By Dennis Wong

KUCHING, MALAYSIA: Students in the state are getting high on a cough pill which is available illegally although it is a prescription drug.

Owing to the alarming trend, the police and state Health Department have set up a joint task force to stop the illegal sale of the pill, known as nospan, which costs RM1 (S$0.41) each.

Nospan, also known by its generic name Dextromethorphan HBr, is a cough medicine derived from codeine and comes in tablet form.

The pill is prescribed to tuberculosis patients in the early stage of the ailment. Its side effects include dizziness, confusion and depression.

The task force had a major breakthrough last Thursday, when a doctor in Sibu was found in illegal possession of 12,000 nospan pills.

The raiding team found 4,000 tablets in his car and another 8,000 in his house.

The 48-year-old doctor led the police to his clinic, where another 8,000 tablets were found but he was licensed to prescribe them.

Sibu police chief Assistant Commissioner Shafie Ismail said the doctor, who was released on bail, could have been selling the pills in bulk in Sibu.

Despite such raids, the police are facing an uphill task in preventing students from getting their hands on unprescribed nospan.

State narcotics chief Supt Moses Agat told the New Straits Times that there was an abundant illegal supply of nospan and it was a cheap way to get high. He said in most cases those caught having the pills illegally could be charged with possession.

Last month, state police commissioner Datuk Mohmad Salleh blamed certain agencies for not monitoring the sale of such pills.

He said there were rising numbers of nospan abuse among students.

The state Narcotics Department arrested 81 people, 70 per cent of whom were students, and seized 35,952 nospan pills in the first half of the year. Last year, 101 people were arrested and 18,294 nospan pills seized.

Moses said the best way to tackle the problem was to have stricter sale laws of controlled medicine in the state.