Its production from cocaine residues makes PUFA accessible at a low cost, but its consequences are devastating: addiction, aggressiveness, violence, and delinquency among consumers, mainly young people.
A new cheap drug, dubbed the “cocaine of the poor”, is spreading in Morocco, according to several press reports.
The drug known as “PUFA”, or “the puffa” in dialect, has social repercussions, notably leading to the separation of families and an increase in suicides and murders, explains the Arabi21 news site.
Easy to obtain, inexpensive (it costs between 7 and 10 dollars per gram), it is highly addictive. Its effects are more powerful but more ephemeral than those of cocaine, which pushes its users to multiply the doses.
Tayeb Hamidi, head of Morocco’s private sector doctors’ union, told Arabi21 that the drug is made using cocaine residue mixed with chemicals, including ammonia until a substance is formed. crystalline. This can be inhaled or smoked.
“This dangerous drug spread to America in the 1980s, and in the 1990s it spread to several European countries [including Greece],” says Hamidi.
“It is a dangerous drug which spreads rapidly [in society] because it is cheap, and seriously endangers the mental and physical faculties of those who use it, in particular by causing panic attacks accompanied by hallucinations, which can lead people to harm themselves or others.”
The drug can in fact lead its users to aggressiveness, violence, psychological and physical damage as well as an increase in criminality.
The drug is mainly used by young people and adolescents, sometimes near schools.
Abdelmajid Qadiri, president of the Moroccan NGO Nonaux Psychotropes, explains to the media Le360: “When a young person becomes addicted, he begins to have chills [in the event of a withdrawal crisis]. We have received several cases in this state here at the center. Once he gets those chills, if he doesn’t use that drug [again], he can do something irreparable.”
Human rights defenders are sounding the alarm over the rampant spread of PUFAs and Moroccans have launched a social media campaign calling on the government to intervene immediately.
Translation: “A suicidal act and its dangerous effects. The ”Pufa” drug is invading #Morocco and spreading among the poorest strata. And social campaigns to raise awareness of its dangers.“
Recently, the ravages of the puffah were raised in Parliament
Questioned by a deputy, the Minister of the Interior, Abdelouafi Laftit, affirmed that the war against the PUFAs was an absolute priority for his department. He underlined the vital importance of breaking the links between drugs and organized crime.
Over the past three years, 200 cases related to this drug have been handled by the Moroccan courts. According to the Ministry of the Interior, these files led to the seizure of approximately 3 kg of this low-cost derivative of cocaine and the arrest of 282 people.
During the 2022/2023 school year, security operations carried out around educational establishments led to the processing of 3,870 cases, resulting in the arrest of 4,286 suspects, according to official figures.
The ministry says it is also fighting on the awareness front, especially among the youngest.
During the 2022/2023 school year, the General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) organized awareness campaigns in schools that benefited 713,782 students in 8,675 schools.
