The number of heroin users in Cape Town is growing steadily and the drug is is also being used with tik in a dangerous new cocktail, according to rehabilitation centres in the city.
The centres said that although tik was seldom used on its own, the use of it with heroin as a secondary drug was scary.
The Western Cape branch of the South African National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (Sanca) said it had noted a rise in the use of heroin.
Grant Jardine, of the Cape Town Drug Counselling Centre, agreed that their figures showed a steady climb.
"It wasn't as dramatic as tik, which shot up suddenly. But it is the one drug that has increased each year."
Tertius Cronjé, of Sanca, said the number of users they saw with heroin-addiction problems had tripled in the past three years.
He said people were mostly using the cheaper, less pure form of the drug.
In line with research from the South African Medical Research Council, Cronjé said most users smoked the drug.
According to the council, the Western Cape is the only province in the country where the majority of users took the drug in this way. In other areas, most users injected the drug.
Cronjé said this could be attributed to the fear of contracting HIV and Aids.
Research showed that the recovery rate for heroin users was dismal. But, he said, the most alarming new development was the use of heroin in conjunction with tik.
He said the combination held devastating effects for the user.
"These are two of the most addictive drugs. Using them in tandem is as bad as addiction gets. It's very difficult to come off; you can't really win here."
It was made worse by the fact that heroin carried a major risk of overdosing, while tik held severely damaging psychological effects.
Jurgens Smit, the director of Western Cape-based Faces and Voices of Recovery South Africa, said the combination of the two drugs was "a disaster".
"We first saw this surfacing around two years ago. But it has been spreading, especially across the Cape Flats."
Smit said early intervention was needed to clamp down on the spiralling drug problem.
"We need to start intervention programmes early, targeting children as young as six years old. Society is responsible for offering young people healthy alternatives," he said.
- Cape Argus
The centres said that although tik was seldom used on its own, the use of it with heroin as a secondary drug was scary.
The Western Cape branch of the South African National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (Sanca) said it had noted a rise in the use of heroin.
| 'These are two of the most addictive drugs' |
"It wasn't as dramatic as tik, which shot up suddenly. But it is the one drug that has increased each year."
Tertius Cronjé, of Sanca, said the number of users they saw with heroin-addiction problems had tripled in the past three years.
He said people were mostly using the cheaper, less pure form of the drug.
In line with research from the South African Medical Research Council, Cronjé said most users smoked the drug.
According to the council, the Western Cape is the only province in the country where the majority of users took the drug in this way. In other areas, most users injected the drug.
Cronjé said this could be attributed to the fear of contracting HIV and Aids.
Research showed that the recovery rate for heroin users was dismal. But, he said, the most alarming new development was the use of heroin in conjunction with tik.
He said the combination held devastating effects for the user.
"These are two of the most addictive drugs. Using them in tandem is as bad as addiction gets. It's very difficult to come off; you can't really win here."
It was made worse by the fact that heroin carried a major risk of overdosing, while tik held severely damaging psychological effects.
Jurgens Smit, the director of Western Cape-based Faces and Voices of Recovery South Africa, said the combination of the two drugs was "a disaster".
"We first saw this surfacing around two years ago. But it has been spreading, especially across the Cape Flats."
Smit said early intervention was needed to clamp down on the spiralling drug problem.
"We need to start intervention programmes early, targeting children as young as six years old. Society is responsible for offering young people healthy alternatives," he said.
- Cape Argus
