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After the autumn of the al-Assad regime in Syria, giant stockpiles of the illicit drug captagon have reportedly been uncovered.
The stockpiles, discovered by Syrian rebels, are believed to be linked to al-Assad army headquarters, implicating the fallen regime within the drug’s manufacture and distribution.
However as we’ll see, captagon was as soon as a pharmaceutical drug, much like among the legally obtainable stimulants we nonetheless use right this moment for circumstances together with attention-deficit hyperactivity dysfunction (ADHD).
Captagon was as soon as a pharmaceutical
Captagon is the unique model identify of an previous artificial pharmaceutical stimulant initially made in Germany within the Sixties. It was a substitute for amphetamine and methamphetamine, which have been each used as medicines on the time.
The drug has the lively ingredient fenethylline and was initially marketed for circumstances together with ADHD and the sleeping dysfunction narcolepsy. It had an identical use to among the legally obtainable stimulants we nonetheless use right this moment, comparable to dexamphetamine.
Captagon has related results to amphetamines. It will increase dopamine within the mind, resulting in emotions of well-being, pleasure and euphoria. It additionally improves focus, focus and stamina. But it surely has plenty of undesirable uncomfortable side effects, comparable to low-level psychosis.
The drug was initially offered principally within the Center East and components of Europe. It was obtainable over-the-counter (with no prescription) in Europe for a short while earlier than it grew to become prescription-only.
It was accredited solely briefly in america earlier than turning into a managed substance within the Eighties, however was nonetheless authorized for the remedy of narcolepsy in lots of European international locations till comparatively not too long ago.
Based on the Worldwide Narcotics Management Board pharmaceutical manufacture of Captagon had stopped by 2009.
The illicit commerce took over
The illegally manufactured model is normally known as captagon (with a small c). It’s generally referred to as “chemical courage” as a result of it’s thought for use by troopers in war-torn areas of the Center East to assist in giving them focus and power.
As an illustration, it has been reportedly discovered on the our bodies of Hamas troopers in the course of the battle with Israel.
Its manufacture is comparatively easy and cheap, making it an apparent goal for the black-market drug commerce.
Black-market captagon is now almost completely manufactured in Syria and surrounding international locations comparable to Lebanon. It is principally used within the Center East, together with recreationally in some Gulf states.
It is among the mostly used illicit medicine in Syria.
A current report suggests captagon generated greater than US$7.3 billion in Syria and Lebanon between 2020 and 2022 (about $2.4 billion a 12 months).
What we find out about illicit medicine typically is that any seizures or crackdowns on manufacturing or sale have a really restricted affect on the drug market as a result of one other producer or distributor pops as much as meet demand.
So in all probability, given the scale of the captagon market within the Center East, these newest drug discoveries and seizures are prone to scale back manufacture just for a short while.
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What’s the drug captagon and the way is it linked to Syria’s fallen Assad regime? (2024, December 14)
retrieved 14 December 2024
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