Review the sale of over the counter codeine

292
signatures
closedDepartment of Health and Social CareOpened 7 August 2025Closed 7 February 2026

Background

A review could explore the feasibility of a system in which a notification is sent through to the patient's GP surgery. This way, there'd be a better audit trail for how many times someone purchases this medication. This could then be looked at if the patient is buying the medication regularly.

Additional details

I believe the current system for buying over the counter codeine is flawed. It seems easy to buy as I feel there isn't an effective audit trail. I think this could be contributing to opioid addictions. I believe that the pharmacy and the manufacturer have a duty of care to all patients purchasing this medication and that the system should be tightened up in order to help stop the misuse of codeine. I think this could ultimately save lives.

Where it’s popular

Constituencies with the most signatures on this petition.

Source: UK Government & Parliament Petitions service. Petition ID: 733335.