Under its campaign to check the misuse of medicines as intoxicants in Haryana, Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) department has so far sealed more than 200 licensed as well as unlicensed sale premises for violating various provisions of Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and Rules, 1945.
A spokesman of FDA said that drug licenses of 150 shops have been cancelled and licenses of more than 50 shops were suspended in addition to legal prosecutions. Apart from this, 22 cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985 have also got registered for having stocked for sale Narcotic and Psychotropic drug formulations in huge quantities without holding any license under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act.
He said that so far more than 80 hookah bar’s premises have been raided by the Drug Control Officers and seized 123 samples of tobacco molasses containing nicotine. Test reports of more than 100 samples have been received indicating presence of nicotine in these samples. FIRs have been registered against the hookah bars where the test reports indicated nicotine. So far 12 FIRs have been registered under sections 188, 270, 272, 273, 284 of Indian Penal Code and Cigarettes and other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003 against hookah bars. These hookah bars included eight at Panchkula, two at Ambala, one each at Panipat and Faridabad. Also, action under Cr. PC 144 has also been taken against hookah bars located in nine districts namely Rohtak, Panchkula, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Panipat, Ambala, Hisar, Kurukshetra and Fatehabad.
The spokesman said that FDA has launched its own website www.fdaharyana.org in public domain and has become first northern state to launch online chemist shop licensing in the country. FDA has also made all its licensed blood banks online.
He said that the State Government has put complete ban on ‘gutkah’ and ‘panmasala’ containing nicotine and tobacco as ingredients to safeguard the public health. All Deputy Civil Surgeons (Health), Senior Medical Officers in charge of Community Health Centres, Medical Officers in Primary Health Centres have been notified as Additional Food Security Officers under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 to enforce this prohibition in the State. Apart from this, the Infant Milk Substitute (IMS) Act 1992 is being effectively implemented in the State, he added.