Mo Jun became addicted to cough syrup: The iron cage that failed to cure Mo Jun's addiction to cough syrup has now become a loofah vine frame. Mo Jun's high-interest loan IOUs. 10ml bottles of "Aoting Compound Phosphate Codeine Oral Solution," Xiao Zhong drinks 100 packets per day.
Journalists learned that in Dongguan, many families are trapped in such a desperate situation and cannot save themselves.
Article by reporter Wang Wanli and Zhou Ruiming; photographs by reporter Hai Guo.
● A man from Qiaotou Town in Dongguan became addicted to cough syrup. For two years, he kept borrowing money at high interest rates, and his relatives have already repaid over 100,000 yuan on his behalf.
● His family once locked him in an iron cage and sent him to the hospital, but it was all in vain. His mother cries out for help: "Who will save my child, save our family..."
Parents' hearts ache everywhere. On the just-passed Mother's Day, Mrs. Mo did not receive flowers or gifts, but instead received threats from her 23-year-old son Mo Jun (a pseudonym): "If you don't sell the house, I'll kill you."
Mo Jun's addiction to cough syrup has become the pain of the entire family. In Phoenix Mountain Villa in Qiaotou Town, Dongguan City, Mo Jun's cousin helplessly told reporters: "We put him in an iron cage, sent him to Guangzhou for treatment, but when he came out, he still drank. Now, all movable appliances at home have been stolen and sold by him, and even the rolling shutter door at home has been sold by him."
Time and again, people with IOUs bearing Mo Jun's fresh fingerprints came to collect debts. Over the past two years, his parents and relatives have helped him repay over 100,000 yuan in high-interest loans.
In the early hours of the morning before yesterday, Mo Jun turned on the gas at home, put a knife to his father's neck, demanding to sell the house and immediately give him 10,000 yuan. Firefighters and police officers finally arrived after four hours of negotiation, allowing the father to escape.
"What else can we do? Are we really going to wait until he stabs us to death?" Mrs. Mo cried, tears streaming down her face, "Who will save my child, save our family!"
The iron cage in the villa couldn't stop the drug addiction
On the morning of May 8, reporters went to Phoenix Mountain Villa in Qiaotou Town, which is the best villa area in Qiaotou Town. Mo Jun's cousin's family lives here, and Mo Jun's home is nearby. In the garage of the villa, there are still nail marks on the wall, "Last year, we built an iron cage right here and locked him inside," the cousin said.
However, there are many locals around, and neighbors often visit, "If we lock someone in an iron cage, what would the village say?" Not long after, the iron cage was dismantled, and the hard-won cage was moved to the backyard and has now become a loofah vine trellis.
Speaking about her son, Mrs. Mo feels heartbroken. Her family used to be well-off, owning both a house and a car, but now, the car can only be parked at Mo Jun's cousin's place, and they basically dare not park it at their own home. "If Mo Jun gets hold of it, he will definitely drive it away and sell it." This is relatively likely to happen. The family's motorcycle has been taken away and sold several times, and just to "buy back" their own motorcycle, Mrs. Mo has already spent more than 10,000 yuan.
Reporters followed Mo Jun to his cousin's house, where the entire family gathered in the living room to keep an eye on him. The cousin told reporters, "If we don't watch him closely, he'll quietly take something and go sell it for money."
At 23 years old, Mo Jun is tall and handsome, once the pride of his parents, but now he looks haggard. "He graduated from school at 21 and started drinking cough syrup while still in school. Over these few years, he has completely wasted away," the cousin said.
Relatives all say "repaying his debts makes them afraid"
Mo Jun's daily routine is disoriented: sleeping in the morning, sleeping at noon, sleeping in the afternoon, and only getting up in the evening as it gets dark to eat his first meal of the day.
Two years ago, after graduating from school, Mo Jun found a job with the local security team in the village but left after only three months. Since then, he has never worked a legitimate job again, and any work introduced by the family, he refuses to take. "Whenever we talk to him, he curses us, 'Leave me alone, don't bother me. Aren't you annoying? If you keep bothering me, I'll kill you,'" Mrs. Mo feels powerless against her son's "threats."
By August 16 last year, after another repayment of high-interest loans, the lender wrote a guarantee to Mrs. Mo: "I guarantee not to lend money to Mo XX and Mo XX anymore." However, there are more than one lenders of high-interest loans on the streets. Seeing that Mo Jun is a local person with a house and a car, these lenders are willing to lend money, confident that his family will repay.
"All of us relatives, who hasn't repaid his debts? Seeing him, we're all scared," Mo Jun's aunt said.
Electrical appliances and security doors were sold for money
For several consecutive years of continuous drinking, Mo Jun's addiction to cough syrup has grown uncontrollably. "The iron cage couldn't hold him, last October, we sent him to a treatment center in Baiyun District, Guangzhou, but after spending 10,000 yuan on treatment, when he came out, he was still drinking," his cousin said.
To buy more cough syrup, he needed more money. "All the electrical appliances at home that could be moved, like the microwave oven, electric fan, and rice cooker, he has already taken outside and sold them; now what's left is the big TV and refrigerator, which he can't move," facing such a son, Mrs. Mo feels utterly disappointed.
But this is just the beginning. The security rolling shutter door at home, Mo Jun couldn't dismantle it alone, so he brought in scrap collectors to help dismantle it, and also sold it. Mo Jun loves playing computer games, but a week ago, the computer host was also sold by him. Compared to games, he wants cough syrup more.
On May 1st, Mo Jun found his mother, "He asked me to transfer the property certificate of our three-story house to his name, wanting to sell the house. He said if I didn't transfer it, he would kill me," Mrs. Mo was frightened. She dared not return home, only sneaking back when her son wasn't home or when he was sound asleep.
To get money for drugs, he repeatedly threatened his family with a knife
The family lived in anxiety until the day before yesterday. That morning at 8 o'clock, Mo Jun put a knife to his father's neck and opened the gas cylinder, threatening: "Transfer the house to my name, and give me 10,000 yuan immediately."
Fire trucks and police officers from the local police station rushed to the scene. After four hours of negotiation by the police negotiators, by noon at 12 o'clock, the father finally managed to escape when he wasn't paying attention. Although the family hoped the police would handle the case as robbery and extortion, the police ultimately ruled it as "a family internal dispute, unwilling to arrest him."
Mo Jun's cousin told reporters that previously, Mo Jun had also threatened his family with a knife multiple times. The family reported it to the police multiple times, but each time he was detained for 24 hours and then released.
"What to do, what to do? Who will save my child, save our family..." Mrs. Mo cried, tears streaming down her face, lost and helpless.
This is not just the cry of their family. Mo Jun's cousin said, in Qiaotou Town, there are many people like his younger brother trapped in despair unable to save themselves.
Dongguan Third People's Hospital:
Treats nearly 100 patients annually
Addicted to cough syrup
Doctor Liu Junbiao from Dongguan Third People's Hospital told reporters, "Our hospital treats dozens to nearly a hundred patients addicted to cough syrup every year. All patients are young people, starting to drink during their student days."
Regarding Mo Jun's condition, Liu Junbiao said, his condition is already quite severe, and he suspects Mo Jun may have other complications, "He might have consumed other substances. Many patients mix other things together, and he needs to come in for a check-up."
But Mo Jun's cousin said, "How could Mo Jun willingly come for a check-up? He is so tall and strong, none of us can overpower him, and no one can force him to come."
Liu Junbiao told reporters that under normal circumstances, without complications, cough syrup addiction can be cured after about a month of treatment, costing 7,000 yuan per month. However, multiple cough syrup-addicted patients contacted by the reporter said, "It's useless, once out, they start drinking again."
Mo's Mother: Spent over 100,000 yuan in two years
Mrs. Mo calculated that in the past two years, Mo Jun has spent over 100,000 yuan on drinking cough syrup.
"30 yuan per bottle, he drinks four to five bottles a day, sometimes seven to eight." She took out several IOUs from high-interest loans that Mo Jun borrowed from others. The reporter saw that on just May 10th last year, he borrowed 4,000 yuan, and on May 17th, he borrowed another 3,000 yuan.
A 24-year-old youth in Dongguan's Liaobu township drank 400,000 yuan worth of cough syrup in seven years: "I know this way is meaningless"
Drinks 1000 ml daily
No money for medicine, so he steals and deceives
Xiao Zhong, a 24-year-old youth from Liaobu Township in Dongguan, has spent 400,000 yuan in seven years drinking cough syrup. Facing the reporter, he frankly admitted, "When I have no money, I steal and deceive, and I once got 8,000 yuan," and now, he and a few friends make a living by lending high-interest loans.
"I also know that this way is meaningless; I also told my girlfriend that following me has no future; I hope my parents won't really die from being angry with me," he lowered his head, and a tear seeped out from the corner of his eye.
Drinking hundreds of bags a day to seek more hallucinations
Xiao Zhong is a native of Liaobu. He has three sisters who are all married, and he is the only son in the family. At the age of 17, while studying at a vocational school in Dongguan, he started drinking cough syrup out of curiosity, and for the past seven years, except for four months last year when he determined to quit, he drinks every day.
After only one year in the vocational school, he dropped out and entered the village security team at the age of 18, but after less than a month, his habit of drinking cough syrup was discovered by his superior, leading to his dismissal; after playing around for two years, he again joined a police station in Liaobu as a security officer, but after only ten days, he was dismissed for the same reason.
Since then, he became unemployed. Accompanying his growth is his increasingly severe addiction to cough syrup. "Now, I drink 1000 ml a day, divided into five doses," he took out a 10 ml bottle of "Aoting Compound Phosphate Codeine Oral Solution," and such cough syrup, he drinks 100 bottles a day, each costing 2.2 yuan. "After drinking this stuff, within ten minutes, I experience hallucinations, very comfortable, and this feeling lasts for an hour."
When interviewed by the reporter, several villagers gathered around, knowing the reporter's identity, "You need to find a way to save him," the villagers all know Xiao Zhong. Xiao Zhong said, "Everyone in the village knows this matter, and many young people in the village are also addicted to this."
Drinking so much cough syrup every day costs 200 yuan, where does the money come from? Xiao Zhong said that after leaving school, he felt embarrassed to ask his parents for money, "When I have no money, I steal and deceive."
"Our three people crawl into rental houses to steal, and I once got 8,000 yuan." Xiao Zhong did not hide anything. And what he referred to as deception was actually more like extortion, "We go to the internet cafes and deliberately pick fights with migrant workers, then beat them up and demand money. Migrant workers usually only have a few hundred yuan."
Speaking about these matters, Xiao Zhong said, "I know myself, I am inhumane, like a thug. But this world has no regret pill. I feel sorry for those unfortunate migrant workers."
Once quit for four months but relapsed
Now, he and a few friends mainly make money by lending high-interest loans, "A friend works at the bank, loans out 30,000 yuan, and we lend it out, borrowing 1000 yuan requires a monthly interest of 200 yuan." To collect debts, he has done things like chasing people to their doors and intimidating them.
He wanted to tell his parents, "I am unworthy of you."
In March last year, Xiao Zhong thought about quitting, he told his parents this decision, and they were very happy, feeling that he had matured, buying him whatever he wanted, and his three sisters specially returned home to see him. From March to July, almost four months, he stayed at home every day and endured it. By July, he thought he had successfully controlled this devil, should go out and find a job, and live a good life. Then, within less than a month, he started drinking again.
"I don't want to drink, but I just can't quit mentally," he was troubled, "Am I really going to make my parents die of anger? I told my girlfriend that following me has no future, but she still wants to be with me, and I feel sorry for her."
Xiao Zhong really wanted to tell his parents, "I am unworthy of such good parents, I am unworthy to be your son."
Reporter's observation
Easily bought cough syrup
Finished drinking before leaving the pharmacy
Xiao Zhong led the reporter to a pharmacy called Kangnaiying in Liangping, Liaobu, where he easily bought a bottle of "Aoting" cough syrup for 35 yuan. "Actually, anyone can buy this stuff," he pointed to a robust man who had just ridden away on a motorcycle, "That's my friend, he just finished drinking." At the entrance of the Kangnaiying pharmacy, Xiao Zhong couldn't wait to drink the whole bottle of "Aoting" in one gulp. At another "Jianmin Medicine Chain" pharmacy, Xiao Zhong also easily bought bottled "Aoting."
On the packaging of the bagged "Aoting" shown by Xiao Zhong earlier and the bottled "Aoting" purchased later, it was marked as "Compound Phosphate Codeine Oral Solution." According to Xiao Zhong, this is the composition of Federal Cough Syrup. "Now, pharmacies no longer sell Federal Cough Syrup, and people like us who buy it are given 'Aoting' instead."
The reporter noticed that on the packaging of "Aoting," there was no introduction about the ingredients, production address, or drug batch number.
Addictive drugs
Compound oral solutions containing codeine; tablets containing ephedrine and promethazine, theophylline and ephedrine tablets, compound theophylline and ephedrine tablets, furmar nasal drops, compound licorice and ephedrine tablets, xiaokening tablets, compound paracetamol and promethazine tablets, Neo-Coldrex, etc., containing ephedrine compound preparations; compound difenoxylate, compound licorice tablets, analgesic tablets, dextromethorphan tablets, motion sickness tablets, and antipyretic analgesics.
Regulatory actions
Pharmacies selling cough syrup without prescription may have their licenses revoked
Reporters found that few pharmacies in Guangzhou sell codeine formulations
According to reports, these medicines that lead teenagers to addiction all contain a component called codeine. These components are currently divided into compound formulations and single formulations. Among them, single formulations of codeine belong to psychotropic drugs, which pharmacies cannot sell, while compound codeine oral solutions are prescription drugs that must be purchased at pharmacies with a prescription. Yesterday, the Guangdong Food and Drug Administration stated that since 2007, the management of compound codeine oral solutions in our province has never been relaxed, and multiple special rectifications have been carried out. Once it is confirmed that pharmacies sell without a prescription, their GSP certificates will be revoked, and those with serious circumstances will have their "Drug Business Licenses" revoked.
Yesterday, this reporter visited multiple pharmacies in Guangzhou and did not find any pharmacies selling formulations containing codeine. At the Lao Bai Xing Pharmacy on Renmin Zhong Road, the salesperson told the reporter that they haven't sold these drugs for several years.
Mr. Zheng Haotao, the general manager of Jin Kang Pharmacy chain, told the reporter that their subordinate stores do not carry related products. "The management risk of codeine formulations is very high, and all dozens of subordinate stores are under business pressure. If these drugs are available, it's difficult to ensure that some stores won't violate regulations due to profit incentives, so we simply don't purchase such drugs. Moreover, there are many similar cough medications available, and both pharmacies and patients have many choices, so it's not necessary to sell these drugs," Mr. Zheng Haotao said.
However, some insiders pointed out that although chain pharmacies in urban areas of Guangzhou may be better, in the current situation where the survival state of pharmacies is generally poor, it is difficult for many pharmacies to sell prescription drugs with prescriptions, and some small pharmacies may be tempted by profits to break the law. Some experts suggest including compound codeine oral solutions in the management of psychotropic drugs, or removing them from the pharmacy market.
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