A joint team of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and Department of Drug Administration (DDA) on Wednesday raided on 10 pharmacies in the Capital and seized contraband drugs including diazepam, lorazepam, codeine among others that were being sold on ad hoc basis.

Law requires pharmacies to dispense such drugs

strictly on prescription, while keeping details of its user and physician. Several pharmacies at Mahaboudhha including Ayush Pharma, Santosh Pharma, Satyam Pharma

and Araf Pharmacy were found not maintaining sales records.

Police have also detained two persons after they failed to produce licence from pharmacy council. They were later released after showing the official document of DDA to run the drug store.

The number of drug users has doubled in the past six years, with more than two-thirds of users below the age of 30, according to a government data.

A survey conducted by Ministry of Home Affairs shows that there has been two-fold increase in narcotic drug users between the age of 20-24 over the period. Besides marijuana and bhang, the number of people taking opiates and chemical drugs like heroin, nitrazepam, buprenorphine is on the rise, says the Current Hard Drug Users in Nepal- 2012 survey.

At 36,998, Kathmandu Valley has the highest number of drug users among 26 municipalities surveyed in 18 districts, including 26 municipalities surveyed, followed by Sunsari with 7,407.

Police suspect some of the pharmacies are selling such drugs to substance abusers on high prices, and those abusers later pedal them to  

Each week the NCB confiscates huge amount of narcotic drugs from smugglers.

Bal Krishna Khakurel, Director General of DDA,

said many pharmacies had ignored their repeated instructions to maintain record of the drugs.

“Each year we take action against many pharmacies for their failure to maintain proper records. Yet some of them don’t heed to it,” said Khakurel. “We will scrap the licence to operate pharmacy of  the repeat offenders.”

The Narcotic Drugs (Control) Act, 1976, which mandates punishments of 15 years to life imprisonment and fines of up to Rs 2.5 million for individuals found involved in narcotic drugs has failed to deter drug abusers and dealers in the country.

The NCB and DDA said they would continue their investigation to avert the misuse of narcotics drugs.