Substance abuse is rife among working class high school learners and the average age of substance experimentation has dropped to 12. These are some of the alarming findings of a Limpopo Social Study which warns that the “twin evils of our time are gangsterism and drugs”.

The study, ‘Trends in socio-demographic characteristics and substance use among high school learners in a selected district in Limpopo Province, South Africa’ published by PubMed Central (PMC) was written by Linda Suro and Firdouza Waggie. It canvassed 768 learners from four different urban and rural schools in Limpopo Province.

It found that the most used substances were:

• alcohol (49%),

• cigarettes (20.8%), and

• marijuana (dagga/cannabis) (16.8%) (20,7% in urban schools).

Among the findings were that twice as many males as females smoked cigarettes, there was generally more alcohol use amongst females while drug use varied, but generally male scholars were more likely to be regular users than females, but across both genders, urban scholars consumed more cannabis than their rural counter-parts.

PMC said that the findings, published on 24 June 2024, came against the backdrop of drug consumption in South Africa being twice the global average, and the average age of ‘drug experimentation’ dropping to 12!

The report said: “South Africa is ranked in the top 10 narcotics and alcohol abusers in the world. For every 100 people, 15 have a drug problem and for every 100 Rands in circulation, 25 Rands is linked to substance use”.

PMC suggests that although cigarette and alcohol consumption dominated the mindset of public health thinking, South Africa’s street drug problem appeared to be getting steadily worse.

It found that the average age youngsters began experimenting with drugs was 12, and this was dropping.

“The increased availability and variety of drugs available to South African teenagers is a cause for alarm, for example, marijuana (known as dagga/cannabis), cocaine, glue, methamphetamine known as TIK and whoonga known as “nyaope”-a street name for a mixture of mainly dagga and low-grade heroin” read the report.

“In one district in Limpopo, learners identified alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, petrol, glue and jeyes fluid mixed with spirit as the commonly used substances and other learners experimented on heroin and cannabis as they had friends with access to the drugs in town.

“Youth in Limpopo are engaged in different substances (tobacco, alcohol, hard core drugs) with cannabis, inhalants, bottled wine, home, and commercially brewed beer as commonly abused substances. This highlights the need for more monitoring studies to review the escalating situation of substance use among learners to create a wider data baseline for evidence-based initiatives.”

According to the report there also appears to be a direct association between substance abuse and crime

“South Africa is also experiencing an up rise in drugs and gangsterism labelled the “twin evils of our time”, especially found among youth in previously marginalized communities. The problem is viewed as an indication of the many socio-economic challenges faced by working class communities”.

The report said that “in light of many existing policies, it is worrying to note a gradual increase in prevalence rates of substance use amongst learners noting the gap between what is on paper and actual implementation”.

It concluded that “health promotion initiatives need to be tailored within the context of socio-demographic characteristics of learners including the multiple levels of influence such as peer pressure, poverty, unemployment and child-headed families. 

Additional research is required to investigate the factors leading to a notable gradual increase in use among female learners and into the environmental and family settings of learners in influencing substance use.”

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