Pinoys warned vs slimming products using methylephedrine

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines – Good to be slim, fit and athletic.  But don't use drugs to achieve a healthier body.

Filipinos are being warned against keeping, consuming and selling slimming products and other goods containing methylephedrine, a precursor of ephedrine used in the manufacturing of methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu.

Now classified by the government as dangerous drug,  the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) said all compounds, mixtures and preparations containing this substance; and its salts, isomers and salts of isomers, are illegal.

As such, said Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-Cordillera information officer Emily Fama,  the substance will be subjected to all regulatory and control measures contained in Republic Act (RA) No. 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, and the rules and regulations promulgated by the DDB.

Unauthorized or unlicensed importation, distribution, manufacture, prescription, dispensing and sale of, and other unlawful acts in connection with methylephedrine are punishable by life imprisonment and ten million pesos fine.

Last year, the World Anti-doping Agency has included methylephedrine in the Prohibited List, International Standard under item S6(b) as a prohibited stimulant.

Accordingly,  the substance induces increased blood pressure, cardio-vascular stress and priapism, and has high potential for abuse.

Methylephedrine is derivative of ephedrine, a controlled substance under the 1988 United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, which is used in other countries as a decongestant and bronchodilator.

Methylephedrine was found in drug clandestine laboratories raided by police and anti-narcotics operatives, Fama said.

The DDB argues that the country has enough medications in the market that can produce the same therapeutic effects instead of pushing for methylephedrine.

On September 12, 2013, the DDB after consulting various stakeholders who supported the inclusion of methylephedrine in the list of dangerous drugs, approved DDB Regulation No. 2, Series of 2013, “Inclusion of Methylephedrine in the List of Dangerous Drugs”.

Under Section 93, Article XI of the comprehensive drugs law (RA 9165), the DDB is given the power to reclassify, add to or remove any drug or substance from the list of dangerous drugs.