A pill for work and play

THE little pills of Tramadol are ubiquitous in Egypt. Taxi drivers take them to stay awake on the road. Men use them to improve their sexual prowess. Petty officials readily accept them as a bribe. And wedding guests even receive them as token gifts. Tramadol has become Egypt’s favourite recreational drug, supplanting heroin and cannabis.

An opioid prescribed as a painkiller, Tramadol has a reputation for improving alertness and male sexual stamina—qualities much sought after in a country where people often have several jobs to make ends meet and where few women find it easy to experience orgasm because of widespread female genital mutilation. “It just makes you feel relaxed. Even if there are two men fighting to the death beside you, you wouldn’t care,” explains Taha, a bank teller, as he buys pills from a pharmacist willing to turn a blind eye. He says the drugs help him at work.