Buying illegal medication in some spaza shops in KuGompo City proved to be as easy as uttering two words: “Ndithenga iyeza” — I would like to buy medicine.
This was all we said in one spaza shop in Duncan Village.
The money was extended to the shopkeeper through an opening in the steel protective mesh.
He foraged about out of sight and in seconds came up with a fully branded 100ml bottle of AstraPain Syrup (registration 27/22,0139) but discreetly wrapped in paper.
He handed it over and we paid R65 for medicine for children aged six to 12 to relieve mild to moderate pain associated with fever.
We had just bought a schedule 2 drug which, by law, must be dispensed by licenced pharmacists, preferably on prescription by a doctor.
Schedule 2 drugs all come with a warning that there is a risk of “dependency” — addiction.
The directions for use strictly warn against exceeding dosages of 5ml three times a day for children aged between two and five and 5ml to 10ml three times a day for children aged six to 12.
Yet, according to sources, youths are getting high on AstraPain, downing two to three bottles which they pre-mix into a 2l bottle of cold drink.
It is a well-known secret in the area that the shop sells illegal medication.
Just across the street in Pefferville Township, we walked into a corner house.
An empty AstraPain bottle lay outside in the street.
The house was empty, but at the back was a small shack, and, like clockwork, we left with another bottle of AstraPain.
The seller simply asked us what we wanted to buy and in less than a minute we were given the syrup.
AstraPain is listed as a schedule 2 drug by the SA Pharmacy Council, which has stipulated that it and other codeine-containing products may only be dispensed by a licenced pharmacist.
Yet we bought it for R55 or R64 depending on which spaza shop we used.
Sources told the Go! and Dispatch that this backyard room was a well-known drug den, and sold the tranquiliser Xanax as well as other codeine-based cough syrups.
We asked for Xanax but were told it was sold out. But we could return later in the day and he would have in stock, suggesting a steady demand and supply chain.
Side effects of Xanax are dry mouth, constipation, dizziness and changes in weight.
We bought illegal medication from 22 vendors across the metro in Qonce, Bhisho, Zwelitsha, and KuGompo.
We bought Adco-Dol painkillers, also a schedule 2 drug, as loose pills in the palm of our hands for R2 each — no packaging, no dosage instructions, no side-effect warnings.
We saw these drugs stored in hot, poorly ventilated structures — also a breach of national pharmaceutical laws.
One trader in Qonce offered us pills in bulk — clearly we would be wanting to sell them on — saying we should return when no-one was there.
“Come back later, I can sell for you,” he said.
Not once were we questioned about our purchases. We asked, they supplied, and we paid about R700 in total.
However, the most concerning discovery was the unrestricted sale of Adco-Dol that carries a risk of dependency if misused.
Adco-Dol tablets were all sold loose, but prices veered from R2 to R5 each, and often would only be sold in doubles.
There was no sign of legally required original packaging, dosage instructions, expiry dates or batch information.
Conditions inside many of the shops also raised red flags.
Many of the shops were containers, or cinder brick with few or no windows and poor ventilation, and rooms were hot and stuffy.
These schedule 2 drugs are required to be securely stored under lock and key in their original packaging, in a cool, dry, well-ventilated facility.
In hot, humid conditions, these medications can degrade with unknown consequences.
There were also little to no proper retail procedures, it all felt under-the- counter and illicit.
There was no question of paperwork — definitely no receipts.
One employee said most shops got their medicines from suppliers in Qonce.
His boss bought pills from “a big shop there”.
He described the shop as a “warehouse. They also stock cigarettes”.
He said: “Our grandmothers are buying at these spaza shops because they can’t afford to buy at the pharmacy.”
The authorities have warned that these drug sales are unlawful and dangerous.
Eastern Cape police spokesperson Nobuntu Gantana said the sale of schedule 2 medicines without the appropriate licence or prescription was a criminal offence.
“While the SAPS is not the lead authority on pharmaceutical regulations, we play a vital role in supporting law enforcement efforts,” Gantana said.
“The SAPS often assists in joint, multidisciplinary operations focusing on illicit goods, working alongside the department of health, law enforcement agencies and the SA Revenue Service.”
Gantana said police had yet to receive a formal complaint about these illicit sales, nor had a docket been opened.
“Members of the public are encouraged to report such activities through Crime Stop or the MySAPS App.”
“But at the same time we also need public health education.
“We are not investing enough as a country.
“We are not informing the public what it is that they should be able to access from pharma shops and open shelves in terms of medication and what they can not access there,” she said.
A teenage boy in the area, who asked to remain anonymous, demonstrated how people diluted AstraPain in a 2l soft drink to create a potent mixture.
He took the Go! and Dispatch team to Ndende in Duncan Village, where a shop owned by a foreign national was selling the medicine. Using a 2l bottle of soft drink, he emptied some out, then poured the entire 100ml of the codeine-based syrup into it.
Within seconds, the clear drink turned a deep purple.
“There were no questions asked. I just said ‘ndithenga iyeza’ [I’m buying medicine].
“It is easy to get, and people are enjoying the high they get from it,” he said.
He explained that users often combined the mixture with other substances to intensify the effect.
“Most people boost their high by smoking nyaope or dagga. Some add Xanax to their drinks to increase its potency,” he said.
The consequences, he added, were visible the next day.
“Most people wake up in the morning with swollen faces.”
He said other codeine-based products, such as StilPain and Alcophyllex, were also popular.
“They find ways to get Xanax from pharmacies around town because the word on the street is that StilPain and Alcophyllex are not as strong as they used to be,” he said.
“So they try to boost it, and it’s mostly children from the age of 13 and upwards using this.”
He added that although police occasionally raided the shops, the illegal trade continued.
“Police do come, but the shops always resume selling the medication.” Also see pages 2, 3 and 6
