"Ephedrine hydrocholride is a Prescription Only Medicine product unless it meets the following exemption:
30mg maximum dose
60mg maximum daily dose
Having met these exemptions, the status is reduced from POM, to Pharmacy medicines (P) - which must be sold under the supervision of a pharmacist registered by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB). This product cannot therefore legally be supplied from a non-pharmacy outlet.
However, if you were to purchase a 'P' medicine from a non-pharmacy outlet then it would not be yourself as purchaser, who is breaking the law, but the supplier. Of course, by obtaining such a product from a non-regulated supplier, there can be no guarantees of the product contents or potency.
Not all countries regulate medicines in the same way as the UK, therefore you may be able to purchase ephedrine hydrochloride without the need for a pharmacist in another country should their own law allow such sales. It is possible to bring medicines into the UK for personal use, however please be aware that up to a three month supply is considered 'personal use', anything above this could be stopped and seized by customs as they may have concerns that the products may be subsequently sold or supplied to others (which would be illegal).
In regard to the regulations above, it appears that the situation is very similar to those for anabolic steroids:
Legal to posess for personal use; Illegal to sell or supply.
This is the law as it stands today. However, there have recently been proposals to re-classify ephedrine HCL's status from (P) to POM due largely to the Governments worry that Methamphetamine usage could spread in a similar fashion to that which has been witnessed in USA. Methamphetamine ("Crystal Meth" or "Ice") was reclassified as a Class A substance in January 2007 and there has been concern that ephedrine and pseudoephedrine is being isolated from well known cold remedies sold at the moment as (P) Phamacy Medicines. Once isolated, these substances are used in the manufacture of Methamphetamine.
Should this reclassification occur (which imo is very likely), this will remove the option to obtain ephedrine from such sources. As such, we will be left with the option of purchasing from an unauthorised supplier within the U.K., or purchasing from an (un)authorised supplier from overseas. "
So basically i'll have to look around in boots nearby and see if i can find some but I can't order it online
