(MENAFN- Live Mint) Delhi: Pregabalin, a prescription medication meant to treat anxiety, epilepsy, and nerve pain is being sold over the counter at multiple government-run Jan Aushadhi Kendras and private pharmacies across the national capital.

According to a report by Hindustan Times, the medicine, which is also now dubbed as the“trance drug,” is readily available, despite being a scheduled drug that should only be sold with a doctor's prescription.

What is Pregabalin?

Pregabalin is in a class of medications called anticonvulsants. In anxiety, it stops the brain from releasing the chemicals that make a person anxious.

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Pregabalin, marketed under brand names such as Lyrica, Alzain, and Axalid, is meant to be dispensed only with a doctor's prescription.

'Told it's like alcohol'

A 23-year-old software engineer, who once got addicted to the drug, blamed the easy access for leading to his addiction.

“I was told it's like alcohol but cheaper, and you don't get a hangover,” the engineer told HT, adding that he got addicted to Pregabalin to the extent that he began consuming“more than a dozen a day", as compared to his earlier consumption of“three pills” a day.

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Recounting his exprience, the engineer told:"No one stopped me. If pharmacies had asked for a prescription, maybe I wouldn't have spiralled so far."

What Delhi drug department said

One official from the Delhi drug department acknowledged the issue but said the department had not received any formal complaints.

He said that last year, the Punjab government formally wrote to the Centre requesting that Pregabalin be included in the H1 list of scheduled drugs. Any drug with H1 classification mandates pharmacists to maintain sale records of the same and dispense it only with a doctor's prescription.

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“We are aware that Pregabalin misuse is a growing concern. Punjab, in particular, has faced serious abuse of this drug among young people,” the official said.“But since Pregabalin is not yet listed under Schedule H1, it becomes much harder to regulate its sale," HT quoted the official as saying.

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