Narcotics Anonymous Survey 2020: Insights into addiction
Alcohol and stimulants remain the most abused substances across gender, age,
Narcotics Anonymous (NA) South Africa conducted a month-long anonymous and voluntary survey of its members in 2020.
A total of 486 respondents gave the following insights into the state of substance use.
Key insights into the demographics:
• Alcohol and stimulants remain the most abused substances across gender, age, and race.
• Women typically start using at a younger age than men – 16 years and two months vs 17 years and one month.
• Over 60 per cent of members started using between the ages of 13 and 19.
• The Eastern Cape shows the youngest average age of beginning of substance use (13 years and three months), with Limpopo province and South Africans abroad being the oldest (20 years and three months and 24 years respectively).
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Legally speaking:
• Of the 25 per cent of NA members who have a conviction, 92 per cent of these convictions are drug-related.
• Convictions show a 70 per cent male to 29 per cent female split.
• The Western Cape has the most convicted members (41 per cent), followed by Gauteng (39 per cent) and KwaZulu Natal (14 per cent).
• Most convicted members are white/Caucasian (59 per cent), followed by coloured (24 per cent), Indian/Asian (nine per cent), and black/African (seven per cent).
Clean time:
A total of 84.6 per cent of respondents attended a rehabilitation facility. Of the members attending NA meetings while in a rehab facility (84.1 per cent), 50 per cent report a clean time of up to two years with approximately 20 per cent staying clean for two to five years. Slightly more members who did not receive treatment remained clean compared to respondents who underwent rehab. Just over 10 per cent of respondents reported clean time of 10 plus years.
The NA meeting
A total of 63 per cent of respondents indicated their first NA meeting was central to the start of their recovery, 2020 saw an 8,5 per cent increase over 2013 in members attending five or more meetings weekly.
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