Drug addicts in Pretoria spend between R500 and R1 000 a day on drugs.
This is one of the shocking drug-related statistics revealed in a study by Pretoria-based charity organisation Solidarity Helping Hand this week.
The study was held in conjunction with Moeggesukkel Rehabilitation Centre.
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R104 Million worth of drugs recovered and three suspects arrested, Pretoria https://t.co/oe6fF7Xlnc #ArriveAlive @SAPoliceService pic.twitter.com/Na9qSKsD8x
— Arrive Alive (@_ArriveAlive) June 14, 2017
The study sought to determine the financial implications of drugs.
Fifty-eight respondents from Centurion, Menlyn and Fountains Valley took part in the research.
They included addicts who were homeless as well as those living with family or on their own.
SAPneeds to come and clean Sunnyside Pretoria. Drugs, human trafficking. This has been going on for decades
— Scarabaied (@Dungbeetlemusic) October 11, 2017
Respondents spent on average R1 030 on drugs on each purchase, a minimum of R90 and maximum of R5 000.
Pupils possibly from Daspoort High School are smoking drugs outside cafe in van Riebeeck Street, Daspoort Pretoria.
In taxi.@DebbieSchafer— Gregory Harington #M1BridgeCollapse (@AskGregory) September 22, 2017
Only 9 percent of the respondents spent less than R200 per purchase.
Most of them spent between R500 and R1 000 a day on drugs.
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But most respondents confessed that they did not use their own funds to maintain their addiction since 83 percent of them did not have a fixed income.
Around 40 percent of them admitted criminal activity, mainly theft and fraud, supported their addiction. The rest did “odd jobs” to feed their addiction. Sixteen percent of them used funds obtained from family members.
@outlgbt project manager for StepUP project Pretoria Nelson Medeiros talking @SAdrugpolicy 2017 #drugs #harmreduction @OpenSociety pic.twitter.com/Pz5jCRKt9d
— Mame Bougouma Diene (@mame_bougouma) August 1, 2017
Around 32 percent of those interviewed said they regularly sold drugs to support their own drug habit.
You cannot walk in ur birth country and not feel safe. reality is You walking or driving or relaxing at home or at a garage or in a park or shopping center, crime is at ur finger tips!!! U are not safe in jozi or Germiston or Pretoria or anywhere in south@eNCA #CrimeMustFall
— Chan Morlevanstine (@chan_moloi) November 17, 2017
Around a quarter made money for drugs by begging. Some respondents claimed they made up to R3 000 a day this way.
The 17 respondents who said they begged regularly made an average of R1 263 a day though some days they made little as R150.
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If you are addicted to drugs, or know someone who is, and wish to quit, you can call drug abuse helpline, Hopeline on 012-358-5001.
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