Experts are concerned that "ungah", a smoked mixture of dagga and heroin, could spread rapidly among township youth due to its low cost and addictive nature, coupled with a lack of rehabilitation centres. (from IOL)
The full extent of its use among township youth is still not clear, but heroin is rated as the second most abused drug in the province, said South African National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (SANCA) Gugulethu counsellor Vuyiswa Mvumvu.
Medical Research Council senior scientist in alcohol and drug abuse, Andreas Pluddemann, said the racial profile of heroin users had changed from being mostly white middle-class youth to 80 percent of heroin being used by coloured people from poorer areas.
He said while tik was the most commonly abused substance in the Western Cape, heroin was a close second and he believed ungah was spreading to black townships. (Tik and heroin might be the drug for which treatment is most commonly sought. The most abused drug in the Western Cape is Alcohol. The estimated 30000 shebeens which dot the Western Cape make sure of that. The SACENDU update for May 2009 states that the treatment demand in order is..... Alcohol, Cannabis, Cocaine, Heroin and then Methamphetamines. The demand for treatment for alcohol is more than double that for any other drug)
Senior Detective Superintendent Jan Rehder, who heads the Narcotics Desk at South African Police Service's Organised Crime Head Office said in 2008 they had made 2 408 arrests and had confiscated 41kg of heroin with a street value of about R8-million. (There were 2400 arrests in 2008 while at the same time 9400 people seeking treatment for drug problems across the country.)
"Treatment admissions for heroin as a primary drug of abuse remained fairly stable in all sites" SACENDU MAY 2009
The full extent of its use among township youth is still not clear, but heroin is rated as the second most abused drug in the province, said South African National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (SANCA) Gugulethu counsellor Vuyiswa Mvumvu.
Medical Research Council senior scientist in alcohol and drug abuse, Andreas Pluddemann, said the racial profile of heroin users had changed from being mostly white middle-class youth to 80 percent of heroin being used by coloured people from poorer areas.
He said while tik was the most commonly abused substance in the Western Cape, heroin was a close second and he believed ungah was spreading to black townships. (Tik and heroin might be the drug for which treatment is most commonly sought. The most abused drug in the Western Cape is Alcohol. The estimated 30000 shebeens which dot the Western Cape make sure of that. The SACENDU update for May 2009 states that the treatment demand in order is..... Alcohol, Cannabis, Cocaine, Heroin and then Methamphetamines. The demand for treatment for alcohol is more than double that for any other drug)
Senior Detective Superintendent Jan Rehder, who heads the Narcotics Desk at South African Police Service's Organised Crime Head Office said in 2008 they had made 2 408 arrests and had confiscated 41kg of heroin with a street value of about R8-million. (There were 2400 arrests in 2008 while at the same time 9400 people seeking treatment for drug problems across the country.)
"Treatment admissions for heroin as a primary drug of abuse remained fairly stable in all sites" SACENDU MAY 2009
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