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Whoonga (or wonga), nyaope and sugars are South African street names for heroin.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]

Heroin came into widespread use in South Africa in 2009^[6] but the epidemic of heroin addiction has escalated since 2013^[1] as prices have fallen rapidly in recent years.^[1] Heroin is primarily used by unemployed young men.^[4]

Usage

Heroin generates intense feelings of euphoria, deep contentment, and relaxation. It also reduces appetite. Effects of may last two to four hours.^[7] The drug is usually inhaled after being warmed in a glass pipe but can be also smoked with cannabis in the form of a joint,^[8] and also may be injected intravenously although this is rare.^[9]

Adverse effects

The effects of heroin typically wear off in 6 to 24 hours, followed by the onset of unpleasant side-effects.^[8] These include stomach cramps, backaches, sweating, chills, anxiety, restlessness, depression, nausea, and diarrhea.^[8] More serious side-effects include internal bleeding, stomach ulcers, and potentially death.^[10]

Rehabs

While there are many rehabilitation centres for wealthy people struggling with addiction in South Africa there are very few facilities for the poor. Some have argued that people struggling with heroin addiction are treated as the 'undeserving poor' and subject to policing rather than medical interventions. In the populous province of KwaZulu-Natal there are only two government rehab centres accessible by poor people.^[11]^[5]

Urban Legends

Many article in the South African media on 'whoonga', 'nyaope' or ‘sugars’ contain claims that have later been shown by scientific studies to be urban legends.^[5] Among others these urban legends include:

Bluetoothing

In early 2017, sensationalist media reports claimed that ‘nyaope’ users shared the drug-induced high through small blood transfusions, a practice supposedly called "bluetoothing" (from the Bluetooth wireless technology). The claim was untrue: the practice is not known on the street^[12] and physiologically could not achieve the claimed effect.^[13]^[5]

Claims that 'whoonga' or 'nyaope' is made from anti-retrovirals, rat poison, etc

Sensationalist media reports have often claimed that ‘whoonga’ or ‘nyaope’ is a uniquely South African drug containing ingredients such as rat poison, anti-retroviral medication and materials gleaned from the cathode tubes in stolen flat screen televisions.^[14]^[15]^[16]^[17]^[18] However scientific laboratory studies have shown these claims to be urban legends, and that 'whoonga' and 'nyapoe' are in fact simply heroin and do not contain ARV medication, rat poison or chemicals from flat screen televisions.^[19]^[20] ^[21]^[2] According to researcher Jesse Copelyn it "has been shown "that media accounts that frame nyaope as a new and exotic drug are misleading" and "have obscured the fact that South Africa simply has a major heroin crisis".^[2]^[5]

Systemic Criminality

It is often said that all or most users sustain their addiction via crime, however academic Mark Hunter shows that the majority work for extremely low pay, often for other poor people.^[4]^[5]

Stigma

Heroin users are often referred to as 'amaparas' a term that researchers say is a dehumanizing and derogatory term that implies worthlessness and criminality perpetuating marginalization and discrimination and preventing an understanding of the addiction crisis as a medical issue and addicts as people requiring social support.^[5]