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Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Cebu tops in use of Nubain: Cuenco
Efforts are underway to include the injectible painkiller Nubain in the list of dangerous drugs, as one way to curb its abuse.
Cebu is among the provinces with a high consumption of Nubain (nalbuphine hydrochloride), Rep. Antonio Cuenco (Cebu City, south) said yesterday in a radio dyLA interview.
Cuenco, vice chairman of the committee on dangerous drugs, said they are deliberating on proposed amendments to Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, to include Nubain and rugby in the list of illegal drugs.
Amid concerns that rugby abuse is common among children and teenagers, the committee is also planning to propose that rugby manufacturers correct the substance’s smell, to make it less appealing.
Since Nubain is not in the list of dangerous drugs, penalties for possession of Nubain are not as stiff.
As a regulated drug, nalbuphine hydrochloride can only be prescribed by physicians issued a special license by the Dangerous Drugs Board. Drug outlets and hospitals can store strictly limited amounts of the painkiller, and importers or distributors are required to submit monthly reports about their stocks and the number of ampules they’ve disposed of.
However, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) is working on including the painkiller in the list of dangerous drugs, along with rubber cement.
PDEA 7 Regional Officer Amado Marquez said that while hospitals use this drug as a painkiller, there are no stiff penalties for mere possession of Nubain by those who have no legitimate need of it.
Only Cebu City has an ordinance penalizing those in possession of Nubain without the proper prescription. City Ordinance 1427 bans the sale of Nubain without a prescription from a licensed doctor.
Under that ordinance, the maximum penalty for selling or possessing Nubain is a fine of P5,000.
Until the drug is reclassified as a dangerous drug, Marquez hopes other cities and municipalities would come up with ordinances similar to that of Cebu City to regulate the use of the drug.
Last October, ephedrine, pseudoephedrine and ketamine were all reclassified as dangerous drugs.
After 10 boxes of Nubain vials were seized at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport two weeks ago, the PDEA 7 can only investigate how the vials were shipped.
Customs officials at the airport had intercepted the box of Nubain vials that came from Manila.
Since they had no jurisdiction over domestic flights, they turned the items over to the PDEA 7.
The box was sent to a certain Dr. Tan, who owns a drugstore in Guadalupe, Cebu City.
Marquez said that Tan has denied ownership and was reportedly angry that his name was used.
Marquez assured that efforts were being made to trace the sender of the box to further identify the recipient.
Whoever claims the boxes will have to present a retailer or distributor’s license for him to be cleared.
The license is signed by the director general of the PDEA central office.
A fine is imposed on anyone who transports the drug without the license.
For now, all the PDEA 7 can do is keep the drugs safe from those who might want to misuse it.
They are also checking the facts on the shipment so that when Nubain is reclassified as a dangerous drug, they already know how it is being circulated.
While each vial costs P1,300, at least three persons can share its contents and inject it into their systems. Its effects, though, are not as potent as that of methamphetamine hydrochloride, more popularly known as shabu.
“Shabu has a more long lasting effect,” Marquez said.
The street price of shabu has been increasing, with the raids on shabu laboratories throughout the country and the stiffer penalties given to anyone caught selling drugs. (MEA/CYR)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (August 2, 2006 issue)
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