[ 2016-12-13 ]

Ivory Coast is latest to crack down on alcohol sachets
Each morning at dawn, taxi driver Rene Kouame
stops by his neighborhood bar in Abidjan for a
potent pick-me-up: two plastic sachets of “Che
Guevara,” a drink of spiced rum and a host of
chemicals that costs 100 CFA francs, or about 15
U.S. cents.

With an alcohol by volume figure of 43 percent,
the 2-ounce sachets are about as intoxicating as a
typical 16-ounce beer, but consumers say that’s
just one of their virtues. Kouame claimed they
give him a jolt of energy other drinks can’t
match — just what he needs to face a long day of
hectic traffic, run-ins with police and testy fare
negotiations.

“It inspires me. It gives me a bit of courage to
confront the challenges of life,” he said.

From now on, however, Ivory Coast’s government
wants Kouame to get his courage elsewhere. Last
month, officials announced a ban on alcohol
sachets, citing their health risks and the need to
combat alcoholism, especially among youth.

The measure is one of more than a half-dozen bans
or partial bans on alcohol sachets in effect in
sub-Saharan Africa, according to the World Health
Organization. Other countries with bans include
Zambia, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Congo
and South Sudan, said Jean-Marie Vianny Maurice
Yameogo, the WHO’s Ivory Coast representative.

Tracking the sales of alcohol sachets, many
containing spirits distilled from palm wine, is
difficult because they are often produced outside
regulated markets. The sachets are typically
mass-produced in West Africa, with colorful
packaging. The drink “Amour Profond,” or
“Deep Love,” shows a man standing behind a
bare-shouldered woman, whispering into her ear.

The sachets are not necessarily more potent than
other drinks available. Palm wine-based
traditional drinks such as koutoukou, which are
similarly cheap, can have alcohol by volume rates
of more than 50 percent.

But sachets are more likely to contain toxic
chemicals such as methanol, or wood alcohol,
Yameogo said. And the packaging often boasts of
health and other benefits that Yameogo said have
no basis in science. Some are said to provide
cures for maladies such as hemorrhoids, while
others are reputed to function as
appetite-suppressants or aphrodisiacs.

Moreover, the small sachets are easy to hide,
making them especially tempting for
schoolchildren, according to the Ivorian
government and the WHO.

“It’s something that’s accessible to
everyone. You can buy a sachet, put it in your
pocket and just walk around like that,” said
Patrick Gbodou, president of School Anti-Drug, an
Ivorian organization that campaigns against
drinking and drug use by students. The official
drinking age in Ivory Coast is 21, but it is
rarely enforced, and teenage drinking is common.

Vendors are worried they will take a huge hit if
the ban on sachets is enforced, as many drinkers
go for sachets and nothing else. “The government
needs to have pity on us,” said Adjo Abega, the
owner of a bar in Abidjan’s Port-Bouet
district.

Drinkers generally acknowledge the health risks
posed by alcohol sachets, but some criticized the
government for cracking down on their favorite
vice while permitting other health hazards such as
cigarettes.

Desire N’Guessan, an unemployed 26-year-old,
began drinking sachets when he was a teenager. He
said he relies on them to ward off illness and for
motivation to keep looking for work.

“When you are not able to overcome your
timidity, it can be difficult to operate in your
neighborhood,” N’Guessan said.

If the government makes good on the ban, he
warned, Ivorian children could turn to drugs. He
also predicted marches and protests.

But Kouame, the taxi driver, was less worried. In
the absence of alcohol sachets, he said he would
switch up his morning routine by drinking glasses
of palm wine instead, adding: “Man can adapt to
anything.”

Source - AP

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