Literature Review Of Drug Abuse In South Africa

LITERATURE REVIEW

Drug abuse among the youth in South Africa is fast becoming a major problem. According to Thompson (2013) illegal drug consumption in the country is double the world norm. This is in agreement with Parry (2007) who stated that law enforcement agencies, service providers and substance abuse researchers were of the opinion that the nature and extent of illicit drug trafficking, consumption and associated effects have all increases dramatically as the country continues to undergo major political and social transformations, and as trade and links have opened up with other African countries and the rest of the world.

The SANCA annual report of 2010 observed that the common substances abused by young people include alcohol, nicotine (cigarettes and snuff), glue, cannabis, Mandrax, heroine, tik and recently Nyaope. The Bureau of market research indicated that cigarette smoking and hubbly bubbly (Oka pipe) are becoming more and more popular among secondary school learners, especially among girls.

A study by Nesser (2005) revealed that over 42 per cent of young people in South Africa had seen drugs being sold in their neighborhoods. The same study revealed that when young people were asked if whether they knew a friend or classmate who was using illegal drugs, the majority of coloured (79.3 percent) confirmed that they did. Of other groups approximately 57 per cent of Indian/Asian, 40 per cent of whites and 37 per cent of blacks answered in the affirmative

The