As laws are being drafted to regulate the sale of alternative medicine, consumers are being warned against buying drugs off the Internet for personal use.

’We are trying to encourage people to stop buying drugs off the Internet because you are not seeing what you are buying. In many instances these are counterfeit drugs and you don’t know whether these medicines would in fact help you,’ an official at the Food and Drugs Administration said.

The official said a team of professionals has been hand-picked to scrutinise every drug which enters the Trinidad market. ’Every individual who operates a herbal shop or any other alternative medicine, has to be registered.’

The retailer must also provide a Free Sale Certificate which indicates that the drugs are being sold in the country of origin.

’We do have a level of control over the sale of herbal drugs and other medicines in Trinidad and Tobago. The shops are cooperating in providing all of the documents to become registered,’ he said.

Another FDA official said that there would be a new definition for herbal medicines when the regulations are introduced. He said in drawing up the regulations the use of traditional hand-me-down medicines was taken into account. But the official admitted monitoring the use of herbal products had been difficult .

He said there were no set standards governing the dispensation of herbal medicines and their popularity and rampant use forced experts to re-examine the products by formulating laws to protect a long line of disgruntled customers.

He said a draft code for advertising was expected to be introduced when the new regulations take effect.

But many herbal medicine importers have lashed out against the move with some complaining about a registration fee of $700 for each herbal item imported.

Australia-trained practitioner of herbal remedies, Franco Phillip, who heads Natural Balance clinic at Alexandra Street, St Clair, Port of Spain, said he was concerned about the new system.

He said that for the past 10 years he had been bringing in many products in small quantities.

Phillip said he had written to the FDA calling for special consideration but his requests went unheeded.

He said that it had become very difficult to import herbal products.