Cape Town - Most drug and alcohol users who have been admitted for treatment in the province have primarily used tik, says a report on substance abuse trends.
According to a South African Community Epidemiology Network on Drug Use (Sacendu) report, in the second half of last year, 3 178 people were admitted for treatment at 26 centres in the province.
Of these, tik was the primary drug of abuse for 33 percent of them, followed by 22 percent primarily using alcohol and another 22 percent primarily using cannabis.
“(Tik) remained the most common primary drug reported by patients in the (Western Cape),” the report said.
The Sacendu report said treatment admissions for heroin as a primary drug of use had decreased in the Western Cape. But when it came to “club drugs”, including ecstasy and tik, treatment admissions for these substances was low except in this province.
The report said “the abuse of over-the-counter and prescription medicines such as slimming tablets” was an issue “across sites”.
Treatment admissions for over-the-counter or prescription medicines as a primary or secondary drug of choice stood at 1 percent in the Western Cape.
Bronwyn Myers, a chief specialist scientist in the Medical Research Council’s alcohol and drug abuse unit, said while the primary drug for those seeking treatment was tik, the primary substance of abuse within communities in the province was alcohol, followed by cannabis and then tik.
The average drug user in the Western Cape is:
* Male
* Unemployed
* Not married
* 25-29 years old
* Primarily uses tik
Based on data from the SA Community Epidemiology Network on Drug Use report (Jul-Dec 2012)
Cape Times