The once-proud father fights back tears while describing his model son’s metamorphosis into a thieving, violent drug user -‒ one of a rising number of South African teens falling prey to crystal methamphetamine.
”I am very sad, desperate. We are going through hell,” he says, dabbing at his eyes with a handkerchief and apologising for the uncharacteristic show of emotion.
He gives a false name, Tyson, fearing persecution by drug dealers doing swift business in his suburb of Kraaifontein in Cape
Town.
His son, 19, has been using crystal meth, known colloquially as ”tik”, for two years and failed at numerous rehabilitation attempts.
The sporty, studious and dependable youngster has become a paranoid and gaunt loner who failed two final school year subjects, had run-ins with the law, and has stolen just about every item that can be sold from his home.
Living with him has become unbearable, says Tyson (46) who works as a driver to eke out a middle-class existence.
”He has driven me to the edge of financial ruin,” the father told Agence France-Presse. ”He has stolen shoes, clothes, cellphones and cameras from us [his parents and siblings], even meat from the fridge and jars of coffee.”
And rehabilitation costs money too.
Grant Jardine, director of the Cape Town Drug Counselling Centre, said tik was fast becoming the favoured drug of young people, being comparatively cheap and accessible.
Its rise has not only hit Cape Town harder than any other area of South Africa but, according to Jardine, also outstripped all other global trends.
”Nowhere else in the world has there been such a massive increase in the use of a drug over such a short period of time.”
Statistics from South Africa’s Medical Research Council (MRC) show that 46% of patients seeking drug treatment in Cape Town from January to June last year were tik users, compared to 0,7% four years earlier.
The average user was 22-years-old, getting ever younger. Seventy-three percent were male, and 91% coloured. Most came from predominantly coloured Cape Town suburbs where criminal gangs run rife.
Tik gives users a feeling of euphoria while boosting self-confidence and energy, said Jardine.
It is more addictive than drugs like marijuana and mandrax, causes insomnia and restlessness, suppressed appetite and can give rise to psychotic episodes — telltale signs parents should look out for, he added.
About a tenth of tik users become addicts.
”The loss of potential is the biggest tragedy,” said Jardine.
”Users miss out on crucial stages of their emotional and psychological development.”
In South Africa, the drug is typically smoked in a lightbulb. A plastic straw of tik sells for R15 to R30 ($2 to $4), and the drug is manufactured from inexpensive and accessible ingredients. Recipes can be found on the
internet.
Jardine said tik was devastating communities in Cape Town.
”Most users are involved in crime or prostitution to fund their habit,” he said.
”Most are unemployed, yet they spend an average R3 000 a month on drugs.”
Tik use also increased high-risk sexual behaviour conducive to the spread of HIV/Aids.
Effective prevention programmes and parental involvement were key, Jardine said, as policing alone would not rid communities of drug traffickers. ‒ Sapa-AFP