Prescription medicines are being sold illegally through messaging apps and social media.
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It is estimated that five percent of all controlled drugs are abused. Image: Katriina Laine / Yle
The misuse of prescription medicines remains a significant problem in Finland, with around 100,000 people estimated to regularly abuse painkillers, according to substance abuse specialist Kaarlo Simojoki from private healthcare firm Mehiläinen.
Yle also found that prescription drugs are being sold on the black market through messaging apps such as Telegram and Signal.
Some medicines can sell for prices far above their pharmacy cost. For example, a package of gabapentin, used to treat epilepsy and nerve pain, may cost less than 30 euros at a pharmacy but can be sold for much more on the street.
Selling, distributing or giving away prescription-only medicines without authorisation is a criminal offence and can lead to fines.
Hundreds of thousands misuse medications
According to the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), around 400,000 Finns have at some point used controlled drugs without a prescription or contrary to medical instructions.
Drug expert at THL, Annuska Dal Maso, estimated that five percent of all controlled drugs are abused.
Yle has found that some doctors in Finland may be enabling misuse through overly lenient prescribing practices, raising the possibility that controlled medicines are prescribed even in cases where substance abuse is suspected.
Last year, the Finnish Supervisory Agency (LVV) revoked the rights of 14 doctors to prescribe controlled drugs.
However, official figures may not show the full scale of the problem, as employers are expected to address concerns before cases are referred to regulators.
According to Simojoki, more non-pharmacological treatments should be made available for pain, alongside closer monitoring of the conditions for which narcotic medicines are prescribed. He added that pharmacies also have a role in preventing misuse.
“If we have a strong and justified suspicion that a medicine is being misused, we will not dispense it and will contact the prescribing doctor,” said Kati Vuorikallas, pharmaceutical director at the University Pharmacy.
Sedatives and painkillers are most commonly traded illegally, while sales of ADHD medication have also increased in recent years.