By Zuko Komisa
Children are every day finding new ways of escapism, and the latest one is definitely one you should know about.
There are reports of children mixing together carbonated soda “Sprite” and common cough medicine, which is referred to as codeine to get high.
The craze has taken the country by storm, according to studies, South Africa accounted for one-third of all sales of over-the-counter codeine between 2013 and 2019 out of 31 nations.
Also Read: US retailer Walmart puts in a R6.4 billion offer to buy Massmart
The moderate painkiller and cough medication codeine is also often combined with Sprite or alcohol to create a beverage known as “lean.”
Point of View with Phemelo Motene spoke to Samkele Mkumbuzi who is a Public Health Pharmacist, to give context as to how far this trend has spread.
LISTEN TO THE FULL CONVERSATION HERE:
“Lean” is a typically purple drink made by mixing alcohol or a soft drink with codeine-containing medicine such as cough syrup.
An opioid medication of the same class as morphine, codeine is a modest pain reliever.
Opioids cause the production of feel-good chemicals in the brain, and it doesn’t take much to reach a drowsy, enjoyable high.
This is precisely what happens when you combine 100ml of a medication that contains codeine with 2 litres of cola.
Mkumbuzi shared how it is very easy for children to buy their own codeine.
“There are certain drugs that get scheduled according to the regulatory body, and the scaling of the medicine depends on the unwarranted or unwanted effects these drugs will cause to a person, for example, your morphine and high-end pain mediations will be schedule six, and your cough mixtures will be schedule two.
This means you an get them over the counter, and the difference there is that even if you don’t have a prescription, the pharmacist would still need to conduct certain tests to counsel you and to ensure you know how to use it properly.”
READ NEXT: Britney Spears denies tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey
