—- The adverse effects of Tramadol abuse
—- “Science Students”: Juvenile Experimentations with medication
The Abia State Commandant of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, Mr Akindele Akingbade, has disclosed that a Junior Secondary School student in Ohafia Local Government Area of Abia State, recently died after he allegedly took 10 tablets of Tramadol.
He made the statement on Wednesday while delivering a lecture at a seminar organized by the agency for patent drug sellers in Abia Central Senatorial District.
News of the death of the student further prompted the agency to reiterate the importance of drug abuse sensitization in rural and urban communities.
Tramadol is a particularly notorious drug being abused and this is because a number of persons are not informed of the adverse effects of the drug.
The Adverse Effects of Tramadol Abuse
Professional Medical specialists describe tramadol as a painkiller prescribed, usually, for moderate or moderately severe pain. Just like any other drug, when taken according to a doctor’s prescription, tramadol can be a safe and effective analgesic medication. However, it is possible to become addicted to tramadol when it is abused.
Tramadol is a member of the opioid class of drugs which affect the reward centres of the brain that lead to feelings of pleasure. This can, in turn, reinforce the development of dependence and addiction as a person begins to crave those feelings more and more often. Opioid receptors also influence parts of the brain involved with the sensation of reward and pleasure, so tramadol may produce euphoric feelings too.
However, over time a person may develop a tolerance for tramadol, which means that certain brain processes become so used to operating under the effects of tramadol that the tolerant individual will require higher doses to feel the same “high” feelings.
When abused, tramadol can also cause confusion, drowsiness, suppressed breathing, and death.
An individual who has become physically dependent on tramadol may experience the effects of withdrawal if the abuser suddenly stops using the drug. Signs of tramadol withdrawal include:
- Sweating
- Chills
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Diarrhoea
- Restlessness
- Body aches and cramps
- Bone pain, etc.
As with any opioid, tramadol users are at risk of accidental overdoses simply because they are taking the drug more often (and perhaps not as mindfully) and at higher doses. When a person overdoses, the following may result:
- Confusion
- Drowsiness
- Vomiting
- Bluish discoloration to lips and fingernails
- Shallow breathing
- Coma
- Death
“Science Students”: Juvenile Experimentations with Medication
In his latest music titled Science Student, Nigerian rapper and performing artiste, Olamide Adedeji, popular by his performing name, Olamide described the act of mixing hard drugs for the sake of getting intoxicated or ‘high’. The act which is notorious amongst youths has led to the death of a large number of Nigeria and often involves mixing codeine and tramadol and other drugs.
These juvenile experimentations, which some accuse Olamide of promoting, have been decried by the NDLEA and several other social organisations and health organisations as dangerous and illegal over and over again.
In 2017, a report submitted by Thisday stated that over 500,000 bottles of codeine and an equal amount of tramadol is consumed by young Nigerians across the country.
Most times, they are combined to be able to achieve the level of high the individual is used to. And severally, this has gone horribly wrong.
Also, several people combine tramadol with alcoholic beverages and this has been recorded to have horrible outcomes.
The combination of tramadol and alcohol can cause threatening or even fatal side effects. Both alcohol and tramadol are central nervous system depressants, and both agents slow down brain activity and function which can lead to:
- Confusion
- Loss of consciousness
- Brain damage
- Respiratory depression
Curbing Drug Abuse in Nigeria
The NDLEA State Commandant said that apart from the agency’s resolve to take the awareness campaign against the selling of harmful drugs to the abusers, the agency had begun encouraging schools to establish Drug-Free Clubs in their schools in order to discourage students from abusing drugs or taking illicit drugs.
He pointed out that the dangerous effects of abusing drugs or consumption of illicit drugs on human health were better prevented than treated.
