China new regulation requiring people to give their real names when
buying cold medicine is causing its own kind of reaction.
The State Food and Drug
Administration last week demanded pharmacies take down the real names and ID of
people buying medicine containing ephedrine - a substance commonly used in cold
medicines that can also be used to produce the drug methamphetamine.
"It's the police's duty to
crack down on those drug dealers, but the responsibility has been transferred
to us, which I don't find fair," said Fu Guangxin, a 26-year-old editor
for a fashion magazine in Beijing.
She wondered if the real-name
system might have any effect in preventing people from making drugs from cold
medicine.
"How can you make sure the
information you register today will not be released tomorrow and then followed
by continuous junk mail?" she said.
In response to complaints from
customers, some pharmacies are simply recommending non prescription drugs or
traditional Chinese medicine, which do not require personal information.
Cui Chunying, a 45-year-old
saleswoman in Beijing, said yesterday that she was not optimistic about the
real-name system.
"It's the rule, we have to
follow it," she said.
Only one customer has left his
personal information for cold medicine, Cui said.
"You need to come with your
ID card and provide your name and telephone number for a box of simple
medicine," she said.
"Even foreigners have to
bring their passports," she said.
Experts are also trying to
enhance the safety of customer information.
"We're seriously concerned
about the possibility of personal data leakage after the implementation of the
new rule," said Li Guifang, deputy director of the criminal defence
committee under the All China Lawyers' Association.
"I suggest some supporting
regulations be issued to make pharmacy staff liable if they illegally disclose
customers' personal information," he said.
Moreover, authorities should
strengthen the management of chemicals that make it easy to produce and
circulate drugs, Li added.
Dai Peng, director of the
criminal investigation department under the Chinese People's Public Security
University, said anti-drug police officers can use the registered ID
information to investigate misuse of the medicines.
"If someone purchases a very
large number of, or frequently buys certain type of remedies containing
ephedrine, and the amount of the purchases is beyond a reasonable demand for
treatment, there is a possibility that they could be using the medicine for
making drugs," Dai said.
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