Huh? What? Who comes up with this shit?

[Gaybutton]

Myanmar bans condoms, Viagra for Songkran

10 Apr 2015

YANGON — Myanmar has come up with Southeast Asia’s most unique water festival ban yet: police have outlawed sales of Viagra, birth-control pills and even condoms during Thingyan, the country’s version of Songkran.

A police force "special project" aimed at reducing the number of sex-related crimes during the Myanmar new year is targeting erectile-dysfunction drugs, oral contraceptives -- including "morning after" pills -- and, in some cases, condoms, according to a report in the Myanmar Times newspaper.

Drugstore owners had to sign pledges not to sell the targeted items in some areas of Yangon, adding condoms to the list of prohibited oral contraceptives. Druggists have pulled the items from shelves or, in some cases, simply closed the entire shop, the paper said.

Anyone caught selling banned items before the end of the new year water festival on April 19 faces arrest, even licensed pharmacies selling legally registered medications.

Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries celebrating the Buddhist new year all have imposed various bans, from Thailand outlawing pickup trucks loaded with water tanks to Laos shutting down pubs at 11pm. But Myanmar pharmacists say the ban on contraceptives and sexual-performance drugs is unique and the harshest in a decade.

The Times also quoted health officials, who called it irresponsible and pointless.

"Erectile dysfunction medicine does not encourage anyone to commit a sex crime," Dr Thiha Thit, a clinic owner in Ahlone township, told the paper. "Police should stop stores from selling date rape drugs instead."

"It's hard to work out the motivation for this, but we guess it concerns promiscuity and morals during the Thingyan festival," said a spokesperson for Modern Choice Experts, a distributor of imported condoms. "There can be no medical or safety grounds if the drugs suspended already have been approved and certified by the (Food and Drug Administration)."

Pharmacists interviewed by the Myanmar Times said the ban has not stopped sales of sexual-performance drugs, as they are still being sold under the counter or in back alleys.

The biggest complaints among druggists, however, were the murkiness of the order and its uneven enforcement.

The paper quoted Pol Lt Thi Thi Myint as saying the crackdown was preceded by "educational" talks with pharmacists and arrests only began on March 23.

But shop owners said they never received a list of which brands were prohibited, that some police were allowing condom sales while others were not, and some stores were told to stop selling legally registered drugs.

Pol Lt Thai Thi Myint told the paper officers were not, in fact, told to ban the sale of legally registered drugs and, if it happened, it was a "mistake".

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/52 ... r-songkran

[Daniel]

A police force "special project" aimed at reducing the number of sex-related crimes during the Myanmar new year is targeting erectile-dysfunction drugs...

It is recommended that Viagra is taken an hour before sex on an empty stomach. Whatever happened to spontaneity!