DublinTown welcomes stricter rules on the illicit sale of benzodiazepines and ‘z-drugs’
- Thu 11 May, 2017
The Department of Health announced new rules under the Misuse of Drugs Act, which came into effect last week. DublinTown has lobbied for such stricter rules on the illicit selling of these prescription drugs since 2012.
These new restrictions mean stricter prescribing procedures for certain medications including benzodiazepines (Valium and Xanax) and z-type drugs (Zopiclone and Zalephon).
The new provisions also aid the law enforcement activities of An Garda Síochána giving them additional authority to take prosecutions in relation to the illicit sale of such substances.
Richard Guiney CEO of DublinTown commented:
We first brought this to the attention of the Department of Health in 2012 and wrote draft legislation in 2013. We raised it again at a Joint Policing Committee meeting in 2016 to ensure this issue would be addressed. We were concerned with the street sale of very powerful medicines and there was little that could be done about it. Under these new rules, Gardaí are in a position to take action against the illicit sale of these drugs on the street.