“If you can’t beat them, join them” is one popular refrain that has been taken up by the children of the rich and famous who have taken over the mantle of drug use from the hip-hop artists. Indiscriminate drug use has now become the in-thing among the silver spoon kids, especially in the private universities. These days, no party is complete without codeine and other related drugs on the menu.

Most of these kids, overstressed by the burdens of living up to their family name, turn to drug addiction for release. They abuse substances like codeine in its various guises to get high. A thriving black market has sprung up to cater to the tastes of these privileged children who gamble their health for the momentary sensations of pleasure and euphoria.

Even as they keep on patronizing unscrupulous patent dealers and pharmacies who are engaged in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with drug enforcement agencies, these spoilt kids sink deeper and deeper into the quagmire of drug addiction, leading to tragedy in more than one recent case. They have especially taken a fancy for codeine, which is sold as Bennylin, Emzolyn, Parkalin, Tutolin and other brands. It has become like pure water which they consume in large doses on a daily basis.

Just the other day, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC)  arrested and confiscated a trailer loaded with 24, 000 bottles of cough syrup containing codeine. Some skeptics connected to the matter however claim that this is just a minor victory for an organization which is fighting a losing battle. The well-connected kids are said to have developed multiple iron-clad ways of getting their hands on codeine and its sister opiates heroin and cocaine.