TAKEOUT METHADONE TARGETED

Whether the city can ban takeout sales of methadone in Surrey pharmacies
was the dominant question at Monday's council meeting.

Politicians debated a change to the business licence bylaw which would
require all methadone prescriptions filled in Surrey to be consumed before
the patient leaves the premises.

Some recovering addicts on the provincial maintenance program are now
allowed to take home a supply of methadone so they don't have to go to the
drug store every day, thus making it easier for them to hold down jobs or
go to school. Right now, the doctors treating the addicts decide who can
take methadone home and who must take it in the drug store.

A report from city solicitor Craig MacFarlane claims "most" of those
takeout prescriptions - known as "carries" - are sold illegally on the
street, a practice the city wants to end.

MacFarlane said the illegal trade in methadone contributes to criminal
activity and he sees the bylaw as a way to put and end to it.

Several councillors, however, doubted the city's right to change the way
methadone is dispensed.

"I need to know under what authority we can do this," Coun. Marvin Hunt said.

"How do we deal with carries on the weekends? I'm not certain this is the
right way to deal with it."

Coun. Dianne Watts, head of Surrey's public safety committee, said the city
can't override the doctor/patient relationship but has to do something
about the illegal methadone on the city's streets. She blamed the province
for lax supervision of the methadone treatment program offered to
recovering addicts for the problem.

"This is somewhere we really didn't want to go nor, perhaps, should we. If
we got the assistance we need from other levels of government, we wouldn't
have to do this," Watts said.

Mayor Doug McCallum joined Watts in attacking the province and the College
of Pharmacists of B.C. for not working with the city to alleviate the problem.

"The control end of it is completely gone. We've talked to them and they
stick their heads in the sand and say it's not a problem. Well, the
community around these (methadone) dispensaries has been completely
destroyed. That's a fact," McCallum said.

College registrar Linda Lytle said pharmacists have little control over
carries once they leave the premises and questioned how MacFarlane could
know most are sold on the street.

"Once it's out there, it's pretty hard to track," Lytle said.

She said her organization wants to help but can only make sure pharmacies
comply with existing regulations.

Some councillors also questioned MacFarlane's claim.

Coun. Penny Priddy, a former NDP health minister, said there are about
8,000 methadone users in B.C. and about 20 per cent have carry privileges.
While Priddy acknowledged some of the methadone does get into the black
market, she noted other prescription drugs like Demerol and Percodan find
their way there, too.

"We're not asking those people ... to take their dosage in front of the
pharmacist."

In the end, council asked the legal department to clarify the city's
position and report back in two weeks.

Minister of State for Mental Health and Surrey-Panorama Ridge MLA Gulzar
Cheema could not be reached for comment before press time.