Top Ten Narcotics in the Middle East...

via Scoop.

Tramadol

The Tramadol epidemic in Egypt has become uncontrollable. Another drug of choice amongst the working and labor class in Egypt, Tramadol is used to work long hours without feeling the effects of hard labor.

Some side effects are:

---Elated mood. Tramadol works in a similar way to many antidepressant medications in that it increases the levels of serotonin in your brain. This leads to feelings of euphoria and well-being. Some users become addicted to Tramadol because of these feelings.

---Anxiety reduction. Tramadol helps users feel relaxed and calm because of the way it changes brain chemistry.

---Lack of pain. Tramadol is a painkiller; it blocks the transmission of pain signals to the brain so that you don’t feel pain while you are taking it. This can be dangerous if you injure yourself because you won’t feel the pain while on Tramadol.

Here.

You might wonder what this is doing on a blog dedicated to military matters.  My thinking goes to wondering what over two decades of combat, revolution and general turmoil does to a society.

Part of it...that goes unreported is that they become drug addicts.

The sad part is that I've been focused on simply ending the wars in the region, but even if they stopped at 6am today, you'd still be looking at more than 20 years or more to get them back to anything resembling a functioning society.

There is no real way out of this.  The Middle East will probably be a cesspool for another 100 years...if not longer.  They're locked into a cycle that will inevitably lead to a war that cleanses the land (sorry for getting biblical but calling it like I see it).

Sidenote:  Marines should start learning to make shots to the Pelvic Girdle.  With body armor gaining widespread use and the prevalence of drugs like Tramadol in the Middle East, Pelvic Shots might be the only way to stop someone that's hopped up on drugs....if you can't shoot them in the face that is.