It seems there's a bit more than religion and politics fueling the war in Syria; the use of a drug known as fenethylline, branded as 'captagon,' is responsible for the creation of some 'super soldiers,' as you might call them. the use of the drug enables its users to stay up for days at a time, and incites euphoria in the users strong enough to enable them to kill without hesitation.
"I felt like I own the world high," another user said. "Like I have power nobody has. A really nice feeling."
However, it appears the drug is highly addictive:
"You can't sleep or even close your eyes, forget about it," said a Lebanese user, one of three who appeared on camera without their names for a BBC Arabic documentary that aired in September. "And whatever you take to stop it, nothing can stop it."
A drug control officer in the central city of Homs told Reuters he had observed the effects of Captagon on protesters and fighters held for questioning.
"We would beat them, and they wouldn't feel the pain. Many of them would laugh while we were dealing them heavy blows," he said. "We would leave the prisoners for about 48 hours without questioning them while the effects of Captagon wore off, and then interrogation would become easier."
"So the brigade leader came and told us, 'this pill gives you energy, try it,' " he said. "So we took it the first time. We felt physically fit. And if there were 10 people in front of you, you could catch them and kill them. You're awake all the time. You don't have any problems, you don't even think about sleeping, you don't think to leave the checkpoint. It gives you great courage and power. If the leader told you to go break into a military barracks, I will break in with a brave heart and without any feeling of fear at all — you're not even tired."
the drug's powerful effects however, are matched with by its side effects:
Doctors report that the drug has dangerous side effects, including psychosis and brain damage, according to the BBC.
as if the drug's effects werent enough to worry about, it seems the drugs can be manufactured through legal means, and the pills sell as cheaply as the equivalent of 5 USD, and experiimentation with the drug is rising, even among regular citizens.
read more:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/11/19/the-tiny-pill-fueling-syrias-war-and-turning-fighters-into-super-human-soldiers/?tid=pm_pop_b