Statistics reveal one in three SA teens is an addict

By Tarryn Le Chat

According to the Weekend Argus, as many as one in three teenagers in South Africa is addicted to drugs and alcohol, according to the SA National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (Sanca).

Shamim Garda, national executive director of Sanca, said this alarming figure was gleaned from the number of 13- to 18-year-olds presenting themselves for treatment at Sanca's 34 clinics countrywide. Experts believe that the age of first experimentation has dropped from the early teens to between nine and 10 years old.

Garda said, "What's so disturbing is the fact these children are getting addicted to drugs and alcohol at younger ages. The problem starts with nine- to 15-year-olds who experiment with cigarettes, alcohol, dagga and mandrax. They start to use more than one drug and get addicted to drugs such as heroine, Cat and crack cocaine".

According to Garda, schoolchildren are the drug peddler's market. Teenagers who are hooked on drugs become adults who are hooked.

Drug use was 'exploding' in township communities. "Teenagers and children from poor communities are more prone to use drugs", says Gerda.

Maria Gumede, of Sanca's Horizon Daveyton centre, said substance abuse in townships was seen as a status symbol.

Captain Jan Combrink, a co-ordinator for the SA Police Service's Gauteng drug enforcement programme, said up to 25% of schoolchildren were drug addicts in Gauteng.

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