Cannabis Is Helping Heroin Users Withdraw And Stay Clean In This South African Harm Reduction Center

Niko Vorobyov, a journalist and author of the book "Dopeworld" traveled to 15 countries on five continents to look at how the issue of illicit drugs "has shaped the entire world: wars, scandals, coups, revolution." During his time in South Africa, he visited a harm reduction center in Durban where he saw first hand how cannabis was helping ease the withdrawal symptoms of heroin addiction.

In his article for Leafie, Vorobyov tells the story of Durban's Bellhaven Harm Reduction Center where a sign on the wall expresses a dire message: "The dead don't recover." Durban, South Africa's third-largest city, is also considered the country's heroin capital.

Failing As A Human Race

Msizi Ngubane, a former addict who received treatment at Bellhaven and who now works at the center as a mentor, explains the facility’s principles beginning with the fact that it is not a traditional rehab where you get "clean." It also helps people live their best and healthiest life. Ngubane, who came to Bellhaven to get methadone, also got the help he needed to get his life back on track, and now he is returning the favor by helping people who are addicted and unsure of how to approach the services the facility offers.

"In the townships, you don't look for drugs, the drugs look for you," Ngubane told Vorobyov. "They're everywhere. You didn't choose to be in that environment, your family was broke to stay in that place. And you will hear grown-ups saying, ‘Drugs were not there in our times, we never smoked drugs!' I know, that's why you never smoked it. But the alcohol was there, and that's why you drank it!!"

Ngubane shared the horrific treatment of drug addicts. "They're gonna beat you and nobody's gonna care," he said. "You're a drug addict, so you're supposed to be beaten, they say. Yesterday someone said at a meeting: ‘I saw them hitting someone, but they were just hitting a pariah…That means we have failed as a human race."

Heroin Cheaper Than Alcohol

Professor Monique Marks, the founding director of Bellhaven and head of the Urban Futures Center (UFC) at the Durban University of Technology, told Vorobyov that Durban is plagued with a form of heroin called “sugar.”

"About fifteen years ago, this sugar started being developed in places like Chatsworth, which is the Indian area of Durban where there are heroin production factories,” she explained. “And then what happened is that Durban harbor would be the entry point from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Asia, and then it would get sent out to Joburg or parts of Europe and the US, but now because we become major consumers of heroin, a lot of it stays” She added that as heroin grew in demand, it became cheap than alcohol.

In Durban, heroin is sold in capsules, which makes the dosing easier and detection by the cops harder.

Read Also: South Africa Legalizes Cannabis Use In Private Settings, Says No To Sales And Yes To Home Grow

Cannabis: Gateway Or Exit Drug?

Vorobyov says that cannabis "is only a gateway drug in the same sense that taking an afternoon yoga class is the gateway to enlightenment. You could make that correlation with any drug, caffeine being the most common – by the logic of the gateway drug theory, all druggies started out getting their fix in Starbucks."

Marks confirms the concept. "The majority of cannabis users – and in South Africa that's probably the majority of the population – do not transition to other forms of drugs."

"I can tell you that because I'm a cannabis user," she continues. "I have no desire to use heroin. I've tried MDMA once, I've no desire to go back. I don't particularly want to try any other drugs. I'm not opposed to it, but I don't feel a need to; the cannabis works for me. And I think the majority of people would probably feel the same. For people that are dealing with serious traumas, cannabis will be a gateway drug, not because of cannabis, but because it's usually the first drug they can be introduced to and when that doesn't have the desired effect, then they will move towards other types."

For Ngubane, a recovering addict, marijuana is a helpful tool for staying clean. It is quite the opposite of a gateway drug, says Vorobyov.

"Dagga [local name for marijuana] will always make you think, whether you like it or not, but you will think," Ngubane said.

"For me, during the period when I stopped smoking [drugs], whenever I smoked weed I would just think about stuff other than whoonga [form of black tar heroin]," he said. “It keeps me calm and makes everything clearer. I can actually concentrate.”

Ngubane points out that quitting cannabis brings no pain and no withdrawal. "It's just when you feel like you want to smoke, you're gonna smoke; if you don't feel like, you won't smoke. Yeah, so it's more like a habit."

While marijuana is not a cure for withdrawal, there are testimonies confirming it is a helpful tool when dealing with addiction, which several studies confirm.

One, funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), found that cannabis is associated with reduced opioid cravings for people using unregulated opioids (PWUO) and people living with chronic pain. Researchers found that 58% of 205 participants reported that their motivation to use marijuana was to reduce opioid cravings. They also found that cannabis use was associated with self-reported reductions in opioid use. 

Read Also: Harvard Doctor Shatters Taboos: ‘People Can Use Cannabis Instead Of Opioids For Pain’

"Heroin is a sedative, it's not an upper, but it does take away any feeling of trauma, or like anxiety," Marks said.

"It's best described by a friend of mine, who was a heroin user, like being in the arms of your mum and dad. When you're looking for that embrace with cannabis, it depends on what strain we use. So if you're using an indica strain, it has a calming effect. If you're wanting a high you would use the sativa strain. So our clients are very good at knowing which strains they need to use to kick in when you're not having the arms of your mother around you and your life is chaotic and traumatic."

Since cannabis doesn't work the same way opioids do and withdrawal still occurs, Marks nevertheless asserts that cannabis can help. "It's a tool, but it's an inexpensive and accessible tool which many feel comfortable with."

Continue reading on Leafie.

Read Next:

• Can Medical Cannabis Help End The Opioid National Crisis? Another Study Confirms Its Potential
• Cannabis Use Does Not Impede Opioid Addiction Recovery, According To Major Study

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