But now they are the root of what the United Nations named “the other opioid crisis” — an epidemic featured in fewer headlines than the American one, as it rages through the planet’s most vulnerable countries. Unlike other opioids, tramadol flowed freely around the world, unburdened by international controls that track most dangerous drugs. The United Nations established the International Narcotics Control Board in 1961 to spare the world the “serious evil” of addiction. The most effective opioid is morphine, but morphine is strictly controlled and countries in crisis fear abuse. Egypt’s long struggle with tramadol abuse is an example, he said.

Source: Los Angeles Times December 13, 2019 22:06 UTC