A PRESCRIPTION drug being abused by teenagers with potentially fatal consequences is being sold in Enniskillen, The Impartial Reporter has learned.
Pregabalin, also known as an anti-epileptic drug used to relieve chronic pain that has been linked to the deaths of two teenagers in Northern Ireland earlier this year.
Democratic Unionist MLA Maurice Morrow has called for Lyrica to be made a class C drug after this newspaper discovered the drug for sale on an Enniskillen-based buy and sell website page.
At the weekend a user of the social media website was offering 1,000 pills in return for £190.

Lord Morrow, a Fermanagh-south Tyrone MLA, has called on the Police Service of Northern Ireland to investigate the listing.
“This is incredibly worrying given the ease of access to the site and the apparent quantities on offer. The ruthless desire for income at the potential cost of life verges on incomprehensible,” he said.
Lord Morrow said the drug has a specific role when prescribed by a clinician but like any substance taken incorrectly “it can be lethal.”
“Such mindless peddling of any substance which could ultimately lead to death in the community has to be halted and the persons responsible made amenable before the courts,” he said.
Sinn Fein MLA Sean Lynch is to meet with senior police officers next week to discuss the issue.

Impartial Reporter:

Sinn Fein MLA Sean Lynch. 

“I think this is shameful and an issue that police should be monitoring. Prescription drugs can be dangerous when in the wrong hands and I’ll be discussing this with officers next week,” he said.
Ulster Unionist Rosemary Barton MLA has urged people in Fermanagh not to purchase drugs “legal or illegal” from the internet. 

Impartial Reporter:

Ulster Unionist MLA Rosemary Barton. 

“Anyone who decides to sell drugs on Facebook, for example, is very careless. 
“Facebook is a social media site with a large number of young people using it every day. By selling these drugs online, you are essentially exposing our young people to the world of drugs.”

Impartial Reporter:
SDLP MLA Richie McPhillips (above) described the discovery of the drugs “as very disturbing.”
“This should be a wake up call to the community that drugs are a major problem for society today and we must do what we can to try and eradicate the problem and get people the help they need,” he said.