New Delhi: After cannabis and heroin, the misuse of pharmaceutical drugs is rising among subcontinental drug users because of their easy availability at cheap rates and this is a cause for concern, a top UN official has said.

"Cannabis is easily available in India, Nepal and Bangladesh. Heroin is also available at cheaper rates, but there are also pharmaceutical drugs which are very cheap in this region and is a serious problem," Cristina Albertine, the South Asia representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), told IANS in an interview.