MANDRAX
South Africa is the largest abuser of Mandrax in the world.
Statistics show that Mandrax with Dagga is still the drug of preference in the largest parts of South Africa. Mandrax is mainly sold in the form of a tablet and is highly addictive.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Mandrax is a synthetic drug that is compiled by means of the mixing of chemicals in a chemical process and a tablet is then produced. The active ingredient in Mandrax is Methaqualone.
In the sixties and early seventies these tablets were prescribed as sleeping tablets. Other medicinal uses included illnesses like high blood pressure and anxiety attacks.
Mandrax was originally known as a safe and non-dependent drug. It was the drug that people reckoned was going to be the miracle cure of the world at its time.
It was however found that Mandrax had various side effects, especially if it was used with Dagga and alcohol, which was life threatening because it caused psychological and physical dependency. This caused a drastic increase in burglaries, especially at pharmacies, where it was found that Mandrax specifically was stolen. Mandrax was banned in most parts of the world because of the misuse..
The banning of Mandrax caused crime syndicates to use this opportunity to continue producing it by means of clandestine laboratories. The market was already established and the need for the drug made it a profitable business.
Clandestine laboratories arose in the following countries:
India
Pakistan
Kenya
Tanzania
Zambia
Swaziland
Mozambique
South Africa
The Far East
WHY MANDRAX?
Experience has shown Mandrax is smoked to get a greater "Rush". This is because of the toleration effect of the body of a human who started experimenting with small amounts of Dagga but later have to add Mandrax to achieve the same effect.
Mandrax is highly addictive. People become physically dependent on it and have severe withdrawal symptoms in rehabilitation.
DESCRIPTION OF MANDRAX
The original Mandrax tablet was a thin white tablet (±1mm) with the trademark "MX" on the front and "RL" on the reverse side. The drug was also available in capsule form, blue on one side and white on the other with the abovementioned trademarks thereon.
The Mandrax that is currently confiscated varies drastically in appearance: tablets are found in thickness of 1cm, which is known as "Double Barrels";
the colour ranges from beige, pink, blue, purple, black, brown and green.
The emblem on the Mandrax tablet has also changed and is mostly established by means of the individual presses used by the smugglers as shown on the photo's that follow.
| PRICE : | R25 - R65 (per tablet, depending on the availability, demand and quality) |
STREET NAMES
White Pipe
Buttons
MX
Gholfsticks
Doodies
Lizards
Press outs
Flowers
METHOD OF USE
The Mandrax tablet is usually crushed and mixed with Dagga and is then smoked in a Dagga pipe or better known as "Bottle neck". This is also known as the so-called "White pipe". | In fact, it is the smoking of the "Bottle neck" that causes the distinctive stains on the palm of the hand of a Mandrax user.
Mandrax has more and stronger side effects than Dagga, such as :
serious emotional problems
depression
drastic weight loss
headaches
stomach cramps
insomnia
epilepsy
aggression
toxic psychosis
the muscle control of the body is effected which causes the Mandrax user to fall often
SIGNS OF A MANDRAX USER
yellow stained hands
bloodshot eyes
gaunt appearance
rotten teeth
drowsiness
unnatural sleeping patterns
loss of appetite
increased saliva secretion
swollen abdomen
PHYSICAL EVIDENCE
broken bottles and bottle necks
homemade filters - known as a "Diamond"
brown stained tissues
containers used to spit in
Lotto and Tab tickets in which tablets are crushed
SMUGGLING OF MANDRAX
Mandrax is packaged in 1 000 tablet packets by the producers and is then exported on a large scale and brought into the country by the following means :
| in false panels of cars in spare wheels of trucks in false fuel tanks in containers |
The sale of Mandrax is mostly found in Coloured and Indian areas.
FUTURE OF MANDRAX
Mandrax is being forced out of the market in many parts of South Africa by drugs such as Crack Cocaine, that is slowly but surely taking over the market. In Gauteng it was found that the drug of preference is definitely Crack Cocaine and not Mandrax anymore.
METHAQUALONE
General information
Methaqualone was introduced into the pharmaceutical market as non- addictive 'sleeping pills' in 1965. It was listed in the US Federal Register of March 1966 as an approved sedative-hypnotic under the trade name Quaalude. The abuse potential of methaqualone soon became apparent, resulting in the drug being listed in the 1971 United Nations (UN) Convention on Psychotropic Substances. It was subsequently banned in most UN member countries. Methaqualone is currently listed in the UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 1988. Methaqualone is the synthetic drug of choice among South African drug users. Methaqualone represents more than 60 per cent of all drugs seized on the street and that are submitted to the National Forensic Science Laboratories (FSL) of the South African Police Service. In 2002, a total of 6 064 methaqualone-related cases involving more than three million dosage units were submitted to the FSL.
Methaqualone was introduced into the South African pharmaceutical market under the trade name Mandrax, a formulation containing methaqualone (250 mg) and diphenhydramine hydrochloride (25 mg). Following the identification of its abuse potential, methaqualone and its isomers were removed from the legal market in 1971. Methaqualone is currently regarded as an Undesirable Dependence-Producing Substance and is listed in Part III of Schedule 2 of the South African Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act, 1992 (Act No 140 of 1992). he methaqualone seized in South Africa comes from the Middle-East, South and Central Asia, South Africa and other countries in Southern Africa. The product is sold in South Africa as tablet formulations, usually in combination with the antihistamine diphenhydramine and sometimes with diazepam. Methaqualone is highly addictive. The abuse of this drug gives rise to barbiturate-type dependence. In South Africa, methaqualone is often mixed with cannabis and smoked as witpyp, that is, white pipe.
The effects of Methaqualone
The sought-after effects of this drug are -
relief of tension, mental stress, and anxiety; and
relief of the side-effects of over-stimulation or withdrawal symptoms associated with other drugs.
The possible short-term and long-term effects of this drug are similar to the effects of other CNS depressants. The effects include a reduction of mental activity, cardiac and respiratory depression, a growing tolerance to the drug, and psychological and physical dependence on the drug. Laboratory research has revealed that the majority of the dosage units of this drug on the South African market contain notable quantities of the precursor chemical toluidine. Toluidine is reasonably anticipated to be a carcinogen (that is, a substance that can cause cancer) according to the Ninth Report on Carcinogens (PB2000-107509, 2000).
References
Van Zyl, E.F. The synthesis and Analysis of Methaqualone and some Positional and Structural Isomers Thereof. M.Sc (Chemistry) Thesis 2001.
Terminology and Information on Drugs, Revised Edition, United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, New York, 1999.
Merck Index, 13th Edition, Merck & Co., Inc., Whitehouse Station NJ, 2001.