Drugs worth Rs 4 cr seized from 938 firms: Minister

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 16

With around Rs 4 crore worth of drugs being seized from 938 firms under the Drug and Cosmetics Act, the state has seen a steep decline in the numbers of new drug users in the last year, Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said here.

Asserting that the drugs would be destroyed in a phased manner, Sidhu said the department would further intensify the crackdown to tackle the menace.

Speaking after handing over appointment letters to 13 new analysts here, the minister said the state was on its way to become drug-free. Of the 13 analysts, nine have been posted in the food lab and four in the drugs lab at Government Food & Drugs Laboratories, Kharar.

He said the drug seizures included 5.42 lakh tablets, 57,340 capsules, besides 4,654 injections and 1,190 syrups. The Food & Drugs Administration (FDA) was making efforts to weed out the drug menace from the state, Sidhu said.

During the campaign, a large quantity of drugs were seized from the firms for violations of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940 and Rules 1945, the minister added.

Sidhu pointed out the FDA had already restricted the sale of eight types of drugs in the state i.e drugs formulations containing the narcotic drugs, namely diphenoxylate, dextropropoxyphene, codeine, buprenorphine, pentazocine, nitrazepam, tramadol and tapentadol.

Around 90 per cent of the licenced chemists in the state are not allowed to stock and sell these drugs formulations. Only those chemists whose shops are inside or outside hospitals can sell such formulations.

Taking a strict action against the violators, a large number of drugs licences have been suspended or cancelled. The department has also made amendments to the drug policy to control the mushrooming of chemist shops in the urban and rural areas.