the idea is hold sway to bring you more conservation. how do we make cities greener how can we protect i have a chance we can make a difference google i do. series of movies. do you don't mind. hello and welcome to this edition of the 7 to 7 percent i on my committee and it's great to have you with us. coming up on this week's show. we find out why so many young people. today are drug trial models. to meet and legend musician who has become a local celebrity on the italian island of sicily. right takes us around. the 4th.

big topic today is drug abuse they are also sold drugs alcohol prescription medication and even my wana most of these have become accepted and legal in different parts of the world other drugs remain illegal and for good reason drug abuse has been linked to crime and addiction and habit or drug uses and harm themselves and obvious to start off we've got a video message from. a coffee from nairobi kenya he and his friends used to brighten up the walls of the neighborhood and highlight issues affecting them check it out. did you see.

him in his recent. trip to. believe these. was it to do. with you. tube. you can see more from an instagram page and you can always tell us which topics interest you by e-mailing us via 7 to 7 at d w dot com now to talk about the drug abuse i will be joined right now in the studio by someone who knows a lot about it she is a journalist and filmmaker. whose documentary about drug use was even nominated for an international emmy award this is why. investigative journalist drone accompanied

9. heriot anti drug squads battling dealers of coding a highly addictive cough syrup miles work exposed pharmaceutical companies selling the drugs illegally and codings devastating affects the ensuing documentary resulted in nigeria banning the production of coding. welcome rona and congrats on your emmy i was a very life or the feeling is amazing i mean money yeah because i have a tongue go up on my wall man every day i look at it and i say oh was that me. it's amazing that's all i'm going to 2nd to describe it mike oh yeah now you know what on prescription drug abuse is very personal because your brother struggled with drug addiction how is he doing 1st of all oh he's doing very well for a long time he's being totally clean. and he's doing so well that them might just

be wedding bells ringing in the family that is really really great news thank you and you said this in your documentary that if in one person changed or decided not to use quote the after scene this document you must you would have done your job you feel like you have done their job i think i have because i've had this whole dellucci of press now e-mails to me. even more than 2 years after last week i had one of the e-mails i had was from a 40 year old who told me he was very he had watched my documentary and was piece to say that now he's free he said his addiction i $55.00 so that just goes to show that drug addiction current grip anybody young or old and regardless of social status your film streets recording which was aired on b.b.c. lead to the bomb of quid in production in nigeria vs on how well is that done what

can. well survey honest mike i think it's a mixed bag yes it did lead to the ban of production of cording and selling of coding it also meant that nigeria's food and drug agency was allowed to now return to the port after many years so they can immediately inspect a consignment of food and drugs however as we know we. drug addiction been a business sellers and addicts have moved on to or that drugs are opiates so while you may not see coding in the markets as much you've seen an uptick an op rise in demand and supply of opiates like tramadol and this is now becoming the main problem how big of a problem is that it is such a big problem got. more than a quarter of all the trauma at all seized in the world if years ago was from africa where seeing spikes in all sorts of social classes some people take it just

recreates finale markets women take it to just get by but there's people back on off function taking up to 12 pills a day so it's becoming a problem interesting points there rula now from the abuse of cording to trauma or west africa is experienced in a drug crisis in 2017 west africa accounted for 77 percent of all tramadol seized worldwide in the following story right now takes us to liberia where we meet a drug peddler who makes a profit from selling tramadol. monrovia liberia the abuse of the painkiller tramadol is on the rise. officially the synthetic opioid is only imported in $50.00 to $100.00 milligram pills but criminal networks smuggle in tramadol tablets $3.00 to $5.00 times higher in dosage. those pills are then passed on to street vendors like henry kane the 19 year old makes

a profit every day. and i was and i used to sell electronic gadgets but then my business went down because of the call in a pandemic so i started selling tramadol people who have nothing to do people who don't have jobs they all come to me to buy my pills. kane says he's tried the drug and knows its effects but you keep selling as long as there's a market. sometimes i take it myself because i want to know what it is like the feeling of it i think it and i like it i see why people come to me and bites every day i know example to people and it is illegal i've got nothing to do with the people that have come in to buy it or what it will do to them i just want my money to live. across town called when tirade sees the effects of this cheap drug on addicted individuals his group with its neighborhoods and small teams to meet uses today there in boston quarters

a slum community in monrovia. people we've talked to they've said that they abuse drugs because they don't have a job to do. so in this regard we recommend the government to create if you posit a building that you yourself would help young people from being idle the library regular authorities should take a supervisor role. in observing all those promises 7 pharmaceutical drugs. in the meantime tyreese group tries to counsel drug users as best they can 2 across the border in the ivory coast tramadol is known as the poor man's cocaine young people use tramadol on a massive scale. if of a construction worker started using tramadol 8 years ago. almost as trauma dole or mother. and you take it before going to work yes i always took you to go to work and how much did you buy it for 500 francs for 1. $500.00

francs equals about $75.00 euro cents if taken orally at high enough doses the opioid can produce a stimulating euphoric effect useful for long working days and to escape daily hardship. tramadol is sold legally in ivory coast it's no central medicine used in hospitals and to treat chronic pain this pharmacist however suspects tramadol is often used for non-medical purposes. another visit. with some of those days we see that some of those in prescribe more often and more and more young people come in asking for it recently the demand was really high or people realized that we wouldn't give it to them without a prescription so now they don't come in as often as you go. on a bus. most of west africa's tramadol is manufactured in labs in china and india it is then imported legally and illegally

to west african countries. tramadol sold on the black market can come in dangerously high doses and can also be laced with other substances about 2 years ago authorities in abidjan realized that they were facing a massive problem on the new didn't somebody in 2018 we seized more than 40 tons of tramadol and among what we see discovered some tramadol with dozens of 300 milligrams so we intensified our efforts and started tracking down people selling tramadol on the black market to live under the thumb of those who mushroom but the epidemic hasn't stopped at blue cross clinic the number of young people who have experimented with tramadol worries doctors. addicts are often brought here by relatives who can't deal anymore with their aggression constant need for money or mood swings or fear. the addiction comes very quickly from a dollar the type of drug that you can say hi to one day and the next day it has

taken over the rest of your life. long term consumption and highly concentrated tablets increase the risk of overdose and side effects like anxiety convulsions and trouble breathing but these arguments are not enough to stop using tramadol. it's about the 1st time it was out of curiosity but 1st time i tried i felt good so i thought it's a good thing and from then on i started using it i was feeling well feeling good about myself i was taking it almost every day almost all the time really the. financial pressure recreational use and eventually addiction pushed young west africans towards the drug. trial model seems to be a very complicated drug on the one hand it's legal for the management of pain but clearly based on the film we've seen. which these people use it makes it

a problem what is for this increase in the use of trouble so i think what many fails the increase in the use of tramadol is its very nature if you had to move think of it as a business if you had to move cough syrup it would have to handle bottles you would have to think of packing it so it doesn't break on the way this is liquid but when it comes to trauma door it is in the night team foil packs it is in there all sorts of capsules i mean they're coming up with really creative ways to transport door just in september i think 2017 you had 3000000 from adult feels in need that were disguised in your. and logo boxes so the nature of tramadol means it can move very fast also you can easily and that's what has to be easily get manufacture as in asia to actually disguised the tramadol in terms of not just higher dosage

but also to disguise the name so that they can in some way pass this of as normal drugs and in some reports the u.n. has said that former extremist or boko haram members who have been arrested they have found a model in their possession. copula with extremist groups well from what we know it's a relaxant some users say they feel more relaxed and i think there was an interview which is a suicide bomber who feel that the task and they were actually given the tramadol so that they would be more relaxed and be able to take on this very deadly mission . it's also being used among fighters as well those are documented and it's also actually noted as being sold as well by extremists to make money so as i say it's a business at the core of this is the business of addiction and how is it within the server region does business exist and yet regional bodies like echo of the

national governments cannot address this problem and i like to put blame on them but that is the simplistic view west africa is traditionally by its very location a historic trade route and that is trade by border as by land and by sea. countries are so close together that it's very easy for drugs to move through but also very hard for regulators to take control when you have a porous border people will always try to find a way to be honest even in countries that are more on top of things we see drug use as well we see the. rising opiates for instance in the u.s. so i would like to borrow one of the words of one of the law enforcement brave law enforcement officers in income no 9 geria and he said the war on drugs is never one when you win one battle you have to move to the next it's

a war it's an ongoing war. now from young people using drugs assess kate we turn to someone who has taken a different route chris orbit he left his hometown of warre in nigeria in search of a better life and ended up in italy that uses the power of music to deal with the trauma of his journey. being loaded up the. enemy to. become to be my almost ever see in front confidently sing along to the italian folk song. the young nigerian migrant company from an almost accent free rendition in the local dialect is a source of amazement for many like this. i was in the boskin they were just playing it out out out out out on bum bum bum bum bum bum and they were like they were did they knew the story and they're like ok let's see if you like it let's see if you can sing the song. and they were like come in

and i remember 5 came to me are like how did you learn this song do you know this song the screen film was in this is that yeah yeah yeah you know the song i love the song. christopher gordy stage name priest obey he has become something of a celebrity in sicily and all of you to leave. him in america to send in a pretty young book. chris was just 17 when he left his hometown worry insult the nigeria in such a better life and you look. just. 2 2 stronger. just needs. simming was. soon be. gone. soon be come.

god. so you see. this in when he landed on a lump of use the beach in 2016 it and you have the passage across the sahara languished in the libyan prison and survived the mediterranean sea today he says his music to process his trauma. garson the larger event. do you believe india is singing. to a modern. spirit so hard the worst fear is a hard call me a passing through the. desert and also the through the the sea after dark i go to

contact with the music and the music change my life try to. crease taught himself to play the guitar in a detention camp in lampedusa at the time he probably didn't think much would come of it but in march 2020 chris was holding his 1st ever album in his hands to perform songs in english italian pidgin nigerian and his native son. then big a.v.o. . i say is a really very important tool a song the universe to us a language which this music you can communicate music can create change a positive change and we say you know which i use my music for the positive vibes. crease bay of desert and sea to reach sicily now he's using music to make it his home.

a few weeks ago. we introduced you to. a group of children from the hooman neighborhood of nairobi and they've become little instagram celebrities because of their videos as we all know the u.s. elections are right around the corner so produced exclusivity by the kids for t.w. here's the take on some of the not trump's memorable speeches in new national pride is swelling our hearts and staring our souls so true the strength of our nation stands. in the heart of our people so true when anyone hurts we all heard together and that's so true i've always wanted to see a sumo tournaments so true in moments of despair we witness the true character of the american people so true to build a truly great cheer we shouldn't begin by gathering wood cutting boards for distributing work right instead right away killing within the people the desire for

the vast and endless sea so true our farmers are our future so true farm country is god's country. so true so true so true so true so true most simply and those. i think they get a perfectly from nairobi less head to ghana's largest city might not be your typical holiday destination but it's a hotbed of creative talent in ghana and one of those talents is the right color long as the poet musician shows us aren't gonna 1st industrial city hello my name is tommy wright from the pro-life ox is the best right now to introduce my 57 which i'm gonna lie to people. tonight is

a. near the canadian county. it's the brainchild of dawn is founding father climbing cooma one to build a new africa's 1st post-colonial nation and a modern city to go with it. is an endless source of inspiration. for. the hot. lot just. plain pots. in the 1st by family rights. and lots a combination it's a percent imports exports. is often called contain a city the form of fishing village now handles 80 percent of gone as imports and exports the trade now includes goods for transit countries like kenya faso mali and. is very much the working class hero gone in cities

and the industrial buildings are a monument to the city's recent history wall come to them every day and hotel used to be the pride of. these 97 just like. in the one. through the city which was in the morton's file the group think this. is the g.m.t. . point 0 running through me right now. tom it brings us to community 7 the neighborhood where he asked. me and a few like minded friends of the library he hosts readings and creative events for children with the book should encourage kids to enjoy a long journey with literature hence the name. which means the bicycle that can write very long distances. our community library which is has

a full course on kids so they can come here for free and we already have. $5000.00 books and. this is where we. all nutri see the walls and also thinking about innovative thinking and creativity. when crimea is making music to change kids he hangs out at one of his favorite haunts the fish market. his mom used to have a stand here so calm have feels right at home. this is the place where you get the fresh fish right produce the. squid frame i may come up with. now known for its big industrial to my retains the feel of the fishing village it once was. and for the locals there's plenty of pride

to. make it a point to visit the next time you are. suddenly we have come to the end of the show if you want to get in touch with us send us an e-mail 7 to 7 dot com all connect with us on social media will leave you with some music from t.v. . this is appliance for by rights that's for watching see you next time. for you.

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this is big news live from the another attack in a church in fronts police say and all the ducks priest has been shot and seriously wounded in the southern city of. image to attack a fled the scene and is on the run with a sawn off shotgun. coming up later in the shot violence miles voting in ivory coast conference event of the west african nation is hoping to secure a 3rd term for the office edition site that's unconstitutional will get the latest from our correspondent on the ground.