Fourty-three empty bottles of Stilpane were picked up from a corner in the public park in Maritz Street during the clean-up operation this past weekend. Three days later, on Tuesday this week, another batch of 24 bottles of the syrup were collected at the exact same corner of the park. Near the empty medicine bottles, members of Afriforum and the Tzaneen Neighbourhood Watch found broken beer and empty Sprite bottles.
Bulletin contacted three of Tzaneen’s local pharmacies and discovered that the ingredients mentioned above were used to create a drug called “Lean” or “Purple Drank” – also called “Dirty Sprite” – and was a popular recreational drug among high school children especially.
The concoction is made by combining cough syrup, Sprite and sweets with alcohol to give the user a feeling of extreme euphoria and relaxation. There have been cases reported of users slipping into coma because of an overdose and in some instances, there were deaths reported. It was made popular by chart-topping rap artists like Lil Wayne, Soulja Boy and other artists prevalent on the playlists of many high school children.
While no prescription is needed to purchase Stilpane syrup over a counter, the pharmacists Bulletin spoke to have all said that they do not sell schedule medication to anybody under the age of 18 years. “We know exactly what these kids get up to and we have a few of them who come into the pharmacy and take a chance regularly.
And they get very rude when you tell them you won’t help them,” said one pharmacist. “We have a register in which we record the names of people who buy any scheduled medication. All the pharmacies in our town work very closely together and we warn each other of a potential “chancer” so that we can be on the lookout for that individual, whom we just don’t help when they come in.”
Unofficially, the pharmacies in Tzaneen have a list containing flagged individuals. Stilpane is a schedule 2 drug and this means that your name and contact details must be logged by a pharmacist if you intend on purchasing it. In theory.
“This purple drank or dirty Sprite concoction is extremely dangerous, especially when combined with alcohol. One of the side-effects is a complete loss of one’s memory and appetite. Parents must please be vigilant and take note of your child’s behaviour. If they seem agitated and moody or restless, it could be a sign of withdrawal after the effects of this drug has worn off.”
The active ingredient in this Purple Drank mixtures is Codeine, which is found in most cough syrups. It is an opiate that produces feelings of euphoria and thus puts it in the same classification as morphine and heroin. Six common signs of codeine abuse include anxiety, loss of appetite, nausea, cramps, diarrhoea, and excessive yawning.
