PCC Case: BPOM Issues Official Statement
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Kamis, 1 Januari 1970 07:00 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) has issued an official statement regarding the case of PCC misuse in Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi.
BPOM official website stated that the Paracetamol Cafein Carisoprodol or PCC tablets which were consumed by students in Kendari tested positive for carisoprodol.
The distribution permit of carisoprodol in Indonesia had been revoked by BPOM in 2013. The agency explained that this type of drug is often abused by its users to invoke a sense of confidence; it is also consumed to elevate the level of stamina, which is also often abused by prostitutes.
Read: BNN: PCC is Not Flakka
Head of the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) Rehabilitation Center Dr. Jolan Tedjokusumo acknowledged the rumor suggesting that PCC is able to invoke an elevated level of self-confidence, but Jolan reminded that consuming the drug in the long term can have negative effects in the brain and nerve systems. “Which is why it was withdrawn from the circulation,” he said.
Furthermore, BPOM explained that the medications that contain carisoprodol react to a pharmacological effect as a muscle relaxant that is short-lived. The human body will quickly metabolize the substance into a metabolite that can solicit a sedative effect.
BPOM will continue to investigate whether there were other medications, besides PCC, consumed by the victims in Kendari that caused one of them to pass away.
M. YUSUF MANURUNG