Let us assume that the Federal Government places a ban on the eating of beef (cow meat), just as it banned the use of codeine recently. Let us assume the news is made known during a media chat with the Minister for Agriculture, who says that cows have been found as the major cause of conflict between the herdsmen and farmers in every part of the country.
Let’s assume the minister goes on to stress the importance of eating chicken and goat meat, and advises citizens to avoid eating beef as defaulters will be made to face the wrath of the law. How could we have expected beef traders to react to this announcement?
Well, the same way the traders of pharmaceutical products expressed their fears in the wake of the ban on codeine would be the same way the traders of beef would express their displeasure over the government’s decision.
Codeine has not killed half the number of persons killed in the herdsmen-farmer crisis. Let us also assume the government places ban on the sale of alcoholic products, because most alcoholic drink consumers are abusive. We have seen them abusing their wives and daughters after consuming alcohol. Some people even drink alcohol before going to their offices and this leads to their low productivity at work.
Going by the abuse of alcohol, has the government banned alcoholic drinks’ consumption since it cares for the health of the citizens and does not want them to harm themselves in anyway?
The Federal Government has been acting like it is capable of making a better choice for us. We witness abuse of alcohol daily, but the government has not deemed it fit to ban the sale of alcoholic drinks. The other day, news filtered in that a drunken father raped his daughter. But, the government did not come out to say ‘we cannot allow these kinds of actions to continue in our society’. Neither did they say anyone caught selling and consuming alcoholic products will face the wrath of the law.
We all seem to flow well with the above narratives because the government derives huge profits from the breweries.
In the face of corruption, the government seems to lose the ability to make an informed decision. And instead of finding a lasting solution, we behave like the ostrich and look for the easy way out. We can see how ridiculous the above actions would be if they are carried out. But, we witnessed arbitrariness in the case of codeine abuse; maybe so the world will think the government of Nigeria is being proactive and act very fast to ‘curb’ the abuse of codeine.
Codeine has not wrecked half the lives, and destroyed properties which alcohol or the herdsmen have ruined. Codeine is an active drug used in the treatment of a dry cough and cough non-responsive to other expectorating agents. It is classified as a Prescription Only Medicine (POM).
It should be dispensed only with a prescription. But, because of weak regulation in Nigeria, many pharmacies do not follow this rule. The drug has a large margin of profit; hence it is sometimes sold without a prescription.
The AAP News and Journals Gateway published: “In adults, codeine and dextromethorphan have been shown to suppress both artificially induced and disease-related cough, mainly through central nervous system mechanisms. A linear relationship has been shown to exist between a codeine dosage in the range of 7.5 to 60 mg/d and a decrease in the frequency of chronic cough.”
Cough syrups containing codeine can make people get high, giving them some false confidence just like what alcohol does. And it is abused just like alcohol is daily abused. But when alcohol is abused, the individual is blamed, when codeine is abused, the pharmacist is accused, instead of the abuser.
The ban of codeine will not stop its abuse; codeine will still be available, but only sold on the black market. Abusers will get it, but at a higher cost. They will become more desperate to get this drug and can do worse for it than before.
Instead of banning, we should learn to make our institutions work.We should learn to take up our regulatory bodies on their negligence. Instead of banning codeine, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN) should be queried.
NAFDAC should be blamed for not properly monitoring the production of the syrup, while PCN should take the blame for its negligence in overseeing the pharmacies. What should have been done would be to prosecute those who sold the drugs without a prescription and withdraw or suspend their license. Then, every pharmacist will consider either doing what is right or facing the risk of losing his hard-earned licence.
Let’s face the facts, almost every drug is abused, tramadol, diazepam, pentazocine and you name it. Should then be a ban on these drugs because they are abused? There is always a better way of doing things, and it is never to ban the drug. The solution is to tighten regulations and build up proper counseling. This is the more reason there is a need for consultant pharmacist. Pharmacists need to be allowed to use their skill in the hospital and bring a stop to drug abuse. Codeine is for cough. Let’s leave it like that, if anyone has an addiction, he should get a therapist.
- Ezekiel is a young pharmacist graduated from University of Benin
