Misuse of Pharmaceutical Drugs Rising In India: UN Official

NEW DELHI: After cannabis and heroin, the misuse of pharmaceutical drugs is rising among subcontinental drug users because of their easy availability at cheap rates and this is a cause for concern, a top UN official has said.

"Cannabis is easily available in India, Nepal and Bangladesh. Heroin is also available at cheaper rates, but there are also pharmaceutical drugs which are very cheap in this region and is a serious problem," Cristina Albertine, the South Asia representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC),said.

Recalling one of her visits to a drug rehabilitation centre in Kolkata, Albertine said: "I had gone to a Kolkata rehabilitation centre where all the clients were rickshaw pullers who injected heroin to cope up with the life.

"The drugs are very cheap in the region. As you (India) are very close to Afghanistan and Myanmar, heroin is very cheap there. I guess that the regions close to productive sites get heroin at very cheap rates," Albertine said in the interaction at the UNODC India office here.

According to Albertine, misuse of pharmaceutical drugs poses a serious problem for India and South Asian countries because of their availability at low prices.

"You don't need too much financial security to be able to afford it," she said. Codeine-based cough syrups, diazepam and proxyvon are some of the pharmaceutical drugs that are quite popular among addicts.
 

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