The Price of Xanax

I just collected my private prescription for Xanax from the pharmacy: together with the dispension fee it came to £ 4.50 for sixty tablets.

Not only is this 2 quid cheaper than the NHS prescription charge, but it means that each of the little pills cost 7.5 pence (including dispension fee). That is about 5 Baht, 0.5 Ringgit or 1300 Rupiah. In other words, about the price of a small bottle of water (half that in Malaysia).

A single 250 µg pill can stop a panic attack in its tracks.

For the want of five Baht I collapsed in a hospital, on the street and on a plane, ran away from an emergency ward and was left lying on the floor of another for a few hours because I could not pay for treatment, spent a few more hours on the floor in a police station, got ammonia shoved into my face and was driven around in ambulances with sirens blaring and lights flashing.

I mean please.

At least I thought that Xanax was as rare and as expensive as a new cancer drug.

Given the common practice of selling medicines over the counter in SE Asia, why could they not dispense small quantities of Xanax to the needy? This drug may not be commonly available in smaller towns, but I don't see a problem with, say, the 24h Boots on Kao San Road dispensing a few pills to help a patient get through the day or on the flight home.