THE regional Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said it is now stepping up efforts to monitor the distribution of Nubain in Cebu and the rest of the region following last Sunday’s discovery of a box of liquid vials believed to be Nubain in Barangay Kamagayan.
“It’s a regulated drug. An unlicensed medical practitioner can face charges if he or she prescribes that drug,” PDEA information officer Rose Alviar said.
Alviar said PDEA has a compliance service section that issues licenses to doctors who are authorized to prescribe regulated drugs like Nubain and to companies importing dangerous drugs.
She said licensed doctors issue a yellow prescription to their patients who are advised to take Nubain.
Dr. Alice Utlang, head of the Cebu City Office of the Substance Abuse Prevention (COSAP) admitted that some drug users have shifted to Nubain use due to the scarcity of shabu supply in Cebu.
She received reports that some of the Nubain supply being smuggled into Cebu is sourced from Pakistan. Dr. Utlang said she is now working with PDEA to verify this information.
For now, she said it’s difficult for Cosap to prove Nubain addiction due to the absence of a testing kit to determine Nubain use.