- Norman Grindley Prescription drugs such as Canesten vaginal tablets, steroidal creams such as Dermovate and Betnovate, ampicillin (red-and-black capsules) were bought by a Sunday Gleaner reporter, from higglers in downtown Kingston.
Claude Mills, Staff Reporter
SEVERAL street-side vendors are involved in a lucrative "open air pharmacy" on the sidewalks of downtown Kingston.
They provide prescription drugs to persons who want to avoid going to a doctor to get medication for an illness.
The illegal trade has left the health sector baffled about how so many different kinds of prescription drugs could have found their way on the street side, and concerned about the health risk involved in the abuse of these drugs.
On sections of West Queen Street, downtown Kingston, and in the vicinity of pharmacies in the busy commercial hub, vendors display prescription drugs along with regular wares on their stalls.
The vendors have stockpiled a wide range of products from skin-lightening creams to antidepressants to antibiotics.
"The practice is very popular and the vendors have a host of prescription drugs on their stalls. They sell steroidal cream, vaginal inserts for thrush, ampicillin (red-and-black tablets), amoxicillin, sleeping pills, Retardin (cinchocaine) for men with a premature ejaculation problem, and antibiotics for yeast infection," said a pharmacist who works in downtown Kingston, and spoke on condition of anonymity.
"I have even seen men peddling the ampicillin and other antibiotics in transparent plastic bags on the wire-things that you see the peanut vendors with. It is quite blatant, they sell right in front of the pharmacies," the pharmacist said.
According to eyewitnesses, even schoolboys have been known to purchase medication to deal with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) or to enhance sexual performance. Young girls buy the stronger types of bleaching cream.
When The Sunday Gleaner visited the area last week, several boxes of steroidal creams such as Betnovate (betamethasone) and Dermovate (clobetasol) were seen on display on various stalls, as well as Canesten for certain vaginal infections, and Retardin cream.
One man was seen with a batch of the "infamous red-and-black pills", and he advertised that he also had stocks of the "gungo" or the "boom" (Anafranil), which is an antidepressant, sometimes used by local men to delay orgasm.
"These drugs may be addictive, and it may induce persons taking them to consume larger doses just to get a similar effect," the pharmacist said.
At pharmacies in downtown Kingston, Betnovate cream costs $247, and ointment $249. Dermovate cream $346 while the ointment goes for $328. Canasten cream costs $290 while the vaginal tablets cost $390. Retardin costs just $152.
On the streets, the prices are quite competitive. A Sunday Gleaner reporter was able to purchase Betnovate cream which costs $250, Dermovate cream which costs $350, one dozen ampicillin capsules which cost $300, and Canesten vaginal tablets costing $500. The Canesten cream costs $300.
Antidepressants like Anapranil, the "gungo", costs $300 per half-dozen, and "stone" costs $100 per chunk.
Granville Forbes, chairman of the Pharmacy Council of Jamaica (PCJ) which regulates the sector and issues licences to operate, said that "practice has been a great concern to the Pharmacy Council for some time."
Complex problem
"It's a complex problem, and it has been leading to the development of resistant strains of bacteria within the population because people are not taking the antibiotics for the prescribed length of time so the bacteria comes back with greater force," he said.
"We'd like to find out the source, we know it is out there, but we have not been able to do anything about it. There is some sort of illicit trade going on somewhere. Sometimes drugs get lost on the wharf, or people bring in drugs in their suitcases, but we know that all sorts of prescription drugs are getting on the streets," Mr. Forbes said. He added that "the PCJ had already asked the police to help raid these people."
However, checks with the Central CIB revealed that the police had "no reports or intelligence on the matter."
A representative from pharmaceutical manufacturer H.D Hopwood & Co. Ltd., said that there had been "no stock missing from any shipments at the wharves in the last six months although there had been problems in the past with short shipments."
Meanwhile, the pharmacist said that he knew of instances where "pharmacists found that drugs had disappeared from dispensaries overnight."
"Pharmacists have to delegate responsibilities because they are sometimes busy, so maybe, persons who are authorised to buy drugs could be buying drugs on behalf of the pharmacy but funnelling it to the streets. That could be a route because there is no stipulation that orders for a pharmacy be signed by the pharmacist," another pharmacist said.
Basil Wright, marketing manager of Medimpex Ja. Ltd., which is the sole distributor of Canesten cream and vaginal tablets (clotrimazole) used for fungal infections of the skin and vagina, says he has no idea how the product got onto the streets.
"In the past, it has happened, but I don't know where they get it from. We're sure that stock is not from us. Canesten is an over-the-counter drug in the Caribbean and the USA, so a higgler could easily pick up the drug in Miami and carry it here," he said.
An officer from the investigative unit at the Ministry of Health said the unit had no prior knowledge of the practice.
