Revealed: Deadly cocktail of drugs now ravaging Lagos youths

AYOMIDE OWONIBI ODEKANYIN and OLALEKAN OLABULO trace the new “hard drugs” being legally sold on Lagos streets.

A silent and largely ignored plague is currently running through different ages in Lagos which may end up wasting generations. In plain language, the plague comes in sweet package, but the condiments used in preparing it make the package a hemlock on licking stick. The name of the supposed sweet is Choko, but nothing is sweet about its packaging, consumption and the after-effects. Choko is a hard drug, a combination of abused popular medicine. Its twin brother with similar deadly effects is a cocktail of drugs called Rochi. These sweet drugs that are licked publicly by millions in Lagos are the sad story of medicated and domesticated hard drug abuse in the state which stakeholders are overlooking despite the devastating effects.

Speaking for the NDLEA, its spokesperson, Mitchell Ofoyeju described the abuse of pharmaceutical drugs as a growing problem in the country.

According to Ofoyeju, “apart from alcohol/cigarettes and marijuana, prescription drugs are next commonly abused drugs. Common prescription drugs are pain relievers, tranquilizers and stimulants. These drugs are taken for various reasons such as peer pressure and need for social acceptability, to feel good or get high, to relax or relieve tension or pain, to experiment and to feed addiction.

“Commonly abused prescription drugs are pain relievers, tranquilizers and sedatives as well as stimulants. Cough syrups with codeine are prescribed to treat cough.Unfortunately, people are abusing it because of the codeine content. Depressants slow the normal brain function to produce a drowsy or calming effect. Dangers of tranquilizers when abused include slow breathing and heartbeat and can lead to withdrawal and seizures when discontinued after prolonged use. Those who use them often combine sedatives with other prescriptions, alcohol, or even cold and allergy medications.

“We can easily identify abuse of prescription drugs when stealing, forging or selling of prescriptions, taking higher doses than prescribed, excessive mood swings, increase or decrease in sleep and poor decision-making.”

While Saturday Tribune findings showed that the consumption of these sweet drugs may be contributing significantly to everyday violent behaviours in the state, there are strong convictions that those killer licking sticks are also helping the population at the various psychiatric hospitals to grow. They are also said to be helping “neighbourhood” kolo (madness) to increase significantly, with mostly young men, particularly the supposedly frustrated ones, being seen hanging around their neighbourhood completely “stoned” (oblivious of their environment while high on the sweet drugs).

Once upon a time on the streets of Lagos, the drug of choice for youth on the other side was cocaine – a substance that has all the thrills needed by users to get high. It was not readily available as it was a drug of class among elite users. Not only was it scarce, it was also very expensive, selling for as high as N5,000 per gram. Fast forward to early 2015, cocaine lost its shine and got replaced by over-the-counter pharmaceutical drugs that suddenly became the ‘it’ drugs, reputed to rival the powers of cocaine.

Walking through Mende in Maryland, an upscale suburb in Lagos, a first time visitor will notice the high number of youths milling around the streets. Sitting demurely on a pavement, Saturday Tribune observed a well dressed young man who from all indications looked ‘sane’, until he began to smile – and mumble to himself. A cobbler working beside him said he was high.

“If you go round, you will see many young guys like him. They spend all day mumbling to themselves’, the shoemaker, who gave his name as Baba Nana, said. He added that the boys were ‘gentle’ and were not violent. “They don’t fight or look for trouble, they just sit in a corner and smile and sleep, in the rain or under the hot sun”, he said.

Abuse of pharmaceutical products by youths in Lagos State, especially among the educated ones, has grown tremendously. Codeine, a particular brand of cough syrup, tramadol and pain-relieving drugs have suddenly gained popularity. Being over-the-counter drugs, they can easily be purchased at basically any pharmacy. Sadly, there are no checks by pharmacists even though the state government sanitised pharmacies such that no quack can sell drugs without a valid licence. You can walk into any pharmacy and buy as many bottles of cough syrups or Tramadol as you wish without anyone asking you questions.

Without bottles of codeine and other cough syrups, and a cocktail of pills like tramadol, aspirin and the likes, a happening Lagos party is no party. The pills are crushed and mixed with the cough syrup then added to soft drinks or juice and it is served chilled in plastic cups at parties.

There is a newest mixture called Choko containing tramadol, Indian hemp and any chocolate, usually milo. The process involves grinding the contents together before heating them for some minutes to allow the mixture become solid and strong. It is then licked or eaten like chocolate.

Surprisingly, drugs like codeine are no longer readily available in pharmacies. Specifically, you can hardly get codeine again in a regular pharmacy but it is available in large quantity at the black market. A bottle of the opiate drug sells for N1,500 at the black market, which is more expensive than cocaine which sells for N1,000 per pinch. A pack of tramadol sells for N100. The price varies according to the drug’s availability.

Speaking with Saturday Tribune, a youth leader in Mende who identified himself as Baba J, pointed out that most youths take to these drugs to calm the effects of the fast-moving world.

“Look at this scenario: we live in a country like Nigeria where things are not working fine. Many of these youths are frustrated and are taking drugs like codeine and the cough syrup to reverse the effects of the fast-moving world. After they take these drugs, everything comes to a halt and things start moving slowly for them. Thus, they have time to reflect and before you know it, the day has gone, and they forget about economic and financial woes”, he said.

Baba J went on to say that the government pushed youths into this vice. “I grew up in Maryland. While I was growing up, there were lots of recreation centres around. Youths could hang out, play basketball and football and take their minds off destructive vices. But it is sad to note that the government has sold all these centres to banks and estate moguls. The youth are left with nothing, and boredom leads to picking up bad habits. Things have even become worse in this era of recession.

“Some of these boys take six tablets of tramadol at a go. They don’t care about the side effects as it gives them a disillusioned feeling and they start to hallucinate, imagining that they are in a new realm. They remain in this state until the drugs wear off.

“They don’t see them as hard drugs but as social drugs – the drugs help them to feel loved. It is also sad to note that many pharmacies don’t care about the well-being of these young fellows. They are only interested in making gains; they don’t care if you show up 30 times a day just to buy tramadol. But codeine is more controlled and some of these guys forge doctors’ prescriptions just to lay their hands on these drugs. They even pretend to be sick just so they can get the drugs”, he said.

Also, Jamiu, a resident of Ajegunle, a boundary community between Lagos and Ogun states, stated that he didn’t take any of those drugs but many of his friends did. “There are many ways of taking the drugs. There is the cough medication with codeine. There is the popular Tramadol. And there is this new one in town which they call Choko. They are very common among them.

“Tramadol has been on for a long time. It is the most commonly abused. When people find it less effective, they look for more powerful drugs. Some people take two 500 grams of Tramadol. Some take it whenever they want to have sex with women, while others use it to get more power or to ‘shine their eyes’, as they say. They describe it as very effective.”

Jamiu also said that another abuse of drugs is the use of Benylin with codeine to ‘high their spirit’. “What they do is that they empty a whole bottle of the cough syrup in water. The normal dosage is usually two table spoons but they use the whole bottle at once. The content will sink down the water and become solid. They would allow it to dissolve and then drink it to also ‘high’ their spirit. This one is also very common now”, Jamiu added.

“There is also Rochi, a cocktail of drugs blended together. They take it in the form of sweet. They lick Rochi and they get high, according to them”, Jamiu stated and added that many of them take as many as possible.

Speaking on the effects of abusing pharmaceutical drugs, a medical practitioner, Dr Ayoola Owoseni, pointed out that over time, the drugs take its toll on the body and entire immune system.

“The extended-release form of tramadol is for around-the-clock treatment of pain. This form of tramadol is not for use on an as-needed basis for pain. These youths should understand that tramadol can slow or stop your breathing, especially when you start using this medicine or whenever your dose is changed.

“They should understand that seizures (convulsions) can occur in the adverse use of these drugs. They should also understand that the long term effect in the liver is terrible”, Dr Owoseni said.

He noted that excessive use of cough syrups could have an adverse effect on the body. “Overdose of cough syrups can cause the patient to continually hallucinate. It also affects the respiratory system which can cause vomiting. Imagine a patient in a constant state of drowsiness choking to death on his or her own vomit”, he said.

According to the Medical Director of Triston Hospitals, Ogudu, tramadol is a medication used to treat moderate and moderately severe pain. “When taken as an immediate-release oral formulation, the onset of pain relief usually occurs within about an hour,” he said.

Tramadol, he added, is a strong substance that works on the nervous system and brain to reduce the feel of pain. “There are many different forms, strengths and brands of tramadol. Some forms and brands start working quickly to ease pain while others act slowly over several hours to provide a constant and more even pain control.

Dr Owoseni noted that apart from its pain relieving effects, tramadol has been discovered to give a feeling of euphoric high when taken in large quantity. “When opioids like tramadol are mixed with alcohol, they increase the effects of the alcohol. The person using the mixture would, for several hours, be in a state of euphoria. The effects vary in people. For example, some users become very docile and sluggish while other become hyper active and violent

“Sometimes most of these users start to hallucinate and imagine things. They begin to see things differently. People have committed grievous crimes under the influence of these opioids. They carry out heinous deeds under the influence and only come to their senses when the effects wear off’, he added.

He, however, advised parents and guardians to counsel their wards on the hazards of drug abuse and called on the government to place serious sanctions and restrictions on the use of the medication.

A pharmacist, Mrs Olufunke Ishola, however, pointed out that the purchase of some drugs is highly regulated.

“My training requires that I see the person that urgently needs to buy certain drugs before I dispense them. I have had to refuse to sell drugs to some unscrupulous persons when the frequency that they required the drugs was too much. We all need money but we have to go by our professional ethics. It is quite easy to get drugs like tramadol and some other cough syrups but our association constantly harps on the need to follow due process and ask for a doctor’s prescription”, Mrs Ishola told Saturday Tribune.

NDLEA, its spokesman told Saturday Tribune, is addressing the problem by working with NAFDAC and relevant bodies like pharmaceutical associations to control cough syrups with codeine and other drugs.

“We also conduct enlightenment in schools, motor parks and communities. This is to create awareness among parents and children with a view to reducing abuse of these drugs.  The agency is collaborating with pharmacists and doctors to track the prescribing and dispensing of controlled prescription drugs to patients.

“Patients are advised to keep prescription drugs safe beyond the reach of others. They should never give out their prescription and always follow instructions of pharmacists/ doctors. Parents must be observant for empty bottles of cough syrups and prescription drugs, conduct sudden checks on children and seek medical help for those who have problem using these drugs.

Finally, we trace and seize illegal distribution of cough syrups by medicine dealers. Those found wanting are charged to court accordingly.”