The markets and streets of West and Central Africa have been silently flooding with an opioid called Tramadol for a decade. This painkiller, not very addictive if consumed in the prescribed doses, has created a health crisis throughout the continent that has become an epidemic. Although these two regions are the most affected by the consumption of tramadol for non-medical purposes, the drug has also spread to several countries in the Maghreb and the Middle East such as Iraq, Iran, or Egypt, where it is already the second most consumed drug among youths.
This popular medication began to be marketed in 1977 to treat pain in patients with cancer or recent surgery. Its effects are ten times less than those of other drugs such as morphine or fentanyl, the drug that is causing the opioid crisis in the US, and therefore its addictive effects are also less. However, abusing tramadol can cause high levels of addiction and even cardiorespiratory arrest in case of overdose. Despite this, tramadol has become a very popular substance, since a two-hundred milligram pill not only relieves pain: fatigue, hunger…