VIJAYAWADA: Cases of counter sale drugs have been on the rise among youth in the city, said noted psychiatrist Ayodhya RK. He pointed out that several medical stores across the city are flouting norms by giving away medicines without any prescription from doctors.“Prescription/over the counter drug abuse is just as bad as being hooked to party drugs like heroin, cocaine and marijuana,” Ayodhya RK, a psychiatrist specialising in de-addiction told Express.
He says over the time, users become dependent and show wit]hdrawal symptoms on stopping the dosage. Since they are easily available, in a way they are more harmful than banned drugs like LSD and MDMA (ecstasy). Side effects like dizziness, restlessness, eating disorders and loss of libido are common.
While pharmacy chains like Med Plus and Apollo medicals refuse to sell Schedule H drugs without the prescription, smaller medical shops who want to make easy money, feed and nurture prescription-free drug abuse. “Pills of Schedule H drug should be sold only with a prescription from a registered medical practitioner that has to be photocopied and filed along at the time of sale. However, several medical shops conveniently bypass those requirements and sell the drugs indiscriminately to youth and elderly posing serious health risk,” said Ayodhya.
“The long term effects vary from one individual to another. Abuse of Spasmo Proxyvon is known to cause infertility, nervous breakdowns and epileptic attacks. Dextropropoxyphene, the generic component of Spasmo Proxyvon, is used to treat a wide variety of illnesses from diarrhoea to painful period cramps and it is hard to scrutinise sales,” added the psychiatrist.
When District Drug Control officials were contacted, they said that the issue has come to the notice of the department. They said a series of raids would be conducted across medical shops in the city and fine would be imposed on medical shop owners flouting norms.
WHAT NCB PRESCRIBES
As per the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) directions, all non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) such as Aspirin, Disprin, Ibuprofen and Diclofenac cannot be sold as over-the counter drugs by chemists.