The tranquilliser flualprazolam is seeing rampant use in Thailand’s southernmost provinces, based on officials. This follows the detection of the substance in nimetazepam pills by the Regional Medical Sciences Centre 12 in Songkhla. The discovery marks the first occurrence of flualprazolam in Thailand.
The Department of Medical Sciences‘ director-general, Supakit Sirilak, made it recognized yesterday that the Centre was tasked with analysing the nimetazepam tablets, also known as Erimin 5. This drug is assessed as a Category 2 psychotropic substance. During evaluation, it was flualprazolam that was found present in the tablets.
Flualprazolam is a benzodiazepine class tranquilliser, typically utilised within the therapy of panic disorders, and insomnia, and for assuaging anxiety. Previous reports from 2013 confirmed the presence of nimetazepam, nitrazepam, phenazepam, diazepam, clozapine and etizolam in Erimin 5mg tablets. Fast forward to 2021, flualprazolam was found in Malaysia and Singapore.
Despite being illegal in Thailand, Erimin 5 is being widely used, especially in Narathiwat, one of the four southernmost provinces. The other three provinces include Pattani, Yala, and Songkhla.
Supakit also identified the risk of other substances being mixed with nimetazepam in a bid to evade prosecution. Complete noted that flualprazolam is a synthetic benzodiazepine, bearing an identical chemical compound to the sedative alprazolam, which can be a Category 2 psychotropic medication.
While flualprazolam isn’t a prescribed treatment and scientific analysis on it remains undisclosed, Supakit indicated that its chemical structure suggests its effects might manifest inside 10-30 minutes and endure for 6-14 hours.
In similar news, a number of months back, a bike supply rider in Samut Prakan, made a surprising discovery when he opened a bundle that was meant to be an empty mobile phone field, only to seek out it contained a sachet of the unlawful drug ketamine. To read the complete story, click on HERE..