These two were funny open-air pharmacists. Or particularly suspicious patients!
Spotted in rue Louis-Braille (Republic district) in Cannes, two individuals in their thirties were arrested by the anti-crime brigade (BAC) on Monday around 5 p.m.
Foreigners in an irregular situation on our territory, they were in possession of many small medicinal capsules. In total, no less than 150 capsules containing pregabalin (marketed under the name Lyrica, but also in its generic form), a substance used in the treatment of neuropathic pain, epilepsy and generalized anxiety disorders. It is also sometimes prescribed off-label to relieve chronic lumbar or radicular pain.
But the cure can be worse than the disease, since this product is also assimilated to a narcotic when it is not given by secure prescription (to be renewed every six months) for precise and controlled treatment.
“It’s a bit of the poor man’s new drug, it’s all the rage in popular circles because a capsule sells for 2 to 3 euros, and can produce the effect of a powerful opiate”indicates a source close to the investigation.
“The impression of being a real mummy!”
“As a medicine, I was also prescribed it for my cervical spine pain, but I stopped taking it because I felt like a real mummy, completely amorphous! “, testifies a Cannes resident suffering from chronic inflammation.
In the city of Festivals, this is the first time that the police have made a seizure of this type. But it has been several years since the National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products (ANSM) has drawn attention to the misuse of pregabalin. Like a euphoric drug, it has relaxing and disinhibiting properties. Especially when it is consumed at high doses, and/or in combination with other depressants (opiates, alcohol, benzodiazepines, etc.) whose effects it “boosts”, according to various scientific studies. Some users also report a “feeling of omnipotence”. Hence its ability to compete with cannabis or cocaine, currently in vogue on the Côte d’Azur, in Cannes in particular.
Adverse effects dangerous to health
But weight gain, dizziness, drowsiness or a comatose state are also among the side effects. More seriously, excessive consumption of pregabalin would also increase the risk of breathing difficulties and heart rhythm disorders.
Pregabalin ingested in high doses might also influence behavior, causing suicidal thoughts and aggression. Several traffics have been dismantled in recent months in France, particularly in Lyon.
During their police custody at the Cannes police station, the suspects nevertheless swore that their stock was used to treat their own ailments. But without any document to support the allegations of these imaginary patients, the investigators of the quarter did not swallow the pill. If one of the suspects has been released, the second, the main holder of the capsules, will be referred to the Grasse prosecutor’s office this morning for illegal possession of narcotics.
