Srinagar, Jul 14: A new drug crisis is tightening its grip on Kashmir youth, with a prescription medicine, Tapentadol, emerging as a major threat.<\/p>\n
While many channels of the drug are being plugged regularly by authorities, the crisis is worsening \u2013 more supply routes than what can be cracked down on.<\/p>\n
The Dark Web is facilitating doorstep delivery of illegal drugs in Kashmir, silently, smuggled via regular courier services.<\/p>\n
In 2023, 26,600 Tapentadol tablets were recovered from a courier agency in Srinagar, consigned to a drug peddler in Baramulla.<\/p>\n
In another operation in 2022, 2600 tablets hidden in a courier shipment gave a glimpse of how traffickers exploit delivery services to carry out illegal drug smuggling.<\/p>\n
A day ago, four pharma companies in J&K lost their licences over alleged illegal purchase and sale of Tapentadol, a potent opioid analgesic.<\/p>\n
Many more pharmacists have also faced a similar fate recently.<\/p>\n
Last week, Police arrested three peddlers, including a woman with assorted contraband substances, including Tapentadol.<\/p>\n
What this drug is and why is it being watched by doctors and law-enforcing agencies, including the Drug Controller\u2019s office in J&K?<\/p>\n
Tapentadol is an analgesic drug used to treat post-surgery or chronic pain.<\/p>\n
However, it has a high abuse potential as it produces euphoria when taken in high doses.<\/p>\n
Regular use creates dependence, physical and psychological.<\/p>\n
With continuous use, the users develop tolerance, pushing for more intake, risking overdose.<\/p>\n
It can cause respiratory depression, a life-threatening condition.<\/p>\n
It is often taken through non-oral routes also, exposing people to lurking dangers of infections such as Hepatitis B, C, and HIV.<\/p>\n
Incharge of the Drug De-Addiction and Treatment Centre (DTDC) at SMHS Centre, Prof Yasir H Rather said that the Dark Web had become the source for Tapentadol, which was widely available on illicit online marketplaces.<\/p>\n
Compared to Heroin, which is mainly taken through injections here, Tapentadol is primarily taken orally.<\/p>\n
It has less mortality.<\/p>\n
It is also a cheaper drug, falling under Schedule H1, and requiring a prescription for purchase.<\/p>\n
However, it is usually not abused solo, but in combination with other drugs, Benzodiazepines, Pregabalin, and Heroin.<\/p>\n
The combos often prove catastrophic for the youth.<\/p>\n
Tapentadol is also being used to mix with Heroin due to its low cost.<\/p>\n
The abusers, pushed by financial factors, mix ground Tapentadol with Heroin for injections, doctors report.<\/p>\n
Dr Fazal e Roub, a certified addiction treatment professional, who works with the Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences Kashmir (IMHANS-K) said they were already treating patients who suffered seizures, organ damage, and accidents due to these lethal drug cocktails.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a patient who is still admitted with us. He was brought in a comatose state to SMHS Hospital and was resuscitated. He had taken the lethal cocktail,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The easy access to tapentadol is keeping the doctors on edge here.<\/p>\n
Many studies on Tapentadol are underway in Kashmir, as not much literature on its abuse is available; Kashmir remains one of the epicentres of Tapentadol addiction.<\/p>\n
At least three such studies have already been published over the last couple of years.<\/p>\n
One such study, published in the April-June issue of the Indian Journal of Psychiatry, \u2018Tapentadol Misuse and Abuse among Heroin Users Attending a Deaddiction Centre in Kashmir\u2019, noted an alarming trend.<\/p>\n
At least 16 percent of people reporting at IMHANS-K with heroin addiction were also abusing Tapentadol.<\/p>\n
\u201cTapentadol is entering schools, catching very young people. It is also the new gateway drug,\u201d said Dr Roub, one of the researchers of the study quoted.<\/p>\n
The doctors said that the drug was distributed under street names like \u201cPandas\u201d or \u201c200s.\u201d<\/p>\n
A user typically consumes one strip of 10 tablets in one go, referred to as \u201cone card\u201d.<\/p>\n
Soon, they graduate to higher doses, risking more lives.<\/p>\n
\u201cParents often don\u2019t suspect courier packages, which makes it easy for kids to access these substances,\u201d Prof Rather said. \u201cThe youth here are vulnerable, and these networks prey on that.\u201d<\/p>\n
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