British
multinational healthcare company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has once again found
itself in the public eye in China after reports that one of its popular cold
medicines has been used as a raw material to manufacture the recreational drug
crystal meth, reports Shanghai's China Business News.
Police
raided properties in Boshe village in Lufeng, a city in southern China's
Guangdong province, confiscating a batch of drugs and raw materials on Dec. 29.
Among the haul was the Kangtaike cold medicine series produced by GSK.
The
incident is not the first time that Kangtaike has been implicated in
methamphetamine production, the paper said, as police have confiscated packs of
Kangtaike capsules during drug raids across the country in Shandong, Jiangsu,
Hubei and Guangdong.
Boshe has
been dubbed China's foremost drug village after a crackdown on several local
drug rings, where many housewives and senior citizens were found to be working
part-time to make the drugs, earning 300-500 yuan (US$50-$80) a day. The police
also found that some local elementary school students were also working at the
drug labs during summer or winter vacations, opening Kangtaike capsules and
pouring the powder into a container to earn around 10,000 yuan (US$1,650) a
month.
At 11.60
yuan (US$1.90) a packet, Kangtaike boasts the largest share in China's
over-the-counter cold medicine market, racking up sales of over 500 million
yuan (US$82.6 million) a year. It differs from most other cold medicines in the
content of PSE, or pseudoephedrine, which is effective in alleviating symptoms
of cold, but the chemical can also be a key material in producing
methamphetamine. Theoretically, 10 packs of Kangtaike can be converted into
three grams of methamphetamine hydrochloride, also known as crystal meth or
ice.
Lo Yi, a
manager at GSK, said that "While we do not plan to suspend sales of
Kangtaike, we are stepping up R&D efforts in revising the formula of the
medicine and finding a substitute for PSE."
To stem the
abusive use of cold medicines containing PSE, China's State Food and Drug
Administration has ruled that they can only be prescribed by doctors.
Figures
show that China's cold medicine market has been expanding steadily in recent
years, scoring sales of 14.9 billion yuan (US$2.5 billion) in 2011, compared
with 7.8 billion yuan (US$1.3 billion) in 2007, representing a 17% compound
average growth rate. In 2011, cold medicines accounted for 15% of the retail
sales of medicines in China, the second largest, trailing health products at
31.3%, the paper said.
Related Article:
"Recalibration of the Human Being" – Jan 7, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text Version)
"... The Common Cold
You're going to catch more colds. Why would that be? But then you're going to heal them quicker - and why would that be? The Human cold has always been a recalibration of the biological process. To catch a cold is needed, and that is why you cannot "cure" it. You must go through it. The common cold is a cyclical opportunity for the immune system to correct itself. Perhaps you didn't know that? That's why you're not going to receive the chemistry to cure the common cold. It's a recalibrating device within you. It builds up the system in a certain way that helps you, and it must be reoccurring. Don't be shocked when you catch one, and say, "Well, I didn't think that would happen because I just got through with the other one." It's recalibration.
These are the kinds of things we wanted to bring to you, so that you will know what is taking place and not fear it. There are many positive things representing a truly positive energy that is occurring on the planet and turning the corner of opportunity for humanity. This is an energy that supports the Lightworker. There's no more upstream swim, dear ones.
Now, all of you are different, and I know who you are. Commitment is the key. You cannot do any of these things casually, but you knew that, didn't you? When you commit to the manifestation of what you need in your life, the Universe is listening. When you receive messages from my side of the veil, I will tell you something that you already may know. We do not have a clock. So I speak to you in the now.
I see the energy in the room, and I see who is here. I see the old soul. I speak to you in the now. So it's up to you what your clock does and how long it takes in your reality. In my reality, it's already done... already accomplished, for the strongest potentials become manifested reality. Can you see that way? Can you walk out of here with it already done in your mind? There's energy in this room that is infusing itself right now into the places it needs to go. ..."
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