Word: delhi
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When his manager came in to report yet another mechanical breakdown in the factory, New Delhi businessman Arun Goel broke down himself. His head throbbed unbearably as he fretted in the sweltering heat about power outages, missed deadlines and looming contract commitments. Seeing his distress, a friend handed him a glass of water and a small, yellow pill. The businessman swallowed. "It was like magic," Goel says. "Within 15 minutes, I had calmed down and was feeling optimistic that things would work...
...models everywhere seem to be popping "Al" to help them cope with life's everyday stresses. Some parents are even recommending Alprax to their children to calm their nerves prior to exams. "I take the pill to gain a certain amount of confidence," admits a 34-year-old New Delhi marketing executive, "especially before a party where you are expected to be smart...
...more frequently to maintain this chemical serenity. When taken in high doses or along with alcohol, coma or even death can be the result. "It is a good drug and I prescribe it to patients who display stress symptoms, but there are clear rules about dosage," says New Delhi general practitioner Dr. S. K. Vohra. "The trouble is that many chemists sell it without prescriptions and so people take it without supervision...
...otherwise conservative Indians are gobbling Al blissfully unaware of the risks. There's little stigma attached to it, nor do users endure the hassle of trying to score it from street-corner dealers. Recently, a casual request for Alprax tablets was greeted without a blink by a New Delhi pharmacist. The cost: 50 for a strip of 10 0.25-mg tablets. Another chemist was reluctant at first, but he relented. "You don't look the sort that might be an addict," he said. Neither recorded the name of the prescribing doctor as required...
...This lax attitude may change as awareness of the dangers of Alprax begins to spread. In March, socialite Natasha Singh was found dead outside a New Delhi hotel. Police concluded she had committed suicide by jumping from the roof. An autopsy revealed she had swallowed more than 30 Alprax tablets before her death. Singh, who reportedly suffered from depression, was a champion of Alprax and used it almost compulsively, according to her friends...