A bottle and a bag of weed: substance abuse trends in KwaZulu-Natal

An alcohol and other drug (AOD) surveillance system shows a significant increase in the number of young black people seeking treatment for substance abuse in Kwazulu-Natal (KZN) from 2008 to 2010, raising serious health concerns. Initiated in 1996, the South African Community Epidemiology Network on Drug Use (SACENDU), collects alcohol and other drug use (AOD) surveillance data in the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces, monitors trends and consequences of substance abuse on a six-monthly basis, using information obtained from specialist treatment centres within each province. MOHAMMED YACOOB VAWDA and ARVIN BHANA analysed the KZN findings'.