Between 215 and 425 thousand people were using heroin daily across South Africa in 2020 . This is according to a study published recently in the Journal of Illicit Economies and Development, which also finds that somewhere between 78 to 155 thousand kilograms of the drug was consumed that year .
Take data from rehab facilities. The South African Community Epidemiology Network on Drug Use includes a web of drug and alcohol treatment centres across South Africa. About 70% of all rehab facilities in the country are connected to the programme according to the South African Medical Research Council , which runs the programme.
Opioids are a category of drug which are either derived from the poppy plant or are developed in a laboratory to mimic its properties. These lab-made 'synthetic opioids' include pain-relief drugs like oxycodone and fentanyl, which have played a central role in the opioid crisis in the United States.
How did nyaope/whoonga come to be seen as a unique drug? One explanation is that several other laboratory studies have found that some nyaope specimens contain substances other than heroin. This is in line with a 2020 report by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime, which found that drug dealers in South Africa make no distinction between heroin, nyaope and whoonga, and that the same product is being sold regardless of the title used.
This spike in supply likely contributed to the fall in heroin prices during the 2000s and 2010s, meaning the drug became more accessible than ever. For instance, research in Cape Town found that in 2004, a gram of heroin/nyaope cost about R215 - a decade later, it had fallen to R119 .
Many others agree. A policy brief by ENACT states it's unlikely that more border enforcement would yield success as"South Africa's borders are large and current heroin routes, which primarily come through the Mozambican border, have much scope to shift". Blocking the supply of heroin could change this calculus. In the absence of straightforward policing measures, public health tools offer one solution to reducing the harm.When a person takes heroin, the body quickly converts it into morphine, eliciting euphoric feelings. However, most of that morphine exits the body within a few hours, leaving people who are dependent on heroin with cravings for more.
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