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Wrecked Gazans used the drug to overcome the stress they face in the tunnels used to smuggle urgent food supplies. (Reuters)
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CAIRO — A growing
number of people in the blockaded Gaza Strip
is becoming addicted to painkilling drugs
which helps them numb the pain and stress and
escape their misery under the long-running
Israeli siege.
"Every day I
see them with symptoms of withdrawal from this
drug," Dr. Mahoud Khozendar, who works at
Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza city, told The
Guardian on Monday, December 15.
"Dozens come to
emergency telling me that they are suffering
vomiting, drowsiness and lack of
concentration."
According to
pharmacologists and experts, thousands of
Gazans have resorted over the past year to
Tramadol, an opioid painkiller drug related to
morphine and heroin.
Those who researched
the epidemic said the problem mushroomed after
Israel sealed off the impoverished seaside
strip in June 2007.
"A maximum of
5% of users are buying it with a
prescription," said Professor Mazen
al-Sakka, a pharmacologist at Gaza's al-Azhar
university.
With the boom in its
popularity, large quantities of Tramadol,
which is prescription drug in many countries,
is now on the black market in Gaza.
The drug is so
widely available that one tablet costs as
little as one shekel, much cheaper than via
the internet.
There are no exact
figures, but researchers estimate that up to
30% of males between 14 and 30 in Gaza use
Tramadol regularly
As many as 15,000
have become already become addicted to the
drug, researchers added.
Numb
Experts affirm that
Gazans are falling victims to painkillers
addiction to get numb.
"It's a way of
avoiding or escaping the political situation -
the unemployment, the closure," said Dr
Taysir Diab, a psychiatrist at the Gaza
Community Mental Health Program.
"It's a huge
source of stress."
In the short term,
Tramadol removes the pain and stress and
promotes a feeling of well being.
Professor Sakka, of
al-Azhar University, was alerted to the
problem by his students after he delivered a
lecture about the potential dangers of the
drug.
He says he was
alarmed by the wide range of people who resort
to the painkiller to cope with their daily
struggle.
The spectrum
includes professionals such as surgeons and
students, Sakka added.
Despite
international criticism, Israel closes all
commercial crossings with the impoverished
Palestinian territory, home to 1.6 million
people, since November 4.
The closure
highlights the plight of people in the
overcrowded sliver of land, sealed off by
Israel and abandoned by international
community since Hamas was voted to power in
2006.
Under the siege,
people in Gaza live without electricity, water
and sewage services for up to 16 hours a day.
Unemployment in the
strip stands at 50%, leaving thousands of
breadwinners unable to help their families.
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