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Aus - Recommended clampdown on codeine will cost $1bn: report

poledriver

poledriver

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Recommended clampdown on codeine will cost $1bn: report

A plan to force Australians to see a doctor for any medicine containing codeine will cost the health budget more than $1 billion over four years, according to a new report.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration has recommended that any medicine containing the opioid be prescription-only from June 1, 2016 to combat rising addiction rates and health risks, with a final decision to be made later this month.

An analysis of the plan, undertaken for the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, says it would result in 8.7 million extra GP visits each year, costing taxpayers more than $300 million or $1.27 billion over the forward estimates.


Read more at http://www.9news.com.au/health/2015...down-will-cost-1bn-report#SsYmHkCDSPclcjkt.99
 
Sounds like a terrible idea. I would think most people in Australia would just buy some every day between now and then--you'd have like 10 years worth... Then you can always switch to heroin.
 
so this is actually going to happen?

seems so ridiculous, how stupid can we get
 
There is no way this will happen IMO. Not with the current government, they won't spend money on something so trivial. Codeine isn't like ice, heroin or "flakka", there is no public stigma attached to this at all. I can't imagine this has much support among voters, I would be surprised if the average Australian voter was aware this was even being considered.
 
A few year's back here in the UK the media there was lot's of crap about aload of people being secretly hooked on codeine and unable to get help. There was talks of making it prescription only, thankfully GP's and the BMA came out against it saying it'd cost the NHS loads of money because of the extra people going to see doctor's and getting prescribed 8mg/500mg codeine/paracetamol tablets.

In Oz where you have private or semi-private health care this may not matter as it's all about the $£€¥¢!

I think if codeine was being used to make ester's of morphine such as Desomorphine aka krokodil (That shit they make in Russia, though here in the last couple of months in the North East of England we've had reports it's going around.) on a large scale like pseudoephedrine to methamp' then and only then would they make it prescription only.
 
We have a fairly similar healthcare system to the NHS.
I hope - for lots of reasons - that this doesn't get put into place.
But it's hard to say, as the Australian healthcare system seems to be getting pushed further and further towards the American private health system nightmare all the time with our fucking tory government.
 
The Tory scum in power here in the UK are trying to do the same here spacejunk.
 
spacejunk said:
But it's hard to say, as the Australian healthcare system seems to be getting pushed further and further towards the American private health system nightmare all the time with our fucking tory government.
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Yup, this is one of the reasons I have a big problem with the so called "conservative" and "liberal" forced in power/government. As was said, it's all about the all mighty AUD/$! Despite how obsessed I am with the beautiful, intelligent Australian ladies, stuff like this makes me less interested in moving there...
 
Fortunately, we still have functioning public healthcare system.
It's just that the conservatives are always trying to undermine it - but it is something a lot of aussies are pretty passionate about, so its not easy for the slimy bastards :)

You ever been here toothpastedog?
 
Oh you bloody fools. Is it still not obvious that doing this will result in another spike in Heroin ODs?

Yes, I know Codeine is weak compared to Diacetylmorphine (although the small percentage of users with extra copies of CYP 2D6 may disagree), but it won't matter if a bunch of OTC Codeine consumers need their fix but can only get their hands on Smack.

Oh you obtuse dolts, discombobulated tools, and slack-jawed daffodils.
 
ro4eva said:
Oh you bloody fools. Is it still not obvious that doing this will result in another spike in Heroin ODs?

.
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People would still go to a bulk billed doctor free of charge and get a script. Knowing junkies like I do I'm sure they would simple go to three or four to feed a habit. The risk of a full blown heroin spike is next to nil.
 
One Thousand Words said:
People would still go to a bulk billed doctor free of charge and get a script. Knowing junkies like I do I'm sure they would simple go to three or four to feed a habit. The risk of a full blown heroin spike is next to nil.
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If that option is open for them, then I think you're absolutely correct. And I'd go that route myself (well, I actually did somewhat several years ago).

That being said, if a governing body persistently tightens the noose, thus, persistently making it more and more difficult for a doctor to prescribe Rx opioids to the point where the chances of them prescribed mirrors that of a Schedule II drug such as Desoxyn (Methamphetamine), then eventually, many of those users will - probably due to an enormous disparity in street prices - make the switch, or, perhaps begin a maintenance treatment program with Methadone or Buprenorphine (or even quit for good, ideally).

Of those who do switch to smack however, it's extremely likely that their route of administration will, for a time, either be oral and/or nasal (typically out of fear of the increased risk of ODing and/or contracting Hep C and/or HIV when using needles). And in the not too distant future, when their tolerance is so sky high that even they begin to note the impracticality of spending even more money on their next fix, their r.o.a. will change to IM and afterwards IV (and after that IV directly in the jugular). And among each of these changes, absolutely there will be a percentage who will decide that it's time to try and quit (or perhaps try the liquid handcuffs).
 
This is a step in the wrong direction. They should just look at what has happened in the states and take a few notes from that. It is scary that people that have never been an addict, experienced withdrawals, or more than likely not dealt with addiction on a personal level have the ability to sign away something that probably is helping more people than hurting them.
 
manboychef said:
This is a step in the wrong direction. They should just look at what has happened in the states and take a few notes from that. It is scary that people that have never been an addict, experienced withdrawals, or more than likely not dealt with addiction on a personal level have the ability to sign away something that probably is helping more people than hurting them.
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That is exactly the point I've been trying to get across to everyone that is willing to listen.

These people who have the authority to make it so that certain substances are controlled while having never personally consumed any of them in the first place have absolutely no comprehension of how it feels to go through (among other things) a protracted 'Street Drug' addiction such as Heroin or Meth. And as a consequence, they have no fucking clue of the acute and long term implications regarding a decision to clamp down even further on a controlled substance such as Codeine. They're essentially ensuring that more people will turn to the black market.

Could you imagine how furious countless mothers would be if a male politician would publicly contend that he personally knows how it feels to become pregnant and give birth? Perhaps it's a poor analogy, but the fact remains: they have no idea what they're doing regarding the War on (certain) Drugs, and after several decades of spectacular failure and zero tangible progress, it sure as hell shows, doesn't it? And it sure as hell is way past time that more and more of us begin to realize this stark reality.
 
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you are so right about the war on drugs. the only thing that has changed in the states is it has become even more lucrative to get into the racket. We funnel vast amounts of money down to cartels, while we imprison our addicts and force them to deal with insane withdrawals....I wish there was a medication that made you feel withdrawals just for a couple days and all cops and politicians had to take it at least once,,,and if they start getting fast and loose with drug laws again they have to take the drug again.
 
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