Tapentadol – new drug devastating youth

Srinagar, Jul 14: A new drug crisis is tightening its grip on Kashmir youth, with a prescription medicine, Tapentadol, emerging as a major threat.

While many channels of the drug are being plugged regularly by authorities, the crisis is worsening – more supply routes than what can be cracked down on.

The Dark Web is facilitating doorstep delivery of illegal drugs in Kashmir, silently, smuggled via regular courier services.

In 2023, 26,600 Tapentadol tablets were recovered from a courier agency in Srinagar, consigned to a drug peddler in Baramulla.

In another operation in 2022, 2600 tablets hidden in a courier shipment gave a glimpse of how traffickers exploit delivery services to carry out illegal drug smuggling.

A day ago, four pharma companies in J&K lost their licences over alleged illegal purchase and sale of Tapentadol, a potent opioid analgesic.

Many more pharmacists have also faced a similar fate recently.

Last week, Police arrested three peddlers, including a woman with assorted contraband substances, including Tapentadol.

What this drug is and why is it being watched by doctors and law-enforcing agencies, including the Drug Controller’s office in J&K?

Tapentadol is an analgesic drug used to treat post-surgery or chronic pain.

However, it has a high abuse potential as it produces euphoria when taken in high doses.

Regular use creates dependence, physical and psychological.

With continuous use, the users develop tolerance, pushing for more intake, risking overdose.

It can cause respiratory depression, a life-threatening condition.

It is often taken through non-oral routes also, exposing people to lurking dangers of infections such as Hepatitis B, C, and HIV.

Incharge of the Drug De-Addiction and Treatment Centre (DTDC) at SMHS Centre, Prof Yasir H Rather said that the Dark Web had become the source for Tapentadol, which was widely available on illicit online marketplaces.

Compared to Heroin, which is mainly taken through injections here, Tapentadol is primarily taken orally.

It has less mortality.

It is also a cheaper drug, falling under Schedule H1, and requiring a prescription for purchase.

However, it is usually not abused solo, but in combination with other drugs, Benzodiazepines, Pregabalin, and Heroin.

The combos often prove catastrophic for the youth.

Tapentadol is also being used to mix with Heroin due to its low cost.

The abusers, pushed by financial factors, mix ground Tapentadol with Heroin for injections, doctors report.

Dr Fazal e Roub, a certified addiction treatment professional, who works with the Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences Kashmir (IMHANS-K) said they were already treating patients who suffered seizures, organ damage, and accidents due to these lethal drug cocktails.

“We have a patient who is still admitted with us. He was brought in a comatose state to SMHS Hospital and was resuscitated. He had taken the lethal cocktail,” he said.

The easy access to tapentadol is keeping the doctors on edge here.

Many studies on Tapentadol are underway in Kashmir, as not much literature on its abuse is available; Kashmir remains one of the epicentres of Tapentadol addiction.

At least three such studies have already been published over the last couple of years.

One such study, published in the April-June issue of the Indian Journal of Psychiatry, ‘Tapentadol Misuse and Abuse among Heroin Users Attending a Deaddiction Centre in Kashmir’, noted an alarming trend.

At least 16 percent of people reporting at IMHANS-K with heroin addiction were also abusing Tapentadol.

“Tapentadol is entering schools, catching very young people. It is also the new gateway drug,” said Dr Roub, one of the researchers of the study quoted.

The doctors said that the drug was distributed under street names like “Pandas” or “200s.”

A user typically consumes one strip of 10 tablets in one go, referred to as “one card”.

Soon, they graduate to higher doses, risking more lives.

“Parents often don’t suspect courier packages, which makes it easy for kids to access these substances,” Prof Rather said. “The youth here are vulnerable, and these networks prey on that.”