{"id":11498,"date":"2021-06-25T12:59:47","date_gmt":"2021-06-25T12:59:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssdev.co.za\/crossroads-old\/?p=11498"},"modified":"2021-06-25T12:59:48","modified_gmt":"2021-06-25T12:59:48","slug":"the-myths-surrounding-nyaope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ssdev.co.za\/crossroads-old\/the-myths-surrounding-nyaope\/","title":{"rendered":"The myths surrounding nyaope"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The myths surrounding nyaope<\/h1>Reach out now, we can help<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/header>
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The myths surrounding nyaope<\/h3>
25 June, 2021<\/span>Articles, News<\/span><\/div>\n

Nyaope is a street drug\nthat first emerged in the late 2000’s in the Pretoria townships of\nSoshanguve and Mamelodi. It has ravaged informal settlements and\npoorer communities across South Africa, as it is easily available,\ninexpensive and highly physically addictive. It is known by\ndifferent street names in other parts of South Africa : ‘whoonga’\nor ‘sugars’ in KwaZulu-Natal and ‘pinch’ in the Limpopo and\nMpumalanga regions. It appears as a white or brown powder that is\nsmoked with marijuana or, as the addiction progresses – sometimes\ninjected intravenously. The main ingredients in nyaope are low-grade\nheroin and marijuana which are frequently cut with various other\nsubstances such as methamphetamines, milk powder and a host of other\neasily available items. Though the name of the drug varies from place\nto place, the components of the mixture remain the same. Because the\ningredients vary from region to region, many myths about the exact\ningredients of the substance are perpetuated, primarily by the media.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of these myths is that nyaope users mix antiretrovirals (ARV’s) medications with heroin in order to enhance the effect of the drug. Reports in the media of ARVs being added to nyaope started emerging in 2011 and 2012. According to these reports, several doctors in Soweto reported that their consultation rooms had been ransacked and HIV medication stolen. Media reports also cited HIV patients being robbed of their pills after collecting them from local clinics; others reported patients selling their ARVs to nyaope addicts or dealers. When taken orally as prescribed, an ARV known as Efavirenz is associated with hallucinations, delusions. After seeing a news report about the use of ARVs in nyaope, John Schetz, associate professor at the University of North Texas Health Science Centre in the United States, conducted research into the effects of smoking Efavirenz. His findings, published in the international scientific journal Neuropsychopharmacology, showed that Efavirenz had ” [a] prevailing behavioural effect in rodents [that] is consistent with LSD-like activity”. However, no study has been conducted involving humans smoking Efavirenz. In 2017 the Department of Health replaced Efavirenz with Dolutegravir due to the abnormal rate of liver damage in users of Efavirenz. Many studies have been done on the contents of nyaope and none have recorded the presence of ARV’s within the mixtures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another myth regarding\nnyaope addicts refers to something called “bluetoothing”. This\nparticular myth originated when a photograph of nyaope users appeared\nin the media. The image went viral in January 2017. The practice of\n“bluetoothing” referred to injecting heroin into one user and\nthat same user drawing their blood and injecting it into another user\nand the next user experiencing a high. There is no scientific\nevidence to support the idea that this would work in the first place.\nSecondly, researchers have questioned users who say that this is not\na practice that occurs amongst themselves. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nyaope was classified as illegal in March 2014, with the amendment of the Drugs and Trafficking Act of 2014 (Government Gazette, 2014). The Act was amended to include a ban on substances that contain “other prohibited drugs like heroin and dagga, as they are illegal”. People caught using nyaope can now be sentenced for up to 15 years. Those caught selling the concoction face up to 25 years in jail. Data gathered by the South African Community Epidemiology Network on Drug Use<\/a> (SACENDU), shows an increase in the number of patients reporting Nyaope as their primary substance of use in both 2017 and 2018 and the numbers are continuing to climb. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The high from nyaope creates a feeling of euphoria, contentment and relaxation. The effects of smoking nyaope are less potent, and as dependency builds, the preferred method changes to intravenous use as this produces a more intense high. After the initial effects, a feeling of drowsiness can persist for several hours. Harmful or negative side-effects may include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n