China vows to punish pharmacists and illegal drug dealers for selling medications containing codeine without a doctors' prescription.

Yan Jiangying, spokeswoman of the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA), said yesterday, if caught, pharmacies would have their licenses revoked.

She did not elaborate further on other consequences.

Codeine, which is often extracted from opium or synthesized from morphine to treat acute coughing, has led to drug addiction among China's youth.

The SFDA did not release specific numbers, but individual cases have been reported in local newspapers.

On November 23, Hangzhou Daily based in the eastern Zhejiang Province, ran a story about a young man surnamed Cheng. He was having a difficult time breaking his addiction to codeine.

Similar cases were also reported among 20 teenagers in Shenzhen and Dongguan, two cities in the country's economic hub Guangdong Province, according to local media.

In 2005, China made a law allowing people to buy medicine containing codeine if it was being used under the care of a doctor.

However, people still had access to codeine through on-line sales and were able to buy the medication from unsupervised stores.

Common adverse drug reactions associated with the use of codeine include urinal problems, depression, and lack of sexual drive. Chronic users are also likely to develop a physical dependence.