Tuesday, August 12, 2008

City prepares new regulations for methadone dispensaries

From Surrey (BC) Now:
Surrey is set to adopt tougher rules to regulate pharmacies that dispense methadone.

Modeled on similar bylaws in Vancouver, council has given preliminary approval to new regulations aimed at preventing the concentration of these pharmacies in the Whalley downtown core.

Pharmacies dispensing methadone, a synthetic drug used to treat drug addiction, will have to be at least 400 metres away from another one.

Councillor Linda Hepner said the purpose of the stringent rules is to prevent small pharmacies from getting around being classed as a methadone dispensary simply by stocking "a few hair products and an aspirin."

"It is something we want to get a better control of," Hepner said.

The city centre has 16 full-service drugstores that dispense methadone and five methadone dispensaries. The dispensaries are all in the Whalley core within a few steps or blocks of each other. ...more

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