Roadside drug stalls offer affordable, cheap medicines<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): If you believe drugs are just too expensive and
\nyour doctors are quacks anyway, go to Jakarta's \"drug markets\".
\nThe prices may amaze you.<\/p>\n
Roadside medicine stalls are ubiquitous in the markets of
\nTanah Abang and Jatinegara as well as in modern business
\ndistricts like Senen and Glodok.<\/p>\n
Their customers are mostly poor people who find prescription
\nmedicines in drugstores too expensive.<\/p>\n
In these places, people find an array of drugs ranging from
\npain killers, antibiotics, and condoms to curious traditional
\nherbs said to enhance your libido.<\/p>\n
To attract customers, many shopkeepers become experts on every
\ndisease and health problem brought to them, and offer medical
\nadvice free of charge.<\/p>\n
Some medicine traders say that they sell over-the-counter
\ndrugs 20 to 30 percent cheaper than pharmacies.<\/p>\n
Siahaan, an owner of such a shop in Pramuka market, says
\npeople who cannot afford to buy medicines at drugstores buy
\n\"expensive\" drugs like antibiotics cheaply there.<\/p>\n
\"You can get antibiotics for two or three times less than at
\npharmacies,\" Siahaan says.<\/p>\n
Some medicines cost tens of thousands of rupiahs at drugstores
\nbut can be procured for only a few thousand rupiah if you know
\nwhere to go.<\/p>\n
Jupri, who has a stall in Glodok, says that he buys medicines
\nfrom a major pharmaceutical distributor so that he can sell them
\ncheap.<\/p>\n
\"We get special discounts from the distributor,\" he says. He
\nsays he has only one employee, to keep overheads to a minimum.<\/p>\n
Siahaan said that \"Many people come for advice before they
\ndecide to buy the proper drugs. People with venereal disease are
\nusually too ashamed to discuss it with their doctor so they come
\nhere for a consultation and then buy the medicine they need
\nhere.\"<\/p>\n
Siahaan, who has been doing business for seven years, is proud
\nto tell his customers he knows the ingredients and uses of more
\nthan 1,000 branded drugs.<\/p>\n
The \"Medicine men\" insist they don't sell expired drugs as
\nsome people say they do. They say that expired medicines are
\nreturned to their producers.<\/p>\n
Some drug stalls in Senen and Glodok eager for big, easy
\nprofit secretly sell cheap barbiturate pills, such as Nipam, and
\nBK.<\/p>\n
Police often find barbiturates in raids. A trader who has been
\nheld in Central Jakarta police custody for selling the pills,
\nsays he makes a lot of money from these \"uppers\".<\/p>\n
Illicit drugs are usually sold at mobile stalls, which can be
\nmoved when the owners hear the police is about to raid them.
\n(jun)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/roadside-drug-stalls-offer-affordable-cheap-medicines-1447893297",
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