| Nigerian cops seized intercepted 2,684,900 pills of tramadol and exol-5 as well as 1800ml of codeine concealed in the reserve fuel tank of a trailer. Drug kingpin Hussaini Ibrahim 'Bafu', was arrested. The UN says the trade and growing abuse of tramadol, a synthetic opioid, are destabilizing parts of Africa. The nonmedical use of tramadol has become a major health crisis in some areas. Tramadol produces effects similar to morphine and oxycodone. It gives users a sense of detachment from reality and makes them delusional. Less stigmatized than other opioids, tramadol as a prescription medication can be accessed and transported easily. The drug is finding its way into Europe. “This is serious,” a Danish addiction treatment specialist at a youth addiction centre in the town of Greve, southwest of Copenhagen.
Six of the 20 teens enrolled in the facility were there because of their addiction to tramadol. |