The Sunday News
Tinomuda Chakanyuka Sunday News Reporter
FORGET cocaine, heroine, mandrax and many other so-called hard drugs. Histalix, Broncleer and Stopayne cough syrups as well as Pynstop tablets are the hottest thing among drug pushers and users in Zimbabwe.The drugs have flooded streets in most high density suburbs and are being sold on the black market, with several youths and some adults hooked onto the substances.
Some football players and musicians are reportedly hooked onto these drugs, which they argue enhance their performance on the field of play or on stage during musical shows.
Drug peddlers make a killing from selling the substances to youths, many of whom are, sadly, oblivious to the dangers that come with abusing such substances. All they care about is the feel good factor they derive from the drugs.
The drugs have thus been often referred to as “feel-good drugs”.
Some of the drugs, like Broncleer, have been banned locally but somehow find their way into the country through our porous borders, from neighbouring countries such as Zambia, Botswana and South Africa.
Histalix, which requires a doctor’s prescription for one to buy it, has mysteriously found its way on the parallel market into the hands of peddlers in large quantities.
Apparently the pushers connive with corrupt pharmacy owners and employees who sell the drug to them illegally without the requisite prescription.
Investigations revealed that pharmacy owners prefer selling Histalix to drug pushers because the peddlers buy in large quantities which brings quick and huge returns to the pharmacy operators.
The Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe is quite aware of such clandestine deals by pharmacy workers and has been on record warning against such.
“It’s something that has come to our attention and of course we are investigating the practice. If we happen to catch any such pharmacies that are selling prescription drugs to members of the public who do not have the required prescription we will obviously take action. They risk losing their licences,” said Mr Richard Rukwata, MCAZ spokesperson.
Drug users who would probably prefer lighter versions of the feel-good drugs, or may not have access to the harder genre, turn to stopayne cough syrups and pynstop tablets which they buy from pharmacies over the counter.
They, however, have to take larger quantities of the drugs to get the desired “feel-good” effect.
Some pharmacy employees who spoke to Sunday News on condition of anonymity said sales of stopayne cough syrups and Pynstop tablets had dramatically gone up in recent months, as the drugs had become popular among youths as they were easily accessible.
Fifty tablets of Pynstop cough syrup cost around $9 while 100ml of Stopayne costs around $4,50 in most pharmacies.
“They take as much as they need to get high. Some take the whole 100mls of pynstop cough syrup to get high. The rate at which these drugs are selling, even during the summer season when cases of flu and coughs are low tells a lot about the abuse of substances among the youths,” she said.
The growing demand for feel good drugs has brought with it some rich pickings for the peddlers, some of whom claim that they make as much as $200 daily in profit from selling the prohibited substances.
Pushing such substances has become a means to a life for the drug peddlers, with some testifying of tremendous transformation of their lives as a result of the illegal dealings.
“I have never been employed ever since I finished college and graduated with a diploma in marketing in 2005. It’s been a life of hustling and pushing all the way for me and many like me because there are no jobs out there. We have this and that trying to escape poverty but I feel this (selling drugs) is the gateway for me.
“Ever since I started trading in Broncleer and Histalix my life has changed. I can’t remember a single day that I have been broke in the past three years in the trade because demand has been high and business good.
“I have managed to take care of my family and we live a very comfortable life from my earnings. I actually have bigger plans because the money is good,” said Nkosi (not real name) a drug peddler from Sizinda.
Nkosi explained how he has survived in the game for three years without getting in trouble with authorities.
“Police officers are some of my biggest clients so I’m protected. I also pay tokens regularly to them. That’s how we survive. It’s tough though but worth the fight,” he said.
While the Sunday News crew was still at Nkosi’s house several of his customers, from different walks of life, different classes, gender and age walked in to buy the cough syrups, which Nkosi said he buys from local pharmacies as well as from Botswana.
One of Nkosi’s clients confessed to using feel-good drugs as a way to relieve stress and escape from the pressures of the world.
“These drugs take me to a different world altogether, a stress free world away from the pressure of this world that we live in. It’s different from beer because beer makes you think a lot but this is cheaper and gives you a much more pleasant sensation,” he said, declining to be named.
Some youths, after taking the feel-good drugs go on to smoke marijuana and add alcohol.
The drugs lead the youths to explode in ecstasy, they are a gateway from stress and pressure as they claim, but there are underlying dangers that most users are oblivious to. Maybe they don’t care a bit.
A local health expert, Dr Cuthber Mudimu, warned against abuse of the feel-good drugs saying apart from addiction and other short term side effects, youths who abuse cough syrup risked developing other serious life threatening health complications.
Cough syrups, if used properly and for their intended purpose, are useful remedies.
“Users of such drugs tend to suffer from some kind of hypnosis, mental confusion, hallucinations and blurred vision, hyperactivity, dizziness and many other side effects. There are, however, more severe side effects, that might manifest in the long run due to abuse of these drugs. One might develop liver problems in future and this is a dangerous condition.
“Abuse of such drugs is dangerous and should never be condoned. People should be aware of the dangers of substances they consume before they take them,” said Dr Mudimu.
Dr Mudimu added that people who suffer from addiction of feel-good drugs may need to be taken for disciplinary rehabilitation and psychiatric help for them to get over the drugs and start living normal lives.
