NCB annual report warns of drug abuse due to internet pharmacies
Posted on: 11/Jul/2016 2:54:08 PM
The Narcotics Control Bureau, or the NCB, has said that growing e-commerce in India is facilitating significant increase in online pharmacies, leading to easy availability of pharmaceutical drugs and their abuse. The NCB published its annual report on Friday, in which it said that abuse of pharmaceutical drugs in India has assumed serious proportions in recent times and the problem seems to be more serious in the northeast and northwest region of the country.
According to the report, The emergence of illegal websites ,i.e. Internet Pharmacy, established in the USA, Europe etc. offering unregulated trade in a range of prescription medicines over the Internet has taken firm root in India as a supplier. These online pharmacies transmit orders from paying customers to agents in India, who then procure the medicines from either legitimate or illegitimate sources before dispatching them to customers by mail and courier.
It is impossible to screen every parcel because of the sheer volume of internal post. Because of this, a vast majority of illegal consignments passes by undetected by the authorities. Says the report, Internet pharmacies are usually highly vulnerable and keep the identity of organisers tightly veiled. In India, nevertheless, the NCB either on its own or in coordination with the outside agencies has been making at least one bust every year over the ears.
The pharmaceutical products that are abused include buprenorphine, codeine-based cough syrups, alprazolam, diazepam and other sedatives. Many of these pharmaceutical drugs are easily available over the counter and this has become the major factor that encourages their misuse. There is also the perception that these pharmaceutical drugs are less harmful than hard drugs like heroin, cocaine etc. However, this is a misconception, since these can be addictive and also have a debilitating effect on health. Pharmaceutical preparations having narcotic or psychotropic substances are under the purview of the Drugs and Cosmetic Act and the NDPS Act in India.
