The Hindu : Front Page : Illegal diversion of buprenorphine to State

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Wednesday, Apr 05, 2006

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Illegal diversion of buprenorphine to State

G. Anand

The drug is cheaper compared with heroin in the market

Thiruvananthapuram: A particular brand of medicine containing opium is being illegally diverted to Kerala in large quantities for sale in the street as a substitute for heroin, Narcotic Control Bureau (NCB) officials said.

An indication of the trend came last year when the NCB investigated a case relating to the delivery of 20,000 ampoules of the medicine, buprenorphine, to a stockist of pharmaceutical products in Perinthalmanna in Malappuram district.

The buprenorphine was sourced from a medicine factory in Gujarat. During investigation it was found that the stockist in Perinthalmanna had not placed the order for the drug. The NCB revealed that the drug consignment had been delivered to an address in Kozhikode.

Later, two persons were arrested on the charge of using forged documents for illegally procuring buprenorphine for sale as a narcotic substance in the black market. The ampoules had already reached the hands of drug peddlers by the time the agency got to the bottom of the case, an NCB official said.

The decreased availability of heroin, owing to a drastic reduction of illegal opium production in Afghanistan, is a crucial factor that has resulted in the increased availability of buprenorphine in the illegal market, according to the NCB.

Buprenorphine has been used widely in heroin de-addiction therapy for reducing the craving for the drug and easing the withdrawal symptoms of `brown sugar' addicts. The drug, having a street price of Rs.100 for an ampoule, is relatively cheap compared to heroin.

General secretary, Kerala Government Pharmacists Association, K.C. Ajith said that there had been instances of medical prescription forms and hospital case sheets being stolen or forged to procure buprenorphine from medical shops.Drugs Controller A. Abdul Shukur said that only few medical shops in the State have the licence to stock and sell buprenorphine. Illegal diversion over medical shop counters is almost zero in Kerala.Johnson. R. Idayaranmula, director, Alcohol and Drug Information Centre-India, said that a random assessment of drug abuse conducted in 14 urban centres in India had found that at least 29 per cent of injectable drug abusers in Thiruvananthapuram were addicted to buprenorphine.

The State police feel that they have little information on the buprenorphine peddling rackets in Kerala.

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