Turns men into remorseless killing machines…
Before over-the-counter Viagra and Xanax became the drugs of choice for surfers in Bali, a popular buy was the drug Captagon.
Caps! Do you remember?
I do. I was a little boy of seventeen, first trip there, and one night some older men I had attached myself to tapped out pills from a yellow bottle into my palm.
“Try these,” they said.
I danced all night! I had no need to eat and boy could I drink! Glory days etc.
In case you don’t know, Captagons are a relatively weak amphetamine, a mild version of speed. If you’ve ever thrown Ritalin or Adderall down your throat, you’ll know the buzz.
Which is why it surprised me to read today that Captagons were “fuelling Syria’s civil war,” according to The Guardian.
Let’s examine the breathless copy.
“Separate investigations by the news agency Reuters and Time magazine have found that the growing trade in Syrian-made Captagon – an amphetamine widely consumed in the Middle East but almost unknown elsewhere – generated revenues of millions of dollars inside the country last year, some of which was almost certainly used to fund weapons, while combatants on both sides are reportedly turning to the stimulant to help them keep fighting.”
And if we jump over to Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald, the 18-month-old story has been re-purposed with the catchy headline: TINY PILL CREATES SUPERHUMAN SOLDIERS.
“A powerful amphetamine tablet based on the original synthetic drug known as ‘fenethylline,’ Captagon quickly produces a euphoric intensity in users, allowing Syria’s fighters to stay up for days, killing with a numb, reckless abandon.
The story reads, in part:
“A powerful amphetamine tablet based on the original synthetic drug known as ‘fenethylline,’ Captagon quickly produces a euphoric intensity in users, allowing Syria’s fighters to stay up for days, killing with a numb, reckless abandon.
‘You can’t sleep or even close your eyes, forget about it,’ said a Lebanese user, one of three who appeared on camera without their names for a BBC Arabic documentary that aired in September. ‘And whatever you take to stop it, nothing can stop it.’
‘I felt like I own the world high,’ another user said. ‘Like I have power nobody has. A really nice feeling.’
‘There was no fear anymore after I took Captagon,’ a third man added.
“According to a Reuters report published in 2014, the war has turned Syria into a ‘major’ amphetamines producer – and consumer.
“Syrian government forces and rebel groups each say the other uses Captagon to endure protracted engagements without sleep, while clinicians say ordinary Syrians are increasingly experimenting with the pills, which sell for between $US5 and $US20,” Reuters reported.
“Captagon has been around in the West since the 1960s, when it was given to people suffering from hyperactivity, narcolepsy and depression, according to the Reuters report. By the 1980s, the drug’s addictive power led most countries to ban its use.
Do Caps really enable you to kill with numb reckless abandon?
Did I get bad batches in Bali?
Have Arab fighters tried MDMA?
