open.substack.com/pub/continent/p/opioid-crisis-brings-pain-and-death?r=2d15gt&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Opioid crisis brings pain and death to Ghana's north
NewsApparently, Tramadol is not treated as a narcotic in Ghana but an over the counter medication….🤨
Tramadol is a big problem not only in Ghana, but throughout West Africa. Every single West African country has a big problem with tramadol.
- Terrorists use it to erase fear.
- Manual workers, especially farmers and miners, use it to work longer and harder since it's way more powerful than normal painkillers.
- Youths use it as the cocaine of poor people.
- Adults use it in a recreative way which is of course crazily stupid and dangerous.
The main problem is that most of the tramadol consumption is done through over the counter even though it's illegal. Governments and the police haven't been able to address the problem. We know it comes from India and China, but to stop it remains a challenge. Even when you catch a big illegal shipment, there is another one coming the next month.
Thank you for your reply. Very insightful. What do you think the solution should be for this problem?
To start, all West African countries should put Tramadol on the list of narcotic drugs which isn't the case so far. Once done, it would allow each West African country to update their sanctions against people illegally selling tramadol. Tramadol should be sold in pharmacies only and with a prescription.
Then, from the previous point, everybody selling tramadol outside of the regulation would become a drug dealer. And such drug dealers should face the same sanctions as the ones for cocaine, marijuana, or hashish.
Then, one of the main problem is education. Most people using tramadol in West Africa literally think "it's paracetamol in more effective" which isn't the case. It does offer the same effect towards painkilling but that's it. Sanitary officers in each country should launch campaigns to educate people about how tramadol can be dangerous.
I also think that West African countries through the ECOWAS and with the UNODC should put tramadol on their list of drug trafficking. It's crazily cheaper than the "normal" drugs they monitor, but a few millions in a dozen of countries makes tramadol a very profitable drug trafficking business. The UNODC which has few offices in West Africa, especially one in my country (Senegal) is too much focused on drugs transiting through West Africa to reach Europe. Drugs that are too expensive for West Africans to buy.
West African countries are either least developed countries or developing countries so for now it's too difficult to count on an effective healthcare (from the access to the price). Many people buy tramadol over the counter because it's cheap, fast, and because it works. They need painkillers but cannot afford to pay a lot for them nor to pay a visit to a doctor to get a prescription. Tramadol is the solution they found. And often they need something as strong as tramadol because of disease and pains that aren't treated. It's like a vicious circle and here development is the only solution but we cannot wait development because at the current pace, we will have only zombies left. Like it was written in the article, tramadol we can buy over the counter is way more dosed.
I also think that West African countries through the ECOWAS and with the UNODC should put tramadol on their list of drug trafficking. It's crazily cheaper than the "normal" drugs they monitor, but a few millions in a dozen of countries makes tramadol a very profitable drug trafficking business. The UNODC which has few offices in West Africa, especially one in my country (Senegal) is too much focused on drugs transiting through West Africa to reach Europe. Drugs that are too expensive for West Africans to buy.
I don’t know much about the UNODC, but based on the content of the article and your comment, it seems like the sole purpose of the UNODC in West Africa is to combat the South American cartels transitioning through West Africa to reach European markets. If my guess is correct, then they should either be kicked out or have their policy shifted towards protecting the drug trade in West Africa.
Your guess is 100% correct. The UNODC in West Africa only cares for drugs transiting in West Africa from South America to Europe. It's mostly cocaine. And they care for hashish from Morocco but here again not because they care for West Africans. It's because this hashish goes to Europe or transit from West Africa to reach other parts of the world.
The UNODC position is that West Africans are too poor to buy drugs and here by drugs we speak about the drugs causing troubles in developed countries. Drugs like tramadol they don't care. They just do a meeting and then it's written on a memo.
I had no idea. Goodness…
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