Amphetamines such as Captagon, the drug that Israeli media say Hamas terrorists used before the Oct. 7 attacks, are considered a “suicide bomber drug.” “Amphetamines put the person in a psychological situation similar to that of manic patients, with a feeling of omnipotence,” explains Fabrizio Schifano, professor of clinical pharmacology and chief psychiatrist at the University of Hertfordshire. “That makes sense because it is very difficult for a person.” The prerequisite for this is that a person can perform such a gesture in a normal situation. “Soldiers have always used substances; for example, it is said that the Japanese suicide bombers in World War II took amphetamines, which were also said to have been in circulation in the trenches of World War I.”
Video What is Captagon, the drug used by Hamas?
Captagon is not very common in the West, while it is a relatively common substance in the Middle East. The data is also confirmed by the Atlas of Substance Use in the Eastern Mediterranean published by the WHO, which sees, for example, for Saudi Arabia a prevalence of amphetamine use of 0.4%, higher than that of soft drugs at 0.3% . “While we have cannabinoids and synthetic drugs as the predominant substances here,” says Schifano, in the Middle East “they stuck” with amphetamines. “Captagon in particular has not been seen in Europe recently.” The substance, which is often mixed with caffeine, was found in the blood of the 2015 Paris attackers and of Seifeddine Rezgui, one of the perpetrators of the beach attack in Tunisia on June 26, 2015 in which 39 people died. According to some reports, the Kurds have found large quantities of it in IS positions.
“In addition to the feeling of invincibility, there are other ‘useful’ effects for terrorists,” emphasizes the expert. “Amphetamines or similar drugs work by releasing norepinephrine and dopamine, increasing alertness and resistance to fatigue. In addition, the increase in dopamine causes one to sleep.” Become paranoid, but if you are being chased by the police, paranoid is not a bad thing, you also become very suspicious. If you add caffeine to this, the alert level increases and anxiety also increases, which, if not excessive, is also a reaction that can be helpful in certain contexts. In addition, there is an increase in combat readiness and aggressiveness.”
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