Page 15 - Drugs

US lawmakers reach deal on drug policy, avoid automatic decriminalisation

Democratic and Republican leaders in the Washington Statehouse reached a tentative deal on a major new drug policy Monday, one that would avoid making the state the second to decriminalise the possession of controlled substances. Lawmakers will consider the compromise Tuesday when they return to Olympia for a special session. Gov. Jay Inslee called them back after they failed to pass a new drug policy before adjourning late last month. Under the deal, intentional possession or public use of small amounts of illegal drugs would be a gross misdemeanour, punishable by up to six months in jail for the first two offenses and up to a year after that. But police and prosecutors would be encouraged to divert cases for treatment or other services, and the measure provides millions of additional dollars for diversion programs and to provide short-term housing for people with substance use disorders. A temporary, 2-year-old law that makes intentional drug possession illegal is due to expire J

Drugs worth Rs 25,000 cr seized from Indian waters in joint operation: NCB

Two days after the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) had announced the seizure of over 2,500 kilograms of methamphetamine from a vessel in Indian waters in a joint operation with the Navy, the anti-drug agency on Monday said the actual commercial value of the contraband after its latest evaluation was close to Rs 25,000 crore. NCB officials said because of the high purity of the seized methamphetamine, the value of the contraband has increased. Initially valued at Rs 12 000 crore, NCB had said that it was the largest seizure of methamphetamine in the country. "Upon our inspection, we found that the quality of the seized contraband is very high. Currently, the estimated street value of the drugs are at around Rs 25,000 crore," a senior official of the NCB told PTI. The official said various agencies have come together and they are probing the Pakistan links to the seizure. "The Pakistani national, who was detained will be produced before the court here this evening and we will seek hi

2,500 kg of drugs worth Rs 12,000 cr seized by NCB, Navy in Indian waters

In a massive drug bust, nearly 2,500 kilograms of methamphetamine worth around Rs 12,000 crore was seized from a vessel in Indian waters along the Kerala coast in a joint operation by the Navy and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), the anti-drug agency said on Saturday. The NCB said it was the largest seizure of methamphetamine in the country and a Pakistani national has been detained in connection with it. Giving details of the seizure at a press conference held here, NCB Deputy Director General (Ops) Sanjay Kumar Singh said it was carried out as part of 'Operation Samudragupt' which targeted maritime trafficking of drugs originating from Afghanistan. This is the third major seizure by NCB of maritime trafficking of drugs through the southern route in the last one and a half years, the agency said. As part of the operation, so far around 3,200 kg of methamphetamine, 500 kg of heroin and 529 kg of hashish has been seized, it said. The first seizure in the operation was made in ..

Pricing regulator sets mechanism to fix prices of off-patent drugs

Prices to be capped at 50% of innovator price; to be reviewed after one year

Reducing regulatory intervention in system a priority: DCGI Raghuvanshi

Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) Rajeev Singh Raghuvanshi on Thursday said bringing down regulatory intervention in the system and making it more simpler is a top priority for the organisation. The DCGI is the apex authority in the country responsible for approval of licences of specified categories of drugs such as blood and blood products, intravenous fluids, vaccine and serum. It functions under the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) of the Ministry of Health. Delivering a lecture at the CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) here on the occasion of National Technology Day, he said there are currently many licences and interventions present in the system with a scope of making it much more simpler. "...our (DCGI) current priorities for a couple of years, the first being, (we) want to reduce the regulatory intervention in the system. There are lot of licences and interventions. There is a scope of making it much more simpler. That is one area, where

Drug sales stuck at pre-pandemic level, price rise shapes market growth

Respiratory medicines doing well as people recover from long-term effects of Covid-19

Covid-19 dropped to fourth leading cause of death in US last year

U.S. deaths fell last year, and COVID-19 dropped to the nation's No. 4 cause, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday. COVID-19 deaths trailed those caused by heart disease, cancer and injuries such as drug overdoses, motor vehicle fatalities and shootings. In 2020 and 2021, only heart disease and cancer were ahead of the coronavirus. U.S. deaths usually rise year-to-year, in part because the nation's population has been growing. The pandemic accelerated that trend, making 2021 the deadliest in U.S. history, with more than 3.4 million deaths. But 2022 saw the first drop in deaths since 2009. The 2022 tally was about 3.3 million a 5 per cent decline from 2021 but still much higher than in the years before the pandemic. The CDC cautioned that last year's numbers are preliminary and may change a little after further analysis. Coronavirus-associated death rates fell for nearly all Americans. The virus was deemed the underlying cause of about 187,000 U.S. death

Pfizer beats profit estimates as new drugs offset Covid products slump

Pfizer expects 2023 to be a "transition year" for its Covid products, before potential returning to growth in 2024

As Singapore hangs man, these are the nations with the harshest drug laws

Singapore has executed a man accused of coordinating a cannabis delivery despite clemency petitions and protests. Here is a list of nations with the harshest drug laws

181% rise in registration of drugs cases, 145% in seizures: NCB data

The registration of criminal cases against drug traffickers and cartels in the country rose by 181 per cent during the nine years of the Modi government compared to eight years immediately before that, according to official data released on Wednesday by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. "The Modi government's multi-dimensional efforts led to an increase of around 145 per cent in the seizure of narcotics and 181 per cent more cases have been registered by the NCB against those involved in this business," Shah said. He also stressed that a "ruthless approach" should be undertaken by anti-narcotics agencies against drug syndicates to eradicate this menace from the country. The Union government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi was sworn in 2014. According to the data for 2014-22 (provisional data for 2022), 3,544 cases were registered by the federal anti-narcotics agency NCB in which 3,408 people were arrested. As much as 3,73,495 kgs of drugs was seized during this nine year period an

Have to build drug-free nation by 2047, says Shah in anti-narcotics meeting

Amit Shah launched a mobile app and web portal 'Map Drugs', which will help in identify and eradicate illegal farming in India

Syria earns more from drug Captagon than from its legal narco exports

Captagon is a synthetic stimulant composed of amphetamine and caffeine, and it is an internationally-recognized illegal drug (UNODC, 2021)

Mandaviya to meet representatives of e-pharmacies soon, plan regulations

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will soon hold a meeting with the representatives of e-pharmacies that are on government radar over several concerns, including data privacy and irrational use of prescription drugs, official sources said on Wednesday. They said the unrestrained and irrational use of prescription drugs by these e-pharmacies and maintaining the privacy of a patient's data are major areas of concern for them. These pharmacies collect the data on consumption of drugs area-wise, which increases the risks for patient safety, the sources explained. The Union Health Ministry is already mulling regulations and stringent actions on e-pharmacies. The revised draft of the New Drugs, Medical Devices and Cosmetics Bill, 2023, which has been sent for inter-ministerial consultation, mentions, "The central government may, regulate, restrict or prohibit the sale or distribution of any drug by online mode, by notification." The draft bill was put in the public domain in July l

India-US working closely to address fentanyl challenge: US health official

India and the US share a robust working relationship on addressing the major challenge posed by fentanyl drugs, a top health official in the Biden administration has said. Fentanyl is a highly potent synthetic opioid primarily used as an analgesic. Since 2018, fentanyl and its analogues have been responsible for most drug overdose deaths in the US, causing over 71,238 deaths in 2021. The Biden administration launched a massive campaign on Thursday to educate young people about the dangers of fentanyl and the life-saving effects of Naloxone, a medicine that reverses opioid-related overdoses. India has been very enthusiastic working with the United States to address this (fentanyl problem) because it understands the significance at a global level of leadership," Dr. Rahul Gupta, Director of Office of National Drug Control Policy, a position which is popularly known as Drug Czar, told PTI. He said India is acting like a global leader when it comes to addressing the threat of synthetic

NPPA allows drug firms to raise prices of essential medicines from April 1

Effectively the prices of 651 medicines will come down by 6.73%; WPI-linked price rise allowed this fiscal is 12.2%; about 870 formulations fall under the essential category

Cap on essential drugs to help consumers save Rs 3,500 crore: Mandaviya

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Monday said consumers will save around Rs 3,500 crore annually with the government capping the prices of the majority of essential medicines, hitting out at Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge. On Sunday Kharge had taken a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over a reported hike in prices of some essential medicines, saying he has taken supari (contract) to pick pockets of the people. Rebutting the Congress leader's claims, in a series of tweets Mandaviya said the ceiling prices of 651 out of 870 essential medicines have already been notified by the government so far bringing down the cost of drugs under the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM). While tagging Kharge's Twitter handle, Mandaviya in a tweet said that so far, new ceiling prices of 651 out of 870 essential medicines have been notified. Due to this, the approved ceiling price of medicines has decreased by an average of 16.62 per cent. As a result, consumers will save a

Google AI-based tiny syringe to inject gene therapy, tumour-killing drugs

The researchers thought it might be possible to modify them to deliver proteins to human cells by re-engineering the tail fibres to bind to different receptors

Imported drugs for rare diseases to be exempt from customs duty

Normally, medicines attract a basic customs duty of 10%, while some life-saving drugs or vaccines attract a concessional rate of 5%, or are completely exempt from duties

Anti Narcotics Task Force seizes drugs worth Rs 16.68 cr in 6 months

ANTF DG said that during these operations, the team arrested 36 illegal drug dealers while recovering 13 vehicles, 1 illegal .32 bore pistol, and 9 live cartridges from the criminals

NCB destroys more than 9,200 kg narcotic substances across India

Home Minister Amit Shah also virtually joined from Bengaluru where he was chairing the NCB's Regional Conference on Drug Trafficking & National Security for Southern States and Union Territories