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Omar (22 years old) was a student in his first year of study at the Faculty of Economics at Damascus University, when he tried for the first time with a group of his colleagues to smoke a cigarette stuffed with the drug hashish, before the experience turned into a daily habit that the young man did not realize its effects until late and after he became An addict, he and his friends jokingly called them "natural antidepressants."

Omar told Al Jazeera Net, "A significant number of my friends and colleagues use this substance on a daily basis. It has become an essential thing in our sessions, but rather the reason for our meeting often."

He added, "(The marijuana cigarette) in the beginning made the speech more beautiful and the melody more joyful, and most importantly, it helped me accept or perhaps ignore everything that was happening around me because of the war, especially after a large number of my friends emigrated in a record period, and the pressures of work and study here."

While today's age struggles to reduce the amounts he consumes daily in preparation for quitting, he says, "There is nothing to help me with that, as everything around me makes me feel frustrated, and I may not be able to quit using unless I get out of here."

A report by the semi-official Al-Watan newspaper in early September revealed a large spread of narcotic substances in the areas under the control of the Syrian regime, especially “narcotic hashish” and “tramadol” pills.

The report confirmed that these materials have become popular among young people and young age groups, at cheap prices close to the price of biscuits, as the price of one tramadol pill does not exceed 3,500 Syrian pounds (0.7 dollars).

A video clip shown by the Italian security of millions of narcotic pills seized in containers south of Naples and said to have been produced in Syria (French)

conflicting stories

For its part, the head of the Syrian Pharmacists Syndicate, Wafaa Keshi, denied the availability of narcotic drugs in pharmacies "except in small proportions" and explained that there is a difference between psychological treatments and narcotic drugs that are spread today among young people, and that "tramadol" is classified as a sedative psychotropic drug.

According to Keshi, most pharmacists in the regime's areas are committed to dispensing psychological prescriptions according to a model imposed by the union, which distinguishes between different prescriptions and psychotropic drugs.

The Syndicate of Pharmacists attributes the reason for the spread of psychotropic drugs to a defect in some pharmacies that do not adhere to dispensing according to the model, and to some doctors who do not adhere to writing their prescriptions according to the conditions as well.

Meanwhile, the director of Ibn Rushd Hospital for Psychiatric Treatment, Gandhi Farah, confirms, in a statement to Al-Watan newspaper, that the phenomenon of addiction is on the increase, and that it includes young age groups, noting that the percentage of addicts increased during the years 2021 and 2022 and among males in particular.

According to Farah, the exacerbation of this phenomenon is due to the spread of some misleading ideas among adolescents stating that these substances give happiness and change the mood for the better, and to the spread of a general state of anxiety and tension among people as a result of the daily pressures they experience.

He warned against addiction to narcotics in young age groups, due to its negative effects that last for a long period of time, as the nervous systems of those at these ages are still in a stage of development, which may lead to psychological disorders as they age, such as an increased risk of disease. schizophrenia;

Great spread at low prices

The regime-controlled areas are witnessing an unprecedented spread of drug abuse and addiction among young people. Cannabis is the most popular drug, followed by “Captagon” of its various types, as well as types of psychotropic drugs that can be obtained from pharmacies, such as “tramadol” and its derivatives, and “para-zolam.” And “Biogabalin” and to a lesser extent, cocaine, heroin and marijuana are popular.

An informed source, who declined to be identified, told Al Jazeera Net, "Since 2012, narcotics have infiltrated various government institutions, especially the military, security and educational institutions. With the progress of the war, they became an additional source of income for militias in all areas of regime control and beyond, after the deterioration of the value of their pensions and monthly salaries."

Today, 11 years after the start of the conflict in the country, the drug trade appears stable and largely regulated, and its dealers, large and small, are subject to the terms of sale set by the market masters, according to the source.

Regarding the prices of these materials and ways of selling them, the young Omar says that the price of a gram of narcotic hashish in Damascus ranges between 1,000 and 1,500 Syrian pounds (less than about half a dollar), depending on the type and quality, and it is sold retail by “weight,” the lowest being 12.5 grams, and the most being 50 grams.

The narcotic hashish is sold in bulk with "paws", and each palm weighs 200 grams, and its price ranges between 200,000 and 300,000 Syrian pounds (42-63 dollars).

As for the prices of Captagon pills (Capticol), they range between two and three thousand pounds (a little more than half a dollar) per pill. The material is sold retail in bags, and trade starts with at least 10 pills and reaches 100 pills.

The substance is sold in bulk as "combs", and the comb contains a thousand grains. Captagon in Syria has 4 well-known commercial types: yellow, white, crystal and brown.

As for tramadol and its derivatives - and you can get it from some pharmacies - the price of an envelope ranges between 15 and 25 thousand pounds (3-5 dollars), depending on its type and caliber, which starts with 50 milligrams (1 milligram is equivalent to 1/1000 grams) and reaches 200 milligrams per pill, which is more The types are popular among medicinal pills, followed by "Biogabalin", and the price of an envelope ranges from 6 to 9 thousand pounds (1-2 dollars), depending on its type and caliber.

These prices seem reasonable to young people and young adults, if we know that the price of a can of Coke is 3500 Syrian Lira, and the price of a large bag of crispy potatoes is 2000 Lira, while the price of a kilo of coffee is 30,000 Lira (6.3 dollars).

International press investigations accuse the Assad regime and members of armed militias of involvement in the drug trade (Reuters)

Millions of seizures

Although there is no accurate information about the extent of the phenomenon’s spread, this can be estimated through the seizures that the anti-drug police carry out periodically in regime-controlled areas, and the Ministry of Interior publishes them on its official Facebook account.

The amount of seizures announced by the Ministry of Interior during last August and this September amounted to about two tons of cannabis, more than 3 million Captagon pills, 24 kilograms of Captagon powder, 349 grams of heroin, 14 grams of cocaine, and 10 Grams of crystal narcotic, and one kilogram of marijuana.

The quantity in one of the seizures on September 11th exceeded one ton and 900 kilograms of hashish, and more than 3 million Captagon pills, which were discovered after the deterioration of a transport vehicle on the Homs-Tartous road.

An official statement presented by the representative of the regime’s government before the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs, in March of this year, stated that the concerned authorities had confiscated 50 million Captagon pills and thousands of kilograms of narcotic hashish between 2020 and 2021.


Captagon State

A lengthy investigation of the German newspaper Der Spiegel, titled "Syria: Drug Smuggling under the supervision of the Bashar al-Assad regime", said last June that the regime's symbols were involved in the drug trade that crosses the Syrian borders and pours into the Gulf and Europe with revenues amounting to 5.7 billion dollars in 2021 alone.

This is what the New York Times investigation found, noting that an illegal drug trade worth billions of dollars is run by powerful partners and relatives of President al-Assad, built on the ruins of 10 years of war in Syria, exceeding the volume of Syrian legal exports, and transforming the country into the newest country that depends on The illegal drug trade in the world.

The investigation confirmed that this industry, which is based on the drug Captagon, which causes addiction and is commonly used in several Arab countries, extends its operations throughout Syria, through manufacturing workshops and packing factories in which the drugs are hidden and prepared for export through smuggling networks that ensure their transportation to foreign markets.

It intersects with what was stated in an article published by the French newspaper Le Monde, earlier this year, that much of the production and distribution operations are supervised by the Fourth Division of the Syrian Army, led by Maher al-Assad, the president’s younger brother and one of the most powerful men in the country.

The New York Times asserts that the illegal drug trade is now Syria's most valuable export resource, far exceeding the value of legal Syrian products, according to a database compiled by the newspaper.

And a study - published by the New Lines Institute for Strategic and Political Studies in Washington on 5 April last year, showed that the manufacture and trade of Captagon pills has become deeply “rooted” in Syria’s economy after the war, and that the main destinations for this trade are the Gulf, North Africa and Southern Europe.