Big stocks of the illegal drug captagon have apparently been discovered following the fall of the al-Assad government in Syria.
The supplies, found by Arab rebels, are believed to be linked to al-Assad defense office, implicating the fallen program in the product’s manufacture and distribution.
Captagon was previously a medical drug, similar to some of the legal substances we still use today for conditions like attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder ( ADHD), as we’ll observe.
Captagon was again a medicinal
Captagon is the original name for a vintage chemical pharmaceutical drug that was created in Germany in the 1960s. It was an option to drug and drugs, which were both used as treatments at the time.
The original substance, which was developed to treat conditions like ADHD and insomnia, contained the active component fenethylline. It had a similar apply to some of the officially available substances we also use now, such as dexamphetamine.
Captagon has identical results to stimulants. It increases serotonin in the mind, leading to emotions of well-being, satisfaction and joy. It also improves target, attention and strength. But it has a lot of unwanted side effects, like as low-level illness.
The medicine was first mainly sold in the Middle East and some parts of Europe. It was available over the counter ( without a prescription ) in Europe for a short time before it became prescription-only.
Prior to becoming a managed substance in the 1980s, it only dimly received US approval, but it was still permitted to treat insomnia in some European nations until recently.
Captagon’s production, according to the International Narcotics Control Board, had stopped by 2009.
The illegal business seized control of the situation.
The illegally produced type is typically referred to as captagon ( with a small c ). Because it is thought that men in Middle Eastern war-torn locations use it to aid in their concentration and energy, it is sometimes called” chemical courage.”
For example, it’s been reported to have been discovered on the body of Hamas soldiers during the Israeli-Hamas issue. Its production is fairly easy and cheap, making it an obvious goal for the black-market medication trade.
Nearly all of the black market captagon is then produced in Syria and neighboring Lebanon. It’s most frequently used in the Middle East, and some Gulf state have it for recreational purposes.
It is one of the most prevalent illegal medicines in Syria.
Captagon generated more than US$ 7.3 billion in Syria and Lebanon between 2020 and 2022, according to a new record ( roughly$ 2.4 billion a year ).
What we usually know about illegal drugs is that any seizures or restrictions on the sale of drugs only have a small impact on the market because another producer or distributor opens up to meet demand.
Given the size of the Middle East captagon business, these most recent pharmaceutical insights and spasms are likely to only temporarily decrease production.
Nicole Lee is an adjunct professor at Curtin University’s Curtin University’s National Drug Research Institute ( Melbourne ).
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