Opioids Codeine Linctus [in the UK] now ALWAYS requires a prescription

[ChemicallyEnhanced]

It's always been "up to the pharmacists discretion" whether they will sell you codeine linctus (codeine syrup) without a prescription.
I have tried twice in the past year and been told it's not sold without prescription.

I just found out that as of February 2024, they changed the laws around it so that now the sale of Codeine Linctus DOES always require a prescription.
Was anybody else completely unaware of this?

 

[negrogesic]

Probably because of all the chavs and young brits that have been influenced by American hip-hop culture with respect to using codeine syrups to mimick the beverage "lean". This probably caused a pronounced uptick in the use/abuse of codeine syrups.

 

[paranoid android]

Codeine is very rarely sold otc at pharmacies here in this part of Canada either. You can buy 1 bottle a month but hardly any pharmacy still sells

 

[3DQSAR]

I'm not entirely certain that all UK pharmacists understand that the law has changed. A few months ago my elderly relative asked my to buy a bottle for her (she has limited mobility) and the pharmacy assistant went to look and said 'sorry, we have sold out at the moment' but didn't mention anything about a prescription being needed.

On balance, it's possibly a good thing as so many people begin their opioid abuse with codeine and 600mg in a bottle is nigh on a fatal dose for someone without tolerance.

 

[Jnowhere]

Don't you have a labour's party government? The Democrats over here caused problems with prescription opiods. The Left is now the all about controlling people's lives and micro managing society.

Who would have thought that the left is all about controlling people's lives.

 

[3DQSAR]

It's not as if ALL codeine containing medications have been banned. In fact, codeine has been a class B controlled drug for DECADES. But the makers of the linctus used a loophole that excluded compound medications. Now I suspect that when the law was formulated they were thinking of paracetamol + codeine (for example) but the sticky linctus was considered a 'compound' because of whatever makes it sticky also eases coughs.

So in truth, it's ALWAYS been a bit of a grey area. For the last decade VERY few pharmacies stocked the stuff. In the city where I live, there were two out of dozens.

It's just the fact that one bottle contained a lot. Enough to kill. If they had just made smaller bottles, I suspect it wouldn't have become an issue.

But legal control has just resulted in more and more potent compounds becoming the logical choice for illicit chemists - Grisham's Law in action.