The Western Cape’s most popularly used drugs – in order – are marijuana, crystal methanphetamine or tik, alcohol and heroine. This comes from a report collated from data gathered from 35 specialist treatment centres and programmes across the province.
These centres and programmes form part of the SA Community Epidemiology Network, and reveals which substances are primarily abused from July to December 2018.
Cannabis made up 30.5%, while tik contributed 27.6% of the list. Alcohol abuse contributed 19.8%, while heroine made up 11.4% of primary substances abused in the province.
Together, these made up nearly 90% of admissions to treatment centres and programmes in the Cape.
A total of 2 719 people were treated for dependency on these substances for the set period in 2018.
“A range of organisations are implementing community-based harm reduction services for people who use drugs. The department uses statistical information on people with substance use disorders accessing treatment to assist in determining demand in the province,” Social Development MEC Sharna Fernandez said to IOL. “For that reason, many projects and initiatives financed by our department are concerned with improving the availability and quality of treatment facilities. Presently, the Department uses statistical information on people with substance use disorders accessing treatment to assist in determining patterns of prevalence and demand in the province.”
“The Department currently funds 6 NGO-run inpatient treatment facilities,13 community based treatment NGOs which render treatment across 30 sites, 21 NGOs which render early intervention services from 29 sites and 10 NGOs which render aftercare services across 16 sites,” Fernandez added. “No one grows up thinking they are going to become addicted to alcohol or drugs. I would like to thank all the individuals, communities, organisations and civil society working together to help provide support to those experiencing a substance use disorder.”
Anyone who requires assistance with chemical dependency is encouraged to contact the www.heretohelp.co.za website, or the DSD hotline on 0800 220 250.
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