Licences of 9 Jammu pharma dealers suspended

Authorities here on Saturday suspended drug sale licences of nine dealers in a special drive carried out to curb misuse of pharmaceuticals with habit forming ingredients, an official said.

The drive was conducted by the J-K Drugs and Food Control Organisation to identify and take punitive action against “unscrupulous elements of society dealing with such drugs in a clandestine manner,” an official spokesperson said.

During the drive, it emerged that some wholesale dealers were procuring certain pharma preparations containing Pregabalin as an active ingredient, which is prone to addiction, he said.

The ingredient was being sourced directly from the suppliers based outside Jammu and Kashmir illegally, he said.

More scrutiny revealed that the firms procured and distributed these medicinal preparations without maintaining the sales records as mandated under the Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940, the spokesperson said. S Stocks of pharmaceutical preparations, which are prone to addiction, worth over Rs 13.58 lakh were also seized, he said.

J-K State Drugs Controller Lotika Khajuria warned against indulging in procuring lesser-known brands of drugs formulations consisting of habit forming ingredients directly from the suppliers, or manufacturers located outside Jammu and Kashmir.

“In case any violation is reported, the defaulters shall be dealt strictly in accordance with zero-tolerance policy adopted by the government against persons involved in promoting drug abuse which warrants the cancellation of such licences as is mandated by law,” she said.