Drug abuse in South Africa, in common with most first world countries, has grown to reach near epidemic proportions with an alarming and parallel growth in drug-related crimes.

Substance abuse in SA is best summed up in this quote by Dr David Bayever of the Central Drug Authority (CDA), a government drug control organisation:

“The drug problem in South Africa remains very serious with drug usage being twice the world norm in most cases…and we are only dealing with what we know about…this is only the tip of the iceberg.”

(Bayever quoted at the release of the United Nations 2009 World Drug Report in Pretoria)

The recently-released United Nations World Drug Report had named South Africa as one of the drug capitals of the world.

The most serious consequence of this steady proliferation of drugs is that dealers have now placed them within easy reach of those who were previously protected. Tragically, it is the very young that have become the most recent victims of drug abuse in South Africa and statistics show that the incidence of pre-teenage addiction in some parts of the country is becoming a significant problem.

Drug abuse and its potential effects transcend all social barriers. These problems do not lie in someone else’s community or overseas or in some distant future. They are right here, on our own doorsteps and they are here today!

A variety of drug education programmes are now conducted by local education authorities and community policing forums as well as by independently funded NGOs.

For those whose communities may not, as yet, have access to this kind of drug awareness programme, the internet also hosts a huge collection of information on the subject.

Darul Ihsan Media Desk