"Sharing" addiction experiences through code words on social platforms Where do some of the prescription drugs that teenagers abuse come from

Investigate motivations

Some time ago, a 14-year-old junior high school student in Anda, Heilongjiang Province, fell into a coma because he took the prescription drug carbamazepine in class and was rushed to the ICU for rescue. After the incident, the junior high school student said, "This medicine can cause hallucinations and relax the mood." He had also taken dextromethorphan tablets a few times before, and the effect was similar, and they were all purchased at a local pharmacy. Recently, the local market supervision and administration department imposed warnings, fines and revocation of licenses on the pharmacies involved.

Why are minors able to easily buy prescription drugs and even narcotic drugs? What are the dangers of drug abuse among adolescents? How to be effectively governed? With questions, the reporter conducted an investigative interview.

"Share my delicious healthy recipes for the week: King Kong ×× on Monday, King Kong × on Tuesday, Diphenyl × on Wednesday, Right Beauty ×× on Thursday, Silai ×× on Friday, Phenylethylamine ××× on Saturday, and × on Sunday, come and try it!"

On social platforms, Xiaoyou, who shows his age as "post-00", released such a shocking "recipe" not long ago. The above-mentioned drugs she mentioned are all prescription drugs and even anesthetic drugs.

She didn't take medication to cure her illness — in the content she shared, there were many remarks such as "OD" and "hallucination". In the comments, some netizens left a message "Isn't it quitting od", and Xiaoyou replied "quit after swallowing".

A recent investigation by a reporter from the "Rule of Law Daily" found that on social platforms, many teenagers are addicted to "drug abuse" like Xiaoyou, and share their feelings after overdose in code language.

In this regard, the interviewed experts called on relevant departments to further strengthen the supervision of relevant drugs, urge pharmacies, especially online pharmacies, to implement the "prescription before medicine" sales process, online platforms to increase the review of illegal information, and at the same time home, school and community joint attention to the physical and mental health of teenagers, strengthen the rule of law publicity and scientific publicity on the harm of drug abuse, and effectively prevent drug abuse among teenagers.

The code word "share" on social platforms has serious consequences for drug abuse

Combing through Heilongjiang Xiaoqing's social platform, you can clearly see the process of its drug abuse: more than a year ago, at the instigation of friends, he ate dextromethorphan and prei Bahrain with a "play" mentality, and fell into it; After falling out of love in July this year, he became even more unscrupulous, and even shouted at his predecessor on social platforms: "After leaving you, I will know that 70t (T finger piece/grain) is not a lethal dose." ”

Xiaoqing said that he also tried to quit, but every time he tried, he felt an inexplicable emptiness in his heart, and he couldn't lift his spirits for anything.

According to public information, dextromethorphan is a commonly used antitussive drug in clinical practice. Prei Bahrain is mainly used to treat epilepsy, neuropathic pain, anxiety disorders and other diseases. At present, both are listed in the national list of Class II psychotropic drugs.

According to the regulations, all narcotic drugs that are listed under control can only be dispensed, purchased and used with a prescription issued by a licensed physician. Category II psychotropic drug retail enterprises shall sell in prescribed doses on the basis of a prescription issued by a licensed physician; Overdose or over-the-counter sales are prohibited; Not for sale to minors.

However, the reporter's inquiry found that on social platforms, it is not uncommon for teenagers to "share" the abuse of prescription drugs and anesthetic drugs, and form a set of code words, such as "pr80" to refer to Prei Bahrain, "good night" to refer to amantadine, and "beautiful" to refer to dextromethorphan. Some people wantonly "share" their own OD experience, exchanging experiences such as "this side effect is smaller" and "this is just a prescription that is not listed, so it is easy to buy".

According to Yao Huaifang, chief physician of the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, drug abuse refers to the repeated and large use of drugs (or substances) with dependence characteristics for non-medical purposes, and users have mental and physical dependence on such drugs, and lead to psychological and behavioral abnormalities, compulsive and endless pursuit of the special mental effects of drugs, which brings serious personal health, public health and social problems.

"Many drugs are drugs when they are used to treat diseases, and when abused, they can lead to drug addiction. Common addictive drugs include analgesics, sedative-hypnotics, psychostimulants, and cough suppressants. Yao Huaifang said that the illegal abuse of refined anesthesia drugs is tantamount to drug abuse.

Yao Huaifang said that drug abuse has a great destructive effect on the mental health of teenagers, and long-term drug abuse can lead to emotional out-of-control, anxiety, depression and other psychological problems. At the same time, minors' brains are not yet fully developed, and drug abuse can permanently alter brain structure and function, leading to cognitive decline, learning difficulties, and behavioral abnormalities.

"If you don't OD, you will binge, and if you don't OD, you will be anorexic, it's so painful! In the past few days, I have a binge eating attack, I have gained a lot of weight, and I want to cry. Xiaoyou has realized the side effects of drug addiction, "I finally got a good night's sleep after taking too much, but in fact, I don't know if I had a good night's sleep or fainted." ”

Xiaoyou and others also had to face side effects such as memory loss, "Is the memory damage of OD reversible?" I'm looking for something every day now, and my memory is very bad, and I feel like I'm stupid" "I don't think I can wake up, and when I wake up, I think crankily, and my head can't stop at all."

Buy prescription drugs without a prescription There are loopholes in buying drugs online

The interviewed experts said that prescription drugs are drugs that can be dispensed, purchased and used only with a prescription from a licensed physician or licensed assistant physician to ensure drug safety. The sales management of refined anesthesia drugs is more stringent.

Yao Huaifang said that prescription drugs need to be diagnosed by doctors before use, and if doctors do not have a clear diagnosis, the use of prescription drugs at will not only lead to adverse reactions, but also increase the occurrence of drug-borne diseases. In the process of disease treatment, doctors and pharmacists sometimes need to adjust the dosage of drugs, and even adjust the choice of drugs.

So, where do the prescription drugs and even fine anesthesia drugs in the hands of teenagers such as Xiaoyou and Xiaoqing come from?

On Xiaoyou's social platform, there are not only photos of him buying drugs from abroad, but also recently posted posts selling related drugs: "Chushequ ×, Fluxepsi×, Fumaric Acid ×××, Beautiful ××, Purui ××, Yumei ××, Laura, ××." It can be used to take pictures, pretend to be psychotic and depressed, and come out at a low price. In the comment area, many people responded to the request.

The reporter noticed that there are also drug sales that start business directly on social platforms. They call themselves "belts" and "yao generations" (both refer to pharmaceutical generations), provide contact information, "private chat with those who are willing", and claim to be able to provide unlimited prescription drugs and even controlled drugs without a prescription. On some social platforms, there are many posts asking for or selling dextromethorphan tablets, and many sellers promote and sell alternative drugs for dextromethorphan.

In addition, some online drug sales platforms also have certain loopholes, resulting in some teenagers easily buying prescription drugs without a prescription.

For example, the prescription drug semaglutide, with its legend of "losing 10 pounds a month", has become a "miracle drug for weight loss" sought after by some people. The reporter recently searched for semaglutide injection on the online drug sales platform and randomly selected a pharmacy. After selecting a single box, click on the prescription to purchase, and then enter the "Fill in the Consultation Information" page.

After filling in the identity information such as the name of the drug user and selecting the diagnosed disease, the reporter selects the "type 2 diabetes" that has been preset on the page, and prompts "supplementary prescription/medical record/examination report (optional, up to 5)" at the bottom. The reporter did not upload any prescriptions, but only checked the prompt item "Confirm that the user has made a clear diagnosis of the selected disease offline, has used the selected drug and has no allergies or adverse reactions, and is currently in stable condition." I have read and agreed to the "Internet Diagnosis and Treatment Risk Notification and Informed Consent" and "Rules for the Processing of Sensitive Personal Information", click "Submit Consultation Information" to enter the payment and order process, and the whole process takes less than one minute.

The reporter also placed orders for the same drug in several other pharmacies on the same platform, and they did not need to upload medical records, prescriptions, drug pick-up orders and other information, and they could directly purchase semaglutide injection.

Some medical professionals told reporters that allowing consumers to choose their own drugs, and then the Internet hospital then replenishes the prescription, which is a common way for some platforms to sell prescription drugs online, "this is not in line with the regulations". According to the Detailed Rules for the Supervision of Internet Diagnosis and Treatment (for Trial Implementation), it is strictly forbidden to provide drugs to patients before a prescription is issued. The Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Drug Online Sales also put prescription review in advance, emphasizing the sales process of "prescription before medicine".

"If prescription drugs are not sold in accordance with the regulations, there may be problems of abuse, which can lead to the lack of drug safety for patients and delay the patient's condition. If a patient has a serious drug safety accident as a result, the pharmacy or platform that sells prescription drugs in violation of regulations shall bear the corresponding responsibility. Said the aforementioned medical professional.

Strengthen the supervision of drug circulation, and strengthen the information review platform

"I don't want to live, but I don't really want to die, I want to feel like I'm dying" "Curious, bored, boring every day, I want to find some excitement"...... This is what some drug addicts say on social platforms.

"Adolescent mental health issues need to be taken seriously." Yao Huaifang said that the prevention of drug abuse among young people can only achieve good results through the joint efforts of herself, parents, and schools. The root of the problem is still in the family, parents should maintain good communication and exchanges with their children, and carry out psychological counseling in a timely manner. Parents should learn more about the prevention of drug abuse and guide their children who really need to take drugs to use drugs rationally.

In June this year, the Shandong Provincial High People's Court reported a case stating that the people's court promptly issued a judicial recommendation to the regulatory authorities on the issue of minors purchasing addictive prescription drugs due to inadequate supervision discovered during the trial of the case.

It has been reported that when the people's court tried a criminal case, it was discovered that a number of minors involved in the case had purchased certain prescription drugs containing controlled psychotropic substances from pharmacies for a long time and many times without issuing a prescription. After taking a large amount of the drug, it will produce dizziness, hyperactivity, hallucinogenic effect, and addiction, which seriously infringes on the physical and mental health of minors and causes a bad social impact. After investigation, the court found that some pharmacies in the area did not manage the drug according to the prescribed drug standards, sold the drug to minors, and other violations and violations, exposing the problem of inadequate management of addictive prescription drugs.

In this regard, Xu Hao, a lawyer at Beijing Jingshi Law Firm, suggested that the supervision of the sales of drugs with the possibility of addiction should be further strengthened, the frequency of inspections of offline sales should be increased, the traceability mechanism of network and network can be established and improved, and the behavior of large quantities of drugs and frequent drug purchases should be given early warning through big data and other technical means.

"It is necessary to further strictly control the production of such drugs, strengthen the supervision of drug production links and business links, and strengthen the inspection of delivery channels, so as to effectively curb the abuse of the above-mentioned drugs and their flow into illegal channels." Xu Hao said, especially for many new psychoactive substances, we must crack down hard in accordance with the law.

The experts interviewed pointed out that online platforms should also fulfill their social responsibilities and avoid contributing to drug abuse. Relevant platforms should consciously strengthen the screening of keywords and morphed words, increase the extent of review of information content, immediately delete illegal content once discovered, and employ restrictive measures such as banning illegal accounts. (Reporter Wen Yuanhao)

Source: Rule of Law Daily