Whoonga
Whoonga is it is called in South Africa is a highly addictive drug, Which is actually a mixture of heroin, Marijuana, ARVs, Rat poison and detergents.
It is very popular among the youth and is turning our beloved neighborhood into crime zones.
This drug is the latest installment in the social ills that threaten our social development.
Not only is it a huge set back in our fight against HIV/AIDS but addicts commit ruthless crimes in order to feed their drug addiction.
Lifesaving ARVs are going up in smoke all for a few minutes high.
Getting out of this drug is very hard as it causes many complications in the human body which can only be cured temporally by taking another hit.
Whoonga is by far the biggest obstacle our country’s youth is facing. Without information and knowledge they will never know how dangerous this drug is until it is too late.
Whoonga is mostly sold in small plastic wrappers with sour vinegar like smell, brownish in colour.
Users heat a plate or piece of tile, and then crash the drug using any plastic material on top of the heated plate.
Dagga/Marijuana is also prepared separately, The dagga is then mixed with small tobacco from the cigarette.
This is rolled in smoking paper. The whoonga powder is then sprinkled on top of this mixture.
Whoonga is in fact a unique mixture of heroin and other substances.
HEROIN + RAT POISON + DETERGANTS = WHOONGA
Whoonga is sold by drug dealers already mixed with other substances. It is impossible to know what is in it.
The user then smokes this mixture which lasts for about 45 minute in their system. After that withdrawal symptoms which include severe stomach ache, back pain and excessive sweating follow.
These symptoms can only be cured temporally by another hit. Whoonga addict needs about 8 to 9 hits a day just to get by.
ARV are smoked as a cheap alternative to whoonga. In fact ARV is the free alternative to most whoonga addicts who can get their hands on HIV medication.
The drug is crashed and then smoked in a mixture which is similar to the whoonga mixture highlighted above.
Just like any other drug, addicts feel and amazing high the first time they smoke the drug, then they keep chasing that delusion until it’s too late to turn back.
In the process of chasing that ultimate high, addicts experiment with different substances to add in the already deadly mixture, hence all the different substances
mention in different areas across the country.
One of those substances that can be added to whoonga is stocrin (efavirenz). This HIV medication that is most likely used by addicts in their pursuit for the ultimate high.