'Abuse of painkiller for pregnant women growing'

MANILA, Philippines - A former executive of the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) yesterday revealed that a growing number of illegal drug users in the Visayas are getting hooked to a painkiller for pregnant women.

Lawyer Clarence Paul Oaminal, former DDB vice chairman, said there have been reports of the growing abuse of nalbuphine hydrochloride, a prescription medication, in Central Visayas, particularly in Cebu City.

The drug, widely used as pain reliever for pregnant women, was recently reclassified as a dangerous drug.

The DDB’s reclassification will take effect after publication in a newspaper of general circulation and registration with the Office of National Registry.

“The police now have legal reason to arrest anyone who abuses this drug,” said Oaminal.

With the reclassification, using the drug, unless with the help of a duly licensed medical practitioner, is now a crime with a penalty of life imprisonment.

Sen. Vicente Sotto III, former DDB chairman, and Oaminal worked for the reclassification of the prescription drug into the DDB’s list of dangerous drugs during their term.

The two officials pushed for public hearings and the submission of a report by a technical working group.

“Nalbuphine hydrochloride under the brand name Nubain has long been abused in Central Visayas. It is predominant in Cebu City for almost two decades, but has escalated in the province (of Cebu),” said Oaminal.

He cited another study showing that use of the painkiller has also been rampant in Metro Manila and the cities of Cagayan, Dumaguete and General Santos, among other key urban areas in the country.

Oaminal appealed to the Cebu provincial board to enact an ordinance replicating a Cebu City ordinance, as growing abuse of the drug is happening in other towns in the province.

Oaminal said he himself learned about the growing number of drug users hooked to the drug during his visits to rehabilitation centers across the country.

The painkiller is administered through injection. Other drug users have introduced “milkshake,” a combination of the drug and shabu.