CITY KIDS AS YOUNG AS 10 IN DRUG REHAB

Childen as young as 10 are being treated for drug abuse in Cape Town
clinics, which have also seen a significant increase in the number of
teenagers being admitted for a host of drug-related dependencies.

A survey in Cape Town in August 2002 further found that more than 10% of 11
to 17-year-olds had been drunk more than 10 times. The average age that
Cape Town children had their first drink was at 14.

These startling revelations were made by Dr Charles Parry, guest speaker at
the 50th anniversary AGM of the Western Cape branch of the South African
National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (Sanca) in Bellville
yesterday.

Parry is the director of the Medical Research Council's Alcohol and Drug
Abuse Research Group.

In compiling his report - "The changing face of alcohol and drug abuse in
Cape Town" - he used data from about 15 000 patients who had received
treatment at 23 substance abuse centres in Cape Town between July 1996 and
June 2003.

"In the first half of this year, 17 patients between 10 and 12 years old
were treated for substance abuse in Cape Town. These were mainly for dagga
abuse. Added to this is the ever increasing demand for treatment by younger
and younger patients, with an 18% increase between 1996 and 2003 for
patients younger than 20."

He said this increase could not simply be put down to treatment centres
changing admissions criteria, but should be viewed as an ominous sign of a
significant increase in the use of harder drugs by young people.

Parry found there had been an 11% increase since 1996 (4% to 15%) in people
seeking treatment for dagga-related problems.

"This trend is continuing upwards and appears fuelled by young, black
African patients coming in for treatment for dagga (and Mandrax) related
problems. At the same time, treatment for heroin increased by 6% (from 1%
in 1996 to 7% in 2003).

"While the trend towards increasing treatment demand related to heroin use
now appears to be stabilising, this could reflect the lack of accessibility
to treatment by new, young coloured and black users.

"Roughly 1 in 10 patients under 25 in treatment used heroin as their
primary drug of abuse. Over one in three users ... said they sometimes
injected the drug."

Another worrying factor was the number of new drugs being abused since 1996.

These included nexus, smart drinks, "malpitte", ketamine, GHB,
methcathinone, Khat, magic mushrooms, PCP, and crystal methamphetamine.

The most commonly abused over-the-counter drugs were analgesics, with women
the majority of abusers.

There had also been substantial demographic shifts in patterns of substance
abuse in Cape Town.

Heroin and Ecstasy, once the preserve of white drug users, had become more
popular with coloureds.

There was also an increase in the number of coloured males under 20 being
treated. "One out of every three heroin abusers were coloured males ...
(with) a decline among white users."

Alcohol remained a major substance of abuse.

"Over half of non-natural deaths in Cape Town and roughly one third of
trauma patients have alcohol levels above the legal limit for driving."

Steps that needed to be taken to turn the situation around included:

Formulating and implementing an action plan to specifically reduce alcohol
related injuries and deaths and to foster a culture of responsible drinking.

Effective programmes that targeted children at school with specific
attention given to alcohol, tobacco, dagga and Mandrax use.

Increasing the accessibility and utilisation of treatment facilities.