Increase of medical stores raises concern in Bokajan, Drug addiction among youths, students on rise!

Bokajan: With little checks in place, a shocking mushroom increase of medical stores in virtually every corner of Bokajan and its suburbs worries residents as medicinal drug abuse among youths and students have assumed alarming proportion in recent years.

Most of the medical stores here are unregistered and are indulging in the illegal sale of habit-forming drugs flouting each and every regulation of drug administration. There is an alarming trend among youths and students who have become hooked on sedatives and nonconventional drugs like Cough Syrups and Pain Killers sold over the counter without any prescription. As of now, medicinal drug abuse is a bigger threat to society than other conventional drugs.

According to an independent survey made by this correspondent recently, over 50% of the medical stores in Bokajan are unregistered and are engaged in the surreptitious sale of codeine-based cough syrups and painkillers among others. Poor quality of counterfeit drugs including expired medicines are sold over the counter to the poor uneducated and unaware tribals who are at the receiving end of complications.

This burgeoning illegal sale of medicinal drugs has become possible in the absence of a Drug Inspector who generally oversee the authenticity of medicines and other legal aspects of the drug sale. In the district of Karbi Anglong, the post of Drug Inspector has been lying vacant for the past decade. The Drug Inspector of Nagoan is also the Incharge officer of Karbi Anglong and hence monitoring is not effectively carried out here.

The Karbi Anglong health department also doesn't conduct an inspection of the district's mushrooming drug stores and they continue to store banned drugs and sell them without much thought.