Superintendent of Police, Vellore, S. Rajesh Kannan, on Wednesday sought the help of chemists, courier agents, parcel service companies and consumer welfare associations in the district to prevent the sale of restricted drugs, prescribed for psychiatric treatment.
A helpline (9092700100) was introduced by the SP for reporting instances of sale or purchase of restricted drugs from pharmacies in the district. The initiative comes in the wake of tightening of surveillance in the district’s border areas to prevent transfer of substances such as ganja from Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka into the State, via Jolarpet, Katpadi, Ranipet and Arakkonam.
Around 100 kg of ganja has been seized in railway stations, toll plazas, bus stands and bazaars in the district since January. “When cheap forms of banned substances such as ganja become scarce or costly due to less availability, addicts will try to get access to other forms of substances like restricted drugs that are used for psychiatric treatment,” S. Rajesh Kannan, SP (Vellore), told The Hindu.
A meeting was organised by the district police to sensitise members of pharmacies, courier agents and chemists to the need to prevent misuse of restricted drugs. A safety lacuna that was found with respect to getting access to banned substances, especially through courier and parcel services, was the lack of scanners in courier branches in major cities and towns. Procurement of scanners at the major centres in the district were discussed at the meeting.
Pharmacies were asked to cross check the authenticity of medical prescriptions and background of the patients before selling restricted drugs. Cases of suspicion could be reported on the helpline, which is being monitored at the SP office.
K.S. Sundaramurthy, ADSP, P. Palani, DSP (Katpadi), and K. Ramamurthy, DSP (Gudiyatham), participated.
