A framework for tracking the distribution of increasingly abused pharmaceutical medications

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to identify a system for tracking the distribution of increasingly abused prescription drugs. The problems identified in the study was the increase of prescribed drugs falling into the category of drugs that are frequently abused and this was as a result of improper systems in place designed to track such drugs alongside normal drug distribution networks. The theories of drug abuse highlight the propensity for the increased rate of drug abuse amongst individuals and why it has become imperative that a system that will track such drugs be developed and must be dynamic to readily update new discoveries falling into the abuse category. The study used the object-oriented design methodology to formulate designs for the system through eliciting information on the subject matter with documents and literature of previous works, empirical investigations and personal interviews. The obtained knowledge was then used in designing the proposed system requirements. Manual tests were carried out in units for each component’s functionality before the system was tested as a single integrated unit. The study concludes with the development of a system that can meet the dynamic requirements for tracking the distribution of drugs that are subject to drug abuse along with the distribution framework.

Full text

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Ofcial Jou rnal of College of Sciences, Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria.
Opani et al., 2022 AJINAS, 2 (1): 1-11
ABUAD INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NATURAL AND APPLIED SCIENCES
ISSN: 2955-1021
AIJNAS 2022, Volume 2, Issue 1, pp 1–11
https://doi.org/10.53982/aijnas.2022.0201.01-j
Copyright ©2022
https://journals.abuad.edu.ng/index.php/aijnas
INTRODUCTION
Various governments, through their relevant
agencies, have been trying to develop
solutions to minimize or check drug
distribution channels with the intent of curbing the
number of prescription drugs that are frequently
abused. Handling this challenge is becoming
increasingly difcult because of several sources of
drug procurement and several routes for moving drugs
from producers to consumers. Furthermore, in Nigeria,
challenges of ineffective and poor drug administration
and control, inadequate funding of drug supply, and
drug control activities still exist (Trouiller et. al 2017).
Additionally, high dependence on foreign sources for
nished drug products, pharmaceutical raw materials,
reagents and equipment, inadequate storage facilities,
poor transportation, and distribution of drugs were
inclusive (Ogbonna, 2016).
There is also the challenge of illicit drug importation
which the authorities responsible for these checks
have little or no control over. To aid them in their
task, therefore, it is important to develop systems that
fundamentally help to keep track of the movement of
drugs (Denise et al 2020). This will serve as a basis for
better solutions in the future.
• Consequently, this study is aimed at using
neural network models to depict and track the
distribution of frequently abused prescription drugs
based on the following objectives:
• Investigation of drug distribution systems.
• Investigation of the types of frequently abused
prescription drugs.
• modeling of a conceptual solution to the problem
using a hybrid combination of object-oriented and
agile design methodologies.
• Simulation of a web-based application to see how
the model will work using HTML5, CSS3, and
JavaScript for the frontend and PHP together with
MySQL for the backend.
SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The study will focus on tracking the distribution of
frequently abused prescription drugs as opposed to
tracking all prescription drugs. The simulation will
be done using GreenSock Animation Platform, a
JavaScript animation framework.
JUSTIFICATION FOR THE PROPOSED SYSTEM
Theories of Drug Abuse
As more pharmaceutical (prescribed off the
shelf) drugs fall into the category of drugs that are
frequently being abused, it has become imperative to
A framework for tracking the distribution of increasingly
abused pharmaceutical medications
Opani Aweh, Oniyide Alabi Bello and Jason Omemu
Department of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, College of Sciences,
Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria
Corresponding author: opaniaweg@abuad.edu.ng
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to identify a system for tracking the distribution of increasingly abused prescription drugs. The problems
identied in the study was the increase of prescribed drugs falling into the category of drugs that are frequently abused and this was as
a result of improper systems in place designed to track such drugs alongside normal drug distribution networks. The theories of drug
abuse highlight the propensity for the increased rate of drug abuse amongst individuals and why it has become imperative that a system
that will track such drugs be developed and must be dynamic to readily update new discoveries falling into the abuse category. The study
used the object-oriented design methodology to formulate designs for the system through eliciting information on the subject matter with
documents and literature of previous works, empirical investigations and personal interviews. The obtained knowledge was then used in
designing the proposed system requirements. Manual tests were carried out in units for each component’s functionality before the system
was tested as a single integrated unit. The study concludes with the development of a system that can meet the dynamic requirements for
tracking the distribution of drugs that are subject to drug abuse along with the distribution framework.
Keywords: drug abuse, drug prescription, drug tracking system, drug delivery system.

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Opani et al., 2022 AJINAS, 2 (1): 1-11
develop systems to track them alongside normal drug
distribution networks. These categories of drugs are on
the increase as those who are given to substance abuse
device sundry combinations of conventional drugs to
satisfy their urges. This implies that a system that will
track such drugs must be a dynamic one which can be
readily updated with such new discoveries falling into
the abuse category.
The theories of drug abuse show that some individuals
depend on particular drugs for their survival for a
number of reasons. The main focus of the theories of
drug abuse is that people have their own reasons for
depending on a particular type of drug or the other.
Such reasons, by (Eze and Omeje 1999) in Oluremi
(2012), are explained by the following theories:
1. Socio-cultural Theory of Drug Abuse: This theory
maintained that drug abuse is determined by the
socio-cultural values of the people. For example,
certain cultures permit the consumption of alcohol
and marijuana, while other cultures do not.
Among the tribes in Nigeria, for example, Edo,
Ijaw, Igbo, Ibibio, Urhobo, Itesekiri, and Yoruba
use alcohol in cultural activities. In the northern
part of Nigeria, however, any form of the drug is
not allowed.
2. Biological Theory of Drug Abuse: The theory
maintains that drug abuse is determined by the
individual’s biological or genetic factors which
make them vulnerable to drug addiction.
3. Learning Theory of Drug Abuse: The theory
maintains that usage or dependence of drugs
occurs as a result of learning of which there are
three forms - instrumental learning, conditional
learning, or social learning.
Prevalence Rate of Drug Abuse in Nigeria
From the record of drugs abuse in Nigeria, the
Northwest has a statistic of 37.47 percent of the
drug victims in the country, while the Southwest
has been rated second with 17.32 percent, the south-
East is been rated third with 13.5 percent, North-
central has 11.71 percent, while the North-east zone
has 8.54 percent of the drug users in the country
(Akannam 2008). In Nigeria, the estimated lifetime
consumption of cannabis among the population is
10.8 percent, followed by psychotropic substances like
benzodiazepines and amphetamine-type stimulants
at 10.6 percent, heroin at 1.6 percent, and cocaine at
1.4 percent, in both urban and rural areas. Drug abuse
appears to be more common among males with 94.2
percent than females with 5.8 percent, and the age of
rst use is 10 to 29 years. The use of volatile organic
solvents is 0.53 percent and is widely spread among
street children in school, youths, and women. Multiple
drug use happens nationwide with 7.88 percent to
varying degrees. (UNODC World Drug Report 2012).
Causes of Vulnerability to Drug Abuse in Youths
Studies have revealed that most drug addicts started
smoking from their youth. As they grow older, they
seek new thrills and gradually go into hard drug abuse
(Oshodi et al 2010, Igwe, et al., 2009). A nationwide
survey of high school students reported that 65 percent
used drugs to have a good time with their friends 54
percent wanted to experiment to see what it is like, 20
to 40 percent used it to alter their moods, to feel good,
to relax, to relieve tension and to overcome boredom
and problems (Abudu 2008, Mamman et al 2014)
Drug Trafcking
Global drug-trafcking operations remain at
the forefront of concerns for the international
community, as “more than ever before, strong levels
of cooperation exist between different [trafcking]
groups transcending national, ethnic, and business
differences” (Organized Crime Threat Assessment
OCTA, 2011). These criminal networks quickly adapt
to new social environments and fluctuating markets,
illustrating their flexible and dynamic qualities. Drug-
trafcking organizations face a shifting landscape
dependent on a number of factors, including market
demand, cultivation rates, access to established land
trafcking routes, and law-enforcement activity
(Boivin 2014, Caulkins, and Reuter 1998, UNODC
World Drug Report 2012). Drug trafcking incidents
also continue to prevail during forced migration with
over 61.3% of a sample of respondents being exposed
to drugs during their migration. (Ikenna et al., 2 021).
Drug Poisoning
Unintentional drug poisoning is now the leading cause
of injury death for all age groups in the United States
(Rosenblatt et al 2015, Unick et al 2013, Warner et al
2009). According to recent analyses of CDC mortality
data, drug and alcohol poisoning are the primary
drivers of the increased trend in mid-life mortality in
the US. (Case and Deaton 2015). The trend in New York
(NY) mirrored the national pattern of increasing drug
and alcohol poisoning deaths; a 30 percent increase
in opioid analgesic-related deaths was registered in
NY between 2009 and 2014 (New York State Opioid
Poisoning, Overdose and Prevention. 2015).
Overdose
Heroin overdose mortality is also increasing.
According to the U.S National Survey on Drug Use
and Health (2011, 2013), from 2002 to 2013, the rate
of heroin-related overdose deaths nearly tripled

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Ofcial Jou rnal of College of Sciences, Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria.
Opani et al., 2022 AJINAS, 2 (1): 1-11
(Warner et al 2009). In NY, heroin was implicated in
55 percent of drug-related deaths in 2015 compared
to 16 percent in 2009 (New York State Department
of Health, 2016). It has been postulated that measures
to reduce the supply of prescription opioids may have
the unintended consequence of increasing heroin use
(Unick et al 2013). However, studies thus far have been
unable to demonstrate an elect of Prescription Drug
Monitoring Programs (PDMP) on heroin overdose
deaths (Dowell et al 2016), (Brown et al 2017).
Subsisting systems focus strictly on tracking the
distribution of a xed set of drugs. This tends to
enable the abusers of those drugs to procure such
substances independently either from the same stores
or different stores to avoid suspicion and evade
detection. Furthermore, those who inspect drugs in
higher institutions for example do not always know
that these drugs when combined will generate the
same psychotropic effects like the common ones they
already know. This keeps the drug abuse incidence on
the increase.
RELATED LITERATU RE
LITERATURE ON EXISTING SYSTEMS
Pharmaceutical Tracking System
Pharmaceutical Tracking System is a patent invented
by Gerald E. Forth, David D. Swenson, and Patrick
M. Steusloff (Forth et al., 2004). The pharmaceutical
tracking system and the method comprise a system
server and a number of authentication code readers
at the manufacturing facility and distribution
destination, where the system server assigns a number
of unique authentication codes to a manufacturer.
An authentication code is applied to any level of
product packaging and read by a code reader at the
manufacturing facility for activation to serve as a
mark of a certied product of the manufacturer. Code
readers can be used at intermediate destinations
in a distribution chain to verify the legitimacy of
the product received and to track the location of the
product along the distribution chain as illustrated in
gure 1. (Forth et al., 2004).
Figure 1: (Forth, G., Swenson, D., & Steusloff, P. (2004).
Pharmaceutical Tracking System. American. Retrieved 25,
December 2018)
Controlled Substance Tracking System and Method
This system uses a very secure database to keep track
of the medication history of patients which will help
the pharmacists to prescribe drugs accordingly. The
controlled drugs are tracked and are only administered
to patients whose medical history allows for the
consumption of said drug as deemed by a physician
in a pharmacy residing in the secure network as
illustrated in gure 2. The drawback to this system
is it may be very expensive to increase the number of
pharmacies connected to the network. Additionally, it
focuses mainly on tracking drugs that are already in
the pharmacies meaning drugs could be redistributed
to pharmacies not registered in the network (Lily et
al., 2011).
Figure 2: (Lily, R. B., Bornfreund, J. J., Anon, A. J. (2011).
Controlled Substance Tracking System and Method. 705/2.
Retrieved 25, December 2018)
Drug Delivery Device
This system uses a tracking code associated with a
syringe cradle label unit and/or a port cradle label and
a device that houses the syringe or drug (g 3). It is
a very secure system but each pharmacy would have
to have the device working at all times. Purchasing
and maintaining the device proves to be a substantial
drawback (Hanson et al 2012).

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Opani et al., 2022 AJINAS, 2 (1): 1-11
Figure 3: (Hanson, R., Sudduth, B., Detar, D. (2012). Drug
Delivery Device Incorporating a Tracking Code. 700/14.
American. Retrieved 25, December 2018)
MATERIALS AND METHODS
RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES
The following research methodologies were used in
this study for information gathering:
• Documents and literature were downloaded and
perused to nd out more on the study.
• A personal interview was carried out to nd
out more about the drug distribution system in
Nigeria.
• Empirical investigations were also carried out.
EQUIREMENTS OF THE PROPOSED SYSTEM
The knowledge and insight gained from the analysis of
literature and existing systems was used in the design
of the proposed system. The design of the proposed
system will commence with specications that will
cover all the requirements the proposed system is
intended to have.
The requirements are as follows:
• The system should have a registration and login
functionality. This would enable the system
to differentiate between the various users
(the admin, the various drug manufacturers
and pharmacy admins) and provide relevant
information and actions to them.
• The system should, therefore, have separate
pages for its different users. In essence, the
administrator should have a different view and
possible actions when using the system, compared
to when the manufacturer and various pharmacy
administrators login.
• The manufacturer should be able to upload
available prescription drugs.
• Pharmaceutical admins should be able to view
available drugs in the lists shown to them.
• The system should have payment functionality.
Hospital admins should be able to order for
prescription drugs and manufacturers should be
able to securely pay for the distribution of their
products to designated pharmacies.
• Manufacturers, pharmacy admins and the system
admin should be able to track the distribution of
the order(s) live.
• The system should notify users when the
distribution has been aborted or delayed.
• The system should be able to alert the user to
report to relevant authorities and agencies when
the distribution of the order takes a different
unsolicited route.
• The system admin should be able to view and
manage the list of controlled prescription drugs
as maintained by drug law enforcement agencies.
3DESIGN METHODOLOGY
The study uses the object-oriented design methodology
to formulate designs for the system. The different
components of the modules of the proposed system,
the functions executed within these components and
the interrelationships between these components
and modules are therefore depicted with a use case
diagram, sequence diagrams, and a database diagram.
DESIGN OF THE PROPOSED SYSTEM
Figure 4 depicts the actions of the various users of the
system. The pharmacy admin logs in, views available
prescription drugs and selects needed drugs based on
the pharmacy’s stock for order. The pharmacy admin
can then track the distribution of the order live. The
manufacturer logs in, uploads newly-produced drugs
and can view the list of orders performed on drugs it
produced.
The drug law enforcement agency logins, views the
list of manufacturers and pharmacies that operate in its
jurisdiction. The agency can add drugs to a controlled
list so any distribution of such drugs will be monitored
with extra care. Lastly, the agency can view reports
made by pharmacies on the distribution of drugs and
act on those reports.
The admin, once logged in, views analytic data
available from various databases such as how many
manufacturers and pharmacies are registered in the
system. The admin can view details of these users and
also track any distributions that may be ongoing.

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The drug law enforcement agency logins, views the
list of manufacturers and pharmacies that operate in its
jurisdiction. The agency can add drugs to a controlled
list so any distribution of such drugs will be monitored
with extra care. Lastly, the agency can view reports
made by pharmacies on the distribution of drugs and
act on those reports.
The admin, once logged in, views analytic data
available from various databases such as how many
manufacturers and pharmacies are registered in the
system. The admin can view details of these users and
also track any distributions that may be ongoing.
Figure 4: Use Case Diagram
Figure 5 depicts the sequence of activities for the
pharmacy admin where he/she logins rstly, then, on
authentication, proceeds to view available drugs and
orders based on the needs of the pharmacy. A package
ID is received for the order which will be used to track
and check the progress of the delivery.
Figure 5: Sequence Diagram for the Pharmacy Admin
The manufacturer logs as shown in gure 6 then
get veried. Next, the manufacturer uploads newly
manufactured drugs and then tracks the delivery of
any of his purchased products.
Figure 6: Sequence Diagram for the Manufacturer
The entity-relationship diagram in gure 7 depicts the
relationship between the tables in the database as the
manufacturer uploads many drugs and the pharmacy
orders many drugs.
Fi gu re 7: ER Diagram for Users of the System
SYSTEM ARCHITECTUR E
The architecture used in the system is a three-tier
architecture. A three-tier architecture is a client-server
architecture in which the functional process logic,
data access, computer data storage, and user interface
are developed and maintained as independent modules
on separate platforms. Any one of the three tiers can
be upgraded separately. The three tiers in this web
application are:
Presentation Tier (Client-Side):
This is the tier that displays information related to
services offered by the system. This is where the
users and the medical personnel interact with the
system. This interaction is achieved through the use of
personal computer systems.
Application Tier (Server Side):
This is the tier that controls the web application’s
functionality by performing processing. This
processing involves saving user information in a
database table, verication of users, saving therapy
questions, and saving user answers.

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Data-Tier (Database):
This is the tier that houses all data and information
sent to the system. It also allows the retrieval of data
and information for system use.
The distribution chain using a neural network as shown
in gure 8, ensures the drugs pass through a hierarchy
of authorized pharmacies for instance the drug rst
gets to the national pharmacy from the manufacturer,
through central and district pharmacies and then to
regional pharmacies before nally getting to the local
pharmacy. When the drugs are not tracked properly
they can skip the authoritative pharmacies and easily
end up with abusers. The proposed system will ensure
drugs are tracked from the manufacturer (source) to
the local pharmacies (leaf nodes in the neural network)
and flag any contrary incident on which appropriate
measures will be taken.
Figure 8: Distribution Chain Using a Neural Network
SYSTEM TESTING AND RESULTS
SOFTWARE TOOLS USED IN DEVELOPMENT
Visual Studio Code text editor was used for the
development of the proposed system. Visual Studio
Code was chosen because it was developed mainly
to be used for the development of both the client and
server-side of web applications. It is widely regarded
as the best text editor for building websites due to its
robust features. One which the development phase
benetted from is the emmet plugin package. Emmet
is a plugin package available to most text editors to
help type long html code in as little as a line using
shorthand syntax. This saves a lot of time during
development.
XAMPP was used to create a local webserver to help
with testing and to host the database used for the
proposed system. XAMPP stands for Cross-Platform
(X), Apache A), MariaDB (M), PHP (P) and Perl (P).
It is a simple, lightweight Apache distribution that
makes it really easy for developers to have a local web
server for testing and deployment.
TESTING AND DEBUGGING
Google chrome’s developer tools were used for testing
and debugging of the proposed system. Manual tests
were also carried out in units to make sure each
component was functioning properly. Later the system
was tested as a single integrated unit.
Figure 9: Landing Page
Figure 9 is the landing page of the app. The user clicks
the ‘GO!’ button to go to the login/sign-up page shown
below.
Figure 10: Login/Sign-up Page
The login page also has a sign-up part (gure 10). If
the user is new to the system, he/she will click the

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Opani et al., 2022 AJINAS, 2 (1): 1-11
sign-up button to create an account. An existing user
will simply login. Assuming the user is a new one, the
next gure will show the register page.
Figure 11: Register Page
The user signs up by lling out the register form and
providing relevant information. The type of user is
also chosen. Figure 11 shows a user registering as a
pharmacy. After registration, the user is directed to
the pharmacy homepage.
Figure 12: Pharmacy Home Page
The newly-registered pharmacist can then view the
catalogue of available drugs by clicking the catalogue
navigation link (gure 12).
Figure 13: Pharmacy Catalogue Page
The pharmacy user views the available drugs and can
view extra details of the drug before purchasing as
shown in the gure below (gure 13).
Fi gure 14: Drug Details Modal
A modal window comes up when the details button
of the drug is clicked. It shows the manufacturer of
the drug (who is registered with the proposed system),
details about the drug and its use. After viewing the
details, the pharmacy admin can order the drug, or
close the modal and peruse other drugs.
Figure 15: Successful Order Modal

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After the pharmacy admin enters payment details a
conrmation modal is shown and displays a generated
alphanumeric order ID that can be used to track the
package.
Figure 16: Tracker Page
The pharmacy admin enters the package details to
track the distribution of the drug.
Fi g ure 17: Tracking the Distribution of the Package
Figure 17 shows the package being tracked in transit.
The routes to various destinations are modelled using
neural networks as the package would have to pass
through national, central and regional pharmacies
before getting to the local pharmacy where it was
ordered. The system tracks the package to make sure it
passes through the main pharmacies rst. The system
uses a flashing blue icon to indicate a package that is
still in transit and a red icon for a cancellation of the
delivery or a diversion from the set-out route of which
a report button appears so the user can flag the crime.
Figure 18: Package Arrived at Destination
The tracker icon turns green when it has reached its
destination.(gure 18)
Figure 19: Manufacturer Homepage
Going back, if the user that logged in was a
manufacturer then this would be the landing page
visible to the user.(gure 19)
Figure 20: Manufacturer Upload Page

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Opani et al., 2022 AJINAS, 2 (1): 1-11
After logging in, the manufacturer would want to
upload newly manufactured drugs or previously
manufactured drugs that have run out of stock.(gure
20)
Figure 21: Tra ck ing
After uploading drugs, the manufacturer may want to
track the order made by a pharmacy admin.(gure 21)
Figure 22: Package Going Off Track
As shown in gure 21, the manufacturer can report
as soon as the package goes off-course. Because the
tracker begins to flash red as a visual cue to the user.
Figure 23: Admin Homepage
The gure above shows the admin dashboard from
which he/she has a number of capabilities including
the tracker page available to other users.
Figure 24: List of Manufacturers
The admin can view a list of all manufacturers
registered on the system.
Figure 25: List of Pharmacies
The admin can also view the list of all the pharmacies
registered on the system.
Figure 26: List of Drug Law Enforcement Agencies
The admin has a record of relevant drug law
enforcement agencies that can be contacted for
information on which prescription drugs have been
added to the controlled list.

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Opani et al., 2022 AJINAS, 2 (1): 1-11
Fi gu re 27: List of Controlled Dr ugs
After getting information from the law enforcement
agencies, the admin can then maintain a list of
controlled prescription drugs and put special care in
tracking the delivery of those drugs.
Figure 28: List of Orders Made by Pharmacies
The admin can view orders made by the pharmacies.
The gure above shows the order made by the
pharmacy created in gure 14.
SUMMARY
The study investigated the distribution of prescription
drugs, some reasons to track the distribution of these
drugs, some reasons for drug abuse, the distribution
chain in most developing countries and specically
Nigeria. The study then examined related systems and
analysed their strengths and weaknesses using them
as a basis to form its requirements and design. The
design was then successfully implemented after going
through testing and debugging.
CONCLUSION
This study develops a system that can meet the
dynamic requirements for tracking the distribution
of drugs that are subject to drug abuse along the
distribution network.
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