June 12, 2017.
More and more young people are having fun buying codeine, a powerful opioid, in order to have new sensations. Experiences that can lead to overdose.
Adolescents intoxicated after an overdose
Friday, June 9, the National Medicines Safety Agency (ANSM) indicated that it would reflect on ways to ” restrict access »To medicines containing codeine. This announcement follows the death of two teenagers intoxicated after consuming excessively, and for recreational purposes, this pain reliever available over the counter in all pharmacies.
Teenagers have fun mixing together cough syrup, antihistamines and soda to experience new sensations. A cocktail that is not without risk, however, because it slows down the heart rate and can lead to coma. According to the ANSM, five cases of severe poisoning have reportedly been reported since the start of the year. It is therefore high time to make young people aware of the risks they run.
How to fight against this phenomenon?
If some pharmacists refuse to give drugs containing codeine to young people, the health authorities seem to be quite helpless in the face of this new phenomenon. ” We have been alerted for about two years to the increase in the number of cases of diversion by adolescents of this type of drug », Explained on FranceInfo, Nathalie Richard, director at ANSM.
And to add: ” We must find a balance between, on the one hand, restricting their access to young people and on the other, not depriving ourselves of effective pain treatments. “. What the drug agency wants to avoid at all costs is penalizing patients who really need these codeine-based treatments. The mother of one of the victims launched a petition for the free sale of this painkiller is prohibited. For its part, the ANSM announced that it was going to carry out a specific study on this phenomenon.
Marine Rondot
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