Thing is with heroin, cocaine and other drugs like meth is that it does not take years of practice to get addicted. It's from the first hit. It from the moment you try it and feel the drug corsing through your veigns. Perhaps the phisical dependance takes a few tries after but not long.

Once caught into the slavery it then is any excuse to keep doing them. Escape, Im in a spiral, e.t.c. anything to maintain the flow.

Alot of addicts stop trying to get help as they feel that they can "maintain" the addiction and that they have not yet hit rock bottom. Thing is, that the drugs blind them form actually seeing that they are at rock bottom already. They might be like this guy, knowingly doing harm, knowingly off the wagon but unable to break free from the phisical and psycoligical addiction.

But it is possible to get clean and off the drugs.

In ICD-10 diagnosis of dependence syndrome should only be set if at least three of the following criteria are met:

• Strong desire or sense of compulsion , to take the substance.
• Problems in controlling the intake of the substance, in relation to start, stop, and the amount consumed.
• Physiological withdrawal state that occur if the use of the substance has ceased or reduced, or shows with characteristic abstinensyndrom for that substance, or through use of the same or related substance to relieve or avoid withdrawal symptoms.
• Tolerance Development , so that larger doses are needed to provide the same effect as before.
• Growing indifference in relation to other pleasures and interests.
• Increasing time spent obtaining the substance, to use it, or to get in shape after use.
• Behavior and their use is continued even if the applicable obvious signs of adverse consequences.

Habit, control problem, abuse or addiction?

Habits

It is said often that we humans are creatures of habit. Throughout the day we will all have chains of behavior, which we repeat. Some habits are we happy, we get up at the same time, eat breakfast, or not eating, brushing teeth and so on. Other habits are we less happy, we like to call those bad habits. Habits can be small and not for the annoyance to either ourselves or others, other bad habits could be hazardous, may contribute to unpleasantness in the short or the long term, someone will be hurt ourselves or our loved ones. When we discover that our habits have negative consequences, most of us think about whether we should do something with them. In any case we change our habits, ending with them or adapt them so they will not be so problematic. A THERE times it can be difficult to change habits. This will often be the case if our habits also have something good or something exciting to offer. It can be difficult to decide to change your habits, it can be difficult to implement a decide, some people find it difficult to have sufficient faith that one will be able to make a change.

Control Problems

Someone decides once again to pull himself together and really do something drastic with their bad habits and experience as often to fall back into old patterns. Often this is about control issues. One can not control himself in certain situations, or when the temptations are too many or too large. Many experience this as if you sort of made up of two sides that will different things. A page that will have control and will do what we really know is "right" or "best", and then another page that will give some "f ..." and that will throw themselves into pleasure or power or whatever is trying to control. Some try to negotiate with themselves seeking compromises between what we know is right for the long term and what you want at the moment;

"I leave tomorrow ..."
"I deserve some encouragement now ..."
"I can just"

Such thoughts give a sort of permission to continue the habit.

Control problems may also turn out that way that one can not limit yourself when you're at it. Such control problems are not uncommon in our interactions with alcohol. Some people experience such problems in front of a slot machine. A decides to drink, or play for a few cents and then experienced it after a relatively short time that control is weakened, or completely gone and it feels like it's completely different forces that take over management than those who initially took the decision to play or drink.

When the control problem becomes a pattern that repeats itself frequently arises the danger that habit gets more and more extensive negative consequences. It initially was used for pleasure and enjoyment from developing into an abuse.

Abuse

When a behavior pattern, a habit out of control and goes beyond the psychological, medical or social circumstances, this is called an abuse.

Examples of misuse of drugs can be;
A student who smokes a lot hash through the weekend and as a consequence are unable to concentrate enough on lectures early in the week. His performances are weaker than they would have been if he did not smoke dagga.
A man who every Wednesday and Thursday drinking so much that he drives drunk with both Thursday and Friday morning.
A woman who frequently drink alcohol even if your doctor has warned her against this because of a medical condition (eg, ulcers).
Probably no one would think about some of these people that they had a substance abuse problem.

Dependence
Control Problems in isolated and rare events, is not necessarily a sign of trouble. With control if such problems recur frequently, something that happens so often that it is a real risk control problems each time, for example, drinking alcohol, this is a sign of addiction or that addiction is under development. When you also have persistent requests, or frequent attempts to quit or cut down on the use, without success, this is also a sign of a negative development. When a habit of taking an unusual amount of time, this is also a character. Someone who developed alcohol dependence will take time to obtain alcohol, to drink and to recover from the hangover. To go along significant portions of time, or days it has to do with alcohol. At the addiction that the abuse problem behavior goes beyond psychological, social or medical functions. In many cases, the person with addiction problems join with other activities, or functions as a result of these problems. Most people with addiction problems know that this goes beyond the important areas of life, but despite this certainty will continue to do this creates problems.

In some forms of addiction, the person will experience tolerance. That is, he or she need larger quantities or higher intensity to get the same benefits of the behavior as before. Some will experience withdrawal symptoms when they quit and will return to the problematic behavior to relieve withdrawal symptoms.

Of course, this pattern vary between individuals and between different types of habit, abuse, addiction. For one person it will also vary the number of such signs of addiction that of herself in various stages of life.

"The Gauteng organised crimes unit discovered a drug manufacturing laboratory estimated to be worth R30m in Pongola River Drive," said Captain Katlego Mogale. Police were monitoring the residence and busted the premises at 04:00 on Thursday morning. Drug manufacturing chemicals such as ephedrine, iodine and hydrochloric acid estimated to be worth R26m were found.

"Tik worth an estimated R14m was also found."

No arrests were made and police were investigating.

"ONLY YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE"

One in three SA teens is an addict'
Number of young users 'exploding',

As many as one in three teenagers in South Africa is addicted to drugs and alcohol, according to the SA National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (Sanca).

Shamim Garda, national executive director of Sanca, said this alarming figure was gleaned from the number of 13- to 18-year-olds presenting themselves for treatment at Sanca's 34 clinics countrywide.

And experts believe that the age of first experimentation has dropped from the early teens to between nine and 10 years old.

"What's so disturbing is the fact that these children are getting addicted to drugs and alcohol at younger ages,"
"The problem starts with nine- to 15-year-olds who experiment with cigarettes, alcohol, dagga and mandrax. They start to use more than one drug and get addicted to drugs such as heroin, Cat and crack cocaine."
Schoolchildren, are the drug peddlers' market. "Teenagers that are hooked become adults that are hooked. They stay addicts for a long time or die of it. It's just a spiral downwards - and ruins their lives."
Drug use is "exploding" in township communities, . "We are seeing more drugging among children and teenagers from poor communities. Drugs are coming from township children going to urban schools and children in urban areas going into townships.
On the weekends they have parties and take drugs - we're seeing a seepage of heroin and cocaine into the townships, especially in Gauteng."
"It's quite common for an 18- or 19-year-old to have a drug problem, but lately in the townships we are seeing children as young as 11 not only using, but addicted,"
"Children use drugs like mandrax to show they're cool and quickly become physically dependent. It has a sedative effect; children feel at ease about the reality of their lives."
Families are losing parents to HIV/Aids and grandparents on pension are forced to support entire families. "This creates a vicious cycle of child-headed households, drug abuse, violence and crime. In desperation, girls often turn to prostitution and boys turn to crime to support their families and drug habits.
"The children call it compromise. If they receive transport money and food for the day, they will walk to school and go hungry, pool their money and share one tablet,"
Captain Jan Combrinck, a co-ordinator for the SA Police Service's Gauteng drug enforcement programme, said up to 25% of schoolchildren were drug addicts in Gauteng.
Since 1994, he has been traversing the province, educating 500 000 school children, tertiary students and communities about the dangers of drug abuse. And what are we doing about it
Drugs were becoming cheaper and more accessible: "Years ago you would pay R300 for a gram of cocaine. Now the dealers are packing it into smaller quantities - you can buy a R20 bag or R50 bag of what you want."
Drugs did not discriminate and struck young people from all walks of life.
"The biggest problems among schoolchildren are dagga, mandrax, crack cocaine, Ecstasy, tik, Cat, magic mushrooms, heroin and LSD.

A Report from Captain Jan Combrinck

"These drugs are all over - our suburbs and townships are full of them. Sometimes you'll find dealers focus on certain areas but the buying power is spread out now and everyone is affected ...

What makes it very hard to police is the fact that these children are supplied by other children, often at schools."
At one primary school I visited, I found 15 children on dagga and alcohol - two were sniffing heroin. I recently received a referral from a court in Pretoria that a nine-year-old had a problem with Cat.
"These children are so young but are already so streetwise - they know what the drug does and where to get it.

What angers me is that a drug merchant has the guts to sell to a nine-year-old child."
Combrinck said there were not enough good role models for teenagers and that contributed to rising drug abuse.
"Parents are just either out there to make money or keeping the pots cooking. They aren't there for their children.

"The drugs make these children feel better for the short term and that's the danger ... As adults, we take drugs for three years and drop dead but these are still young bodies - they think they'll live forever, that they can easily leave the drugs behind."

Society is "losing its values and beliefs", "There is a general breakdown in family relationships. We also need to have far more discipline in the home." Children should be taught, or to be aware of dangers of drugs so that they can make an informed choices,

Teenagers' new drug of choice Lately

SA witnesses massive upsurge in use of nyaope - a potent mix of cheap heroin and dagga CALLED Nyaope, Kataza, Ungu or Pinch - it's a potent cocktail of dagga and cheap heroin and the latest drug of choice for thousands of South African teenagers.

The mix is referred to by different names throughout the country. There has been a massive surge in its use in Mpumalanga and northern Gauteng in recent months.
the surge in nyaope use has led to more addicts becoming addicted to heroin.

As a result, Sanca is predicting major growth in intravenous heroin use within the next two years. This would lead to an increase in HIV-Aids because users tend to share and re-use needles, exposing themselves to the virus.

Nyaope - which originated in 2006 in the Pretoria townships of Soshanguve, Atteridgeville and Mamelodi - is also sometimes mixed with rat poison to enhance its effect.

It has recently spread to the rest of South Africa and is popular because it is so cheap. In Johannesburg and Soweto, the mix is known as kataza.
Elosine Auckamp, of Sanca's Thusong treatment centre, in Eersterus, Pretoria, said more than 10 teenagers from the area seek treatment at the centre for nyaope addiction every month.

She added: "And those are just the ones we know about; hundreds more never seek treatment. Sometimes we get up to 14 new cases a month. The users are typically between 14 and 27."
It's the low-grade heroin in the drug that forces addicts to use increasingly stronger mixtures of it until they are entirely heroin dependent.

Dagga, experts say, is a gateway to harder drugs because it is more well-known, easily available and perceived by users to be less harmful.
Andreas Plüddemann, a researcher at the Medical Research Council, said his organisation's most recent drug monitoring report, for January to June last year, showed a staggering increase in nyaope use in Mpumalanga and Limpopo, where it is referred to as pinch.

He said that 22percent of all patients treated for drug addiction in those provinces are heroin abusers, and it is believed that many started by smoking the Pinch mixture.
Most of South Africa's heroin comes from Mozambique and enters the country through Mpumalanga.

In Western Cape, where the drug tik is widely abused, numbers of heroin addicts have increased and they now constitute 15percent of patients in rehabilitation centres.
Plüddemann said the mix, known as "ungu" in Western Cape, was increasingly being used by tik addicts as well.
In Gauteng, about 10percent of addicts in treatment list heroin as their primary drug.

“SA drug use double that of world norm”

Filed Under (crime) by Jan Hennop on 16-07-2009 and tagged crime, drugs, South Africa
Drug consumption in South Africa is currently twice the world norm and the use of cocaine and dagga has increased by 20 percent in two years, the Central Drugs Authority (CDA) has said.

“The drug problem in South Africa remains very serious with drug usage being twice the world norm in most cases…and we are only dealing with what we know about…this is only the tip of the iceberg,” said Dr David Bayever of the CDA, a government drug control organisation.

In 2006 2.52 million people used dagga and this increased to 3.2 million in 2008, said Bayever speaking at the release in Pretoria of the United Nations 2009 World Drug Report.

The use of cocaine increased from 0.24 million in 2006 to 0.29 million in 2008, the Sapa news agency reported.
However the use of opiates such as heroin decreased by 20 percent during the same time period.
Accordingly in 1996 one percent of South Africans were in treatment for heroin abuse while in 2008 those in treatment for
this addiction increased between eight and 24 percent.
The number of South Africans in treatment for cocaine addiction increased from 1.5 percent in 1996 to 17.5 percent in 2008.

Bayever said that 15 percent of South Africa’s population had a drug problem and that the country needed to change its approach to dealing with the issue as social structure continued to change.

There were more single mothers raising children in the country at present than before and child-headed households had doubled between 2002 and 2007.

An increase in child-headed households from 701,000 in 2007 to 5.7 million was expected by 2015.

This would have negative effects on these children in terms of their behaviour and achievement, possibly leading to drug use.

The Fifa Soccer World Cup was also likely to bring an increase in demand as well as drug trafficking while the current recession in South Africa may not necessarily affect drug users.

Worrying statistics folks. How do you think our city is affected by drugs and how will it become increasingly more affected? Visit our group Letsemeng and give us your opinion.

• Certain organs can be damaged and overloaded.

• The way of life of the addict, which is enforced by the drugs will change considerably.

• Drugs are used at the expense of healthy eating or a healthy social life (family, friends or acquaintances).

This drug addict experiences physical and mental decline. The fact that drugs are illegal also plays a big role. In the long term, risks occur where doctors and researchers have no idea what effect it has on the physical and mental state of drug addicts.

The side effects of drugs can lead to increased blood pressure, a dry throat and mouth, the stiffening of the jaw muscles, teeth grinding, heart palpitations (which may startle or cause fear), nausea, anxiety, poisoning, muscle cramps, depressed or anxious. In people with heart disease, diabetes and epilepsy it can become a big problem.

Very Important:

• Cocaine addiction leads to serious physical and mental addiction.
• Producing, trading and use of cocaine is strictly prohibited anywhere in the world.

Possible symptoms of cocaine addiction:

• Misplaced sense of superiority and omnipotence
• Hyper-alertness
• Hyperactivity
• Hyper-sexual behaviour
• Apparently feeling happiness (euphoria )
• Nervousness
• Anxiety
• Paranoia (paranoid delusions )
• Hallucinations
• Widely dilated pupils
• Accelerated heartbeat
• Hypertension
• High fever
• Severe, often fatal, heart attack
• Constipation
• Intestinal damage
• Nervousness, violent
• Subcutaneous nerve disorders ( feeling of bugs under the skin)
• Seizures (convulsions )
• Very violent behavior and other psychoses
• Insomnia
• Miscarriage
• Damage to the fetus
• Infants with nutrition, muscle coordination, sleep and behavior disorders

Important to know:

• The effect of a dose of cocaine lasts only 30 minutes.
• To curb the intense nervousness during the use of cocaine, users often combine it with alcohol or a sedative.

Cocaine withdrawal symptoms:

• Severe fatigue
• Depression
• Suicidal tendencies

Risks of Cocaine Addiction:

• Risk of infection through contaminated needles: ao-vein inflammation (phlebitis), hepatitis, HIV infection (AIDS) and blood poisoning (sepsis )
• Malnutrition due to poor diet
• Miscarriage, foetal damage and sick babies, stop menstruating
• Death by overdose
• Suicide
• Imprisonment

When you drink alcohol, you can experience a 'hangover' the next day: tired and you feel nauseous and have thirst. Fatigue occurs under influence of alcohol because you last longer than you should. The nausea and headaches are caused by chemical by-products in alcoholic beverages (e.g. in wine, there are a zeshonderdtal to detect chemicals) and the negative effects of degradation of the alcohol itself. Therefore do you get dehydrated and you get thirsty.

Alcohol increases the the lust to make love, but it often decreases sexual performance and the duration can potentially cause problems.

People who drink too much too quickly, can experience a "blackout". While you were drunk you were still conscious, but you may not be able to remember what you did.

When you're drunk it can be difficult to estimate risks. Everyone knows the dangers of drinking and driving and the possible consequences. Even at work and during leisure time it can lead to accidents, and wrong decisions.

Alcohol may provoke aggression and recklessness and lead to reckless behaviour, brawling, but also to intrusion or sexual harassment.

In the long term

Alcohol Abuse in the long term affects the entire body. The best known is the liver damage (inflammation, fat accumulation, cirrhosis), pancreas and brains. Research shows that there is a link between alcohol consumption and various cancers (mouth, throat, esophagus, liver, colon, breast).

Alcohol is sometimes a 'nightcap', but is actually a bad and dangerous sedative. The sleeping effect that you might experience in the beginning, disappears or reduces when you drink regularly, so you tend to drink more (with the risk of dependency). With moderate drinking you sleep badly, often restless, not as long and definitely not refreshingly.

When you drink too much alcohol, you may eventually suffer from obesity. Indeed, the body tends to burn the alcohol first and will not allow the burning of fat, so fat accumulation occurs and you become fat.

Alcohol doesn't contain enough proteins and vitamins. Thus, it creates deficits and you become weaker and weaker over time.

Long term alcohol abuse, will also cause you to suffer from memory problems, sometimes resembling early dementia.

Alcohol takes away your ability to control your behaviour and emotions. In the long term real character changes occur.

Alcohol Dependence

Created by alcohol abuse both physical and mental dependence create tolerance (the latter means you need more alcohol to feel the same effect).

The dried buds of the female hemp plant is called marijuana (or weed / weed). Marijuana looks like fine to coarse tea and varies in color from gray-green to greenish brown. Hash  is made from the resinous layer that covers the tops of the female cannabis plant. This sticky substance is in many ways part of the plant and is separated into a light brown, green, brown or black substance kneaded together.

Ways of use

Marijuana and hashish are usually smoked in the form of a rolled cigarette with a cardboard filter (joint / stick), in a small pipe, in a bong or a vaporizer (Vaporiser).

Cannabis smoking is also called throttling or smoking dope.
Sometimes cannabis is processed into cakes (space cake) or tea. The effects will be slower (sometimes only after ninety minutes), but also lasts longer than the smoke.

Why is cannabis used?

The effects of cannabis can vary depending on the quantity, quality and the way you use cannabis, but also depend on your personality, your hopes and the situation you use in.

Marijuana and hashish usually enhances a feeling or a mood. If you feel good, it is likely a pleasant feeling of gaiety (a 'high' feeling) and a mild intoxication will be experienced. If you are anxious or down, you  may start to feel even worse.

You will be sensitive to light and your pulse and breathing accelerates. You can also get clammy hands or a heavy feeling in your arms and legs. That is called 'stoned'. Sometimes you tend to laugh at trifles ("laughing") and get a hungry feeling and a strong desire for sweets ("munchies").

Users have the impression that cannabis stimulates their thinking and imagination and give them a positive outlook on the world. THC also increases the sensitivity and sensory changing the perception of time, allowing users to experience different realities.

Risks of cannabis use

Short-term

Cannabis increases the mood for the moment. If you feel bad, you may start to feel even worse. In people who are vulnerable or psychologically predisposed to psychotic disorders, cannabis use can trigger or exacerbate the problems.

A cannabis intoxication makes it difficult for users to concentrate, think logically and something to remember. Cannabis and work, study or traffic dont' go well together, even though users sometimes have the impression that everything goes smoothly.

Cannabis makes your blood pressure higher and ensures a faster heartbeat. That can be dangerous for people with heart problems.

With a high dose of THC you can become dizzy and nauseous and sometimes faint. This risk is especially high if you eat cannabis, because you can't estimate how much more THC you'll get.

A high dose of THC may also produce a lot of negative feelings such as intense anxiety, panic attacks, depression, restlessness, confusion and hallucinations. Those negative feelings, cause you to 'freak out'.

In the long term

Prolonged and frequent cannabis use reduces the power of concentration, memory and learning performance. After stopping use, these problems can persist for several months before they disappear.

People who use a lot and often, can become mentally dependent. This means that cannabis takes center stage in your thoughts, feelings and actions and to stop using is difficult.

Long-term cannabis use presents no risk of physical dependence, but may do harm to your health. Smoking is bad for your health. The same goes for smoking cannabis. A joint contains more tar than a cigarette. Even those who smoke cannabis pure (without tobacco), get a lot more tar inside their lungs. Therefore you run the risk of a lung disease (bronchitis, lung cancer, respiratory disease) or heart problems. Moreover, many cannabis smokers inhale the smoke more deeply,  which increases the harm. Anyone who smokes cannabis with tobacco, can also become physically dependent on nicotine from tobacco.

More and more research is pointing in the direction that regular cannabis use permanent changesthe  brain structure, especially among young users. The scientific debate is still underway, so caution should be taken untill more is known.

There are serious risks associated with smoking cannabis at a young age, including an increased risk of dependence and psychosis.

Speed is younger than many other types of drugs. It was only invented in late 19th century, in a laboratory. Only in 1930,were there studies done on its effects. Until the 60s it was a legitimate agent and was used as a slimming agent. After 60 years, it passed into the hands of the youth and between 1969 and 1972, use of this drug spread dramatically. Around 1970, most countries made laws against using 'speed'.

The effect of 'speed' on a user

Speed is energizing. This applies to both body and mind. The effect depends on how you use it and the amount that is used. In general, high blood pressure, headache, tense muscles, little or no appetite, enlarged pupils, fast movement of the jaws, grinding of teeth, rapid pulse and fatigue are associated with using speed. The mental effects are: confidence, cheerfulness, feeling alert and feeling active temporarily. On the other side of the coin, a user can also feel irritable, anxious or restless. This usually happens when the speed starts wearing off.

Speed is available as a powder and in pill form. This is sometimes snorted or injected, but usually it gets swallowed. When injested orally, it starts working after 15/20 minutes. When snorted, the effect sets in after just a few minutes. By injection it works almost immediately.

With speed you do not suffer from severe withdrawal symptoms, but you'll feel tired. You have to increasingly more of the drug to get the same effect. Mental dependence plays a main role in the use of speed. If you regularly use, you can feel that you can not enjoy your life without speed. The disadvantage is that you will still feel rotten.

Speed addiction needs to be taken seriously. It can rule your life if you don't seek help.

With the poor physical conditions of these women, the risk arises of complications at birth. The poor lifestyle of many addicted women often causes many infections. These again have their influence on the unborn child. Detoxification during pregnancy without the proper medication and supervision is not recommended. Acute abstinence during pregnancy may in some cases even cause the death of the unborn child. The use of methadone as a replacement is better.
During the early phase of development, the brain of an unborn child is very sensitive to addictive substances. Seeing as hard drugs (including methadone) easily cross the placenta, the foetus gets addicted as well. This is expressed in a complex form of disease, neonatal withdrawal syndrome. The child will therefore have withdrawal after birth. This is best done under medical supervision. The use of opiates during pregnancy and its administration during the birth of the newborn can cause respiratory depression and is very dangerous.

Additional information
Heroin user levels are always mixed, usually with caffeine, often with paracetamol. Caffeine increases the ability to smoke. There are also a wide variety of toxins used to cut the drug, like other opiates. Besides heroin, alcohol, cocaine, methadone and drugs such as tranquilizers and sleeping tablets are used in conjunction. The danger of opiates is that the positive effects that arise are also adverse effects; the calming effect quickly leads to forms of neglect that comes from feeling indifferent.

Opiates such as morphine are also used medicinally. A fatal overdose can really only be reached by injecting too much. There is a small risk that someone can fall into a deep sleep after smoking or snorting (or in combination with antidepressants can even cause a sub-coma) and then choke in their sleep from vomit.