CAIRO - Trading in narcotics has become public and their abuse is no longer hidden. The situation is not endemic yet, however its development is noticeable. Some individuals even import narcotics from China. In the slums of Warraq el-Arab in Imbaba, Ibrahim Ismail, 26, uses and sells drugs as if they were chocolate or candy. “I buy a Tramadol, tablet. It gives me strength for a whole day and I don't fell tired," he says, adding that if he didn't take Tramadol, he would feel depressed and his body would hurt all over. He buys Tramadol from young men and pays LE 5 per tablet. Nour Adel, who owns a carpentry workshop in the Ain Shams area, confessed that he was addicted to various pills. He had started by taking one quarter of a pill and then gradually increased the dosage to a whole pill per day. It enabled him to function properly and cope. Adel complained about high prices; he used to pay LE3 per pill but the price went up to LE 6. Narcotics are now sold quite openly and without police control. Adel added that some narcotics were smuggled from China and sold in pharmacies. But he appealed to people not to use narcotics, as they were physically, financially and morally destructive. He regretted that he could not cope or even stand on his feet without taking these tablets. In Ezbet Khairallah, Bassatine district south of Cairo, a number of young men revealed that 90 per cent abused narcotics and were involved in drug trafficking. Azza Koraiem, professor of sociology at the National Centre for Social and Criminal Research, stressed that widespread abuse of narcotics was due to bullying and the absence of security. She noted that these conditions were endemic in shantytowns; she hoped however they would disappear, if security were restored. According to Koraiem, these conditions spread among young manual, labourers and unemployed young men who spend most of their time in coffee shops. “The drug traffic has moved from side streets into the main ones and squares. Drug dealers want to make quick profits. They buy narcotics in pharmacies and sell them at inflated prices. We need security campaigns and tough penalties.” Abdel Moetti Bayoumi of Al-Azhar University noted that the young should realise that narcotics contributed to the deterioration of mental faculties and harmed the body. Drug users believed that narcotics comforted them, while in fact they destroyed brain cells. The educational system should focus more on religious values; other countries added religious ethics to their curricula. The former Secretary General of the Pharmacology Association, Mahmoud Abdel-Maqsoud, noted that Tramadol contained sedative substances derived from Opium and was a very potent painkiller. He told Al-Ahram semi-official newspaper that taking Tramadol for extended periods caused addiction. “There are two kinds of Tramadol; one is smuggled from China and very cheap.” Tharwat Bassili, head of a pharmaceutical company, said that Tramadol also affected the user's psychological state. He added that some drug traffickers forged prescriptions in order to get the drugs from pharmacies, or that they obtained forged prescriptions from junior doctors for huge amounts of money.
