Measures against illegal-selling of psychotropic medications
By Mariam Chanishvili
Friday, August 5
“Pharmacists granting psychotropic medication of the first group without prescriptions will face professional penalties for three years and one year for the second group,” the Minister of Health, Labor, and Social Affairs, Davit Sergeenko stated during the press conference.
According to Sergeenko, this form of control is necessary as the situation is 'uneasy' in terms of so-called pharmaceutical drug-addiction in Georgia. Young people are buying various medications in order to use them as drugs. The pharmacists will be held responsible if they do not perform their professional duties properly.
“Entrepreneurs generally do not have the restriction of running parallel activities. For example, a person can have an automobile repair shop and at the same time open a psychotropic drugstore. Such people cannot get permission to work in the event of an offence, as well as if they were previously convicted,” said Sergeenko.
He also noted that the monitoring process will become stricter.
“Monitoring will work 24/7, there will be people on duty and except for the scheduled inspection, the hotline 15 05 will receive messages. The monitoring team will immediately react,” stated Sergeenko.
Drug-addiction is a very serious problem which affects individuals, their families and the country. Fighting against this problem requires a complex approach, which is why the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Social Affairs has decided to take action.
Recently, the Minister stated that they have revealed several pharmacies involved in the illegal selling of medicines and psychotropic medicines which are not allowed to be sold without prescriptions.
According to Sergeenko, this is not the final step in this regard. The Ministry will continually monitor the situation in order to prevent possible violations.
