Move RS Teh le pias Sicetieniprrarerama ARS ASAR EOD ET heap rs Rev LEGION LOSES LIQUOR LICENCE NORTH VANCOUVER’S Royal Canadian Legion (RCL) branch 118 will be without its liquor licence this weekend following a provincial Liquor Control and Licensing in- vestigation into inadequate door controls at the club. Deputy general manager of the Liquor Control! and Licensing branch Ed Owsianski said Wed- nesday the club, at 123 West 15th Street, had been warned several times that its door was not being Properly controlled and that non-meinbers and unregistered guests were being served. He said the information had been forwarded to the RCL’s Pacific Command, which subse- quently recommended the North Vancouver branch's’ licence be lifted. , - Dr. Olga Kempo, . head of the modern language department at North Vancouver’s Capilano ‘College and director of the Council of Canadians, is con- * cerned about ‘the proposed legis- lation to re-instate - long-term ’ drug patents. “The bill of .1969 served the -. best interest of _ Canadians,” Kempo said. That bill allowed production of generic drugs by paying a royalty ’ to the patent- holder who had ex- '. Glusive rights for 17 years. But the proposed bill prohibits for the first ‘10: ‘years of the pat- ‘ent. “the - ‘production: of: generic drugs - By TIMOTHY RENSHAW News Reporter The club’s licence will therefore be suspended today, Saturday and Sunday. Pacific Command spokesman Linda Sawyer said two complaints about the club’s loose door con- trol, one dating back to December 1985, had been registered with the command. “We had another in the spring and we gave the club a few months “CANADIANS ENJOY one of the lowest prices in the ‘world on prescription drugs,. but that could change if : pharmaceutical multinationals get their way. By ANNELIES RAVENSBERGEN Contributing Writer Kempo said there is no doubt that drug prices will increase: ‘‘It could potentially be wrecking our health care if prices of drugs become too terribly inflated.”’ The proposed bill has passed first reading in the House of Comnions. Frank Archer, president of the B.C. Pharmaceutical Society, said one of the top 20 most sold drugs is the ‘generic drug Cimetidine. for’ stomach ~ pro- blems. A bottle of 100 pills sells for $9 in Canada’ while its ‘counterpart Tagamet sells for $30 STANLEY DRUGS Ltd. president Leslie Strike and Carl Bryant, manager at the company’s factory, show off some of the natural source chewable vitamin C pills made ‘at the local firm. NEWS photo Miko Wakefisld - . Drug . Products to bring in corrective measures,’’ Sawyer said, ‘‘but they didn’t seem to be able to do anything about the Situation."* Under the terms of its club li- quor licence, the North Vancouver legion is permitted to serve only members and guests registered by those members. RCL members visiting from other legion branches are also required to register at the door. Sawyer added that it was the first time in ‘ta number of years”’ that any North Shore legion branch had had its liquor licence suspended and the first time in branch 118's history that its licence had been suspended. ‘*But we wanted to show them in the U.S. The tranquilizer Valium costs $6 in the U.S. while the Canadian generic version Diazapam costs a mere 20 cents per 100 pills. B.C. has the highest level of generic drug substitution although generic distribution is not mandatory in B.C., Archer said. Kempo said she believes the Mulroney government succumb- ed to pressure from the Reagan administration and phar- maceutical multinationals during free trade talks: ‘‘It would ap- pear that some kind of deal was made to get trade talks under- way."’ !She said Canadians should question why a law that is beneficial to Canadians should be changed to a law that is how serious we consider the situa- tion,’’ she said, “so we recom- mended the licence be suspended.” Branch 118’s president Marsh Pierce said Thursday a closed- circuit television system has now been installed at the club. The system allows bartenders to check membership cards and the identity of waiting patrons waiting at the door without having to leave the bar. Asked why the club had not tightened its door control after the initial complaint, Pierce said the issue was a club matter, ‘‘an inter- nal fester that would take a Philadelphia lawyer to unravel. It's not a public issue.” 3 ~ Friday, March 27, 1987 - North Shore News Inadequate door controls at NV club Weather: Friday, mainly. Saturday mostly cloudly. Highs near 10°C. INDEX Business ........... 22 Classified Ads....... 34 Doug Collins......... 9 Editorial Page........ 6 Entertainment... .... 25 Home & Garden...... N Horoscopes......... 27 Bob Huntey......... 4 Lifestyles .......... 23 Mailbox.............7 Movie ‘istings......27 TV Listings.........28 What's Going On.....32 detrimental. ‘‘Had we not had free trade talks and an anxious government for a free trade pact, we wouldn't be in this situation," Kempo said. The proposed bill will apply only to new drugs and promises a drug review board, but Archer sail the board will have little authority: ‘‘It’s only show.” He said there will be an impact Drug price hike predicte / on drug prices and the generic companies. “‘Generic: companies will not be able to’ flourish a6 they have in the past.”’ Kempo said multinationals make their research money back with a profit in .four years. ‘” “The return on their investment is phenomenal even with the system we have now,”’ she said. ‘ Archer said that a market for generic drugs has to develop be- GENERIC DRUG COMPANY IFA proposed drug patent act becomes law, it will slow down the growth of generic drug companies and prevent others from starting, a local producer of’ generic drugs says. Leslie Strike, president of Stanley Drug Products in North Vancouver, says the Canadian generic drug industry is held ran- -.som for free trade talks. “The multinationals, especially the American owned, are pressuring the government to amend the patent act to restore protection,’’ Strike said. Compulsory licensing was in- stated in 1969 and allows for competition by generic drug pro- ducers after paying a four per. cent royalty to the patent holder. . It brought down the price of drugs in Canada, Strike said. North Vancouver’s Stanley is the largest generic brand company in . Canada and a member of the Canadian - owned Novopharm, Canada's’ fourth largest drug company. The pharmaceutical industry is/ one of Canada’s most profitable industries with a total annual sale of $1.4 billion. By ANNELIzS RAVENSBERGEN Contributing Writer Stanley Drug Products employs 120 people and produces 300 products and a thousand labels, varying from over-the- - counter drugs to veterinary pro- ! ducts to skincare products. Strike said the use of generic drugs saved Canada some 3300 million last year. ‘*B.C. saved $3.5 million in Pharmacare only in 1986 by virtue of the fact that the top 10 drugs were largely generic,’ he said. Compulsory licensing has created 1,500 jobs | and reduced drug prices. ‘‘The present system works well, why change it?”” Strike said the B.C. governm- ent has requested the federal government to continue present legislation. Although generic drugs have reduced drug prices, phar- maceutical multinationals have fore a company will make the in- vestment. ‘‘Tagamet was a revo- lucionary drug, but it took at teast four years after it hit the market before the generic form came out,"’ he said. Kempo said the importance of drug cdsts is increasing because Canada is an aging nation. She said if the proposed bill passes, Canada could be back to ine sit-, uation of monopoly that existed before 1969. Kempo called the bil! unfair to people who will be in need of drugs. ‘‘It-is victimizing people who cannot fight for themselves,"’ she said. She said the public still has time to oppose the proposed leg- islation:; ‘‘My concern is that decisions are forced upon us by exterior forces."’ D Proposed patent act hits N. Van firm hard done well too, Strike said. ‘‘Even after 17 years of: compulsory licensing, 88 per cent of the mar- ket is for brand drugs,’’ he said. Although multinationals claim generic drugs are of less quality, Strike said generic drugs are the same or better. He said only companies that comply with the government’s Quality Assurance Drug program are licensed to sell their products to pharmacies and hospitals. Strike said 85 per cent of research money is spent on testing drugs. He said multina- tionals spent little money on orig- inal research in Canada because we hold only one per cent of the world market. “Novopharm is starting to do original research -because.its size is big enough to afford it,” Strike explained, saying his com- pany had cooperated with UBC in a two-year study on sugar-free calcium liquid. Strike believes in intellect pro- . tection through patent, but said it ‘can not be tolerated for lifesaving drugs. ‘‘It’s a monopoly situa- tion. The patient has to take it (medication), he has no choice.”