Cough syrup for kicks - Street News Service

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REPORT
Cough
syrup
for
kicks
In Zambia’s capital Lusaka, a new drug is gaining popularity: cough syrup. Downed by the bottle, it makes
people feel high, and many addicts claim it makes them work harder. Innocent as this may sound, this deliberate
overdosing is not without risk. By Jorrit Meulenbeck and David Mwanza
I jab myself with medicki,
I feel like I am not getting
tired,” says bus driver
“When
Demuru Kabamba. “Medicki
is my magic.” When Kabamba talks about
‘medicki’, local street-slang for medicine, he
means Benylin or Histalix, two popular brands
of cough syrup that are widely available in
Zambian pharmacies.
Originally intended to be taken in small dosages
to give a sedative effect and depress the
so-called ‘ cough centre’, taking larger quantities
of Histalix or Benyling at once appears to
give many users a feeling of euphoria, aggressiveness,
being more focused and getting tired
less easily.
“I make more money now than before I started
taking it,” bus driver Kabamba continues to
explain. “Some of my fellow drivers will go
into the hood to drink beer for a few hours, to
feel aggressive on the road. But not me. I do
not rest. Even when my route dries up, I become
creative and just use another route, to
make more money for the boss, and myself of
course.”
That is why Kabamba now uses it every day.
A demanding habit, as the bottles do not come
cheap at about 25 000 Kwacha (5 US Dollars).
But the high cost of this addiction only
motivates Kabamba more. “It is not affordable.
That’s why you need to be aggressive, so you
are able to work hard and buy more.”
The cough syrups, also known on the streets
as ‘nyelele’, were introduced in Lusaka from
Zimbabwe, where Histalix is manufactured.
‘Nyelele’ means ‘ants’ in the local language,
as the first users described the effect as ants
crawling in your bloodstream.
Yellow Man (a local nickname for albino’s) has
Zimbabwean roots, and stays near Marapodi,
a compound where many Zimbabweans live.
“Back in Zimbabwe we consume nyelele like
no man’s business,” he says. Yellow Man
sees the religious beliefs of the so-called Hosanna’s,
followers of prophet Papa Johanne
“I used to feel like I was
in America,” he remembers
his first nyeleleexperience
7 years ago,
when his brother-in-law
introduced him to it.
“For real, when you fix
yourself with nyelele, it
takes you to America,
and you can even speak
with Obama, the
president.”
who discourage the use of alcohol, as one of
the reasons for the drug’s popularity back in
Zimbabwe.
In Lusaka he works as a Zam-cab, as the
wheelbarrows that transport heavy loads
around town are popularly called, and also
doubles as a call-boy, shouting to attract
customers to buses at Mandevu bus station.
“Working here is not an easy thing,” he explains
his reasons for taking the stuff. “When
you are not aggressive and strong, you end up
knocking off with nothing at the end of the day.”
As pharmacist sometimes ask for a doctor’s
prescription, and most serious addicts require
at least a bottle every day, a lively trade has
sprung up in the city’s poorer compounds. DJ
Popa is one of the people who sells nyelele in
his area.
“I used to feel like I was in America,” he remembers
his first nyelele-experience 7 years
ago, when his brother-in-law introduced him to
it. “For real, when you fix yourself with nyelele,
it takes you to America, and you can even
speak with Obama, the president.”
He enjoyed the feeling so much that he wanted
to enable others to feel the same way too.
“Many friends have started consuming it because
they see me taking it in the club. When
they ask for a lid, I give them two. It will take
them to America, and soon they will call me
for a bottle.”
As he sees it, the cough syrups are much bet-

ter than alcohol, which just makes people lazy. “In
the ghetto where I live you see youths drinking as
early as 6 in the morning, but many of my buyers
are hard-working.”
Though Popa does his dealings in private, he is not
very scared of the Drug Enforcement Commission
(DEC) officers, or ‘December’ as he calls them.
“They are just concerned with dagga (weed), not
medicki.”
For Chiyeso Phiri, a carpenter in Chaissa compound,
that is the big advantage over weed, which
gave him the same creative vibe before. “The December
are all over the ghetto, arresting smokers
and sellers. I was afraid of getting arrested and
leaving my family suffering. But with nyelele no one
can follow you.”
What about the reported side-effects? And the rumors
of people going crazy, or even dying as a result
of overdosing on Histalix or Benylin?
Yellow Man has heard that people in Zimbabwe
have died as a result of overdosing, but he does
not seem too worried by it. “You need to overdose
for you to have fun,” he says. “You need to drink
a half or a whole bottle at once. But I think too
much of anything can be dangerous. Even nshima
(maize porridge), while it is a nice staple food, you
can die if you take too much.”
Dealer DJ Popa also heard the disturbing stories
about the first generation users of Histalix. “Some
of them developed puss in their lungs,” he says.
“But for Benylin the only effect I know is reliance.
Some hardcore businessmen have to buy three
bottles a day.”
REPORT
Left: DJ Popa drinking the cough syrup that he buys in bulk from pharmacies
in town and sells to in the area where he lives.
Top: Yellow Man opening a packet of Benylin, the codeine-containing cough
syrup he uses every day to get high and deal with the pressure of his job.
The unhealthy effects of a medicine
The usage instructions for Benylin and Histalix cough syrups prescribe a dosage of
5 to 10 ml every four to six hours, but addicts easily use more than twenty times this
amount, consuming a whole bottle or more per day.
CAPS, the Zimbabwe-based producers of Histalix, already put a warning in the
manual for the physical dependency that can be developed by prolonged use and
overdosage.
People who become addicted to these medicines will suffer withdrawal symptoms
when they do not get their fix in time, just as with many hard drugs. Codeine, one of
the ingredients of Histalix, is a narcotic with similar effects to morphine.
The list of possible side-effects mentioned in the usage instructions of both Histalix
and Benylin is endless. Nausea, drowsiness and headache are the least serious, but
hallucinations, spasm and even coma can also occur.
Abuse of these medicines is not a new thing, and has not only been reported in
Southern Africa. Canadian doctor Joseph Walker and some of his colleagues already
wrote about a severe case of Benylin-abuse in the early 90’s. He reported that
one of his patients took up to 400 ml of the syrup in times of stress for almost 8 years,
and eventually was admitted to hospital suffering from severe psychosis and mania.
While US-trained doctor Dalila Zachary, now based in Zambia, has never come
across a case of cough syrup abuse herself, she has heard of the practice among
American teenagers. “What people should know is that all of these chemicals are
dangerous when taken at these high levels”, she warns.
“Paranoia, confusion, out-of-body experiences,” Zachary names a few reported effects
of overdosing. “One of the most serious effects of taking an overdose can be
hypothermia, high body temperature, which can even cause death.”
What about the people who say they are not having any side-effects from consuming
the syrup in the amounts they do? “That’s simply not true,” she says.
“You may not be aware of these effects, especially when you are under the influence,
but that you do not feel it today or tomorrow does not mean the negative effects are
not there. Even alcoholics will often say they have no problem.”
For more information contact Zachary Chanda: advises chanda@restlessdevelopment.org
people who have become addicted but want to stop to seek profes-
www.streetnewsservice.org / Street News
sional counselling, just as they would for other drugs and alcohol.
Service
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