The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned the public to be on the lookout for a nonmedical prescription opioid which has been widely abused as a recreational drug in Europe and Canada.
In an advisory, the FDA also ordered its field regulatory operations officers to continuously monitor the possible availability of the opioid W-18 in the Philippines.
“All local government units and law enforcement agencies are requested to ensure that the above-mentioned substance is not sold or made available in their localities or areas of jurisdiction,” the agency said in advisory number 2016-107.
The FDA issued the warning after being advised by the Dangerous Drugs Board on Canada’s move on tighter controls on the recreational drug.
Opioid W-18 is a recreational designer drug developed in the 1980s as a morphine-like painkiller and has been abused by users for its euphoric, painkilling and sedating effects.
The FDA noted that nonmedical prescription opioid use is becoming a rapidly escalating public health problem, especially with unintentional overdose deaths from opioid pain relievers.
This prompted Canada to enforce tighter control measures on the designer drug, adding it to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act in a bid to keep it off the streets.
The FDA added that in Canada, the drug was made to appear like legitimate prescription tablets such as oxycodone and has been used recreationally in Canada in Europe.
“More importantly, it was found to be 100 times stronger than Fentanyl and being a street-level opioid, it creates availability from which illegal markets arise,” the agency added.
The FDA also urged the public to help monitor the market for the availability of opioid W-18, or any suspicious promotional or marketing of the recreational drug.