The All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD) has threatened to boycott psychotropic drugs by all its members unless the government brings about an amendment to the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act of 1985.

The Act was passed with an objective to put a check on drugs abuse and illegal trafficking of certain psychotropic substances within and outside the country as per the international protocol. It was also intended to prevent the misuse of narcotics by chemists, who stock these drugs in their shops.

Drugs like Alprazolam, morphine, codeine, chlordizepoxide, diazepam, flurazepam, lorazepam, nitrazepam, and oxazepam are some of the narcotics that come under the NDPS Act.

According to AIOCD officials, the stringent nature of the Act and the burdensome procedures involved are causing serious hardship to the chemist community in the country. The toughest provision is the Rule 67 of the NDPS Act (Formalities of Consignment Note in Form No. 7). Form No. 7 is a mandatory filling to be done by the wholesaler or the retailer, which has to be filled with information like the names of consignor/ consignee of the narcotic, particulars of the drug like trade marks, batch no., quantity of the drugs procured, date and time receipt by the consignee, etc.

As per the rule, the consignment note in Form 7 needs to be prepared in triplicate and two copies need to be sent to the consignee with one acknowledged copy to be retained for two years.

On an average, the stockists attend to about 200-300 retailers and each bill carries more than 15-20 items, of which NDPS Act may cover randomly five items. This means, stockists will have to issue thousands of Form 7 for each formulation manufacturer, despatch it and collect its acknowledgement by authorised signatory who may not be present at the time of delivery. Moreover, if the supply is not made, it amounts to violation of the Drugs& Cosmetics act 1945, said AIOCD officials.

AIOCD has addressed the matter in a letter to S S Palanimanikkam, union minister of state (Revenue). The organisation has also suggested to the government amendments to the ACT.

Some of the suggested amendments include - the activities of manufacture, possession, stock, transport, purchase and sale of psychotropic substance (in formulation form) should be regulated and monitored by the Drugs Control Office under the Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940; Police and narcotic control board should not take action against the dealers holding valid drug licenses unless warranted for on the report of drug control office; Finally, AIOCD has requested the government to withdraw the consignment note in Form 7 (As per rule 67) and the sale/purchase records under Drugs & Cosmetics Act should be treated as sufficient documentary evidence for meeting requirement of Rule 67.

Although the NDPS Rules were in existence for the last 20 years, monitoring of NDPS Drugs were done under the supervision of Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940. However, over the past few years, there have been instances of misuse of narcotics sale. Some traders have also been arrested over the alleged misuse.

As a result, the industry, which so far was not serious over following the Rule 67, has suddenly started exercise to implement the Rule 67 of NDPS Act (formalities of consignment note in form 7).

"This has put undue pressure on the traders. The government should urgently amend the Act and make it more trader-friendly. Otherwise, AIOCD would be forced to start boycotting psychotropic drugs. There is going to be heavy shortage of psychotropic drugs if the action is taken and that will be a huge blow to the industry and to the ailing consumer," said the AIOCD official.