Painkiller abuse sparks fears for Gabon鈥檚 youngsters
Print Edition
Misuse of a powerful painkiller has spread like wildfire among schools in the west African state of Gabon, where teachers blame it for violent mood changes among normally placid and motivated teenagers.
Known as 鈥渒obolo鈥 by local youths, the drug comprises of high doses of anti-inflammatory medicine, usually washed down with soda or alcohol.
Experts in the United States said abuse of such opioid drugs has abetted a crisis of addiction and misery.
鈥淚t鈥檚 easier to ask who in our state schools is not taking kobolo,鈥 said Chantal, a young music teacher in a Libreville high school.
鈥淚t starts at secondary level, from the age of 12 or 13. The children go through changes almost overnight. They become aggressive and violent under the effects of kobolo, which we regularly find when we go through their schoolbags. The worst thing is that the kids not only use it, they sell it, too.鈥
Almost every week, the press report knife fights between pupils, largely blamed on their use of kobolo, and on arrests of drug dealers, often deemed to be connected to the pharmaceutical business or from Cameroon.
鈥淜obolo is a combination based on painkillers that act directly on the brain. It induces feelings of well-being due to the secretion of dopamine, the pleasure hormone,鈥 said Marie-Louise Rondi, who chairs the National Order of Pharmacists in Gabon. 鈥淭his explains addiction and the tendency to increase daily doses, until all the safety fuses in the brain have been blown.鈥
When used by young Gabonese as a recreational drug, the painkiller Tramadol or a generic equivalent is taken in large doses, sometimes mixed with alcohol and a range of juices.
In 2017, its popularity began to spread fast in a country where consumption of cannabis and other substances is very limited. By July, concern had become so great that prescriptions for the drug became compulsory, and social support was beefed up.
鈥淲e had meetings with the parents of students to warn them of the scale of the problem,鈥 Rondi said.
Under the pseudonym Ted, a self-described 鈥渆x-user鈥 of kobolo in his 20s, who comes from a poor neighborhood, described what it was like on the drug.
鈥淲ith a soft drink, it鈥檚 like you鈥檙e asleep, having a waking dream. But if you drink it down with a little alcohol, it鈥檚 different,鈥 he guffawed.
鈥淚t awakens your sleeping senses, when you take it you become hot. You can鈥檛 control yourself. You imagine you were a super-hero and you lose your feelings. It gives you too much courage. You don鈥檛 even feel pain.鈥
He displayed a large scar on a forearm to prove this 鈥 the legacy of an accident when he 鈥渨ent through a car windscreen without feeling hurt.鈥
Other collateral damage includes loss of appetite and sleep, itching, 鈥渆pilepsy attacks, liver problems and memory lapses,鈥 he said. Others say unsafe sex is another risk.
Despite regulatory efforts, the painkiller is easy to obtain on the streets of Libreville. Known as the 鈥渓ittle red,鈥 鈥減ink baby鈥 or 鈥渒emeka.鈥
Pills are sold for between 250 and 500 CFA francs (US$0.50 to US$1.00) a piece.
Around the bus station, regular traders and ambulant salesmen help make acquiring kobolo a simple formality.
In the maze of narrow streets, the drug is sold not only by the usual dealers but also at little stalls that sell medication along with rat poison.
For lack of official statistics, the kobolo business is difficult to put into figures.
Since getting high requires no more than swallowing some cheap pills, the phenomenon is more discreet than smoking pot. The wholesale dealers are above all Nigerians and Lebanese, Chadians and Guineans, people say in the working-class districts.
鈥淓verybody sells it under the counter,鈥 said Ted, who described kobolo as 鈥渢he high-school favorite.鈥
The media gives ample coverage to anti-kobolo operations and the police say they are on the job, reporting the seizure of 5,952 illicit pills in 2017.
鈥淏ut the silence of health authorities is deafening,鈥 protests the director of a state-run hospital. 鈥淣ot even a simple video clip on the TV to raise awareness among young people.鈥
By contrast, 鈥淕oudronier,鈥 a video about kobolo by rapper Don鈥檢er, has given the drug nationwide prominence. It has been even broadcast at meetings of political parties.
鈥淲hat this song is about, with its words and the video full of violence, is what鈥檚 happening now in our society and our schools,鈥 said distraught teacher Chantal.
鈥淭he drug has become fashionable. Kobolo users are no longer hiding.鈥
Kobolo users are typically aged from 12 to 16 or 17, but there are many who come outside of this age range, said a psychologist who has seen many users in her private practice.
鈥淎ll social classes are affected, including the French and the Lebanese,鈥 she said, referring to the two large expatriate communities.
The drug has increased the risk of unsafe sex and unwanted pregnancies for girls, the psychologist added.
鈥淢e, I gave it up because of the violence, trouble with my parents,鈥 Ted said.
鈥淵ou laugh a lot, but it鈥檚 not the right kind of laughter. And you lose friends who die in fights, getting stabbed or having their throats cut.鈥
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
