Tramadol under narcotics law check

New Delhi, April 29

Tramadol, a painkiller pharma drug, has been declared a “psychotropic substance” by the Union government and its sale in the country will now be strictly monitored after the NCB said it was being internationally smuggled, and had possible supply links to the global terror group ISIS.

The Union Finance Ministry has brought the drug under the control of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and a gazette notification to this effect was issued on April 26.

The Finance Ministry regulates certain sections of the NDPS Act like categorisation of pharma drugs as narcotic substances.

The synthetic opiate is known to be abused on a wide scale by terrorists of the so-called ISIS to suppress pain and boost strength during injury and hence, is also known as the ‘fighter drug’ among international anti-narcotics authorities.

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), a national agency to coordinate drug law enforcement action by involving various state agencies, police and Central departments, had asked the government in July last year to bring this drug under its “regulation and control” so that it could only be used for medicinal purposes and its abuse be checked.

“Tramadol, after the notification issued by the Department of Revenue under the Union Finance Ministry, will no longer be available freely over the counter in India,” a senior official said.

Large volumes of this drug have been seized by the NCB and other anti-narcotics agencies in Punjab in the last few years, and it is suspected that these consignments were finding their way to the ISIS terror group-held locations after being diverted from the original overseas destination, the official said.

The other pharma drugs that are prominently “abused and trafficked” in the country include cough syrups (containing Codeine) like Corex, Phensedyl, Recodex and depressants like Alprazolam, Diazapam, Clonazepam, Lorazapam and Benzodiazepine, the NCB had said. PTI