Rehab centre sees rise in heroine addicts

Even more alarming is that many of these heroin users inject the drug, which was traditionally the final stage of administration.

“Now they seem to skip sniffing and smoking the opiate and go straight to injecting it, which increases their risk of contracting HIV and other diseases,” said the head of Rand Aid Association’s Wedge Gardens, Ms Adèl Grobbelaar. She has dedicated over three decades to assisting alcohol and drug addicts in an attempt to reintegrate them back into society. She also has honours degrees in social work and psychology.

Heroin’s addictiveness is scary. As an opiate, it affects opioid receptors throughout the body and mimics endorphins, reducing pain and causing pleasure. “When you inject heroin, you are basically training your brain to make you crave it. When you consider the nasty withdrawal symptoms and the fact that the drug works almost instantly, it is no wonder heroin is the most addictive drug in the world,” said Ms Grobbelaar.

“Shockingly, many people get addicted to heroin accidentally because drug dealers often add heroin to marijuana. A person may think they are using dagga when in fact heroin has been mixed into the joint. They quickly get hooked,” she said.

“Another threat is nyaope, a dangerous, relatively new, drug on the streets. It is prevalent in low-income areas and is common in many townships. Mostly used by youngsters, they are often unaware that this combination of different drugs, including rat poison, dagga and HIV/Aids treatment medications, also contains low-grade heroin,” she said.

When the online forum, Bluelight, asked readers about the most addictive of all the drugs, one respondent said, “I have to emphatically say with no doubt in my mind, heroin. I’ve been fighting this demon for two decades nowand I’ve reached the ‘can’t fight it anymore’ stage. I am still wanting to quit, but I am so tired of quitting, relapsing, slumming down in my hell-hole for a few months or years, wanting to quit, struggling to get started on a detox, quitting, relapsing… All repeated over 24 years.”

Heroin is one of the opiates extracted from the poppy plant. Before reaching the final user, successive dealers mix the heroin with all sorts of other substances, such as caffeine, aspirin, sugar or flour. The appearance thus varies from a coarse white powder to yellow-brown chunks called “brown” or “smack”.

“With the use of heroin, one’s breathing and heart rate is literally slowed. The body temperature drops a little and the pupils contract greatly. Opiates impair the functioning of the intestines and the sphincter muscles. What the user experiences, however, is an absence of pain, dejection, anxiety, hunger and cold. The user enters a state of extreme relaxation, turns inward and becomes totally indifferent; the outside world no longer matters,” said Ms Grobbelaar.

She added that between 50 and 60 percent of all recent Wedge Gardens admissions are heroin-related. She added that the addiction is so difficult to treat that some rehabilitation centres limit the number of beds set aside for heroin addiction.

“These are hard-core users. Their life journey has been rudely interrupted. They are usually in conflict with the law, have been rejected by their family and are unemployed. Many have a dual diagnosis and suffer from depression, substance abuse-induced bipolar conditions, are schizophrenic and suicidal. Heroin addicts come from all income brackets, although we have noticed that it is mostly used by men,” she said.

These people face a hard road to becoming drug free. Ms Grobbelaar said that 60 percent of heroin addicts relapse within the first two to three days of treatment.

“They should strongly consider harm-reduction medication. While abstinence is the ideal, heroin addiction is so difficult to treat that people need to accept that the harm-reduction approach offers the greatest chance of success,” she said.

Ms Grobbelaar advocates an holistic approach. “Heroin users have generally damaged all areas of their life. You cannot simply get them clean, send them to lectures and then tell them to go home. A 21-day treatment programme is not going to be enough to undo the years of damage they have done to themselves and their loved ones,” she said.

Other current Wedge Gardens admissions relate to milder opiates like over-the-counter medicines that contain codeine, as well as cough mixtures; crystal meth (also known as tik); CAT (a cheaper alternative to cocaine) and alcohol. “Often, heroin is also added to CAT and crystal meth to get users hooked quicker,” said Ms Grobbelaar.

“The heroin causes stomach cramps and muscle aches, and the user then takes more drugs to rid themselves of these symptoms. We often have people telling us on admission to Wedge Gardens that they are addicted to CAT, for instance, but when we test them, we find opiates in their system,” she said.

For more information, contact Adèl Grobbelaar on 011 430-0320. You can also follow Wedge Gardens on the Facebook page www.facebook.com/WedgeGardensTreatmentCentre or on Twitter, @WedgeGardens.