Written question asked by Ashok Kumar (Labour) on Tuesday, 3 July 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 5 July 2007. It was answered by Baroness Primarolo (Labour) on Thursday, 12 July 2007 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Methylamphetamine

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what recent steps he has taken to prevent the sale of over-the-counter medicines for the manufacture of methylamphetamine; and what assessment he has made of whether the classification of medicines containing ephedrine and pseudoephedrine as pharmacy available plays a role in the illegal manufacture of methylamphetamine;

Answer: The manufacture of methylamphetamine in the United Kingdom is believed to be at a low level currently, but is thought to be increasing. The reclassification of methylamphetamine to Class A under the Misuse of Drugs Act on 18 January 2007 is now enabling the collection and analysis of more specific data on methylamphetamine use in the UK. However no formal assessment has yet been made of the prevalence of the use of over the counter medicines to manufacture methylamphetamine.On 7 March 2007, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency started a public consultation exercise on proposals to restrict the availability of medicines containing pseudoephedrine and ephedrine by a change to legal status from pharmacy to prescription only, together with a restriction in pack size. This followed advice from the Commission on Human Medicines that non-statutory measures, such as rigorous supervision of pharmacy sales of single packs, were not sufficient alone to protect public health. The consultation exercise ended on 29 June 2007 and the results are currently being evaluated. Part of that evaluation includes the effect of action to introduce restrictions on supply including reclassification, taken in other countries, on the role of these medicines in the manufacture of methylamphetamine.

Secondary information