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The Herald, December 31, 1987

Instead of risking getting thrown out of a film show for drinking beer while watching the screen, movie goers are now pocketing a small bottle of cough syrup getting “high” in cinema circuits.

Histalix, a cough syrup easily obtainable from street pharmacies, has become increasingly popular with teenagers visiting cinemas, for its alleged intoxicating effects.

A Herald reporter spotted empty bottles of the addictive drug on the floor and in trash cans at a local cinema.

When asked to comment on the prevalence of the drug in such a place, one of the workers at the cinema house, said it was probably due to some pharmacies, which open until late at night, and anybody can help themselves.

The cough syrup contains codeine phosphate, a derivative of morphine, and can be obtained from a pharmacy without a doctor’s prescription.

A senior lecturer in the department of pharmacy at the Godfrey Huggins School of Medicine, Dr John Jameson, said that if abused, the drug is highly addictive and disturbs the function of the central nervous system, since it is a depressant.

If the individual stays on it for a long time, he gets addicted and it causes severe withdrawal symptoms. Histalix is meant to ease pain and suppress the cough.

A pharmacist at one of the pharmacies in Harare, said that if the cough syrup is taken in large quantities, it causes drowsiness and decreases contractions of the gut, leading to constipation.

If the abuser has been on it for a long time, it might cause a heart attack.

LESSONS FOR TODAY

• Despite the known dangers, substance and alcohol abuses, are now the biggest challenges among young people.

These include codeine-related drugs in the form of cough mixtures such as Histalix, bron Cleer; marijuana as well as prescription drugs like diazepam (Valium), pethidine (meperidine), Ritalin (methylphenidate); crystal Methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, mandrax, and more.

• Lack of job opportunities, peer pressure and broken family backgrounds are among the leading causes for young people to do drugs. Under the current tough economic challenges, the million-dollar question is: how are they financing these expensive drug habits?

What other criminal activities are they involved in, to finance such lifestyles?

• Where are the drugs coming from, and who are the drug barons and the traffickers?

Why are law enforcement agents failing to arrest the perpetrators, considering the proliferation of drugs, with some being used openly in night clubs, etc?

• Apart from offering counselling services and other psycho-social support systems to abusers and their families, there is need for an aggressive anti-drug and substance abuse awareness campaign, nationwide, where all stakeholders are involved.