Nigeria is currently in the midst of a drug addiction crisis. The source of their pain may surprise many people. The prevalence of codeine-fortified cough syrup, the street drug of choice, has resulted in high crime rates, staggering user deaths, and seemingly insurmountable challenges for state law enforcement agencies. ‘Sweet Codeine’, produced by BBC Africa News, chronicles the impact of this devastating epidemic and the desperate attempts to fight it.
Cough syrup is addictive and readily available. In just two states of the country, more than 3 million bottles are consumed and abused every day. Long-term users can develop schizophrenia, organ failure, and eventually death. In Nigeria, the situation has become so dire that the government has waged an all-out war on the syrup and has hired anti-narcotics officers from other regions to help them do their jobs.
Cough syrup may be legal in Nigeria, but it’s not available without a doctor’s prescription. To determine how much syrup has found its way onto the streets, filmmakers embark on a potentially dangerous undercover investigation. You trace the source of the sales back to a large pharmaceutical company. From there the syrup was sold to merchants and apothecaries, and soon circulated on the black market. Children and young students are the main targets of these traders.
Not all pharmacists are willing to gamble their customers’ lives. Law-abiding people must protect their premises like a fortress against the growing number of impulsive addicts.
The government continues to confiscate and destroy vast quantities of cough syrup. But that’s not enough. Syrup continues to flow through the streets like water, and police are often the victims of unspeakable brutality by drug gangs.
At the same time, more and more teenage drug addicts are pouring into local detention centers. Their withdrawal symptoms are terrible, but for now, they’re lucky to be alive.
Sweet, Sweet Codeine is a firm take on the dangers of the drug epidemic.
Directed by: Charlie Northcott
