Shimla: To try and break dubious drug store supply chains involved in peddling intoxicating syrups and chemicals among young men and women, the police in collaboration with drug controller authorities have raided over two dozen chemist shops and are looking at stocks held and sold.
Drug inspector Kapil Dhiman told Times of India that about 25 chemist shops have been raided over the last three days and about a dozen of them have been asked to show their sale records.
“They have been asked to explain the sale of particular medicines so as to establish whether it has been rightly sold or has some misuse of it been made,†he said.
Dhiman said that wholesale data of drugs sold in the state to retail outlets is available online and we need to ensure that over the counter sales are made on proper prescriptions and not misused for intoxication purposes and drug abuse.
One chemist who had bought 600 bottles of Corex cough syrup has been asked to explain to whom he sold them in a short span, he said. “The drive is to ensure that there is no misuse of the drug act,†he added.
District police chief RM Sharma said, “concern has been raised about rising tendency among the youth to chemical drug addiction.â€
The issue had figured in the Vidhan Sabha monsoon session with opposition leader Vidya Stokes drawing the houses attention to rampant drug abuse among youngsters, which included both school children and colleges going students.
Making a specific mention of Sanjauli, a residential suburb, as drug abuse den, she had pointed out that varied kind of intoxicants other than liquor, charas and opium were being consumed and children were being targeted.
Chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal has responded with saying that government was aware of the problem and the efforts were being made to save young men from falling prey to drug abuse.
Terming contraband dealers as anti-national people whose greed for easy money was damaging the health of a nation, the chief minister has stated that police in plain clothes would be deployed around educational institutions to nab drug pedlars.
Seeking assistance from the public to check the menace, Dhumal had said that timely tip-offs would help in catching culprits involved in the drug abuse trade.
As Editor, Ravinder Makhaik leads a team of media professionals at Hill Post.
Spanning a career of over two decades in mass communication, as a Documentary Filmmaker, TV journalist, Print Media journalist and with Online & Social Media, he brings with him a vast experience. He lives in Shimla.
