybe 2 years or less, but has been used as a otc sleep aid in both the UK & US for decades.

ygolometsipe

BalcombeSt4 wrote: »

It's because some otc painkillers have Codeine in them. Codeine is a weak opiate, but it's in the same class of drugs as Morphine, Heroin, Vicodin, Oxycdone etc... it's unlikely you'll get addicted to Codeine because the high is so **** but a small % of people do get addicted, and it's a much, much smaller % compared to people who get addicted to Cider, Whiskey, Vodka etc...

Another otc drug with small abuse potential is a antihistamine called Diphenhydramine Hydrochloride, it can make you pretty drowsy & is used as a sleep aid. It's only been used here in Ireland as a sleep aid very recently in a brand form called Night Nurse 50mg, before that it was only used as an ingredient for a cough suppressant brand called Panadol Night which was 500mg of paracetamol & 25mg Diphenhydramine Hydrochloride. Again the high is so crap you'd get a better buzz banging your head off the wall until you felt drowsy. Like I said its only been used in Ireland as a sleep aid very recently, maybe 2 years or less, but has been used as a otc sleep aid in both the UK & US for decades.

I appreciate your post!! I have a few questions if you don't mind!
ok so something like Diphenhydramine (I don't know what that is) but you say its potential abuse is as a sleep aid. Isn't Alcohol (abused) as a sleep aid?
I have allergies and I take zirtek usually only in summer but it has never made me drowsy.
How common in your experience is prescription abuse vs illegal abuse and in your opinion what
mechanisms do you believe a "pharmacists " has to regulate this?

when you say otc drugs that have codeine, you mean solpadeine?
So what is a pharmacists strategy there?
pharmacists are not a doctor, they cannot write prescriptions.
are they trained detectives trying to "suss out an addiction"?
Where in this model of "abuse prevention" do "they" limit abuse?
i.e. i could pay someone 50 euro to "pretend" to be afflicted with x, what is the pharmacists role then?
At that point, how is a pharmacists more knowledgeable than a checkout lady?

[Deleted User]

A pharmacist job when you boil it down is to make sure medication is used as safely and effectively as possible. It's very easy to spot a person who is addicted to solpadeine. It's a bigger problem than the general public think.

If you take solpadeine long term, you get a tolerance to codeine. When you stop taking it. You get a headache. What do most people do when they get a headache. They'll pop another solpadeine. Thus the circle of addiction continues.

ygolometsipe

degsie wrote: »

Obvious solution is cannabis/cocaine on the shelves in Tesco. Sorted!

How many packets of cocaine/cannabis can a person buy?