New Delhi: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has raised an alarm about the pharmaceutical opioids emerging as a dangerous “second wave” in Punjab after documenting the recovery of nearly 9 lakh bottles of codeine-based cough syrup in the state last year. The recovery of cough syrup bottles in Punjab was the highest among all states, the agency reported.
NCB also flagged that the easy availability of cheap and legally manufactured drugs like Buprenorphine, Tramadol, and Alprazolam has compounded the problem.
The issue of pharmaceutical-based drug abuse became a massive flashpoint in the state’s Mansa district last month, when an anti-drug crusader, Parvinder Singh Jhota, was shot dead by a chemist when he was allegedly confronting the chemist over unauthorised sale of Pregabalin.
Pregabalin, a neuropathic pain medication, has been classified as a Schedule H1 drug under the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945, which means that it cannot be sold without a prescription issued by a registered medical practitioner (RMP).
Punjab’s Food and Drugs Administration seized Pregabalin worth Rs 2.06 crore between April 2025 and August this year. The seizures were made from 71 firms, of which 15 have had their licences cancelled and 42 suspended.
The state FDA has restricted the stocking and sale of eight types of drug formulations containing Dextropropoxyphene, Diphenoxylate, Codeine, Pentazocine, Nitrazepam, Buprenorphine & their salts and oral solid dosage forms of Tramadol & Tapentadol.
However, Punjab Police Chief Gaurav Yadav advocated inclusion of some of these habit-forming pharmaceutical drugs found to be abused under the ambit of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985.
“During a recent anti-drug meeting with the civil administration, we discussed the problem of handling pharmaceutical drugs coming from outside the state and their high impact in the south Malwa belt of Punjab. The police should be given the same powers as the drug inspectors. Certain habit-forming drugs should be included in the NDPS schedule,” Yadav had said on the sidelines of the 67th Police Commemoration Day last month.
He also suggested that these pharmaceutical drugs are entering Punjab from other states and raised the issue with his counterparts. “We have not just flagged the issue with the Centre but have also taken it up with the Rajasthan, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana Police chiefs to jointly raise the issue,” he said.
(Edited by Anupama Yadav)
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