Psychotropic drugs still being sold in Kozhikode

Even after a stringent directive from the Drugs Control Department to stop the sales of tranquilisers without the prescription of doctors, the trade flourishes in the city.

For this, bills of patients who were earlier prescribed the medicines as part of their treatment are being misused.

According to reliable sources, some of the medical shops are still continuing the practice of trading such psychotropic drugs on production of the old bills, which hardly reach the patient.

A single bill is used in different shops to get small quantities of the drugs and often exchanged between various persons to increase the stock. Many a time, the buyers pose as family members or relatives of the patients and easily secure the medicine.

As small quantity is sold, shops never keep a suspicious eye on the purchase. Re-use of the bill, too, never gets noticed, as it is returned to the client without any record of the sale made.

A salesman from the pharmacy sector reveals that he has come across several instances when the ‘suspected’ relatives come for the purchase of psychotropic drugs with old bills.

“We noticed the foul play quite accidentally when the same bill was produced for more than one time by different persons. When we checked the incident in detail, the buyers were compelled to reveal the misuse,” he says.

A disturbing fact is that a huge portion of these illegally procured medicines goes into the hands of school children addicted to it. The salesmen reveal that the drug is mixed with soda or similar energy drinks and used for fast intoxication.

Once he or she gets addicted, the person will be constantly in search of the medicines. This opens the way for traders in the sector to flourish in the dark.

Though the trade of psychotropic drugs on the basis of previous purchase bill is legally banned by the Drugs Control Department, some of the retailers in the sector are yet to keep up the instruction.

But some others are conscious of the trend, as the Drugs Control Department constantly monitors the drug purchase list and keeps a tab on suspicious increase in the trade.

In the ambit of the department are 12 major drugs containing molecules like Spasmo Proxyvyon, Codeine Phosphate, and Alprazolam.