Editorial: Delivery industry must follow the rules on drug purchases

The food delivery industry, and drug sellers, must follow the rules when it comes to drug purchases, writes the editor.

Consumers are bulk-buying paracetamol tablets via delivery apps.

Painkiller addiction, and painkiller overdoses, are serious problems in our society.

Every year, 225 Australians end up in hospital and 50 Australians die due to paracetamol overdoses – both intentional and accidental.

Chemists and supermarkets limit the number of paracetamol tablets a person can buy at a time for this very reason. But as we reveal today, people are buying more than 100 tablets at a time through delivery apps, despite the over-the-counter limits being 16 tablets.

How do we know this? We put claims from members of the public to the test, and using a delivery app, 112 paracetamol tablets were picked up from a convenience story and delivered in less than 20 minutes.

We have reported in the past about delivery apps dropping off alcohol to alcoholics – or people under the age of 18 – bypassing the Responsible Service of Alcohol (RSA) guidelines in the process.

The Alcohol and Drug Foundation has called for steps, including a two-hour delay between ordering and delivery, drivers receiving proper RSA training, banning late-night deliveries and proper ID checks on delivery. All good ideas.

For the delivery of pharmaceuticals, drivers would just need to be kept abreast of the number limits for each delivery, as well as running a quick visual check to see if the person they are delivering to seems to be under the influence of drugs, or under stress.

Clearly, these are steps that the delivery industry needs to take, and in many cases have already taken. But as our reporters have discovered, guidelines are not always followed.

For 112 tablets to be delivered to our reporters, both the convenience store worker and
the delivery driver would have to be unaware of the law, or wilfully ignorant.

Perhaps if the current restrictions were enforced a little more vigilantly, stores and delivery drivers would stop taking the risk, and addicts – and at-risk people – would not be able to receive potentially lethal doses at the click of a button.

LETTING KIDS BE KIDS

In today’s exclusive interview with Courier-Mail federal political editor Clare Armstrong, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he is determined to enact age restrictions on social media use that passed with bipartisan support late last year.

It is heartening to hear because the social media companies have used the year’s grace period they were given – ostensibly to come up with the mechanisms they will use to enforce the age 16 limit – to lobby aggressively to water down the restrictions.

Our world-leading laws have even been raised by some US politicians as an “attack on freedom”. It is a ridiculous argument – you don’t let children smoke or drink alcohol because it is harmful, particularly for growing bodies. Australia’s social media age restrictions are based on exactly the same principal.

Let’s not forget what sparked The Courier-Mail’s Let Them Be Kids campaign that eventually sparked this reform – a tragic litany of suicides, self-harm, eating disorders, body dysmorphia, bullying and abuse.

Lives were lost and young people were broken. As a society, how could we stand by and do nothing?

And while we have occasionally been frustrated at the slow pace of change under Mr Albanese – he says it is to make sure we get it right – we are heartened that it appears he hasn’t lost sight of why Australia is making this change.

“I think there is clear support for this across the community,” he said. He is right. Polling on this issue in December found that
64 per cent of Australians supported the age ban. That is a massive majority for any issue.

Currently, the age limit is due to apply to popular platforms such as TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook, but a review of the plan currently underway is considering if YouTube should also be captured having initially been exempted due to “educational uses”.

And while it is important that the new laws do what they are intended to do, we need to be careful that we don’t let perfection be the enemy of good – something that Mr Albanese recognises.

Indeed, with the fast pace of change in the social media world, there is a danger that new developments put the enforcement of laws on hold repeatedly, something that would no doubt delight the tech giants.

“We await the review, that’s why we’re doing it, we’re taking out time to get it right,” Mr Albanese said. “It’s important, not just for Australia, but there are implications and internationally.

“The world is watching.”

He is right. And unlike certain US tech moguls, the majority of mums and dads around the world are on Australia’s side.

Responsibility for election comment is taken by Chris Jones, corner of Mayne Rd & Campbell St, Bowen Hills, Qld 4006. Printed and published by NEWSQUEENSLAND (ACN 009 661 778). Contact details here