18 August 2009 - Any steps to make methamphetamine (P) harder to manufacture or procure should be welcomed says the anti-P campaign group, the Stellar Trust.

Trust Chairman Alistair Burry said the Government should act quickly to follow through on a recommendation from Dr Peter Gluckman, the Prime Minister's Chief Science Adviser, to ban the P pre-cursor drug from all but prescription or hospital treatments.

``When you see the toll P takes on addicts, their families, friends and work mates, then any step that makes this terrible drug more difficult to make and obtain should be encouraged and implemented sooner rather than later,'' says Mr Burry.

``The Trust acknowledges the very good work that pharmacists and others have undertaken to restrict access to over-the-counter medicines that contain pseudoephedrine, but taking the next step to ban these medications seems to be the next logical move in the fight against this insidious and highly addictive drug.''

Mr Burry said the Stellar Trust had been formed to both educate communities about the dangers of P and provide help, but also to shift Local and Government policy on minimising the harm the drug causes in New Zealand.

``With that policy focus in mind we'd urge the Government to introduce this measure.

``I'm sure there will be those that argue the wider problem is the ongoing illegal importation of pre-cursor drugs in bulk and that is a larger problem.

``But access to these pre-cursor drugs through pharmacies continues to provide illegal drug manufacturers with a source of their ingredients and continues to threaten the security of those pharmacies and their staff.

``Dr Gluckman's recommendation will go some way to alleviating those problems at minimal inconvenience to those suffering from heavy colds.''