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A pensioner from KuGompo who buys pills labelled as Adco-Dol to manage chronic back pain has warned that the drug has become a scourge in the community.
The 67-year-old man, who did not want to be named, told the Go! and Dispatch team he began using the pills after suffering a serious back injury while working as an electrician.
He said he fell off a stepladder years ago while on a job in Coffee Bay and spent four weeks in hospital.
“When I take a pill I usually have very bad dreams.
“I only do it when I get like excessive pain because I’ve got an old back injury.
“The pain is so chronic that I turn to Adco-Dol and it works.
“But like I say, it’s got this side-effect where you get these crazy, crazy believable dreams.”
He recalled one recurring nightmare in which he was repeatedly being chased by an angry mob.
“It’s bad stuff, there are many people addicted.
“When they open their eyes in the morning they want their Adco-Dol and they can’t seem to cope with life without it.
“It’s a scourge. These spaza shops are just [selling it] over the counter.”
He said he understood that a prescription was required to legally obtain scheduled medication.
“Take your pick, these spaza shops, most of them sell these medicines, and we heard through the grapevine that they might be coming from China.
“And ... no one actually knows what is inside these pills.”
He said older people were also among those dependent on the medication.
“It takes away all the pains and aches and it makes you sleep. But then you take a couple, you go on a trip,” he said.
Despite the side-effects, he admitted he still relied on the pills because they were affordable, easily available and effective at relieving pain.
“R3 for a [pill] is affordable, and if you take three you are tripping [hallucinating, confused, or zoned out].”
The Dispatch and GO! team were also able to buy loose pills labelled as Adco-Dol from various spaza shops around BCM.
The pensioner said he believed policing the illegal sale of scheduled drugs would be difficult when so many of his peers continued to depend on them, and when they remained freely available.
Daily Dispatch