IN TOKYO

JAPAN'S convenience stores  became more convenient on Monday.

They are now allowed to sell many types of common over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, such as cold tablets and pain-killers.

This new service is truly a godsend especially for people who need to buy such medicines in a hurry during late-night hours when regular pharmacies are mostly closed.

But not all the seven or so conveniences stores within easy reach of my office will start such sales immediately.

The latest revision in the pharmaceutical retail law stipulates that stores that do so must station sales clerks who are qualified to handle non-prescription medicines and that these clerks must be registered with the local government.

Previously, any convenience store that wanted to sell medicines had to have a qualified pharmacist on hand to advise consumers on such purchases. Little wonder that few convenience stores bothered to offer such products.

But not everyone is happy with the latest drug market deregulation, which by the way, also permits supermarkets and discount retailers the right to sell non-prescription drugs.

For a start, regular pharmacies are rightly worried that their sales will go down given the stiffer competition.

Besides, supermarket giants are expected to spark off a price war as they will lower the prices of OTC medicines by 10-20 per cent in an attempt to beat the convenience stores.

So how are pharmacies fighting back?

The nation's largest pharmacy chain MatsumotoKiyoshi, which has some 650 outlets around the country, plans to increase the number of 24-hour outlets. Other pharmacy chains are considering extending store hours.

Despite the increase in the total number of shops selling OTC medicines, drug manufacturers, however, expect their profits to be trimmed.

Their promotional costs are expected to go up as they have to repackage many of their products for convenience stores.

They figure that folks who patronise convenience stores are likely to be single and therefore will prefer smaller packages of everything that they buy.

But while someone like me living in the big city will appreciate the new ease of buying non-prescription medicines, the revision in the law has left two kinds of consumers out in the cold.

The first are those who have until now been getting their medicinal supplies through the Internet or traditional mail order. From today, such companies will only be able to offer "safe" supplements such as vitamins over cyberspace.

People who have been using the Internet to buy traditional Chinese medicines or herbal products, which are normally not stocked by pharmacies, can now no longer do so.

The government's argument is that there should be face-to-face communication between buyer and seller to ensure that the right medicine is offered and that any side effects are properly explained to the consumer.

Internet firms claim however that they can use the phone or other means to ensure that such information is relayed to the buyer.

The second category of people inconvenienced by the law are those who live in remote places or small islands where there are no convenience stores, let alone pharmacies. They need to get their medicines online.

Acknowledging that it has not resolved these issues properly, the government has decided to grant a two-year reprieve to allow people to buy medicines through the Internet (or through mail order companies) if they had been doing so in the past.

Hopefully, a satisfactory compromise solution will be found before the two years are up.