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Originally, pregabalin is a drug but by diverting its use, some drug addicts turn it into a drug. It is available on simple prescription at an unbeatable price, hence its nickname “poor man’s drug”.
On a roundabout in Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône), street vendors offer passers-by smuggled cigarettes but also illegal medicine: the lyric. It costs two euros per tablet. A rate that earned him his nickname “poor man’s drug”. Lyrica is the trade name for pregabalin, a psychotropic medication prescribed to treat epilepsy or anxiety disorders. In recent years, it has been used as a drug, a misuse that turns out to be dangerous.
A risk of addiction
“The dosage is 25mg, there people use it at 300mg so it’s a high dose (…). Taking this drug exposes people to a real danger of death“, says Dr. Saïd Ouichou. In France, pregabalin trafficking is expanding, particularly in large cities such as Toulouse (Haute-Garonne). The police multiply the seizures during their interventions. The drug also poses a risk of addiction.
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