TORONTO – Canada’s health minister threatened Wednesday to overhaul the country’s regulations on exporting prescription drugs, saying Canada would no longer be a cheap “drugstore for the United States.”

Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh said Canada would ban the bulk export of prescription drugs when their supplies were low at home.

But he left vague how the ban would be put into place – and whether it would affect the thousands of individual purchases that take place across the U.S.-Canada border and over the Internet.

Maine Gov. John Baldacci expressed his disappointment at the proposed ban and said the state would continue to look for ways to provide affordable prescription drugs for all Mainers.

The governor has supported legislation in Congress to allow the reimportation of drugs from Canada, and his administration has sought waivers from the federal Department of Health and Human Services for pilot programs to buy medications from the neighboring country.

“All we are asking for is to be able to make these prescription drugs available to Maine people at the same lower prices that other countries are able to access for their citizens,” Baldacci said in a statement released Wednesday.

He added that the state would continue to look for solutions beyond buying drugs from Canada, such as multistate pooling to leverage lower prices or having public and private purchasers join the state to maximize buying power.

The ban is an attempt to head off an anticipated onslaught of drug demands from Americans if legislation pending in Congress legalizes Internet and bulk import of prescription drugs from Canada.

“Canada cannot be a drugstore for the United States of America; 280 million people cannot expect us to supply drugs to them on a continuous, uncontrolled basis,” Dosanjh said at a news conference.

Canadians must be assured access to an adequate supply of safe and affordable prescription drugs, Dosanjh said.

Individual sales would not necessarily be affected by the ban. The ban could, however, affect drug wholesalers or manufacturers in Canada, who now are not permitted to export to the United States under U.S. law, but could do so under the legislation being considered in Congress.

He said he would introduce legislation, when the House of Commons reconvenes this fall, that would allow for the temporary ban of bulk exports when supplies are running low at home.

He also intends to establish a drug supply network within the federal health ministry and will work with provinces and pharmaceutical companies to provide more comprehensive data on Canada’s prescription drug supply.

Americans pay the highest prescription drug prices in the world, and U.S. lawmakers are pushing to legalize the importation of wholesale prescription drugs as well as Internet purchases from Canada and other countries.

Four bills are pending in Congress, but have met with opposition from the pharmaceutical lobby and from the Food and Drug Administration.

Some supporters of the Canadian exports said the proposed ban is a direct response to threats from the U.S. pharmaceutical industry.

“This is a big, strong, wealthy industry and they’re fighting as hard as they can fight so that they can charge the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs to U.S. consumers,” said Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D.

While it’s legal in Canada for pharmacies to mail Americans drugs – after having been faxed or mailed their physician’s prescriptions – it’s illegal in the United States, though the laws are generally not enforced.

The Canadian government also maintains it is unethical for doctors to sign prescriptions without examining patients.

Dosanjh said the definition of patient-physician relationship had to be clarified, but would not confirm whether that meant American patients would have to meet in person with Canadian doctors.

Any change in that definition, which Dosanjh said needed further study, could affect individual purchases.

“Our priority must be the health and safety of all Canadians and the strength of our health care system,” Dosanjh said.

The Bush administration opposes prescription drug imports, and federal regulators warn they cannot guarantee the safety of drugs from outside U.S. borders.

Canada has dismissed concerns about the safety of drugs sold in Canada, saying Canada’s regulatory regime was tougher than the U.S. one.

As part of its socialized medical system, the Canadian government sets drug prices typically 40 percent lower than those in the United States.

Dosanjh acknowledged no shortages currently exist, and the minister also conceded he was not aware of any injuries or illnesses to Americans purchasing drugs in Canada.

The drug-import program, I-SaveRx, launched by Illinois, uses a Canada-based clearinghouse, CanaRx, to connect residents of Illinois, Vermont, Kansas, Missouri and Wisconsin to pharmacies and wholesalers in Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom.

Minnesota and Wisconsin also have state-operated Web sites to help residents import medications from Canada.