Pubdate: Fri, 27 Jun 2003 Source: Cape Argus (South Africa) Copyright: 2003 Cape Argus. Contact: http://capeargus.co.za/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2939 Author: Christelle Terreblanche Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin) CITY'S HEROIN EXPLOSION The city is awash in hard drugs, with a 10-fold rise in heroin abuse over the past two years, a top UN drug agency official warned. And a huge haul by police of illicit Mandrax - with a street value of R17.5 million - underlined the crisis yesterday, the international Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. The report on soaring drug use came from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime representative, Rob Boone, in a briefing to MPs yesterday, as the UN launched a campaign titled: "Let's talk about drugs". The campaign aims to encourage parents, relatives, teachers and peers to discuss the range of issues surrounding substance abuse with children and young people. Boone said dagga use had doubled since 1990 and was still the most common drug, abuse, followed by Mandrax. "Heroin is our biggest concern and has increased significantly since 2000," he said. "Seven percent of drug treatment patients in Gauteng and 8% in Cape Town have identified heroin as their most common drug." Overall, the use of heroin in South Africa has risen from 1% of drug use in 2001 to 5%. The biggest growth in heroin use in the past two years had been among black and coloured users. Cape Town drug treatment records showed the number of coloured patients with a heroin addiction had risen from 2% to 22% of cases between 2001 and 2002. Most disturbing was the prevalence of injected heroin use, with 34% of drug patients in Cape Town and 48% in Gauteng admitting to it. Boone pointed out this came with sharing of needles and the spreading of HIV/Aids. There was clear evidence that more and more were turning to prostitution to pay for their drug habit. "One particular issue we cover in our office is violent crime, particularly gender violence and the connection between drugs, gender violence and HIV together," Boone said. "South Africa has one of the highest rates of rape in the world, with about 25% of adult population being HIV positive, while 49% of those convicted or arrested for rape test positive for drugs. " Roughly 46% of all those arrested in Durban, Cape Town and Gauteng tested positive for drugs, with 66% of housebreakers and 59% of car thieves found to be on drugs. - political staff - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake