July 13, 2017.
A decree “with immediate effect”, signed by the Minister of Health, has just entered all drugs containing codeine, dextromethorphan, ethylmorphine or noscapine on the list of drugs available only on prescription.
Stop the misuse of these drugs
Medicines containing codeine will no longer be available over the counter in pharmacies. Agnès Buzyn, Minister of Solidarity and Health, has just signed an order so that prescriptions are required from pharmacists for the purchase of drugs that contain them. The government thus wishes ” put an end to dangerous and potentially fatal addictive practices “.
Many young people used to buy these drugs containing codeine and other opium derivatives. to have euphoric experiences. “ Suspicious requests for the issuance of codeines, cases of abuse, or even dependence, among adolescents and young adults continued to be reported with an increase in cases from 2015 onwards. “, Noted the French Observatory of Drugs and Drug Addiction (OFDT).
A public health problem
The use of codeine to make euphoric cocktails is known in the United States as Purple drank. These drinks touted by American rappers are not without risk to health. According to the Ministry of Health, since the beginning of the year, these cocktails have caused the death of two teenagers. Among those under 25, 30 serious cases linked to Purple Drank have also been identified in the past two years.
Among the two victims, Pauline, a 16-year-old girl from Beynes, in the Yvelines. She died of an overdose of codeine drugs on May 10, after 10 days in a coma. His mother then wanted to sensitize public opinion by launching a petition to ban this ” new teen drug “. She had collected 50,000 signatures.
Marine Rondot
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