The Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) Punjab has warned chemists against selling prohibited and intoxicating drugs.
The FDA commissioner KS Pannu has urged people to come forward and inform the department if any chemist is found selling prohibited and intoxicating drugs.
Coupled with the ongoing inspections of the wholesale and retail chemist shops, the drugs regulatory officers convene meetings with the chemist associations across the state to apprise them regarding current drug legislation, maintenance of mandatory records under Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945.
“This step has been taken to remove the disconnect between the chemist and the regulatory officers and further to sensitize the chemists about the existing laws,” said Pannu. He said such meetings have been held in almost all the tehsils of the state. It is indeed heartening to see that chemists have come forward to support the government’s drive against drugs.
Thousands of chemists have pledged to abstain from selling prohibited drugs. They have proactively undertaken candle marches and cyclothons expressing their solidarity with government to save the youth from drug addiction, Pannu added.
The support of the chemists associations and the zero tolerance approach of the administration towards spurious drugs will ensure weeding out of the “Not of Standard Quality drugs” from the market at an early stage and will ensure availability of safe and efficacious drugs for the public, the commissioner said.