Farmers in Northern Cameroon told the researchers that they take double or triple the safe dosage, and feed tramadol to cattle to help them pull plows through the scorching afternoon sun.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have to use it,\u201d\u009d says Mamadou, a 35-year-old cotton-factory worker in Garoua. He pulled a red pill from his pocket and washed it down with warm pineapple soda. He started using tramadol five years ago, and says he now takes about 675 milligrams daily\u201d\u201dmore than double the recommended short-term dosage. \u201cEveryone consumes it here,\u201d\u009d he says. His mother, his brother, \u201ceven the old people.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
Fueled by cut-rate Indian exports and inaction by world narcotics regulators, tramadol dependency extends across Africa, the Middle East and into parts of Asia and Eastern Europe. Tramadol is abused in Guangzhou, Chinese researchers found. The Egyptian government is waging a crackdown within communities including Cairo\u2019s cabdrivers. Saudi officials in May confiscated several thousand pills smuggled in a shipment of frozen meat\u201d\u201done of dozens of busts around the Persian Gulf. A documentary by Pittsburgh filmmakers last year showed tramadol abuse among street children in Ukraine.<\/p>\n