THERE has been a dramatic increase in the number of people in
Cape Town and Gauteng seeking treatment for heroin abuse, according
to a Medical Research Council report released this week.
The report, based on a regular nationwide survey of treatment
centres, also said there had been a general increase in people
under 20 who were seeking treatment for drug abuse.
The survey, carried out by the MRC’s alcohol and drug abuse
research group, showed the number of heroin patients had more than
tripled in Cape Town and Gauteng since 1996.
The report said that in Cape Town, the rise in heroin patients
was particularly evident among females younger than 20.
Most heroin was smoked, but a growing proportion of patients
with heroin as their primary drug of abuse, reported some injection
use.
Treatment demand for Ecstasy and LSD as primary drugs of abuse
was low.
Forty percent of patients in Cape Town reported more than one
substance of abuse, with seven percent of them saying they abused
four.
”Various drug combinations were reported including Red Bull (an
energy drink) with alcohol and ecstasy, cocaine and heroin, dagga
and Mandrax, and LSD and Ecstasy,” the researchers said.
Alcohol remained the dominant substance of abuse across sites.
Between 46% (Cape Town) and 69% (Mpumalanga) of
patients reported alcohol as their primary substance of abuse.
The survey, which also gathers information from hospital trauma
units, said there had been a steady increase in the percentage of
trauma patients in Cape Town and Durban testing positive for THC,
the active ingredient in dagga.
Figures had risen from 33% in 1999 to 44% in 2001
in Cape Town, and from 31 to 44% in Durban. Nine percent of
trauma patients in Cape Town tested positive for cocaine in 2001,
up from three percent in 1999/2000. – Sapa