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 community 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 signaled 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.”

tinziemaine:
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 community 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 signaled 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.”

source:www.swankpharm.com/2015/08/27/more-nigerian-youths-take-to-tramadol-codeine-to-get-high/
Cc:lalasticala

Tramadol and Codeine.. Messing up naija youths since 1560AD