What is Middle East's most used illegal drug captagon?

Captagon is the old trademark of a once legal amphetamine stimulant. But the name has long been taken to describe one of the Middle East's most used illegal drugs.

Initially, captagon was one of the names under which the stimulant fenethylline was marketed by the German chemical company Chemiewerk Homburg in 1961.

The drug was sold as a treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder as well as narcolepsy and, to a lesser extent, depression.

It was declared a controlled substance in the United States in 1981, then listed by the World Health Organization as a psychotropic substance, despite limited cases of abuse.

By 1986 captagon was banned in most countries but fenethylline had become popular enough in the Arabian peninsula for the pill to start being produced illegally, mostly in the former Yugoslavia and in Bulgaria.

It is closely related to methamphetamine -- or meth -- another more potent synthetic stimulant, traces of which are sometimes found in captagon.

Today, captagon is mostly manufactured in Syria and Lebanon, where hundreds of millions of pills are produced.

SIDE EFFECTS

The long-term use of fenethylline can lead to extreme depression, irritability, blurred vision and cardiovascular problems.

However, very few of the millions of pills now coming out of the illegal labs in Syria and Lebanon contain any fenethylline, and the make-up of today's captagon can vary wildly.

Most pills contain amphetamine but adulterants can also include paracetamol, caffeine, quinine and various anaesthetic substances, all of which can be harmful.

Abuse of amphetamine can cause nerve damage as well as muscular and heart problems, while the variety of bulking agents found in the pills also come with serious health risks.

HOW IT'S USED

Captagon is usually swallowed but can be crushed and snorted. Amphetamine increases certain types of brain activity and can lead to feelings of greater attention and confidence, while also decreasing appetite and sleepiness.

The drug's versatility has made it popular with everyone from students staying awake all night before exams to taxi drivers working two jobs, to high-powered professionals hoping to stay focused over long hours.

In its main market, Saudi Arabia, the rich use it to party all night, while many women take it to lose weight.

Captagon is less taboo than cocaine or even alcohol in Gulf countries.

APPEARANCE

Captagon's shifting formula would make it difficult to differentiate from other drugs if it wasn't for the two Cs pressed into every pill.

The logo has earned captagon the street name "Abu al-hilalain" -- "the father of the two crescent moons".

The adulterants used to make the drug means pills come in shades of white, yellow, beige and even pink. White pills are reputed to be the best quality and are destined for the Gulf.

Captagon is mostly sold in bags of 200 pills known as a "shad" that are adorned with various logos, including the ones for Lexus -- the most widespread in recent years -- Range Rover, Lacoste, and in some cases a crescent and star or a swastika.