Welcome to your August issue, which has a summery-type of feel to it.
Fintan Moore writes about — among other things — the sense of panic that washes over some people when a bee enters the pharmacy. He also discusses what it feels like to get some positive feedback from the local GP. So often, due to perceived sleights or miscommunications, a relationship between the local GP and pharmacist can become terse, but sometimes the partnership works well.
One of the reasons for the GP’s compliments was the fact that he was lucky enough to deal with a pharmacist who not only comes to him with problems, but also with solutions.
True to form, when Fintan describes the kerfuffle when a bee flies into the pharmacy, he also offers a solution, in the form of a handy little bee- friendly gadget that will allow you to easily return them safely to the wild. Bees are our valued friends, so I am googling this device as we speak.
Summer is of course concert season, along with all the risky drug-taking that involves, Dr Des Corrigan provides an update on some of the newer synthetic compounds doing the rounds. These include “not only medicinal products still used clinically or that have been discontinued, but also molecules (orphines) that can be described as failed pharmaceutical drugs that never made it into clinical use,” Des writes.
I had certainly never heard of these illicit drugs, and the exotic names drug dealers give to these concoctions never ceases to amaze me — ‘Space Oil’, ‘The Holy Trinity’, and ‘Red Apples’ are among the colorful new labels drug dealers are coming up with.
The dazzling array of drug names reminded me of the Ali G sketch from the 1990s, where he pranks the late renowned Clinical Toxicologist Prof John Henry in what was presented to the Prof as a serious interview. Referring to cannabis, Ali G asks: “What is (sic) the names for it; we all know it is called the Bionic, the Bomb, the Sensi, the Black, the Chronic, the Sweet Mary Jane, the Shit, the Bang, the Reefer, the Bag, the Buddha, the Home Grown, the Ill, the Maui Maui, the Method, the Pot, the Shake, the Stress, the Thai, the wacky… but is there any other terms that parents should be aware of?” Without batting an eyelid, The Prof replies: “Hash, Blow or Draw.”
You can also read wonderful columns by Dr Catriona Bradley, and Terry Maguire ‘Up North’, as it were. Catriona writes about the need for a professional voice in pharmacy that is distinct from the other voices on the landscape, whilst Terry does what perhaps more of us should do — take a trip down memory lane to revisit some of our childhood haunts.
Along with our excellent clinical content, we hope this month provides you with a magazine that will inform and entertain.
Pat Kelly, pat@greenx.ie
