LAHORE: Shutterdown strike of medical stores’ owners across Punjab still persists on fifth day against the Drug act 2017. The All Pakistan Drugs and Chemists Association insisted that the government should take back all the amendments made in the act. Non-availability of medicines has greatly troubled the patients and their relatives. The situation is present in various cities including Lahore, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Okara, Narowal, Sadiqabad, Chishtian, Pir Mahal, Kasur and Vehari where the medicines have become extinct. On the contrary, the owners of the medical stores say that the Drug Act is a black law therefore the government should suspend it. They are demanding the authorities to halt raids at medical stores and laboratories. The chemists have vowed to observe their strike till the acceptance of their demands. Published in Daily Times, May 1st 2018.