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Drug Abuse: Slaymama Poses With Bottles Of Codeine Syrup And Milk. / How Nigerian Doctors Worsened Drug Abuse Among Nigerian Youths / 500 Osun Youths Ready To Walk Against Drug Abuse (2) (3) (4)
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Drug Abuse by willbayo(m): 7:27am On Aug 27, 2015 |
Indiscriminate use of drugs worsen rape and
armed robbery cases, BUKOLA ADEBAYO writes
Drugs are sensitive substances that should not
be toyed with under any circumstance. Doctors
and pharmacists warn that any medicine in the
hand of the wrong person is a potential poison.
Unfortunately, that is usually the case in Nigeria.
Anyone, including teenagers, can lay their hands
on any medicine so far they know where to
access it.
Investigations by our correspondent who went
to pharmacies in Lagos and Ogun states, who
also spoke to operators of retail pharmacies,
revealed that more young boys now buy and
indiscriminately use sedatives, analgesics and
other prescriptions drugs as options for
marijuana and other hard drugs.
A disturbing scenario played out during the
course of this investigation.
While our correspondent was making enquires
at a chemist in Ikeja last Tuesday morning, two
teenage boys, who came on a commercial bike
popularly called okada, charged into the drug
store.
They seemed uneasy with the kind of attention
their entrance had caused and signalled to the
salesgirl to quickly attend to them as they were
in a hurry.
One of the boys asked for 10 tablets of
tramadol, a bottle of a popular brand of cough
mixture with codeine and a sachet of water
popularly known as pure water in Nigeria. His
friend also asked for the same medication.
The timid girl obliged them and dispensed the
drugs.
In the twinkling of an eye, they swallowed the
drugs and topped it with the cough mixture and
jumped on the okada they chartered to the
chemist and rode off.
Tramadol , according to pharmacists, is a potent
analgesic that works on the central nervous
system by outing the brain to sleep.
According to the experts, tramadol is classified
as an opiod-like analgesic that should not be
sold over the counter to any individual without a
prescription from a physician. Opiods are drugs
that are used for their euphoric and analgesic
effects to treat chronic pain.
Yet, it was sold by a chemist operator to the
teenagers who swallowed them like candies.
From Lagos to Kano, it’s all the same
Although the law says for anybody to operate a
retail drug store, he or she must have a degree
in pharmacy, investigations conducted by our
correspondent revealed that many drug outlets
are daily violating this regulation. Consequently,
people who should not have anything to do with
drug sale are now into the business big time.
Drugs are sold like bread, biscuits, Kola nuts and
any other articles of trade in Nigeria. Illiterate
salesmen, unqualified pharmacists and nurses
are all involved.
You find some of them at street corners in
different parts of the country, in motor parks
and even in stores doing their business
unperturbed, particularly at night when
members of the taskforce have closed for the
day.
From Lagos to Kano, Aba to Onitsha, and
Osogbo to Maiduguri, fake pharmacists do not
only sell drugs, they also dispense such to young
people who are looking to abuse them.
For instance, a middle-aged girl, who sold 50
and 100 milligrammes of tramadol to our
correspondent at a drug store in Magboro, Ogun
State on Monday, did not ask for a prescription
before she sold it.
She neither took the details of her customer nor
asked for why our correspondent wanted the
drug.
Asked if there was a pharmacist on ground to
recommend the dosage, the lady admonished
our correspondent, saying, “We don’t have a
pharmacist here. You should know how many
you will need and how to take a drug before you
buy it. Do you think it’s every pharmacy that is
operated by a pharmacist?”
Earlier in the day, the first store that our
correspondent visited in Arepo, a largely
residential area in Ogun, did not have a
pharmacist on ground even though the emblem
in front of the drug store had ‘Pharmacist -on-
duty’ boldly written on it.
The woman manning the store assured our
correspondent that she could be of assistance to
her in spite of the experts’ absence.
Our correspondent, who asked for tramadol or
any drug with codeine, was told that the outlet
had exhausted its stock and wondered why
many people had asked for the same drugs
lately.
She said, “You are the second person to ask for
tramadol today. I am going to tell our Oga to be
buying more. I sold two cartons of a cough
syrup with codeine last month and that does not
happen regularly.”
Abuse linked to growing incidence of rape,
armed robbery
However, our correspondent had a different
encounter with Mr. Olumide Adesanya, the
pharmacist-on-duty at another retail outlet in
the same area.
The first thing he asked for when the journalist
wanted to buy tramadol was a prescription note.
He also wanted to know why she wanted it.
Adesanya told our correspondent that a 19-year-
old- boy and his friends came wanting to buy a
carton of a cough mixture at the pharmacy last
month.
“I was shocked when he made this request
because I wonder what a 19-year-old would
want to do with 40 bottles of a cough syrup. Just
because it has codeine? I sent them out of my
store. Even though codeine in cough syrup can
be sold over the counter, I refused to sell it.
“Tramadol is meant to be sold with a
prescription from a doctor. That is why I ask
every customer for it and also ask for their age.
I also must know what you need it for because
people just walk in to ask for drugs they don’t
need.
He explained that tramadol has been used to
sedate rape victims and rob innocent Nigerians
in recent times.
Adesanya said, “Tramadol is an analgesic that
works on the central nervous system. It puts the
brain to sleep so that its ingredients can relieve
pain. It is actually meant to be a pain-relieving
medication but rapists put it in drinks to put
their victims to sleep.
“Codeine has some ingredients that ease the
nerves which make people feel good. So, young
people who can’t access hard drugs will buy four
bottles and drink it like alcohol when they want
to get high. Many have taken it and gone into a
coma.
“A colleague of mine was killed in Niger State
because he refused to sell codeine to a group of
boys after they had made several attempts to
buy at his store.”
A robbery incident that occurred last month in
the Sapati area of Ilorin in Kwara State may
have confirmed Adesanya’s position.
According to the Kwara State Police Command
Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ajayi Okesanmi, the
police had arrested a group of cultists after they
had put tramadol inside a soft drink to rob a
young lady in the area.
According to Okesanmi, bandits usually offer
drug-laden drinks to their victims to put them to
sleep while they dispossess the victim of his or
her valuables.
He noted that this was the new devious strategy
that cultists had devised to not only rob but also
rape their victims.
He warned the public to be cautious of such evil
schemes and avoid taking drinks from unknown
people as such might have been poisoned with
analgesics.
Some inject themselves with the drugs –
Psychiatrist
Consultant Psychiatrist, Dr. Peter Ogunnubi, told
our correspondent that more persons now had
mental issues due to drug abuse.
Ogunnubi said, “Tramadol and codeine are not
the only drug that young people use
indiscriminately. They also take diazepam,
pentazocine, amadol and some strong anagelsics
anyhow. Even though NAFDAC has tried by
insisting that only codeine-free cough syrups
should be sold in the market, they are still
there. We still have other drugs that have
codeine that are being sold indiscriminately in
the market. It is going to be difficult to mop up
these medicines in open drug markets because
they are in high demand.”
He noted that many of the young persons
administered these drugs on themselves, using
injections, thereby exposing themselves to
hepatitis infections, HIV/AIDS infections, skin
ulcers and other deadly infections.
“ Many of them use needles to administer the
drugs on one another,” he stressed.
Tramadol
Ogunnubi stated that people who abused these
substances also suffered from drug addiction
which would not only affect them psychologically
but also affect their productivity and
relationships with their loved ones.
He said, “ It is an addictive problem that will tell
on every aspect of their lives. Because they get
unusual satisfaction from these drugs, they
neglect every other thing. They will forgo their
studies, families and even abscond from school
because they will no longer be able to
concentrate. Let’s not forget that they are
young. So, they don’t have much money on
them. Hence, they are ready to do anything –
including stealing to get N350 to buy tramadol
or diasoprene to get high.
“Imagine a young boy who could have been a
renowned scientist lying in a mental institution
because his friends got him hooked on codeine.”
The psychiatrist and medical director, Grace
Cottage Clinic, a private mental health hospital
in Ikorodu, also noted that those who abused
the substances were more prone to violence and
other criminal activities, including armed
robbery.
Ogunnubi stated,“ They don’t only administer
these drugs to sedate their victims, they also
use them to boost their self confidence to do
terrible things. The substances change their
personalities. They don’t see anything wrong in
beating their loved ones or strangers.”
He appealed to parents and guardians, including
school authorities, to watch out for any unusual
behaviour in their wards. According to him, any
change in attitude that tends to the negative
should not be dismissed.
“ I will appeal to the parents to talk with their
children. School authorities should also discuss
any change in a child’s behaviour to the parents.
Many of them use these drugs to cope with
many forms of challenges they face at home or
in school.
“Any child with such a problem should be taken
to a doctor for psychoanalysis and
rehabilitation.”
Shut down open drug markets – Pharmacist
The National Chairman, Lagos State Chapter of
the Association of Community Pharmacists of
Nigeria, Biola Paul-Ozieh , also raised the alarm
over increasing demand for tramadol and
codeine among teenagers.
She lamented that teenagers had been caught
concocting large quantities of tramadol to be
used as sedatives and aphrodisiacs.
According to Paul-Ozieh, reports from her
colleagues operating retail pharmacies in various
parts of the country show that there has been
an unusual demand for these two drugs from
young people in recent times.
She said, “More young people are now abusing
drugs that they have no business with and it’s
alarming from the reports we are getting from
our colleagues. The worst is the abuse of
tramadol which is supposed to be a prescription
drug. They come in to ask for it and when you
question them about it, they go to the ‘abokis’ –
mallams – and chemists in the neighbourhood to
buy it.
“We see it a lot in the communities where we
practise – teenagers asking for anything with
codeine to get high.”
The pharmacists identified the open drug
market system in the country as a major factor
that has allowed such illegal activities to thrive.
Adesanya said, “The sale and regulation of over-
the-counter and prescriptions drugs will not
work until government shuts down the open
drug markets.
“Many of these young people just go to the
Idumota drug market where they sell drugs in
any quantity to anyone without asking any
question.
“ Many operators of these wholesale and retail
drug stores are not even literate. They just want
to make profit so they have no standards
because they are not even trained pharmacists.
They know that these young people want to
abuse these drugs, yet they sell them or why
else will you sell four bottles of codeine to a
young man?
“The government must wake up and address
issues relating to the sale, distribution and
circulation of drugs in Nigeria. They must ask
themselves what the qualification of those
stocking and dispensing drugs is in this country.
The trend is alarming. That is why regulatory
agencies must help vulnerable Nigerians
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