AP: Mass opioid abuse is ‘destabilizing’ world’s poorest nations
“…Mass abuse of the opioid tramadol spans continents, from India to Africa to the Middle East, creating international havoc some experts blame on a loophole in narcotics regulation and a miscalculation of the drug’s danger. The man-made opioid was touted as a way to relieve pain with little risk of abuse. Unlike other opioids, tramadol flowed freely around the world, unburdened by international controls that track most dangerous drugs. But abuse is now so rampant that some countries are asking international authorities to intervene…” (Schmall et al., 12/13).