The recent news of sale of date rape drug to students over the chemists is saddening.
The drug, which treats insomnia and anxiety, should be sold only with a prescription.
It has strong sedative effects and some people report they were robbed or raped after their drinks were spiked with the drug.
Only last week, Mombasa county commissioner Mahmood Noor said they had closed 21 pharmacies for selling the drug – Rohypnol – to minors without a prescription.
Pharmacists in Kenya are bound by strict regulations and ethical guidelines that prohibit the sale of prescription medications without verification of prescription to unaccompanied minors.
It is alarming that such a drug is easily availed to young men and women without proper prescription. The risk is that it will cause a rise in both rape, theft and robbery.
That's why the government should take calls by pharmacists to conduct investigations and punish those found responsible for selling such drugs to youngsters without a prescription.
It is important that beyond the condemnation of the unethical behaviour within the pharmaceutical profession, those responsible should be punished by having their licenses revoked.
Parents too have a role to play by educating youth on the dangers of using such a drug.
Quote of the Day: “All our knowledge begins with the senses, proceeds then to the understanding, and ends with reason.”
Immanuel Kant
The German philosopher was born on April 22, 1724
