What is the drug captagon and how is it linked to Syria’s fallen Assad regime?

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 a few of the legally accessible stimulants we nonetheless use in the present day for situations 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 Nineteen Sixties. It was a substitute for amphetamine and methamphetamine, which had been each used as medicines on the time.

The drug has the lively ingredient fenethylline and was initially marketed for situations together with ADHD and the sleeping dysfunction narcolepsy. It had an identical use to a few of the legally accessible stimulants we nonetheless use in the present day, equivalent 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. Nevertheless it has loads of undesirable unwanted effects, equivalent to low-level psychosis.

The drug was initially bought largely within the Center East and elements of Europe. It was accessible over-the-counter (with no prescription) in Europe for a short while earlier than it turned prescription-only.

It was permitted solely briefly in the USA earlier than changing 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.

In accordance with the Worldwide Narcotics Management Board pharmaceutical manufacture of Captagon had stopped by 2009.

The illicit commerce took over

The illegally manufactured model is often known as captagon (with a small c). It’s typically referred to as “chemical braveness” 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 vitality.

As an illustration, it has been reportedly discovered on the our bodies of Hamas troopers through the battle with Israel.

Its manufacture is comparatively simple and cheap, making it an apparent goal for the black-market drug commerce.

Black-market captagon is now almost solely manufactured in Syria and surrounding international locations equivalent to Lebanon. It is largely used within the Center East, together with recreationally in some Gulf states.

It is likely one of the mostly used illicit medication in Syria.

A latest 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 medication usually is that any seizures or crackdowns on manufacturing or sale have a really restricted influence 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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