METH MOVE QUESTIONED

In Brief: A ban on some cough and cold remedies in all but pharmacies
is being questioned by an association that represents many grocers.

Sometimes the decision to ban or severely restrict the sale of a
product in the interests of public health is clear-cut, tobacco being
the prime example.

Choking off advertising and restricting where tobacco products are
sold and to whom have helped save lives.

Tobacco is a legal product, but the overwhelming medical evidence is
that it is also a lethal product, responsible for millions of cases
of lung cancer and heart disease.

However, it's an altogether more difficult issue when it comes to
banning or restricting legal products used by millions of Canadians
just because they can become lethal in the wrong hands.

The Saskatchewan government has done just that in the case of almost
30 brand-name cough and cold products containing ingredients that can
be used to make the deadly illegal drug crystal meth. It means widely
used cough and cold syrup products for children and sinus drugs for
adults will be yanked from the shelves of convenience stores,
groceries and gas bars and will only be available at pharmacies.

Urban consumers will face little inconvenience, but residents of
small towns without a pharmacy will have to drive to a bigger centre
to buy their cough and cold remedies.

Last November, the province, along with Alberta and Manitoba moved
some cough and cold products behind pharmacy counters because they
were the most easily used in the production of crystal meth.

However, the province is going it alone in now banning products from
all but pharmacies, raising the ire of the Canadian Federation of
Independent Grocers (CFIG). It says the move doesn't make sense
because the products will be on open display in pharmacies. "If they
had taken the products from grocery shelves and moved them behind the
pharmacy (counter) we could understand that and we'd be able to
explain," says CFIG vice-president Gary Sands.

CFIG says there's no evidence small retail sales of cough and cold
medicine are fueling crystal meth production and is concerned the
move was recommended by pharmacists -- who will now have the market
for such products to themselves.

We don't underestimate the danger posed by crystal meth, but banning
products is a serious step. CFIG's concerns should be addressed.