Harm reduction

Fentanyl is here: South Africans test positive for potent opioid

Preliminary research shows people are using fentanyl, a lab-made opioid over 30 times as potent as heroin, responsible for thousands of deaths in the US

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News | 9 December 2024

From caps to needles: Durban’s whoonga drug culture is changing

People who use heroin in Durban are increasingly switching from smoking to injecting, causing public health concerns

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News | 3 December 2024

Activists welcome Treasury’s proposed minimum alcohol price

National Treasury has proposed tax increases to reduce harmful drinking

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News | 19 November 2024

How government is hindering its own drug policies

A program supplying sterile injection equipment was stopped for months in Cape Town

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Feature | 5 November 2024

Alarming rise in HIV among drug users as government fails to implement policy

Needle programs are officially supported, but the state often obstructs them

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Feature | 21 October 2024

Hundreds join Cape Flats “recovery walk”

The annual event celebrating recovery from substance use started in 2015

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Brief | 30 September 2024

Gauteng government funds new drug rehab while defunding existing ones

Clinix Foundation was approved for R11-million in funding in just three weeks

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News | 6 June 2024

Almost half of state-funded drug rehab beds in Gauteng under threat

Organisations are “under investigation” but have not been told why

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News | 5 June 2024

Multi-million-rand drug rehabs under investigation by Gauteng government

Provincial department of social development has stopped funding 750 beds at Life Healthcare’s treatment centres

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News | 28 May 2024

Marchers say Yes! and No! to new cannabis law

The Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill is awaiting the President’s signature to become law

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Brief | 6 May 2024

One of Cape Town’s few free rehab centres has closed its doors to adults

Concerns over further budget cuts and their impact on access to rehabilitation

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News | 14 December 2023

Hundreds walk to celebrate recovery from addiction

Only about 1 in 20 South Africans with drug or alcohol problems access treatment

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Photo Essay | 2 October 2023

Children caught using cannabis will no longer be criminally prosecuted

Concourt rules sections of Drugs act unconstitutional. But ruling makes it clear that the court does not condone drug use by children.

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Law | 29 September 2022

Criminalising cannabis use by children is unconstitutional, court rules

Court hears children are languishing for months in detention for trivial offences

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Law | 3 August 2020

Six die from methanol poisoning in Cape Town

Four more in a critical condition

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Brief | 2 June 2020

Triumph for amateur cast at the opera house

Don’t Miss Your Turning Point received a standing ovation on Saturday night at Artscape

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Photo Essay | 17 February 2020