The Central Government has decided to bring in further changes in the Rule 67 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act to help chemists and druggists tide over their problems related with massive documentation. As per the draft notification prepared by the finance ministry, a new sub rule is to be added to the existing ones under Rule 67 of NDPS Act exempting wholesaler- retailer trade from the formalities of the mandatory consignment note.

The notification says, "Form 6 shall not be applicable to the sale of Psychotropic substances effected by way of wholesale dealing to hospitals, dispensaries, medical education institutions, medical research institutions or any other persons duly licensed under Drugs and Cosmetic Rules for retail sale". This is subjected to the condition that cash or credit memo in accordance with the rule 6 of the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules 1945 is in place.

The formalities of Consignment Note had necessitated a mandatory filing (in a specific form) by the wholesaler or the retailer, by providing 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.

The All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD) is on the warpath ever since the requirement has come. The changes soon to be implemented by the government are also the result of the intense pressure from the chemists community all over the country. The chemists had even declared a boycott of psychotropic drugs until few days ago.

According to sources, AIOCD leaders are continuing their representations with various ministries. They had been to the ministries of finance and health and had asked for further relaxation thereby freeing wholesaler-wholesaler (dealer and sub dealer) transactions also from the requirement of the consignment note. "We want the government to consider our invoice instead of Form 6 for tracking the trade movements. Wholesalers are even willing to expand the scope of invoice to include more details about, but we are against this mountain of paper work that accompanies the consignment note requirement under NDPS Act," wholesale traders informed.

As pharmabiz had reported earlier, 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.