Anti-Narcotics Task Force Audits Gujarat Medical Stores

The Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) of the Gujarat Police has completed a week-long audit of medical stores and pharmacies across the state, checking their adherence to the rules under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. A total of 213 establishments were examined between October 6 and October 12.

The audit was ordered by senior officers and carried out by the ANTF's zonal units along with the monitoring headquarters in Gandhinagar. Its purpose was to ensure that medicines linked to narcotics and psychotropic substances are not sold, stored or distributed illegally, and that they are not misused.

Inspectors looked closely at how the establishments managed sales and distribution, and whether they followed the relevant regulations and procedures.

By location, the Gandhinagar monitoring headquarters inspected 64 stores and pharmacies, the most of any unit. Vadodara zone followed with 43, Rajkot zone with 36 and the border zone with 32. Ahmedabad zone examined 23 premises and Surat zone 15.

During the audit, the Food and Drug Department issued 25 notices for regulatory non-compliance. Eleven of these came from the Ahmedabad zone, 10 from the Surat zone and four from the Gandhinagar monitoring headquarters zone.

The latest checks come after earlier statewide efforts to rein in the misuse and illegal sale of narcotic and psychotropic medicines. Last July, a joint campaign by the Gujarat Police and the Food and Drug Control Administration inspected 7,575 medical stores, focusing on prescription requirements and limits on the sale of controlled drugs.

Authorities said that inspections and surveillance will continue statewide to curb the illegal trade and abuse of narcotic and NDPS-linked medicines.