Subj: New fears over deadly capsules

Date: Aug 2, 1998

Source: Scotland on Sunday

New fears over deadly capsules

As fatal overdoses increase, seizure of banned Temazepam 

shows drug abusers are finding new supply lines

By Dani Garavelli



THE dramatic rise in drugs deaths in the west of Scotland is 

being fuelled by a resurgence in the use of Temazepam - two 

years after the govemment changed the law in an attempt to 

block its supply.



The capsule form of the tranquilliser is being smuggled in 

from abroad in large quantities by dealers posing as 

pharmaceutical wholesalers, according to public health 

experts and Strathclyde police.



The news has prompted Paisley North MP Irene Adams to table 

a series of questions in the Commons in an attempt to 

establish the scale of the problem.



So far this year 54 people in Strathclyde have died from 

overdoses - more than in the whole of 1997. If the trend 

continues, the year's toll could overtake the record 102

drugs-related deaths in 1995. 



Until now the sudden availability of high-purity heroin had 

been blamed for the upturn but Dr Laurence Gruer, Greater 

Glasgow Health Board's addictions coordinator believes the 

re-emergence of Tenazepam is even more significant. "It is 

actually rare to find someone has died taking heroin alone," 

he said. "It has almost inevitably been taken as part of a 

cocktail with Temazepam or Valium."



Until recently, Temazepam was one of the most widely abused 

drugs in the west of Scotland. Gel from the capsules - which 

cost 75p each - was melted down and injected. In some cases, 

the gel solidified, resulting in amputations.



In 1996, however, under pressure from Adams, the government 

banned GPs from prescribing it in capsule form in an attempt 

to block supplies.



Today, only 900mg or less of Temazepam can be brought into 

Britain without an export licence - and even then it has to 

be accompanied by a letter from a GP. Import licences are 

only granted for the tablet form of the drug.



The new legislation had an immediate impact, reducing 

Temazepam's availability. Gruer said the change in the 

legislation contributed to a slump in Strathclyde's drugs 

deaths in 1996 and 1997, but added that new supply lines had 

now been established on the Continent.



"lt shows that for every action taken, there is an equal and 

opposite reaction," he added. "The same thing happened when 

GPs decided on a voluntary ban on the prescription of 

Temgesic in the early 1990s - it just pushed more people 

into taking heroin." 



Six months after the change in the law, small quantities of 

a home-made version of the drug were already appearing.



In the last two months alone, officers have recovered 

500,000 capsules in three separate raids.



Detective Chief Inspector Henry Harvey said: "The Temazepam 

capsules we are finding now are filled with a clear liquid 

like olive oil rather than the yellow gel, but they are 

exactly the same strength. We believe they are being 

manufactured on the Continent but so far we have been unable 

to establish where."



Adams, whose constituency bore the brunt of Temazepam abuse, 

is trying to find year by year figures for drugs deaths in 

which Temazepam was a contributing factor.



"It would be very disappointing to find the capsules were 

back after all our efforts," Adams said. "But if it turns 

out they are being brought in from abroad, then I will be 

campaigning for a Europe-wide ban."