{"id":3944,"date":"2026-05-26T10:51:38","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T10:51:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/servamusmagazine.co.za\/new\/?p=3944"},"modified":"2026-05-26T10:54:26","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T10:54:26","slug":"captagon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/servamusmagazine.co.za\/new\/captagon\/","title":{"rendered":"CAPTAGON: The combat and conflict drug"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"3944\" class=\"elementor elementor-3944\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-b1cc767 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"b1cc767\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-afe7e3b\" data-id=\"afe7e3b\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-16dd064 elementor-align-right elementor-widget elementor-widget-button\" data-id=\"16dd064\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"button.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-button-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-button elementor-button-link elementor-size-sm\" href=\"https:\/\/servamusmagazine.co.za\/new\/product\/captagon-the-combat-and-conflict-drug\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-content-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-text\">buy this article<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-f3405d4 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"f3405d4\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-7c0102da\" data-id=\"7c0102da\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-402d209d elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"402d209d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>By Kotie Geldenhuys<\/strong><br \/><strong>Photos\/images courtesy of Pixabay and Pexels<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Amid the Middle East&#8217;s conflicts and economic collapse, a small white pill has quietly become one of the world&#8217;s most lucrative and dangerous narcotics. Known as Captagon, this stimulant, once prescribed for medical use, has re-emerged into a multibillion-dollar industry, fuelling organised crime, empowering armed groups and reshaping regional power dynamics.<\/p>\n<p>Originally developed in Germany in the 1960s, Captagon, known chemically as fenethylline, was introduced as a treatment for conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorders (ADHD) and narcolepsy. For a brief period, it was even approved for medical use in the United States. However, growing concerns over severe side effects, including hallucinations, psychosis, seizures and rare cases of heart complications, resulted in its withdrawal from regulated markets (Hamilton, 2025).<\/p>\n<p>In recent years, Captagon has re-emerged in a vastly different role. The stimulant, which suppresses hunger and fatigue, has become widely associated with conflict zones in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. Its ability to enhance focus, endurance and alertness has made it attractive to both civilians coping with instability and combatants, earning it nicknames such as &#8220;chemical courage&#8221; and, controversially, the &#8220;drug of jihad&#8221; (Hamilton, 2025).<\/p>\n<p>***********************************<\/p>\n<p>[This is only an extract of an article published in Servamus: June 2026. This article is available for\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/servamusmagazine.co.za\/new\/product\/captagon-the-combat-and-conflict-drug\/\">purchase<\/a>.]<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>buy this article By Kotie GeldenhuysPhotos\/images courtesy of Pixabay and Pexels Amid the Middle East&#8217;s conflicts and economic collapse, a small white pill has quietly become one of the world&#8217;s most lucrative and dangerous narcotics. Known as Captagon, this stimulant, once prescribed for medical use, has re-emerged into a multibillion-dollar industry, fuelling organised crime, empowering [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[213],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-servamus-jun-26"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/servamusmagazine.co.za\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/servamusmagazine.co.za\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/servamusmagazine.co.za\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/servamusmagazine.co.za\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/servamusmagazine.co.za\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3944"}],"version-history":[{"count":66,"href":"https:\/\/servamusmagazine.co.za\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3944\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6442,"href":"https:\/\/servamusmagazine.co.za\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3944\/revisions\/6442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/servamusmagazine.co.za\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/servamusmagazine.co.za\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/servamusmagazine.co.za\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}