Pharmaceutical shops are being called upon to attach maximum responsibility in dispensing tramadol to the public. This according to the Head of Tobacco and Substances of Abuse of the Department of Food and Drugs Authority, Madam Olivia Agyekumaa Boateng, is to help in the controlled distribution of the drug especially in the wake of its abuse in recent times.
Every pharmacy must sell tramadol but must sell it on a valid prescription and also records must be kept of people who patronize tramadol in a ‘dangerous drug book,’ she asserted.
There is a growing trend of Tramadol abuse among Ghanaian youth in some parts of the country.
Recent surveys have shown the drug is also used among market women, drivers, and in some cases, students.
The abuse of Tramadol, a pain relief drug, according to medical experts, functions like heroin and can cause psychotic problems as well as damage vital organs in the human body.
Madam Olivia Agyekumaa Boateng who expressed the call in an interview with Rite news said the tendency for the side effects of the drug was enough reason for its accountable dispensation.
“Tramadol is a prescribed drug which cannot be sold out without a doctor’s prescription because of its tendency or side effects when abused,” she asserted.
Tramadol is a registered drug which is used to treat moderate to severe pain which is likened to a pain reliever or pain killer, she said.
Explaining the characteristics of the drug, the Head of Tobacco and Substances of Abuse said Tramadol is a prescribed medicine and not an “over the counter medicine” which is usually recommended for people who are in extreme pain after conducting a surgery.
Madam Boateng therefore charged all pharmaceutical shops to keep records of people who purchase the drugs as the food and drugs board regularly embarks on inspections of such activities at the various pharmacies.
“All pharmaceutical shops must do well to keep records of people who purchase tramadol so that when the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) and the Pharmacy Council goes for inspection, they can produce an inventory on the drugs,” she urged.
She said besides people abusing the drug due to its pain relief efficacy, tramadol has additional properties of cocaine or marijuana called euphoria, known in local parlance as ‘being high,’ adding that taking the drug leads to such response called recreational Purposes.
Madam Boateng who regretted the global abuse of the drug said most youth who cannot afford other substances such as heroin, wee, marijuana, cocaine, etc. resort to tramadol.
Some effects of the drug abuse she mentioned include lung effects, respiratory defects, decreased breathing mechanisms, heart problems as well as depression which could result in loss of one’s life.
Source: Nana Ama Sarfo/www.ritefmonline.org/amasarfo297@gmail.com
